Audiophilepure

https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/927-egglestonworks-nico-evolution-loudspeakers

“Having struck the right balance with the eager EgglestonWorks, I tried some instrumental fare. I’m an enormous fan of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons as “recomposed” by Max Richter and performed by the Berlin Concert House Chamber Orchestra under the direction of André de Ridder (24/44.1 MQA, Deutsche Grammophon/Tidal). I’d ordinarily thumb my nose at a reinvention of such a classic, but Richter so skillfully transforms several of the movements that I find myself preferring them to Vivaldi’s originals. Listening to Winter 1, which redeploys one of Vivaldi’s most famous melodies, I was smitten by the Nico Evolutions’ ability to capture the nuances of Richter’s subtle but deliberate opening. The lightly plucked violins resonated pretty far back on the soundstage, and the recording venue sounded big, even if it wasn’t re-created with the extension and effortlessness that I’ve heard through more linear, dead-neutral designs. Still, I was impressed with the smoothness of the Nico Evolution’s soft-dome tweeter, which never sounded hard or etched. The harpsichord sounded natural, as did the violin of soloist Daniel Hope, which was very well defined, and even had a hint of sweetness I wasn’t anticipating. The Eggies proved deeply engaging with this track, a quality I highly value in a speaker. If you’re after warmth, or a polite, relaxed sound, the Nico Evolution isn’t for you. But if, like me, you prefer a sound that’s highly resolving and articulate, the baby Eggleston may well fit the bill — it was great fun.”

https://hometheaterreview.com/focal-chora-826-three-way-floorstanding-loudspeaker-reviewed/

“Each Chora 826 sports one pair of binding posts, so bi-wiring isn’t accommodated. Overall, I really love the quality of the binding posts, as they’re easy to loosen and tighten and look quite lovely. If I have one concern, it’s that tightly fitted black and red caps will need to be removed if you intend to use banana plugs (as I always do), and these caps do put up a good bit of a fight. I had to end up resorting to needle-nosed pliers to extract them, and it felt a bit like pulling a tooth. By the time I had them out, the caps were more than a bit mangled.

From there, though, setup is a breeze. Due to the front-ported design of the speaker, you don’t have to be quite as concerned with distance from rear boundaries. In my relatively small two-channel listening room, this is a blessing. Being able to position a pair of speakers six inches from the wall rather than eighteen definitely leaves me with more breathing room and affords a wider soundstage, since there’s more distance between me and the speakers.”

https://www.whathifi.com/us/reviews/sonus-faber-electa-amator-iii

“A carefully calibrated crossover, packed with high-quality parts such as ClarityCap capacitors and Jantzen inductors, links the two drivers. The crossover frequency is an entirely conventional 2.5kHz. Connection to the speaker is via two pairs of rather lovely multi-way speaker terminals. These are beautifully made and thoughtfully shaped to make handling easier.

Being a Sonus Faber speaker, we’re not surprised to find that the cabinet is made of solid walnut rather than the usual veneered MDF. The 25mm thick panels use a damped, sandwich construction to help rigidity and resonance behaviour, and once the 30mm thick Carrera marble base and thin brass plate are added, the result is an impressively sturdy structure. High quality, soft leather covers both of the front and back panels, which feels lovely to the touch.”

https://www.hifinews.com/content/paradigm-persona-9h-loudspeaker

“That said, the speakers can be sweet and light on their feet with Copland’s own recording of ‘Billy The Kid’ [Copland Conducts Copland; Sony Classical SS 89041] and then deploy their immense power and speed with Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s ‘Welcome To The Pleasuredome’ from the Rage Hard compilation [ZTT 177SACD]. It’s a track I have used often, both as a stern test and an absolute riot, but I don’t think I have ever heard it as clean and hard-hitting as it did via these Paradigm flagships, even with my phone’s VU SPL meter suggesting we were peaking at around 105dB some 4m from the speakers.

Scale back the musical forces, or at least the complexity, and the Persona 9H ‘sound’ showed itself well-suited to the cleanly-recorded interplay of the Oscar Peterson Trio’s A Jazz Portrait Of Frank Sinatra set [Verve 0602498625750], with subtle drumming from Ed Thigpen, Ray Brown’s bass with great snap and resonance, and of course Peterson’s delicate touch on the keyboard much in evidence. It was one of those times when you fire up one track just to have a listen, and then find yourself still gripped when the album finishes.”

http://av2day.com/2020/01/elac-vela-bs-403-speakers-outstanding-tweeter-good-sound/

The speakers were versatile in that both listening positions provided very satisfying experiences, but I felt that the equilateral triangle method provided a more intimate experience with the singer placed just in front of the listener and the musicians spread out behind the speakers.

Compared with the resident ATC SCM50 floorstanders, the soundstage and images were noticeably smaller and the BS 403’s bass could not reach to subterranean levels. This was to be expected given the size of the ELAC speakers.

However, the bass that was present was rhythmic and lively. Imaging was solid and stable and the sheer transparency of the tweeter resulted in a very detailed sound. Overall, the sound quality was more on the neutral side of the spectrum and the star component was the JET 5 tweeter which created high notes that soared effortlessly into the blackness.

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/monitor-audio-gold-300-loudspeaker-1/

“
These Gold 300s really grew on me over time, thanks to their powerful presence and substantial sound output. There’s a really pleasing solidity here—courtesy of the cabinet construction and other technologies—that won me over across more and more source material. Especially if you appreciate or collect well-recorded material, the Monitor Gold 300s can enable you to reap its rewards. If want a deeper dive into your music collection and you’re in the market for a solid speaker in this price tier, go for the gold and give the new 300 an audition. “

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/1368-totem-acoustic-tribe-tower-loudspeakers

“

By most standards, the Totem Tribe Tower would be considered a relatively tiny floorstander, but the pair of them sounded big in my mid-size room. Having heard what their similar sibling, the Sky Tower, could do here less than a year before, I wasn’t completely surprised, but unsuspecting listeners might be at first caught off guard, then quite pleased — this speaker should be of interest to anyone who wants room-filling sound but who doesn’t have the space for a pair of big boxes.

At first I thought I’d prefer setting up the Tribe Towers closer to the front of the room, to make better use of the front and sidewalls to help reinforce the bass — indeed, Totem recommends placing them as little as 4” from the front wall. While I was never going to do that — I’ve never been happy with the sound of speakers from that close to the wall behind them — I did try pulling them out just over 12” from the front wall. Unsurprisingly, the Tribes benefited from room gain — the bass was fuller, the overall output greater. However, even with 2’ between the wall and the speakers’ rear panels, I was still more than satisfied with their low-end performance, while preferring the greater three-dimensionality of soundstage I experienced with them farther out from the wall. Ultimately, they ended up very near the positions where most speakers tend to work best in my room.”