Audiophilepure

https://www.hifinews.com/content/quad-revela-2

The Revela 2’s performance was similarly superb with The Mitchell Trio’s set Violets Of Dawn [Mercury STX 61067], recorded in 1965 (post-Chad) and featuring a young John Denver, whose instantly recognisable voice made aural dissection even simpler. Again, the unplugged instruments had body and the right resonances, my only regret being that I didn’t have present one of my guitar-playing friends to see if they could tell which make was being played.

If Quad’s goal with the Revela 2 wasn’t just to revive the brand’s ribbon of 70-plus years ago but to create a box-type speaker that sounds like a dipole or panel, two later studio creations deemed it a success. Both Dr. John’s In The Right Place [Analogue Productions CAPA 006 SA SACD] and Bonnie Raitt’s The Glow [Warner Bros 8122-78383-2 CD] – two albums recorded during the 1970s and therefore probably all-solid-state – are great for evaluating attack, bass power and, again, distinctive vocals.

The KEF R3 Meta is a three-way bookshelf speaker, which incorporates KEF’s Metamaterial Absorption Technology and Uni-Q driver array. The speaker features a 25 mm vented aluminum dome tweeter, a 125 mm aluminum cone for midrange frequencies, and a 165 mm hybrid aluminum bass driver. This combination allows the R3 Meta to cover a wide frequency range from 38 Hz to 50 kHz.

With a nominal impedance of 4 ohms and a rated sensitivity of 87dB, it is a moderately easy to drive speaker. KEF suggests amplifiers with up to 180 Watts power. The R3 Meta measures 422 x 200 x 336 mm (HWD) in total and comes with a weight of 12.4kg. That translates to 16.6 x 7.87 x 13.22 inches and 27.33 lbs. For bookshelf speakers, the R3 Meta is on the bigger side. They easily blended into my room though. Especially with the speaker stands KEF also offers.

The R3 Meta has a three-way crossover built-in, which splits the frequencies at 120 and 2,300 Hz. On the back of the unit, you’ll find two sets of speaker posts to connect your cables to. Between them are two knobs, which you can turn, should you want to bi-wire or bi-amp them. By turning the knob, you basically make a connection between the two posts. You could potentially disconnect them and run individual cables in them, or you could also use your own set of jumper cables.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/piega-coax-811-gen2-loudspeaker

The Piega Coax Gen2 811 loudspeakers are a solid deal, even at 30 big ones. A (let’s say) Focal Maestro–level presentation costs more than twice what these speakers do, and you’d achieve maybe a 10% improvement, if such things are even quantifiable.

The 811s are easy to drive, visually attractive, neutral yet sonically arresting, musical to a T, and built, simultaneously, like a fine watch and a brick outhouse. I felt happy, even spoiled, every day that they were in my system. They coddled my ears and ticked my boxes, and I’m pleased to roar my approval.

It is a given that for $7200 per pair the T66 will end up in your listening space in Santa Barbara Red. That is, of course, unless a spouse has anything to say about it. Even then for $6,900 the joke is on your spouse because now you have $300 in your pocket for some matching AudioQuest speaker cables. Beyond the sexy looks of the T66, for thousands less, the T66 loudspeaker provides a glimpse of what loudspeakers a full price-tier up are capable of. This level of performance for the dollar makes the T66 a smart value. This value is thanks (in no small part) to GoldenEar’s deeply thoughtful design of both the parts that make up the T66, and the T66 loudspeaker as a whole system. If those are not good enough reasons to add the T66 to your listening system, the near-flawless integration between the powered subwoofers and advanced midbass/AMT tweeter combo allow for a level of system integration from stereo amplifier selection, to room optimization that is not possible with a fully passive tower. At this point in its lifecycle, the T66 is mature and well vetted. My only regret is not getting my mitts on them sooner. It will be some time before the T66 becomes irrelevant because they provide so much abundant, musical value while keeping to a price that may not be an impulse buy, but is still attainable with some time and effort for any savvy audiophile.

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/1913-monitor-audio-gold-300-6g-loudspeaker

I compared the Monitor Audio Gold 300 6G with my own Dynaudio C2 Signature loudspeakers (discontinued, $15,000/pair when available). On “Keep the Wolves Away,” from Uncle Lucius’s 2012 album And You Are Me (16/44.1 FLAC, eOne Music / Tidal), the Gold 300s were tight and textured in the bass and delivered the guitar dynamically, with precision and tube-like sweetness. Images were focused and natural. The Dynaudio C2s, by comparison, sounded appreciably fuller in the low bass and had a richer, more complex harmonic palette. And they presented vocals with greater detail and warmth, more lifelike. Where the Gold 300 6Gs were a match for the C2s was in transient response. In fact, their delivery was more incisive than the C2s’. In view of this comparison and of my audition, last year, of the Monitor Audio Platinum 200 3G, I would say that the Gold 300 6G, while not quite at the level of a top-tier loudspeaker, offers much of the performance of one.

Conclusion

The Monitor Audio Gold 300 6G is a most capable, highly refined loudspeaker. It is neutral and transparent, revealing the subtlest recorded detail (and any upstream change to equipment and interconnects). It is fast and dynamic, and it is honest, adding neither warmth nor color to recordings. Given its neutrality and transparency, the Gold 300 6G would be a good match to a ruler-flat front end. I’d be reluctant to pair it with brighter components, though. All told, the Monitor Audio Gold 300 6G is a high-performance loudspeaker that lives up to its gold-standard pedigree.

https://parttimeaudiophile.com/2024/08/11/focal-theva-n1-bookshelf-speaker-review

I think many reading this review have a BEYOND great primary music listening setup; floor-standing speakers, a powerful amp, comfortable chair right in the sweet spot…but your media room that’s primarily used by your kids to watch cartoons has a sound bar that makes you cringe. If only you could find gratifying speakers that you didn’t have to worry about so much…

I’ve got you. GET THESE SPEAKERS! And get the stands too, they’ll sound better. I just might sell my old Paradigms and buy these bad boys! For just under $1250 you’ll have great sounding, great-looking speakers that you can relax in front of. Have a drink, play with your kids, rough-house with your dog, and stop overthinking it.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/piega-coax-811-gen2-loudspeaker

Any tendency toward tightness was mitigated by the Puritan PSM156 mains purifier ($2400), a six-outlet unit into which I’d plugged all my electronics except the Krell. I also used two Puron plug-in AC line conditioners ($295 each), cylindrical devices about the size of a KT88 tube. Inserting the Purons into the wall receptacle and/or the first outlet of a power conditioner will reduce system noise, the manufacturer claims. The Puritan, meanwhile, is said to battle both common-mode and differential-mode interference, remove DC offset, and scrub the earth-ground line of sonic impurities. It also offers 9000A of surge protection.

Adding first the Puritan and then the Purons made the air in classical recordings seem a bit more expansive, and music went up a step in effortlessness. The Puritan and Purons also subtly increased my system’s resolution. When, during this review, I spent a few days auditioning a 30-year-old Aragon 4004 MKII power amplifier—I was trying to decide whether I should keep it—the Puritan ably suppressed some low-level transformer hum. The three Ps—Piegas, Puritan, and Purons—played well together, but even without help from power-massaging devices, the Swiss speakers impressed with imperturbable precision and the ability to express fine detail.