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| Mike Creek's acquisition of Epos
Acoustics in 1999 came as somewhat of a surprise to me as I had heard
the music made by Creek and Epos products together so often that I just
assumed (yes I know) one big company. Music Hall, the US importer of
Creek (founded in the UK by Mike Creek) and Epos (founded in the UK by
Robin Marshall - see how much I know now) has been very successfully
demonstrating the synergy between these products at CES and other audio
shows for many years. There have been some changes to Epos speakers
over the years and of course the all consuming shadow now cast by home
theater called for a subwoofer and center channel and surrounds being
added to the line-up. I have owned a pair of Epos ES11 monitors for
about ten years and they often surprise me while even peripherally
listening to something. They sound really great. And then I'm happy
about all the money I didn't spend.
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| In
the early 90's I owned a large pair of Canadian monitors (not those)
with dynaudio mid-bass drivers (not those) and beautifully veneered
interior and exterior cabinets (got it yet?). I really liked them but
they took a ton of power to drive and the 50 watt amp I had couldn't
negotiate the impedence curve and sometimes heavy duty listening was
just crash and burn. A friend turned me on to another speaker with even
less sensitivity than these (big help) and suggested a high current
class A solid state amp or the alternate powered version of their
speakers. The sensitivity was still low, but the load was manageable
(blah blah blah). Getting further away from the little box in which I
was used to thinking was almost mind numbing but I gave it a shot
anyway. The opposite of my Altec Mdl 19s and 12 watt tube amp combo. In
came a pair of ATC SMC20 monitors from the British transducer
manufacturer of the same name ATC. I drove them with a pair of bridged
Coda 10.5 amps which netted around 300 wrms. Since this experience, I
have purchased and auditioned many low sensitivity/high power
amp/speaker combinations which brought me more satisfaction than you
can shake a 300B at. ATC speakers, powered and passive, were an amazing
find for me and part of one of the best two channel audio systems I
have ever heard.
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| Induction Dynamics may not be a household name, or even
a name you hear around the water cooler. But if you are looking to put
together a high end home theater or listening room (which could be the
same room now that I think of it), the number of options that Induction
Dynamics offers is pretty impressive. We first got interested in this
company because of the use of Focal drivers (a well known French driver
designer/builder/supplier) being utilised by a U S speaker manufacturer
and then of course the rep dropped by every few hours every day and
said we "have to hear these", etc. So we did and we really liked what
we heard and the rest is pretty much history. In side to side
comparisons to other Focal driver speaker systems (think hard) we
preferred the Induction Dynamics. For two channel and especially for
multi-channel high end home theater systems, do yourself a favor and
check this company out. We promise not to drop by every few hours every
day.
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| Bobby Palkovic builds two loudspeaker systems. One pair
of monitors and one pair of full range floorstanders (if that's a
word). There are a number of different configurations or confilgrations
(if that's a word), but essentially, two pairs of speakers...two pairs
of very very good speakers. His website has everything you would need
or even want to know about these products. I believe Bobby's VSM
speakers (now in the VSM-MX version) to be truly world class. It is
difficult to make blanket statements about any one audio product that
can not be challenged. But there have been times listening to Merlin
speakers when I wondered if it could get any better than this.
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| "This loudspeaker has
so many very clear and obvious strengths, It's difficult to know where
to start. Above all perhaps, it combines all the coherence and
communication skills of a simple two-way, with most of the advantages
of a much larger design. There's real speed and agility here,
especially through a bass region which is exceptionally clean, clear
and powerful." This is a quote from HI FI Plus. This guy really likes
the Ultimatum speakers. I have not added a speaker line to our shop in
ten years. At the HE2006 Show, I heard the Neat Ultimatum for
the first time and already loved the small Motive 2 floorstanders
displayed with the Exposure Electronics. The Ulitimatum and Motive
lines of Neat Acoustics are some of the most satisfying speakers I have
yet to find.
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| "Our heritage is a cultural mix of classical designs of
the golden years of high fidelity - such as Altec, Klipsch, JBL,
Electrovoice, Western Electric, Fostex, TAD - and of deep know-how in
advanced electronic design methods." This stolen directly from the
SAP-audio.it website (and hoping that it is legal to do that).
Designing and manufacturing a line of high sensitivity loudspeakers for
use with low to mid powered tube amplifiers, Strumenti Acustici di
Precisione (SAP) also makes amplifiers, turntables, isolation platforms
and specialty audio cables. These speakers have retro appeal and at the
same time exude an ultra sex appeal that we love about Italian audio
designs. You have to listen to them.
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