The AV NIRVANA Speaker Evaluation Event - Speakers at $1,200 or Less (Preliminary)

[Sonnie Parker]

We have now finalized our entries for our first speaker evaluation event ... The AV NIRVANA Speaker Event - Speakers at $1,200 or Less.

The entries will be as follows, provided all are delivered appropriately.

Here is the lineup thus far in alphabetical order:

Chane A5rx-c ($860)
ELAC Uni-fi UF5 ($1000)
Emotiva T1 ($750)
JBL Studio 590 ($950)
KEF Q900 ($1200)
Klipsch RP-280F ($1080)
Monitor Audio Bronze Series 6 ($1100)
Polk Signature S60 ($900)
Scansonic M9 ($1200)
SVS Prime Tower ($1000)

These are current street prices, although many are available direct from the manufacturer at these prices.

There is a possibility of some substitutions if other speakers become available that are not currently available.

The event will be held at Cedar Creek Cinema at my home in Luverne, AL... October 25-30.

 

[GFOviedo]

I can’t wait for this. However, I’m bias to the Chanes. I’m pretty sure they could win this again.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

Keep in mind there will be no "winner" announced by the panel... as we are going to be super careful not to make this a "comparison" event... nor will we rank them. This will be strictly an evaluation event and we'll let the readers form their own opinions as to what they might like or not. Our sole purpose here is to give an unbiased report of what we hear from each speaker without comparing them to any of the other speakers, along with some measurements for each speaker.

 

[bkeeler10]

All right, looking forward to this! Feels like the good ol' days again

Looks like a good group of speakers, including two or three that I've wondered about recently. Bring it on!

 

[tesseract]

I am pretty excited by this line up... and the possibility of Sonnie's grill getting fired up.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

Did I hear someone say "grill"?

Nothing more satisfying than some good grilled meat and listening to new and different speakers for several days!

 

[Sonnie Parker]

As it turns out... the Sonus faber Principia were miss-priced at $1200/pr... and are actually $1200/each or $2400/pr, therefore they do not fit our evaluation requirements and have been pulled from the list. They have been replaced by the Monitor Audio Bronze Series 6 $1100/pr speakers.

 

[bkeeler10]

Hmm the MA Bronze will be interesting. I remember Wayne having very good things to say about the next-step-up Silver series after hearing one at a show a couple of years ago. It will also be interesting to see how the traditional brick-n-mortar brands size up in terms of quality-per-dollar compared to the ID brands in this price bracket.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I have heard several of the Monitor Audio speakers as well, but never these more inexpensive models... should definitely be interesting.

 

[Tonto]

And Jon stirred the pot again...without saying too much!

We got good news about the L series last week. Although way behind schedule on the production side, evidently persistence pays off because things have broken free. As promised, there'll be more to explain on that as it happens.
​

A lot of people are patiently waiting on these puppies! Has Jon updated the status to any of you guys?

 

[Todd Anderson]

I have decent contact with him and haven't heard anything!

 

[leecreek]

Tracking number from UPS from Emotiva is all.....woot

 

[Sonnie Parker]

They are all in the house... hall of speakers...

Klipsch speakers on bottom right got banged up pretty good in shipping. Same thing happened to the Klipsch speakers during one of our other events. Very poor packing and rough shipping. I am not sure why any speaker manufacturer using breakable Styrofoam for packing these days. It ALWAYS breaks and makes for a big mess.

 

[tripplej]

Amazing picture of all the speakers, all lined up. Wow.

That is crazy that anybody would use breakable Styrofoam packing..

 

[Todd Anderson]

GREAT PHOTO!!!

You must be like a kid in a candy shop with that line up waiting in the wings!!

 

[tesseract]

Here is another shot.

 

[tripplej]

hmm, the fridge there might be the most interesting.. Lots of good things inside, I suspect.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

And it begins: https://www.avnirvana.com/threads/a...ent-tower-speakers-1200-or-less-results.1640/

 

[tesseract]

Setting toe-in angles via laser and hard resetting a stubborn OPPO.

 

[tesseract]

Goofing off, or working?

 

[Matthew J Poes]

View attachment 4644 Setting toe-in angles via laser and hard resetting a stubborn OPPO.

Would you guys be willing to try an aggressive toe angle with the waveguide loaded speakers. I think just the Klipsch and JBL.

To maximize the benefit the angle should be such that the speakers cross at just in front of the listener. Anywhere from 6” to 12” is fine. Angling then at the inside of the opposite corner gets you close, but since you have a laser do it up! It should provide more stable imaging and is a feature unique to those speakers so I would be interested in your thoughts on that.

 

[tesseract]

I would like to try this, yes. Can't believe it escaped my attention, but a lot is going on here and Wayne and Sonnie are setting up each pair so it slipped my mind. I'll mention it!

 

[Matthew J Poes]

I would like to try this, yes. Can't believe it escaped my attention, but a lot is going on here and Wayne and Sonnie are setting up each pair so it slipped my mind. I'll mention it!

HaH! You probably know why I’m asking too given our earlier conversation.

I’m jealous I can’t be there with you guys to hear this great lineup.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

We should have time to do that... and I'd be interested in hearing it myself. The Klipsch are dead... so we can't do those, but the JBL's should be doable.

 

[Matthew J Poes]

Awesome!

JBL doesn’t publish the response for these so I’m assuming that like their pro gear, these also have a flat DI. That is necessary for the time intensity trading effect to work well.