Jean Marie Reynaud Loudspeakers ....

[joeinid]

http://www.amherstaudio.com/?page_id=42

http://jm-reynaud.com/catalog

http://jm-reynaud.com/offrande-supreme-v2.html


Any fans/owners here? Reading the website and reviews, they look pretty awesome.

[CPP]

Well I can tell you from experience that the Offrande Supreme V2 to my ears were very musical. Being 91 db, they paired very well with my Quicksilver mono's. Biggest mistake I have made in Audio in getting rid of these on a trade for Nikon F500 F4 VR lens.

[Randy Myers]

These look very interesting. Would love to be able to listen to them with my First Watt.

[joeinid]

I'm betting they would be awesome Randy.

[Randy Myers]

I was having trouble determining how much these cost. The stand mount models with the stands would be a good match for my room and system I think. I normally am not a huge fan of ribbon tweeters, but these don't appear to be normal in their implementation.

[Kuoppis]

Very interesting, I like the idea of a double ribbon tweeter.


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[wisnon]

Well I can tell you from experience that the Offrande Supreme V2 to my ears were very musical. Being 91 db, they paired very well with my Quicksilver mono's. Biggest mistake I have made in Audio in getting rid of these on a trade for Nikon F500 F4 VR lens.

JMRs are among the best audiophile speakers from France...very highly regarded.

[CPP]

I was having trouble determining how much these cost. The stand mount models with the stands would be a good match for my room and system I think. I normally am not a huge fan of ribbon tweeters, but these don't appear to be normal in their implementation.

I think today they run about $7k.

[Randy Myers]

Are they even imported into the US? That is the problem with my MC speakers. I would highly recommend them but they are not even sold in the US now.

[Jack]

Randy

They have been distributed in the US for years. The current importer is and has been Bob Neal the reviewer for Positive Feedback. Check his website that Joe listed for dealers and prices.

Chris I regretted selling my Offrandes too a while back and always planned to buy another pair. They are currently at $7500 including stands. At one time or the other I owned Offrandes, Twins and Trente's. I still have a pair of Twin Signatures in my office. The Concorde Su[reme or the Orfeo have been on my radar for a while. There is a dealer in WPB in Wellington Audio.

[Jack]

Joe

Another thought is a brand Mike used to carry, Living Voice, which are very tube friendly. The guys at Border Patrol are carrying them and have lowered the prices to reflect the drop in the Pound.

http://www.borderpatrol.net/livingvoiceloudspeakers.htm

[CPP]

Are they even imported into the US? That is the problem with my MC speakers. I would highly recommend them but they are not even sold in the US now.

I think Amherst Audio's, Bob Neill is the US dist. There is also a dealer in Coram NY on this coast and I think one in south Fla on the east coast. Not sure about your West coast area.

[Kuoppis]

Joe

Another thought is a brand Mike used to carry, Living Voice, which are very tube friendly. The guys at Border Patrol are carrying them and have lowered the prices to reflect the drop in the Pound.

http://www.borderpatrol.net/livingvoiceloudspeakers.htm

I would be interested to hear opinions about Living Voice. Someone gave a strong recommendation about them earlier this week, but I did not get a chance to listen to them.

Even the model with the external cross-over looked kind of dinky, I wonder how they sound.


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[wisnon]

Same company that makes the Vox Olympian.

[Kuoppis]

Same company that makes the Vox Olympian.

I'm aware of that but price and size wise the Vox Olympian is not within my current scope.

Hence I was interested in the smaller LS, they are also conceptually completely different from the Vox Olympian.


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[wisnon]

In know that too. Just telling you what the caapabilities of the designers are. they also make speakers for luxry yachts. PT-Audiophile loves the LV speakers!

[Kuoppis]

Vox Olympian for sure is not a bad reference for a manufacturer...


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[Ctsooner]

Bob is a really nice guy. I've been up to his house a few times to listen to music with him. He has these and a couple of audio note I believe it was. They are nice speakers, but I didn't fully get them. For the price there are so many other top choices too. He played them through Audio Note (England) equipment. They didn't throw as big a sound stage as my Treo's did. I actually had these along with his Audio Notes (the bigger ones) in play at that last purchase point. He had a German speaker line that were much more expensive that he liked a ton. I just thought they were ok. When I spend that kind of coin, I want full range along with a musical speaker that has detail and is not fatiguing. There are a few out there for my ear that do that, this isn't one of them. For some, they will fall in love with the look, the sound and the whole deal of 91db and using small tube amps with them. That's the target market I guess. I will say that Bob won't steer you wrong and he loves his vinyl too. He has a huge room off to the side of his living room that is wall to wall albums. Quite the site, lol.

[hongkong]

Hi,

I'm in France and I have heard them :

http://jm-reynaud.com/concorde-supreme.html

Very very excellent !!!

Price in France with taxes(20%) is : 11 000 Euros for the two loudspeakers.

[Jack]

Pete

That is your opinion and you are entitled to it, but I have owned four Reynaud models and three Vandersteens including Treo's just like you. I still have a pair in house from each brand. The Reynaud's are excellent speakers and while their stated efficiency will let them operate satisfactorily with lower powered tube amps they benefit from more power just like most speakers. Actually surprised that Bob showed them with low powered AK amps as he has historically favored Blue Circle hybrid amps with Reynaud. From my time owning both the Treo and the Offrande I found the Offrande to be every bit the equal of the Treo and in many ways better. That may be why the Treo's are no longer here after a year. If I were to go back to either brand it would be the 5A Carbon in the Vandersteen as the Quatro would be a sideways move from the KO's or too similar to the Treo/2WQ combo. For Reynaud it would be the Concordes. My point is that you after many years have become the most vocal Vandersteen proponent I am aware of on the forums and if they are your end game speaker so be it, but as you said that was not always the case. But like Magico, Wilson, B&W or many others they are not the end all to everyone or their would not be hundreds of brands with new ones popping up on a regular basis. We all like what we like for the time being and that is subject to change at any time. I've changed mine many times over 45 years as have most members here. If people didn't like and buy the other brands then they would all be gone and Richard would be left standing. But as that is not the case then somebody else must be doing something right and appealing to somebody regardless of whether it is because of sound, price or aesthetics. Just my take on yours.

[Ctsooner]

Jack, well stated. I must correct myself, it was the Blue Circle amp. He used the AN on the other ones (again, I forget the name of them). All I said was that I didn't get them. Since you see my posts everywhere, I am talking about myself. I would buy from Bob in a heartbeat as I kind of said in my post. Just a great guy. Now that I have been living with the Vandersteen line for the last couple of years, I'd love to go up to his house to hear the JMR's again. I think they are beautiful to say the least. The sound was nice, just not as full range as the Vandy's I felt.

There is a market for them of course, like there is for everything. One other thing I do when I shop audio is look at companies being around over the long haul for service, reselling etc... I've been burned a few times and for me, that's a big deal. I wasn't sold on Treo's when I went to audition at Bob's. Not by any means, so I don't believe I was being biased at the time. I also would have loved a smaller looking speaker on stands that I could move around easier (I have MS and can't move stuff like I used to). These decisions are all emotional and matching is paramount. In the end the JMR's , for the price, didn't do it for me. I didn't have any stand mounts in my final list of speakers I auditioned, before purchase. Takes nothing away from the speaker, I just felt that for the cost, I wanted a bit more and feel that I got it. The Treo's were a bit less if I recall, but in the same ball park.

I haven't heard the Supremes, but would love to. I just don't want to call Bob and waste his time as my Quatro's aren't even set up yet. Honestly, I didn't even remember about them having a 14k speaker, or I would have auditioned them. Glad that you love your set up though Jack, as that's the only thing that matters. Pete

[Jack]

Hey Pete

Yeah I love it as is but there is always the itch to try something new. Among those things at one point is the 5A Carbon or the Concorde though I understand that with Bob's limited dealers you can take a bath on the Reynaud's. Not sure how often Bob or any of his dealers keep the Concorde in stock. Most keep the Bliss Silver, the Offrande and either the Abscissa or Orfeo floorstander. Anyway we all like what we like even if it is just temporary and we reserve the right to change our mind or direction. We've both done it before and could do it again.

[Randy Myers]

These JMR speakers look very interesting to me. The biggest problem with most any speaker consideration is being able to listen and compare to what I have. No local dealers, expense involved, etc. To me $7k + is far to much to spend to "try" a speaker to see if I might like it.

[Ctsooner]

Randy, that's one of the biggest problems in audio and always has been. It's nearly impossibly for most folks to preview all they want in their environment. Easier for smaller electronics of course. That's why we listen at dealers or at friends house and then try to fill in the blanks. you all know if a speaker pulls you in or if it leaves you a bit cold. Then go from there.

[Jack]

Randy

As with most of the things you would want to hear it would involve a trip to L.A. There is one dealer there. All of my Reynaud's have either been purchased used or were the review samples that were shipped from the distributor. There was a pair of Offrandes for sale for several months for a little over $4k with shipping included but I don't see them listed anymore. With no dealers the only way to experiment somewhat painlessly is with used.

[Ctsooner]

Guys, do you know where they would be serviced if needed? I didn't see Bob with anyplace where he could fix them. Not sure if he's qualified to do that or if maybe he knows a tech locally.

[CPP]

Guys, do you know where they would be serviced if needed? I didn't see Bob with anyplace where he could fix them. Not sure if he's qualified to do that or if maybe he knows a tech locally.

Its like anything these days if its made overseas, well you take your chance. Heck its hard to get stuff fixed that's made in the states. I for one didn't have any issues in the 4 years I had the JMR's.

[Ctsooner]

I do wish there were more great techs available. It's harder and harder for anyone other than the company to fix gear. That's a general statement I'm making and not about the JMR's....

[johnnythunder]

Hi. I'm a long time (circa 2001) owner of Jean Marie Reynaud speakers, in my case the original Cantabiles. I love the way all their speakers sound. I had (and sold) their Bliss Silver monitors for a while - 2011-2015 - when I lived in a very small apartment. I ultimately preferred the sound of their floorstanders, got my Cantabiles out of storage and have been beyond happy. I have never heard another speaker I enjoy more. All JMR speakers have a similar sound (and I can confirm everything you've read about their strengths and magic.) The Bliss Silvers had more clarity than my Cantabiles. But I missed the sound of the detached tweeter and i think that tweeter gives the JMRs a very special quality. Airy and they image beautifully and you really can hear the hall. JMRs in cherry wood are physically beautiful and remind me of artisanal musical instruments and not high tech. I think that they play all types of music well except for modern day overly compressed and bright pop. They excel at chamber music and singer songwriter and 60s/70s rock. But I listen to the Ramones and the Cramps on them too and love what they do. They are kind of magical on vinyl (Linn turntable, Naim are tonearm, Ear 834P phono amp, Dynavector xx2-MKII- They make a very beautiful sound but can sound a little badass too when called for. I do not listen to them very loud. I agree with Bob Neill of Amherst Audio in that they sound better with higher powered amps. They are sensitive but I use a made in Italy Lector Audio hybrid integrated - 100 watts into 4ohms. I just think the speakers match better with more output. Those are my thoughts. Hope it was helpful.

[joeinid]

Welcome to the forum, thank you so much for joining.

Also, thank you for your pm and post above.

[RDSChicago]

I just picked up a pair of Offrande Supreme V2s. They’re huge for monitors. I’m driving them with a First Watt J2 amp and the Linear Tube Audio preamp. They sound spectacular with any genre of music. I just assumed they would sing very well with tubes but they have very good synergy with the J2. Very pleased with them. They are blowing away my Trenner & Friedl Art’s and Diapason Adamantes 25th Anniversary model. My first foray into JMR. Highly recommended!

[Ctsooner]

I met the nicest dealer in Amherst MA some years ago. He sells out of his house. He put on the best at demo . I highly enjoyed their two top speakers. I wish I could hear the new ones, but since I’m not in the market it wouldn’t be fair. Enjoy them.

[garyalex]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum. I also own a pair of the Offrande Supreme V2s. I'm driving them with the DIY version I built of the First Watt M2 amp and a Cary SLP-98P preamp. These speakers are wonderful. Having owned two other Jean-Marie Reynaud speakers, the Twins and the Offrande V2s, I thought I knew the brand pretty well. These speakers, while retaining the JMR house sound, are a huge step up. Their presentation, at least in my room is warm and completely immersive. These aren't background speakers. They really do draw the listener in. It's a shame they're no longer made, but I do understand Jean-Claude Reynaud's reason for doing so. I'm just grateful I have them.

[joeinid]

Welcome to the forum, thank you for joining.