Horn speakers that mate well with Shindo and those to avoid

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briguy

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I'm saving up to do a speaker upgrade later this year. I may very well end up trading my Shindo 604's toward the field coil Latours, but in the meantime I'd like to evaluate some other speaker options.

Aesthetically, I really dig a lot of what's on the market for horn based speakers but need a better understanding of what will mate well with Shindo and work in my room. My understanding is that it isn't simply a matter of speaker efficiency since most horns will be plenty efficient for my Lafon gm70's.

Even though I live in the San Francisco area, I suspect I'll need to travel to audition pretty much any horns. What are the specs / characteristics I should look for when whittling down a list?

Note, my room is 15' wide x 21' long (speakers on short wall) with 10 foot-ish v-shaped ceilings and the back right half of the room opens up to my dining room, giving bass energy a bit of an escape route. I'll need a speaker that can properly integrate in a room this size.

I almost definitely wouldn't want to spend more than what the Latours cost. In fact, I'd probably want to keep it under $55K and $35-40K would be ideal since I could then somewhat justify holding onto the 604's.

I kinda dig the looks of these Tune Audio Anima speakers. It's a 3 way passive design. Not a lot of reviews out there and I believe they are sold out of the UK, but they look great and price tag is around $35K.

Anyway, curious what other horn speakers are known or expected to mate well with Shindo. Thoughts?

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Although I have not heard the combo, on paper, the Avantgarde Duo Mezzo XD's would be fabulous I bet. 107db/18ohm

Bring your Shindo amps over and we will try them on my Avantgarde Duo Mezzo XD's!

I heard Tannoy Westminister GR's with Shindo and was smitten. Great sound.

Mike
 
Mike said:
Although I have not heard the combo, on paper, the Avantgarde Duo Mezzo XD's would be fabulous I bet. 107db/18ohm

Bring your Shindo amps over and we will try them on my Avantgarde Duo Mezzo XD's!

I heard Tannoy Westminister GR's with Shindo and was smitten. Great sound.

Mike
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As much as I love Sarasota, that's a long haul to make with a pair of mono blocks in tow. ;)

Would be cool to hear the Kronos too though. I was VERY close to buying that table.
 
briguy said:
As much as I love Sarasota, that's a long haul to make with a pair of mono blocks in tow. ;)

Would be cool to hear the Kronos too though. I was VERY close to buying that table.
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Come on down any time for a listen. My Triode Statement 300b SET monos are damn good and will give you a taste...and of course, the Kronos.
 
That might be ended up very EXPENSIVE trip. Don't say we didn't warn you [emoji12]


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As to the Avantgardes, even the smaller siblings Duo XD (below your price range) were reviewed very favorably in the last issue of the German Stereoplay magazine. As the bottom end is driven by an active 1000 wpc class D sub, the Shindo will do just fine driving them. To optimize the bottom end there is also a room correction system included.


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Kuoppis said:
As to the Avantgardes, even the smaller siblings Duo XD (below your price range) were reviewed very favorably in the last issue of the German Stereoplay magazine. As the bottom end is driven by an active 1000 wpc class D sub, the Shindo will do just fine driving them. To optimize the bottom end there is also a room correction system included.


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Nice speakers but imagining them with Shindo makes my brain hurt. "Active 1000 epic class d sub." With Shindo. Active sub. With Shindo.

It might sound good. I suppose. I object only on philosophical grounds. Audio aesthetics, if you will. It's not you. It's me. Part of me wants to scream, "WTF is wrong with you people?!" But hey, it might sound good. I admit. On the other hand, sounding good and sounding Shindo good are two totally different things. It's not a result. It's a method. But there is a result and its reserved for the method. The other result might be good. But it's also achievable 1000 different ways.
 
kev313 said:
Nice speakers but imagining them with Shindo makes my brain hurt. "Active 1000 epic class d sub." With Shindo. Active sub. With Shindo.

It might sound good. I suppose. I object only on philosophical grounds. Audio aesthetics, if you will. It's not you. It's me. Part of me wants to scream, "WTF is wrong with you people?!" But hey, it might sound good. I admit. On the other hand, sounding good and sounding Shindo good are two totally different things. It's not a result. It's a method. But there is a result and its reserved for the method. The other result might be good. But it's also achievable 1000 different ways.
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You might be suprised, but I absolutely agree with you.

As the concept is designed, the class D sub takes care of anything that would be too much for a fragile SET amp. Hence, you can run them with almost anything for the mid and tweeter horns and hence optimise that end.

As to the concept as a whole, these have been very favorably reviewed, but I have three problems with it:

a) I am in general not a big believer in bi-amping, I find you easily loose coherence in the overall sound
b) I absolutely dislike class D amps, as I find they simply sound dead
c) I am not convinced you will get an acceptable sound with class D on the bottom end, even though you would combine it with very refined tube mids and highs

But again, that's just me. This is a purely subjective opinion and no measure for anyone else's ears.

Then again, just to flip-flop on what I just said, I am curious to hear how they sound and might give them a listen at some point. On the philosophical side, I am also a believer in life-long learning :).
 
You have to hear them to really know. They are absolutely and completely seamless (we are specifically talking about 150hz down for the bass). The SET is handling anything 150hz and up. Moreover, the XD tech ensures complete and perfect bass integration into any room. I have heard no other high efficiency (SET approved) speaker that comes even close to reproducing such "live" sounds. It is as close to live as anything I've ever heard. The dynamics and realism is off the charts. The top end and vocals are as sweet and lifelike as I've ever heard out of any high efficiency horn speaker.

The challenge with any horn is that you start out on the tipping point between heaven and hell. Pair the horns with hyper detailed thin soundings solid state electronics, edgy, thin digital and the wrong cables and you will be in hell. Pair them with a sweet SET tube amp, great musically rich sources and great cables (I think Siltech is the perfect match) and you are in heaven.
 
You must know, Mike, if I am not mistaken you do have larger Avantgardes paired with very good SETs and the result is outstanding.

As said, I have not heard them yet, but maybe I do get a chance at High End in Munich.


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Kuoppis said:
You must know, Mike, if I am not mistaken you do have larger Avantgardes paired with very good SETs and the result is outstanding.

As said, I have not heard them yet, but maybe I do get a chance at High End in Munich.


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I hope so, but I'm afraid it likely won't be a SET. Avantgarde likes to pair with their new SS electronics. Give it a listen and try to imagine with SET sounds. [emoji6]

Yes, I have the latest Duo Mezzo XD's paired with wonderful 8 watt 300b set amps. Trust me when I say, I get better dynamics with my AG's and 8 watt SET than my friend does with his speakers and 2000 watt amps!
 
Mike said:
I hope so, but I'm afraid it likely won't be a SET. Avantgarde likes to pair with their new SS electronics. Give it a listen and try to imagine with SET sounds. [emoji6]
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Would that then again be like trying to play piano with gloves on [emoji2].
 
Anyone know who these horns belong to?

Looks like some Shindo amps on the shelf there.

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Looks like a lot of Goto. Stefano might know who owns it. $$$$$$$$$


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kev313 said:
Looks like a lot of Goto. Stefano might know who owns it. $$$$$$$$$


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i kinda thought they might've been yours from awhile back when you had that table.

I'm curious which drivers they are using. I wouldn't mind getting something like this custom built, but I'd need a knowledgeable advisor who wasn't secretly trying to sell me their stuff. :)
 
briguy said:
i kinda thought they might've been yours from awhile back when you had that table.

I'm curious which drivers they are using. I wouldn't mind getting something like this custom built, but I'd need a knowledgeable advisor who wasn't secretly trying to sell me their stuff. :)
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I had an Oris based system when I used the Verdier. This looks like Goto drivers. Very very nice system. Very complex to build. They are usually 4 way systems and you will have to design and get all drivers, horns, enclosures, crossovers, etc.

A well built system will probably go over budget for either Goto or (especially) GIP drivers. If you are interested and don't know Stefano Bertoncello, I'd recommend that you reach out to him through FB or his blog.

Sweeeeet choice tho! It's for those that appreciate the art of system building - of process - and not just the result.
 
Actually....I'm wondering if that isn't a GIP system. I don't have the patience to navigate their website to check. If it is, you'd have to double your budget. At least.


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