Seriously Speaking
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday October 1, 2001
You'll need a top quality CD player and amplifier when you use top-end speakers, writes Rod Easdown.
GETTING into the serious end of audio isn't always easy, and it's not just a matter of finding the money. Good equipment is far less forgiving of shortcomings than cheaper gear, and there's no better demonstration of this than today's comparison of speakers costing between $2,500 and $3,500 a pair. Such speakers are designed for close listening rather than to provide background as you race about doing other things.
A major demand they make is to be properly driven. Connect them up to a $399 amplifier and they'll sound pretty horrible you need to spend at least $800 to $1,000 to drive them to their potential, possibly a lot more. The biggest speakers in this comparison, the South Australian-made Krix Esoterix, were underdriven by the amplifier I used a 60 watts-per-channel Myryad, a fact that didn't become clear until I patched in a 100-watt amplifier. They immediately became far faster to respond and much better defined. Boot up the power a bit more and they get even sweeter.
That's why good retailers should be happy to work with you when you're shopping for big ticket audio components. Don't be afraid to bring your amplifier in with you and ask them to run the speakers with it. Good speakers will also tell you, quite unequivocally in some cases, if you're using a cheap CD player. All the sharpness inherent in such players, sharpness that can be masked by less accurate speakers designed for a bit of compromise, will come through clear as a bell.
Be prepared, also, to experiment with placement of the speakers. All three in today's comparison have rear ports which means that if they're backed up against a wall the bass can get overly pronounced and start drowning out the mid-range. The solution is either to place the speakers at least 100mm from the wall (this can vary, see how it sounds) or to place foam plugs in the vents to slow the air movement, which runs the risk, of course, of mortally offending the speaker designer.
Aesthetics are important, too, and buyers these days are far less prepared to own speakers that don't look good in some cases they won't even listen to speakers they don't like the look of. The only word of encouragement I can offer here is that while speakers in this price range can look very imposing in a shop when they're lined up with others, in your living room they often look far more compact. That said, buyers of very high quality speakers are often sufficiently appreciative of sound quality to accept bigger speakers in their home.
While many buyers in this price range are only interested in pure two-channel music systems, the popularity of home theatre is now beginning to reach the audiophile market, and all of these speakers are available with matching subwoofers, rear effects and centre channel units if home theatre is your bag.
Info file
B&W
1800 817 787
www.e-hifi.com.au
Krix
08 8384 3433
www.krix.com.au
Monitor Audio
9597 3683
www.monitoraudio.co.uk
Testing carried out with the assistance of The Hi Fi Trader, 142 King Street, Newtown, 9550 4041.
Three contenders
All these are floor standing units with genuine wood veneers, and all can be bi-wired. Testing was carried out using a 60-watts-per-channel $2,200 Myryad MI 120 amplifier and a matching $2,150 Myryad MC 100 CD player.
B&W CM4
Featuring B&Ws famous Nautilus tweeter, a 16.5cm woven Kevlar mid/bass and a 16.5cm bass driver, these are available in maple or rose (pictured left). Standing 91cm high (by 20cm by 30cm) they are still relatively compact. With a wide soundstage and excellent responsiveness these have a nicely defined and accurate sound across the full range.
RRP: $3,299
Krix Esoterix 1 Mk 2
Imposing speakers indeed (96cm x 26cm x 43cm) from this veteran South Australian company. Beautifully built in jarrah or black with a generous 20cm woofer, a 13cm mid and a 2.8cm tweeter. Have a muscular sound and good staging, and most sensitive to amplification, getting richer and better defined with more power.
RRP: $3,200
Monitor Audio Silver 8i
With three 14cm drivers (two for bass and one midrange) and a 2.5 cm gold dome tweeter, these are the most compact (85cm x 20cm x 25cm) and to my eye the best looking of the lot. They are available in cherry or oak veneer. They have a big and delicious full-range sound and good imaging but are slightly less defined than the B&Ws.
RRP: $2,600
The verdict
I liked the B&Ws best for their accuracy and definition, but I'm not at all sure I'd pay an extra $700 over the very impressive Monitor Audios to get the improvement they bring. With a more powerful amplifier, Krix becomes a definite proposition.
© 2001 Sydney Morning Herald