Effem
26-10-2011, 18:47
Speaker change time again :)
I sold my Dali Suites a while back and bought a pair of Ruark Epilogues in anticipation of a house move, but I really, really, really couldn't get on with them in my current listening room. The move is only 5 - 6 weeks away, but that seems like a long time right now so I bit the bullet and sold the little Ruarks.
That was in reality the easy bit because finding a replacement was no easy task. Firstly, the overwhelming majority of bookshelf/standmount speakers seem to be centered around 30cm tall with a 5" or smaller bass unit, in which case I might as well have stuck with the Ruarks. The next step in size is around the 50cm mark which really is too big, so that narrowed the field down somewhat again. A search on the infamous action site revealed a plethora of Mission/B&W/Kef/Tannoy models, none of which I particularly like the sound of to be honest. Add to that a budget and the list went shorter still.
I had my sights set on some Epos M12.2s but the bidding went a tenner or so over what my hi-fi piggy bank was holding - gutted. When the house move is complete I will be hunting a pair of those out - maybe.
I say "maybe" because I did yesterday what I have not done in a good few years; I took a punt on an almost unknown marque/model just for the hell of it. I am donald ducked if I know what possessed me to press that "Buy It Now" button, but press it I did and the results of that folly arrived today.
And here the beastie is:
http://uk.jbl.com/system/html/Image%20-%20ES30%20%20(Cherry,%203D%20View)-e5ef2e17.jpg
JBL ES30.
It is often said "The photo does not do it justice" and in this instance it is rather apt. Lovely rich Cherry wood side cheeks on a tapered cabinet, with a mid grey face plate holding the drivers, each with a faux metal decorative surround. No, your eyes are not deceiving you, they do have twin tweeters, metal too - crikey, a sure fire recipe for excessive brightness you might think, but not so. They look small too, but they are actually quite large with dimensions of (H x W x D) 387mm x 223mm x 330mm and a six inch bass driver no less in a rear ported cabinet. Reassuringly heavy too at 8.9kg each. Price? A mere £189 plus postage, which isn't big money for a decent quality pair of speakers.
I won't give you a sound report yet because they have only had less than an hour on the amp and I reckon these are going to need a LOT of running in before they give of their true character. From what I have heard so far though, they do treble very nicely with ambience, space and reverberation captured beautifully which I have not heard in a speaker this side of £3k. The bass is a tad wallowy and a push on the bass cones tells me they really do need some stick to loosen them up before they will give of their best.
To come back to the "maybe" statement, the Epos M12.2s on my hit list are certainly on the lively side of neutral and the treble isn't as refined as some, so that was an intended purchase based upon reviews. These JBLs certainly have that elusive refinement in the treble registers, a transparent midband and a bass that sounds 'tight' just now, which may see the Epos purchase put on hold after some running in with these JBLs. Quelle surprise.
At one time I used to buy nothing at all that was flavour of the month and go for the obscure oddballs which nobody had heard of. I discovered some real gems at that time and although I enjoyed that immensly, come resale time I got hurt in the pocket and no doubt the JBLs will cause me similar pain, but what the heck :lol:
I sold my Dali Suites a while back and bought a pair of Ruark Epilogues in anticipation of a house move, but I really, really, really couldn't get on with them in my current listening room. The move is only 5 - 6 weeks away, but that seems like a long time right now so I bit the bullet and sold the little Ruarks.
That was in reality the easy bit because finding a replacement was no easy task. Firstly, the overwhelming majority of bookshelf/standmount speakers seem to be centered around 30cm tall with a 5" or smaller bass unit, in which case I might as well have stuck with the Ruarks. The next step in size is around the 50cm mark which really is too big, so that narrowed the field down somewhat again. A search on the infamous action site revealed a plethora of Mission/B&W/Kef/Tannoy models, none of which I particularly like the sound of to be honest. Add to that a budget and the list went shorter still.
I had my sights set on some Epos M12.2s but the bidding went a tenner or so over what my hi-fi piggy bank was holding - gutted. When the house move is complete I will be hunting a pair of those out - maybe.
I say "maybe" because I did yesterday what I have not done in a good few years; I took a punt on an almost unknown marque/model just for the hell of it. I am donald ducked if I know what possessed me to press that "Buy It Now" button, but press it I did and the results of that folly arrived today.
And here the beastie is:
http://uk.jbl.com/system/html/Image%20-%20ES30%20%20(Cherry,%203D%20View)-e5ef2e17.jpg
JBL ES30.
It is often said "The photo does not do it justice" and in this instance it is rather apt. Lovely rich Cherry wood side cheeks on a tapered cabinet, with a mid grey face plate holding the drivers, each with a faux metal decorative surround. No, your eyes are not deceiving you, they do have twin tweeters, metal too - crikey, a sure fire recipe for excessive brightness you might think, but not so. They look small too, but they are actually quite large with dimensions of (H x W x D) 387mm x 223mm x 330mm and a six inch bass driver no less in a rear ported cabinet. Reassuringly heavy too at 8.9kg each. Price? A mere £189 plus postage, which isn't big money for a decent quality pair of speakers.
I won't give you a sound report yet because they have only had less than an hour on the amp and I reckon these are going to need a LOT of running in before they give of their true character. From what I have heard so far though, they do treble very nicely with ambience, space and reverberation captured beautifully which I have not heard in a speaker this side of £3k. The bass is a tad wallowy and a push on the bass cones tells me they really do need some stick to loosen them up before they will give of their best.
To come back to the "maybe" statement, the Epos M12.2s on my hit list are certainly on the lively side of neutral and the treble isn't as refined as some, so that was an intended purchase based upon reviews. These JBLs certainly have that elusive refinement in the treble registers, a transparent midband and a bass that sounds 'tight' just now, which may see the Epos purchase put on hold after some running in with these JBLs. Quelle surprise.
At one time I used to buy nothing at all that was flavour of the month and go for the obscure oddballs which nobody had heard of. I discovered some real gems at that time and although I enjoyed that immensly, come resale time I got hurt in the pocket and no doubt the JBLs will cause me similar pain, but what the heck :lol: