New speakers or Eist Dubh 2!

[Ivor]

Please note that this ramble was written over several weeks as my quest for new speakers took a few twists and turns.... it might not flow coherently in places and timelines, like myself, may get somewhat confused. Bear with me!

I finally said goodbye to my Quad 989 speakers for all the wrong reasons. They were sounding great and fitting perfectly into my system but in what I can only assume was the dullest of mid life crises I decided I needed a change. Just like that. They went to a good home and at least I did get to go on a quest for the holiest of Holy Grails... speakers I could live with.

There were a few second hand pairs of interesting speakers around.... KEF, Dynaudio, Klipsch and also a few brand new offerings. I had a look in HiFi Hut off the Nangor road but it was all a little too conventional. It was all rectangles with cone drivers and I had acquired a taste for more exotic boxes. I wanted horny horns and tapered bass ports.... I wanted speakers that could be driven by flea watt amps (knowing my own was more of a well fed bluebottle) and most of all I wanted something that would hold my attention over infeasibly long listening sessions.
A quick trip to Cloney Audio extended into a 90 minutes or so listening session where I dismissed Dynaudio fairly quickly (crossing speakers off a list is as important as including them) and then Noel suggested speakers I'd never heard of... French made JMR. The "Bliss Silver" model to be exact. An unassuming two way stand mount speaker which I took an instant liking to. Not so much for it's pearlescent gray finish (it's also available in cherry) but it had a solidity to it, obviously well made and well thought out. It also has a chrome nut protruding from the back which I later found out goes through the speaker's magnet and holds the main driver in place.

I sat down and played a track I had just played through the Dynaudios and immediately, within 3 notes, I knew I was listening to something very different. These speakers were fresh out of the box and completely stiff yet they had a fluidity and musicality to them I rarely hear from conventional box speakers. They, along with their dedicated stands, were within budget and available for home demo... I'd be back in a week to pick up a set but first....

I dropped down to Fran's to pick up a demo pair of Eist Dubhs, just a quick visit, which lasted a fleeting and thoroughly enjoyable 2 ½ hours! Anyway I got home about 12:30 am, set up the speakers and turned the system on and got something to eat. As it was late my initial listening was at low volume levels but that didn't seem to matter... detail, soundstage and imagery were all there. Bass was lacking but given low volume that was perfectly understandable. I just played a few nearby CDs as I was going to bed "any minute now" but as I ran through Villagers Awayland, John Grant's Pale Green Ghosts and Muddy Waters Folk Singer I heard new subtleties in the music, new details even and certainly a different presentation. I had heard the Eist Dubhs in Fran's and Derek's but as we all know there is no substitute for hearing equipment in your own room in your own system.
I am absolutely determined not to compare the Eist Dubhs to the Quad electrostatics that had just left my room. For one thing this that's been done perfectly well elsewhere on the forum and for another that's just not the way I think. I try to take each new component on their own merits measured against all the equipment I've ever heard (or at least those that made an impression!). As with wine tasting I generally encourage people not to compare the sip they had ten minutes ago with the one they're having now... apart from providing a descriptive foil it serves no real purpose. I don't eat dinner wondering are these peas are nicer than those carrots? Perhaps it's something I learned with girlfriends many years ago? Anyhow I digress....
The bottom line is that even with low level listening it was 2am before I turned everything off and sat for a moment smiling. I strongly suspected the potential of these speakers was far greater than I had just heard and if that was the case then I knew that, in a worst case scenario, I was going to have a superb pair of speakers within my modest budget. Something I had seriously doubted up until hearing Eist Dubhs in my own room. Some serious listening to follow!


Ok... fast forward a few weeks. Lots of listening across many genres and at many volumes! Hugely enjoyable and mostly engaging. I think once the initial enthusiasm wore off I was aware that sometimes I wasn't getting quite as much I expected but I accept that happens with change and after all I was coming from what would be regarded as "reference" speakers. More and more I was aware that perhaps the lower midrange was muddy or details were not as clear as they should be. Music that normally had my toes tapping didn't engage me at all. That ain't right! My hifi senses told me not to necessarily blame the speakers and bear with it.... to be honest the sound was still pretty good and better than any alternatives I'd heard so I sat and I listened and I mulled....

I probably mulled for another week before it struck me that perhaps I didn't need the pre amp any more? I had tried the speakers without the pre amp in the first few days but it was a brief experiment and frankly inconclusive. This time I took out the pre completely and connected directly to the Airtight (essentially a power amp with gain and left & right volume attenuators). What a revelation! Suddenly everything sang! Clarity, space, air, bass, mid-range and treble all present and correct and more detail than I could have ever hoped for!
I tend to put a lot of emphasis on "synergy" in systems and in this case we had a pre amp that worked really well with the Quads but stifled the Eists. I'm sure there's a logic to it somewhere but I was happy to get to this point and needed no further explanation.

At this stage (mid July) I'm maybe a week away from taking delivery of my own brand spanking new shiny Eist Dubhs in lovely walnut. I'm cramming as much listening as I can on Fran's well broken in pair because it will be a while before my new ones loosen out to deliver this level of... well everything!

[Diapason]

Well I enjoyed that!!

[DaveF]

That was a great read indeed. As I've said before, nothing like a good ol story on ones hifi adventures. Interesting that the pre was somehow holding the Dubhs back. Perhaps they benefit from a more 'cleaner' route from source to speaker, who knows.

[Ivor]

Perhaps they benefit from a more 'cleaner' route from source to speaker, who knows.

That was my thought, perhaps somehow the Quad's additional electronics complemented the pre amp (or vice versa). Either way the improvement is clear and massive.

[jkeny]

Great read, Ivor
Your experience about preamps mirrors what I've seen reported many times - they tend to be detrimental to the sound

[tony]

Nice story Ivor congrats on your new Dubh's. Walnut? Is that a special or has Fran/Gerry expanded the colour options.
Not related but noticed a story on PFM about Spendor cabinet supplier in Denmark that has gone bankrupt. Spendor seemed to find it very hard to source a replacement of high enough quality. They ended up buying timberworx in Sheffield who it seems make cabinets for Harbeth and lot of other english companies.

[markof]

A very enjoyable story - many thanks.

I fully concur regarding removing the pre-amp from the signal path.

Lately I've been bypassing the pre-amp section of my Ariand and using the analog volume control on the DAC (iDSD nano).
More energy and clarity to the music - like a different system in many respects.


Mark.

[Ivor]

Nice story Ivor congrats on your new Dubh's. Walnut? Is that a special or has Fran/Gerry expanded the colour options.

I was chatting with Fran and wondered out loud if there were alternatives to black or white (black would have been ok) and it seems there was some solid walnut to hand. It's a little experimental but I imagine walnut will sound just lovely.

[Adrian]

That's that we like to hear..... another happy camper!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of the problems with changing from reference speakers is that there is always a risk.... what if it does not work out? But a change is as good as a rest...and one has to be brave at times.

Interesting comment about the Dynaudio... by any chance did you get a listen to the ProAc D30R speakers?

Great write up too Ivor!!

[Ivor]

by any chance did you get a listen to the ProAc D30R speakers?

No, they had made the short list alright but as soon as I settled down with the Eist speakers (even thought not heard at their best) I really lost interest in "conventional" speakers.