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Post by anannra on Apr 6, 2013 15:01:00 GMT -5
Pair of Stealth 8's I ordered earlier this week arrived yesterday .....
They are beautiful.
Reviews will follow over the course of the next few days.
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Post by garbulky on Apr 6, 2013 15:03:16 GMT -5
Looking foward to it. Welcome to the lounge! What are you using as your source?
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Post by pawsman on Apr 6, 2013 16:17:41 GMT -5
A friend is ordering the Stealth 8s and XDA 2; he'll be using the XDA 2 as a DAC and Preamp directly into the Stealth 8. I'm anxious to hear what this combo sounds like; we plan on some lengthy listening sessions. I'll report back on our impressions.
pawsman
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Post by anannra on Apr 6, 2013 19:23:09 GMT -5
Right now a 24/96 sound card receiving data from an apple express toslink connection. Monday my xda-2 arrives.
So far the bass is phenomenal. But the mids and treble sound a bit congested as though the speakers have a bit of a cold. I blame is on the sound card, but I do hear the sound opening up compared to this morning. I suspect the sound will greatly improve when the xda-2 is inserted, and should improve over the course of the week. I fully expected these to be unforgiving of bad sources..... So far I think that's what I'm hearing... At least I hope so.
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Post by anannra on Apr 6, 2013 19:53:05 GMT -5
I can report the cab design exhibits nearly zero unwanted resonances. The tapered design works as expected.
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Post by anannra on Apr 8, 2013 23:08:53 GMT -5
XDA-2 arrived today... plugged it in and the "cold" i was reporting earlier has completely gone. Image has opened up significantly, and music sounds effortless.
Be warned.... if you have lousy sources, these speakers will show the weakness.
Although the image has cleaned up significantly with the xda-2 installed, mid range still exhibiting "break in" dynamics. Mid range details are slowly being revealed after each successive hour of listening.
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Post by edoggrc51 on Apr 12, 2013 19:43:10 GMT -5
Any pics??
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Post by bobbyt on Apr 13, 2013 0:39:28 GMT -5
Yes, please take pictures with them in their natural setting and common objects around so I can reassure myself that they're just way too big to replace either my 6s at my desk or my SCM12s in my living room...
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Post by pawsman on Apr 15, 2013 21:46:15 GMT -5
My friend Dave and I set up his pair of Stealth 8's earlier tonite, with an Emotiva XDA 2 as the source driven by a Panasonic Blue player with a toslink connection. Just a few initial impressions about our 3 hour listening session. These Monitors really kick, with tremendous dynamics and SPL capability. We played a variety of music from the Classic Mickey Hart Planet drum (we both remarked at how great the bass was, almost unbelievable for a 2-way monitor) to some Keith Johnson recordings on the RR Label, Including the Count Basie Big band cut "Shiny stockings" (RR63), and the orchestra recordings Night on Bald Mountain (RR82) and Dance of the Tumblers (RR71). The Soundstage was wide and deep, massed strings were very natural, and dynamics were explosive. Percussion transients on the Mickey Hart were very well reproduced by the Heil tweeter. For solo piano, the Byron Janis recording of "Pictures at an Exhibition" (Mercury 434 346-2) was the best I've ever heard on any system, just remarkably natural piano sound with very good bass definition and power.
On the audiophile CD "Cantate Domino" solo voice and chorus were very natural, hall ambience retrieval was good and the Stealth 8 mid/bass driver really dug down deep on the organ accompaniment. I'll report back in more detail later-
pawsman
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Post by vinylfreak on Apr 15, 2013 22:02:57 GMT -5
Dan and the crew had the Stealth 8s hooked up to an XDA-2 going into an XSP-1 at Emotiva On The Road at Naperville last Saturday. They sounded and looked Amazing! Congrats!! ;D    |
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Post by anannra on Apr 15, 2013 23:21:41 GMT -5
I can concur with pawmans findings.
Unfortunately, my environment isn't nearly as fancy as those pictured above, but I'll post some pics shortly.
As for the sound, initially I could hear the difference between a fast paced bass drum and a bass guitar. Now, the instruments and distinct and clearly seperated. Bass is excellent for a design of this kind.
Midrange is still opening up, but has greatly improved over the last week. Fast, and nearly compression free. Not quite JBL 4343 compression free, but close enough for the money spent.
In my setup/environment, I needed to set the HF eq to +1. I'm certain it's because I don't have the speakers on proper stands (ie listening hight), but for the moment, HF at +1 sounds stunning.
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Post by monkumonku on Apr 15, 2013 23:28:29 GMT -5
My friend Dave and I set up his pair of Stealth 8's earlier tonite, with an Emotiva XDA 2 as the source driven by a Panasonic Blue player with a toslink connection. Just a few initial impressions about our 3 hour listening session. These Monitors really kick, with tremendous dynamics and SPL capability. We played a variety of music from the Classic Mickey Hart Planet drum (we both remarked at how great the bass was, almost unbelievable for a 2-way monitor) to some Keith Johnson recordings on the RR Label, Including the Count Basie Big band cut "Shiny stockings" (RR63), and the orchestra recordings Night on Bald Mountain (RR82) and Dance of the Tumblers (RR71). The Soundstage was wide and deep, massed strings were very natural, and dynamics were explosive. Percussion transients on the Mickey Hart were very well reproduced by the Heil tweeter. For solo piano, the Byron Janis recording of "Picture at an Exhibition" (Mercury 434 346-2) was the best I've ever heard on any system, just remarkably natural piano sound with very good bass definition and power. On the audiophile CD "Cantate Domino" solo voice and chorus were very natural, and the Stealth 8 mid/bass driver really dug down deep on the organ accompaniment. I'll report back in more detail later- pawsman Thanks for posting your review! And from that I ended up buying the Byron Janis and Cantate Domino recordings. Those old Mercury Living Presence recordings are incredible. Probably going to buy the Reference Recordings RR-71, too. Stop listing these things.. next thing you know I'll get the Stealth 8's as well! ;D |
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Post by pawsman on Apr 16, 2013 7:30:44 GMT -5
Yes, virtually all the Keith Johnson recordings on the Reference Recordings label are of reference quality. My next upgrade is to get a player that plays the 24 bit HRX recordings on DVD-ROM.
pawsman
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Post by garbulky on Apr 16, 2013 8:16:12 GMT -5
How has this not gotten professional reviews by now?
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pete1
Seeker Of Truth
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Post by pete1 on Apr 19, 2013 15:51:26 GMT -5
Dan and the crew had the Stealth 8s hooked up to an XDA-2 going into an XSP-1 at Emotiva On The Road at Naperville last Saturday. They sounded and looked Amazing! Congrats!! ;D I wish I could listen to these babies.... I am surprised they put a pre-amp between the XDA-2 and the Stealth 8. I thought the XDA-2 is also a pre-amp in its own right. |
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pete1
Seeker Of Truth
Posts: 3
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Post by pete1 on Apr 19, 2013 15:54:51 GMT -5
I can concur with pawmans findings. Unfortunately, my environment isn't nearly as fancy as those pictured above, but I'll post some pics shortly. As for the sound, initially I could hear the difference between a fast paced bass drum and a bass guitar. Now, the instruments and distinct and clearly seperated. Bass is excellent for a design of this kind. Midrange is still opening up, but has greatly improved over the last week. Fast, and nearly compression free. Not quite JBL 4343 compression free, but close enough for the money spent. In my setup/environment, I needed to set the HF eq to +1. I'm certain it's because I don't have the speakers on proper stands (ie listening hight), but for the moment, HF at +1 sounds stunning. Hi Anannra, I am very interested in your full impression on the Stealth 8, their weaknesses and strengths. Are they a keeper? |
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Post by anannra on Apr 21, 2013 22:44:15 GMT -5
Another couple of days of listening and hf at +1 is too bright. I've set it back to factory setting. I think after a few weeks of listening, I can firmly say these speakers are a keeper. Bass is fast and articulate, midrange is very neutral, and treble sounds precise without being bright. Listening to beggars banquet, I get the sense the stones are playing live in my family room  |
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Post by anannra on Apr 21, 2013 22:53:37 GMT -5
The only weakness I would suggest these speakers have is if you are looking for speakers that sound like typical high end speakers, say like proac , theil, or b&w, then these are not for you. These speakers are annoyingly transparent. Lousy sources will simply give you bad sound. I bought the xda-2, after being woefully disappointed by my existing setup. Now all is well.... These are keepers as far as I'm concerned. I can concur with pawmans findings. Unfortunately, my environment isn't nearly as fancy as those pictured above, but I'll post some pics shortly. As for the sound, initially I could hear the difference between a fast paced bass drum and a bass guitar. Now, the instruments and distinct and clearly seperated. Bass is excellent for a design of this kind. Midrange is still opening up, but has greatly improved over the last week. Fast, and nearly compression free. Not quite JBL 4343 compression free, but close enough for the money spent. In my setup/environment, I needed to set the HF eq to +1. I'm certain it's because I don't have the speakers on proper stands (ie listening hight), but for the moment, HF at +1 sounds stunning. Hi Anannra, I am very interested in your full impression on the Stealth 8, their weaknesses and strengths. Are they a keeper? |
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