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Current setup:
Dana 630 L/R
Dana 660 C
old Cambridge Soundworks sats LR/RR
Onkyo 605
Apartment living room, hardwood floors, no treatment, 12\'x25\' but system is at one end running the short distance (couch approx. 10\' from speakers).
I have a history in audio, newbie to video consumption although I shoot/edit/produce video (among other things). I have a music production studio set up in the same space with Adam p11a NFMs. The system is mostly for HT, although given how good it sounds I might start listening to music this way instead of via my iPod.
I originally picked up a LCR setup from another ID company. Very nice speakers but quite plain in appearance (I didn\'t think that would bother me) and rather large/tall. For some reason the Dana speakers were talking to me, so I ordered up a set after a few email exchanges with Jon. Once they arrived, I spent a couple hours swapping between the two setups (keeping the same rear speakers, but heavily attenuating them) using Steely Dan\'s \"Two Against Nature\" live DVD as the reference material.
I started just running the LR in stereo. I was fairly shocked by the amount of low end the speakers will put out. And yes, these speakers are pretty small...much smaller than what I was used to and directly comparing them to. I eventually went to 5.1 mode and settled in. I won\'t wax poetic or try too hard to describe the speakers. Suffice it to say that the Dana speakers totally belie their size, have a very smooth and musical tone, the center channel is particularly articulate with voices, and crossed over at 80hz with a Hsu STF-2 sub; the fronts do whatever I needed effortlessly.
A few days later I popped in \"The Last Waltz\" as a second reference, given that I also know that movie and it has a great live mix with a lot of instrumentation. At first I was a little disappointed, as while the vocals were right out in front, the horns were a bit back in the mix, and the sticking was a tad soft on the drums. The other speakers were much more up front, but not nearly as articulate with the vocals. Then I happened to read a review here about the grills. I popped them off and viola\'...the horns were spectacular. The bottom line is that it seems in my situation the tone is source dependent. In some cases, I get a bit better definition and clarity with the grills off. In others (like HT), the grills actually seem to accentuate the vocals a bit (likely by masking some frequencies of other noises like horns). This is subtle, but I could hear it.
I then turned the system way down as I had other things to do, and it was getting late (I live on the ground floor of a 6 unit, 2-story building). When I came back and sat for awhile I discovered something quite amazing...the clarity and tone at low volumes was stunning. I\'ve found this not to be the case with most speakers...you usually have to pump them to get them to speak. But at low (conversation) volumes the Dana\'s were perfectly crisp and clear. That will make my neighbors happy.
The bottom line is that I packed up the other speakers and sent them back. I also ordered up a Cambridge Audio 540R V3 receiver as I think a high current amp will work better with these speakers. And now to decide what to do about the back channel speakers. Oh, and as a side benefit, these speakers are beautiful. I don\'t go for glossy/shiny/etc finishes. These are a very nice and subtle veneer with perfectly finished corners. Very sweet.
Rating:  [5 of 5 Stars!] |
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