I know we are about great sound, but if you want to expand your knowledge of genres and music or maybe just want to throw on some background music while you work etc, there’s a whole world out there.

I’m not exaggerating when I say this is likely the 20th time I’ve redone this room to optimize the listening position. Moving the main system is a proper pain in the ass given its well over 500 lbs with the speakers and the furniture. Thankfully, I’m happy with how everything sounds….. for now.

Took about 3 years of constant looking to find a swivel chair with a swivel plinth base that was the correct height to align my ears with both tweeters on each wall. Note for weirdos like me: I wanted a plinth base because it translated bass frequencies to your ass better than if it was on a traditional 4 leg base. If you are going for immersion you need a plinth base.

Both systems are running thier own time alignment room correction for the chairs position. I used to move my chair every time I switch systems, but no more.

Next step is to fill the side wall with more art / paneling. I have 6 panels and 2 bass traps currently.

Main System: Legacy Aeris speakers, Wavelet V1, Rega P6, custom odyssey Kismet amp, wiim ultra

Second system: B&G speakers, anthem STR integrated, REL predator series, wiim mini

Third (hidden) system: Cabasse Keshi Pearl 2.1

After using Willsenton R8 with El34 tubes for 4 years, I was thinking about an upgrade. I wanted to buy a huge SET amp with 300b and 845 tube combo from. China, but somehow I didn’t like the idea of buying 3k EUR tube amp with no warranty.

Suddenly I saw that the local distributor is selling a few Fezz amps with a huge discount as the new generation is coming out.

I just couldn’t pass on a new Lybra 300b for 2499 EUR (5050 EUR retail price) , it’s parallel single ended class A integrated with 4x300b tubes and 15w per channel.

Even with stock tubes it sounds beautiful. Not as warm as Wilkinson R8 with el34, but you can hear it’s a much higher-level amp - more detailed spacious sound, great bass response, pitch-black background. It doesn’t sound that tubey to be honest , but it has this magical midrange quality - like everything is spotlighted by autumn sunshine. Reminds me of the Accuphase amp I heard few years ago.

Those 4 300b tubes will be expensive to roll, haha, but I will get there. Drives 89db Proac Response 1.5 without an issue.

Today I have attended the Tokyo International Audio Show 2026, and I wanted to share some thoughts and pictures. I will try to upload a couple of vids as well.

It is a rainy day in Tokyo after about a month of sunshine, and I feel like it was perfect to visit the audio show. I gotta say it felt somewhat smaller and less busy than last year, but still quite interesting and enjoyable.
Here are some thoughts and observations:

Lynn showcased a new line up with updated drivers (switched from ferrite magnets to neodymium ones) - looks great, sounds absolutely fantastic, the prices are astronomical. They played a track with ukulele (Jake Shimabukuro: Heartbeat / Dragon (solo)) and I was amazed - I never saw ukulele as a serious instrument (please don't cancel me), but on a system costing close to USD100,000 anything is possible.

Another highlight - Piega Coax series. Clarity and details are on another level from anything I own.

Brodmann - they look very interesting: slim towers with only a twitter on a front panel - rest of the drivers are hidden behind the grilles on the sides. They were not a part of any listening sessions, and I really wonder what they sound like.

Vitavox - vintage speakers, I have seen them last year as well. They are the corner type, similar to Klipshhorn, and while I do love me some vintage sound, this was not for me.

Saw an interesting stack from Nagra - who is buying them at these prices???

Quite a few vacuum tube amps were featured, I was somewhat shocked when a 9-watt (sic!) tube amp drove the flagship Sonus Faber Amati G5 and it made me wonder, why do we even need giant power guzzling amps, just make the speakers more sensitive. Save the planet and all.

Throughout all the exhibition halls a number of cable stands, sound wave diffusers (or whatever they are called), flat cables etc. could be seen.

Wilson Audio flagship speakers are insane. I will try to upload a vid of them being moved.

Yamaha presented new active bookshelf speakers - NX-70A. They sound much bigger than they actually are, the way they filled the rather large room with sound was hard to believe, the lower end was very respectable as well.

More general thoughts: almost all speakers sound equally great; I couldn't really hear any significant differences (except Vitavox) at all.

Listening rooms are very soundproof and I think that contributes to the listening experience making music sound clearer. Also, I noticed that the listening volume and the choice of tracks remind me of ASMR somehow.

I also created a playlist of the music that was played if anyone is interested.

International Audio Show Tokyo 2026

Followed my gut on a local classifieds ad and hauled home these MB Quart 890 DN towers for €200.

​Coming straight from Revel Performa M20s, my day-one reaction was honest regret: "What have I done?" The sound felt unrefined, the highs lacked that clinical Revel precision, and I almost felt like packing them right back up.

​But day after day, something shifted. Sitting back and letting them play, the sheer scale, visceral presence, and effortless fullness of real floorstanders just started winning me over. My standmounts on heavy stands were surgical, but they simply couldn't move air or create this kind of stage.

​Cosmetically, the cabinets have a few minor vintage battle scars, but they're solid - I'm already planning a proper wood polish to bring back their deep luster.

​Pic 2 shows the original West Germany crossovers. Those tired ELKO glatt bipolars are 35+ years old and clearly need to go.

​I already picked and ordered fresh film capacitors to breathe real life into them, but the total came out to nearly €100 - literally half of what I paid for the speakers themselves.

​Am I completely insane, or is this just standard vintage audio sickness? For those who recapped old MB Quarts with film caps, how drastic was the difference for you?

MF m2si or Arcam sa20 for dynaudio emit 30.

Hi,

Has anyone noticed differences in sound quality, especially soundstage, or whatever, when using Paul’s Maestro Music app versus the Yamaha MusicCast app when streaming Qobuz?

I suppose, though I’m not sure, that both apps handle streaming in a similar way, and that MusicCast might already work like this.

Thanks,

Spent the day at the Tokyo International Audio Show and it was a pretty good reality check for what I actually like.

I went in already leaning toward JBL for my eventual main 2 channel setup with a Luxman L 509Z, and after hearing a bunch of much more expensive stuff, I’m still leaning JBL.

The biggest surprise was probably PIEGA. The Coax 611 sounded fantastic. Very open, very clean, great imaging, good bass, and enough energy that it never felt boring. Honestly one of my favorite speakers of the day. I wanted to hear the 811 too but the demo wasn’t until 18:00 and I wasn’t hanging around that long. Unfortunately both are way outside what I’m willing to spend.

Audiovector also impressed me. Really nice bass, good clarity, and a very spacious sound. Monitor Audio was also good and very full sounding, though a little bright on one track and I felt like it could use a sub for more punch.

TAD sounded excellent on classical. Very clean and controlled, but I still wouldn’t pick them over the JBLs for my own system.

The B&W room was interesting because I got to hear some absolutely stupid expensive gear, including the 801 D4 Signature. The piano imaging and scale were impressive, but overall B&W still just doesn’t do much for me personally. Same with Sonus faber and Spendor. Nice, polished, relaxed sound, but too tame for what I like.

One of the better rooms was SoulNote with EPOS. They were playing heavy symphonic stuff with lots of percussion and strings and it sounded excellent. Fast, dynamic, clean, and still had weight.

Then I went back to JBL and got them to play Danzig’s Sistinas. That was probably the most useful demo of the day because it’s music I actually know. The JBLs just sounded right to me. Big, immediate, punchy, effortless, and still had excellent imaging. That pretty much confirmed what I already suspected.

I also finally got to hear the Luxman L 509Z driving Focal Sopra No.2s. That was important because the 509Z is the amp I’m planning around. It sounded controlled, powerful, and clean without getting sterile. I feel even better about eventually pairing it with JBL 4349s.

Main takeaway from today: price absolutely does not equal preference. I heard systems costing absurd money that I respected but didn’t really want. The stuff I kept coming back to was JBL, PIEGA, Audiovector, and the SoulNote/EPOS room.

For my own setup, I’m still planning on the JBL 4349 with the L 509Z. The show mostly convinced me I’m on the right track rather than making me rethink it.

I'm planning a 7.1.4 home theater with KEF Reference 1 Meta fronts in a 40 m² room. About 80% of my listening will be stereo music.

I'm considering the Denon X3900H or X6800H, but I'm willing to spend considerably more for a higher-end AVR if it can deliver genuinely excellent stereo performance.

I really prefer keeping things simple with one machine rather than separate stereo and home theater amplifiers.

Has anyone actually compared a high-end AVR with a dedicated stereo amp using KEF Reference 1 Meta speakers? Is a one-box solution realistic, or would I be sacrificing noticeable sound quality?

The French know how to design stuff nicely when they feel like it!

Had these 40th Anniversary a while now and originally was hoping to order the last pair in darker Walnut but when I returned to the browser a few hours later, they were sold!

Maybe this was meant to happen because I have ended up really admiring the Golden Oak colour instead with how light, especially sunlight, plays off the grain patterns in the morning:

Even on the other side where the sun isn't shining the finish still catches my eye:

Also like that they're not too blingy like some speakers are, it is just the right amount of tasteful accenting and colour choices with this model.

The successor model, the Solstice 3....

... I feel personally loses the personality that the Comete Ez set, the tweeter horn is too bright and the ribbed edging feels a bit distracting, the main driver surround is cabinet coloured which to me looks odd as it breaks the wood pattern that the brain subconsciously expects to be there, this ring should have been black like the Ez too.

But back to the Comete, even at night with funky lighting colours turned on, the cabinets and paper white cones still catch the eye:

And yeah they sound as good as they look thankfully! My old speakers lasted almost 12 full years (KEF Q300) before the alu cones started to crack from a design flaw. I think these Triangles will last much much longer... as long as the paper doesn't fatigue I guess.

Anyway that's all for now, here's a croissant:

What are your favorite or what is your go to panning song(s) for stereo set up? I wouldn't say its my FAVORITE panning song, but any time I go to show someone the stereo sound on my JBLs I play Hold Me - Autopan version By Lavern

If you haven't heard it, I hope you check it out and like it. But tell me what YOU got!

Hey everyone! I’ve started building VSound Pro, an open-source Windows audio application featuring simultaneous multi-device output, independent EQ for each device, and 15+ equalizer presets.

The goal is to make it lightweight, clean, and practical. It’s still a work in progress, and I’d love to hear your suggestions!

I don’t feel like it’s a forgone conclusion that one MUST spend an equivalent amount on front end and amplification to the speakers these days. As someone who primarily streams the Eversolo paired with the a Purifi amplifier seems like a great pairing with the Sonus Faber Olympica Novas.

Curious if anyone else is running a similarly bottom end heavy system.

Sorry for the photo of my screen like I'm your aunt on WhatsApp, but DRM prevents native screenshots.

Hello,

During a party at Ana Mighty Sound, François Saint-Gérand had invited Frédéric d'Oria-Nicolas, the director of The Lost Recordings, to explain how his albums are produced and restored.
It was also an opportunity to listen to a press copy of the Dave Bruquet Quartet's album Live At Kurhaus 1967, which I invite you to discover in this review.
Frédéric d'Oria-Nicolas explained that the first step in the process is to track down original tapes by searching through various tape storage and archival centers around the world to unearth nearly forgotten recordings. Once the tapes are discovered, an initial sorting process is conducted to ensure that the complete set of tapes from a concert is available and meets a minimum quality standard.
From this point on, the tapes from a recording are digitized, with careful attention paid to optimizing playback to extract as much information as possible from the tape. Based on this digital version, the restoration process begins, this can take varying amounts of time depending on the quality of the tape and the recording itself.

So today I'm going to introduce you to the Sapphire Edition of the album, comparing it to the high-resolution digital version available for download and the CD-quality version available for download, which comes with a coupon included with the vinyl record.

The graph below compares the spectrum of the Vinyle Sapphire Edition - 2026 (white curve) with the spectrum of the Stereo Hi-Res - 2026 (blue curve). The near-perfect alignment of the spectral curves for these two editions demonstrates the skill and quality of Kevin Gray's lacquer cutting, Kevin Gray is now considered one of the masters of vinyl record cutting. Note that the vinyl edition exhibits a slight attenuation above 10 kHz (yellow zone), approximately 2 dB, compared to the digital version.

Spectrum Ed 3 Vinyle Sapphire Edition - 2026 (white) vs Ed 2 Stereo Hi-Res - 2026 (blue) (Three to Get Ready.)

The Sapphire Edition vinyl release is available in a deluxe box set with a high-end finish, it even includes a magnetic closure; nothing has been left to chance. We'd love to see this level of high-quality packaging in other competing high-end releases.
The album is pressed on two 200g transparent LPs, using a material that underwent extensive testing by Frédéric d'Oria-Nicolas to select the one that minimizes surface noise as quickly as possible.

The goal of The Lost Recordings is to introduce us to old recordings under the best possible conditions. It is the artistic and historical value of the performances that leads Frédéric d'Oria-Nicolas to restore a concert and turn it into an album, as is the case with this album, Live at the Kurhaus 1967, which features a beautiful rendition of Take Five.
The technical quality of this Sapphire Edition vinyl record is among the very best available, deserving a 5/5 for its production quality. This allows listeners to fully appreciate the restoration work done on this album. When listening, the vinyl version offers a more natural sound than the digital edition; this is certainly due to the smoother high frequencies (see the spectrum comparison) and also to the vinyl record itself, which, with its unique characteristics in terms of sound reproduction and distortion, creates a listening experience that enhances the restoration of this 1967 live recording, originally recorded in mono.
Above all, these restorations highlight the quality of the performances and the historical significance of these recordings.

Find all the analyses and measurements of each versions here (link).

Enjoy listening,
Jean-François

Hey audiophiles, I want to clear up a massive point of confusion regarding streaming Hi-Res Lossless (like 24-bit / 96kHz or 192kHz) from Apple Music on an Android device using a USB-C DAC/earphone.

​From what I understand of Android's core architecture (AudioFlinger/AudioTrack), standard apps that lack a dedicated "USB Exclusive Mode" driver pass their stream through the system-wide audio mixer.

​Even if Apple Music streams a true 24-bit / 96kHz or 192kHz file, does the Android OS force-resample it down to a fixed system rate (like 48kHz) before it ever hits the USB port?

​If this is true, does that mean Apple's marketing/playback claims for Hi-Res Lossless on Android are essentially useless unless you use a third-party app with native bit-perfect bypass (like USB Audio Player Pro with Tidal)?

​My main questions:

​Does Android still heavily resample standard app streams like Apple Music, rendering high-sampling rates pointless on stock Android?

​Is there any actual workaround to force true bit-perfect output for Apple Music on Android without having to switch entirely to an iPhone, a dedicated DAP, or moving to a Windows/Mac setup?

​Appreciate any deep-dive technical explanations on how this routing actually functions!

Some additional details are found here: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/trinnov-altitudeci-review-and-32-channel-build-thread.71992/

Room Details:

Well treated 12.5 foot x 14 foot room. For the 5 bed speakers, I have treated the first reflection points on all walls and ceiling. There is also numerous bass traps as well. Bass is +/-1dB down to below 20Hz, and will do 20Hz at 96dB SPL with only .6% THD (acoustically measured at the center seat).

Equipment Details:
DACs, Amps and processor:
Trinnov AltitudeCI 32 Channel
17 Benchmark AHB2's
16 Benchmark DAC3 B's
Benchmark HPA4 Headphone/Line Amplifier

Custom Watercooled PC:
Custom machined chassis, VFD display, 4k UHD drive slim drive, AMD threadripper processor
RME HDSPe AES 32-Channel AES/EBU PCI Express Card (used for PCM music playback)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (used for movie and Atmos album playback)

Subs and Speakers:
4 JL Audio F212 subs
4 JL Audio F113 subs
4 Klipsch Palladium P39f Floorstanding Speakers
1 Klipsch Palladium P-27c Center Speaker
6 Klipsch Palladium P-17b Bookshelf Speakers (with 1/4" custom made steel mounts)

Signal Routing:
As JRiver offers custom zone management, I created three zones: Trinnov HDMI, RME 2 CH AES, and RME 5.1 CH AES. I wrote a custom home automation driver from scratch that gives me full control over the AltitudeCI, along with a custom JRiver plug-in that sends commands to my home automation server to switch the CI between HDMI and AES just prior to track playback.

This actually works very well and allows me to use AES for all FLAC files, while automatically switching the CI's audio source to HDMI when playing movies, Atmos albums, or any other content that requires bitstreaming.

All signals originate from the PC through either HDMI or AES. Note that the AltitudeCI cleverly allows the HDMI video signal to remain active while using the AES inputs for audio.

All digital processing is done internally inside the AltitudeCI. The AltitudeCI then outputs 32 AES channels to 16 Benchmark DAC3 B's. Some of the DAC3 B's have their internal passive attenuation jumpers set to various levels 0 dB, -10 dB, or -20 dB.

This allows me to set the analog gain structure up in the analog domain, rather than throwing away level digitally upstream. That lets me reduce the DAC’s output voltage where I don’t need the full +24 dBu of analog output, while attenuating the DAC’s signal and the DAC’s own analog noise together. The goal is to better match the downstream device sensitivity, whether that’s the JL subwoofer inputs (note that the v2 subs run hotter than the v1 subs) or the AHB2’s 9.8 Vrms input requirement. A good way to think about it is that I’m not running excess gain and then compensating for it with large digital cuts. The result is cleaner gain structure, lower absolute noise at the driver, and better use of the available digital headroom.

Digital Headroom Management:
I also use JRiver to analyze all my FLAC files, then use the Maximize Volume for Peak Level Normalization option along with the DSP option Peak Level Normalize. This ensures the existing dynamic range stays intact, but the track levels are raised so that the sample peak for each track is 0.01 dBFS below 0 dBFS. If there are inter-sample overs (ISOs), they will not impact the processing inside the AltitudeCI because it uses 64-bit floating-point math internally and even preserves the source sample rate (many other processors do not). At the DAC stage, the Benchmark DAC3 Bs have an additional 3 dB of internal headroom that can easily accommodate ISOs.

This method also preserves valuable digital headroom at the AES outputs of the AltitudeCI, because I no longer have to turn the volume up by 6 dB, or in some cases even close to 20 dB, simply to compensate for tracks that were recorded and mastered at very low levels. I now have much more headroom and can easily achieve 120 dBC or higher in my room, which I rarely do for obvious hearing-safety reasons.

Channel Routing and Analog Headroom Management:
I've finally documented the complete DAC and amplifier mapping for my 32-channel Trinnov Altitude CI system. The setup uses 16 Benchmark DAC3 B DACs, 17 AHB2 amplifiers (5 stereo and 12 bridged), eight JL Audio Fathom subwoofers, and a Benchmark HPA4.

One particularly useful feature of the DAC3 B is its configurable output attenuation, including independent settings for the left and right channels. I'm using -10 dB pads on the midrange channels feeding the stereo AHB2s. This attenuates both the audio signal and the DAC's analog output noise by 10 dB, further lowering the noise floor at the midrange drivers while keeping the relative channel levels more closely matched within Trinnov. I'm also using -10 dB pads on the DAC outputs feeding the three Fathom F113v2 subwoofers to better match their levels to the older v1 models.

For the tri-amped bed layer, I'm running the AHB2s in bridged mono for the woofers and stereo for the midrange/tweeter pairs. Bridging provides substantially greater power and voltage swing for the more demanding low-frequency drivers, while stereo operation offers ample power with 6 dB less voltage gain than bridged mode. This helps balance the different driver sensitivities, reducing the amount of level compensation required in Trinnov and making better use of the available gain structure and headroom.

Note that the center channel is technically quad-amped rather than tri-amped. Its smaller woofers are less efficient than those in the P-39Fs, so I added a second bridged AHB2, giving each center woofer its own dedicated bridged amplifier. This provides greater flexibility for independently managing the center woofers' levels and headroom. The additional amplifier was necessary after encountering clipping during the particularly demanding opening sequence of Mad Max: Fury Road.

Another major advantage is Trinnov's flexible channel routing, which allows virtually any speaker channel to be assigned or remapped to AES, analog, or Dante outputs as needed. That flexibility, combined with the DAC3 B's independently configurable output attenuation, makes managing a system with this many separately amplified drivers considerably easier.

Cabling:
All cables going to the DACs, amps, subs and speakers were handmade to be the exact length needed by me. It was kinda fun for a while after making cables, but once you make 116 of them, it gets old.

Digital AES cables:
16 Canare DA206 110ohm cables with Neutrik gold plated XLR connectors goes out to each Benchmark DAC3 B from one of two Avid DB25-XLRM 4 ft DigiSnakes that are connected to the Trinnov AltitudeCI. Each DA206 110 ohm cable terminates into a Canare BCJ-XJ-TRC 110 Ohm to 75 Ohm digital audio impedance transformer. I then made 16 Canare LV-61S RG59 75 Ohm coax cables, using Canare BCP-C4B BNC connectors and Canare RCAP-C4A RCA connectors that connect to each Benchmark DAC3 B.

Analog XLR cables:
I made 32 custom-length analog cables using Canare L-4E6S Star-Quad cables, with gold-plated Neutrik XLR connectors at both ends. The star-quad geometry provides excellent rejection of magnetically induced interference, as demonstrated in this video, while the dense braided copper shield provides excellent protection against electric-field interference.

Speaker cables:
The speaker cables used were made from JSC Wire & Cable #2220, comprised of 12 gauge, oxygen free copper. Almost all long cable runs are Canare DA206 110ohm digital AES cables. This allows for much shorter speaker cable runs, thus improving the overall system damping factor. Due to this, for the bed layer speakers, the speaker cables are as short as possible, as the racks are distributed throughout the theater, beside the bed layer speaker they are driving.

Trigger cables:
All trigger cables were custom made to the exact length as well. I used Neutrik rean NYS226BG 3.5mm mono plugs.

Power cables:
Tripp Lite P007-L02 locking power cables were used at on all devices, cut to length, keeping the factory locking mechanism. I used Leviton 15 Amp straight blade 5256-BVO plugs, orange (I just liked the color).

Conclusions:

The Trinnov AltitudeCI does a great job at actively tri-amping, but needed some manual setup. The CI absolutely corrects any phase rotation from the LR4 filters I used very well. Conventional subwoofer setup worked fabulously after a few tweaks, yeilding +/-1dB to just below 20Hz, without even using WaveForming, which I assume could work even better if my room was large.

Imaging and sound staging are the biggest I've heard in my room. And now that I can listen to Atmos, I've been very impressed with several tracks. Even stereo midrange and image are absolutely breathtaking.

Today, there is a wide selection of various DAC offerings, especially in the lower price segments.
We can also thank Chinese manufacturers for this.

So, according to many users, DACs ranging from, for example, €200-500 are okay for some entry-level systems.
For some mid-level HiFi systems, it would be enough to go up to €1,000.
For those with higher demands (for design, and perhaps sound), there are more expensive and outrageously expensive offerings.
Of course, this division is arbitrary and not a rule. It's all about trying something (like "better sound") in your system and only then making a decision.

What do you think about all this?

Sorry if my English is a bit weird, this post was translated by AI.

I think I’ve finally found my happy place, and I really wanted to shine a light on Fezz Audio and Pylon Audio—two brands that don't get talked about enough here.

I already owned the Fezz Titania Evo, which I previously paired with Wharfedale Lintons and then Dynaudio Special Fortys. However, there was always something missing during listening sessions—especially at low volumes, which accounts for about 80% of my listening.

I love vintage-style speakers, so I decided to pick up the Pylon Jade 20s. They are 2-way speakers featuring a 12-inch woofer, and they were actually developed specifically using Fezz amplifiers.

The results are way beyond my expectations. I’ve never had a system that is this pleasant to live with and listen to. It handles my very diverse taste in music effortlessly (hip-hop, jazz, fusion, reggae, prog metal...) and, most importantly, it sounds fantastic at low volumes. For the first time in years, I’m just enjoying the music without overthinking anything.

Rest of the setup:

- Streamer: Cambridge EXN100

- Turntable: Pro-Ject The Classic

- Cables: DIY Canare / Mogami

I've recently dialed in my home theater setup with Dirac Live and am very impressed with how much more cohesive the sound is there.

Now I'm getting the itch to explore maybe getting a MiniDSP Flex and implementing the big D (Dirac) 🫢 into my 2 channel music setup (at least for digital and streaming) as well since I saw success with it on my home theater side.

Is this deemed audio indecency? Sonic sacrilegious for music? 😆

Would love your thoughts particularly anyone that has either implemented Dirac using the Flex or the SHD/SHD Studio...and don't mind reporting back how much it improve your sound stage, cohesiveness and overall audio impressions?

Thanks!

*Edited to include my current 2 channel setup as of now:

Wiim Ultra > SMSL PO100 Pro DDC > i2s > Denafrips Ares 12th-1 > Choco Sound Emei > Buchardt Audio S400 SE (Special Edition with the upgraded crossovers)

I have focal aria evo no 3. When I first got them I thought they'd be okay in my bedroom, I didn't realize the recommended listening distance is 10-13ft though.

My bedroom, 13.5x 9ft. I can get a good 6ft equalateral triangle with speakers away from the walls. I treated the bedroom with basstraps and i did first reflection points at walls and two more panels on ceiling. It sounds pretty good but I feel like im not using them to their full potential by having a greater distance between them.

In my basement I have a 21ft x 15.25 ft room. It has a pool table in it though. I could treat the room more, but I just don't know how badly the 8ft pool table would effect the acoustics.

Anyone think bigger room with pool table would be better call for wider soundstage and giving drivers more distance to blend?

I don't see many reviews on these particular speakers or company, so here is my experience thus far.

Starting off in the hobby only since last December, I had the smaller GR6s, which are truly fantastic speakers btw, but in my opinion, the GR8s are definitely on a different level. When the speakers arrived, I A/B tested them, and I could definitely tell the difference between the two. Yes, they are louder, but the GR8s are also clearer in the mids, which I did not expect.

Combining the GR8s with my British vintage amplifier is what I would describe as a warm, tube-like immersive experience. Almost like the GR8s are unlocking my amp’s full potential.

I have a difficult layout like many people. Two connecting rooms in a historic house, so the GR8s on slightly taller stands (which have nothing to do with the speakers per se) have made a huge difference to my listening experience. Even my inferior digital chain sounds incredible now. I’m still an analog fan girl though. 🥰

At just $500 more than the GR6s, the GR8s stand out as an overall better choice for a 2.0/2.1 setup, if you can accommodate the difference in weight and size. Anyways, it took me close to a year to get used to the GR6s, to take the leap to the massive GR8s. I would say they rival many Audiophile floorstanders. I still love the GR6s and plan to utilize them elsewhere. I think they would definitely shine in a slightly smaller room.

In my opinion, Aperion Audio really knocked it out of the park with the Grandis line.

My Equipment: VN Thorens TD125 > Sorane TA-1 Tonearm > Yamamoto HS-1A Headshell > Hana SL cartridge > MP8B phono + QS SUT > Musical Fidelity A300 Int amp > Aperion Audio GR8s + Rythmik F12 sub

Digital: Wiim Ultra > Geshelli Labs J3 DAC

Stands used with the GR8s is the 26" Kanto Speaker stands.

https://www.aperionaudio.com/products/gr8

I mean really listening, maybe even critical listening. Likely not considered an audiophile song but siting here listening and picking up the detail that might get lost with some speakers/headphones/etc really makes me appreciate sound. (all of it) Sometimes these things go unnoticed in music so remember to open your ears. (think Kuato)

Not sure what it is but I'm hearing it. I probably missed a few but here are some timestamps to listen for:

little tings: 25s, 28s, 31s, 34s, 37s, 40s, 43s, 1:12

big ting: 1:18

more little tings: 1:18, 1:21, 1:24, 1:27, 1:30, 1:33

So many tings to listen to.

/edit: Super rough timings above. I swear Spotify and higher quality sources produce more tings (and also change when you hear them, this video has a bit of a delay I think). This uploaded video (from YouTube) probably isn't the best representation of the track.