legal eagle
03-13-2008, 10:09 AM
Well all heard of how good expensive gear can be. Well, that's no surprise, as in a market environment it is hard to maintain crap gear at high prices (yeahh, we all know of some exceptions to the rule, but that's what they are - exceptions).
However, every once in a while we hit the GOOD exceptions to the rule: NEW (not vintage) good gear that's reasonably priced.
Here's an example: Needed some small speakers for the home office as the Polk RM3000 (two sattelites and a passive sub) were no match for the Mc C-28. Had my eyes set on some Dali bookshelf speakers, only their price was :yikes: ahhm...Danish. Well worth the $ if you have it - sounds fantastic, and looks the part http://www.dali.dk/uk/page288.aspx?sub=297&prod=717.
Than I ran across a pair of AMC speakers that went fo $120, and on a whim I got them. What a pleasent surprise! They are well built, and look good. But the sound - wow! I don't know if it is just the difference from the previous speakers I got used to in the home office or something else - but they have a "big" sound. They sound larger than they are, and their size is very small (see pics). The bass leaves something to be desired, but it is OK, and more than OK for the size. The real strength is the mids: what a pleasent surprize - good, pronounced and very little coloring. The highs are detailed but not screetchy.
The speaker terminals aaccomodate larger cables without a problem, and can take banans too - I think that's a nice touch on low priced speakers (and come to think of it: how much can it possibly add to the price? seriously, I don't get some of the price cutting methods sometimes).
They are not high end by no means, but what a good surprise.
However, every once in a while we hit the GOOD exceptions to the rule: NEW (not vintage) good gear that's reasonably priced.
Here's an example: Needed some small speakers for the home office as the Polk RM3000 (two sattelites and a passive sub) were no match for the Mc C-28. Had my eyes set on some Dali bookshelf speakers, only their price was :yikes: ahhm...Danish. Well worth the $ if you have it - sounds fantastic, and looks the part http://www.dali.dk/uk/page288.aspx?sub=297&prod=717.
Than I ran across a pair of AMC speakers that went fo $120, and on a whim I got them. What a pleasent surprise! They are well built, and look good. But the sound - wow! I don't know if it is just the difference from the previous speakers I got used to in the home office or something else - but they have a "big" sound. They sound larger than they are, and their size is very small (see pics). The bass leaves something to be desired, but it is OK, and more than OK for the size. The real strength is the mids: what a pleasent surprize - good, pronounced and very little coloring. The highs are detailed but not screetchy.
The speaker terminals aaccomodate larger cables without a problem, and can take banans too - I think that's a nice touch on low priced speakers (and come to think of it: how much can it possibly add to the price? seriously, I don't get some of the price cutting methods sometimes).
They are not high end by no means, but what a good surprise.