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dean_martin
09-23-2006, 10:11 AM
The Soliloquys were delivered Friday. I didn't expect them until sometime next week because I placed the order on Wed. afternoon. The speakers are heavy and have a gorgeous rosewood finish on the real wood veneers. The driver arrangement is "inverted" compared to what you usually expect in a 2-way. The only issue this creates for me is that I might need to get taller stands. My current stands are low to begin with, but my listening chair sits really low so my tweeters in my old speakers were at ear level. However, even with the short stands, I haven't noticed anything problematic. In fact, some images do appear taller than the speakers depending on the recording.

According to the included literature, these are broken in for 30hrs. before they are boxed up, but an additional 150hrs is recommended. I noticed a slight improvement in bass loudness within 5 hrs. I listened to several types of music - classical, jazz, straight ahead rock, indie rock, female vocals and some club type music like Mezzanine by Massive Attack. I'll say that all sounded excellent but I want to jump ahead to Cat Power's "The Greatest". Chan Marshall sounds wonderful and very present through these speakers. A couple of tracks have horns recorded at lower volumes than the vocal, drums and guitar tracks. The horns though understated were much more detailed than with my old speakers. The refinement and air in the treble that I was looking for is certainly there. There's no shrillness either. Violins from Vivaldi's Four Seasons soared. These speakers have that "boogie" factor going for them too. It must be the clear, transparent midrange because I found myself shakin' it (be thankful you weren't here) while listening to Kings of Leon's "Aha Shake Heartbrake". 5 of the 6 tracks on side one of the LP really rock and so do the speakers.

My cheap little Kodak digital doesn't do'em justice.

dean_martin
09-23-2006, 10:14 AM
Here's the right speaker:

dean_martin
09-23-2006, 10:18 AM
2 sets of rear flushmount binding posts. I guess I can experiment with bi-wiring in the future:

topspeed
09-23-2006, 11:35 AM
Nice!

It appears they sound as good as they look, and that's saying something. I'd wager the missus likes 'em as well. Did you say you got them for $300?!? That's quite a bargain :thumbsup:

audio_dude
09-23-2006, 12:43 PM
wow, looks great dean!

Mission speakers also have the inverted 2-way design, i'm sitting next to a 3 way mission right now and the tweeter is under the midrange. can't say it does anything better, but they sound nice none the less.

dean_martin
09-23-2006, 02:11 PM
Nice!

It appears they sound as good as they look, and that's saying something. I'd wager the missus likes 'em as well. Did you say you got them for $300?!? That's quite a bargain :thumbsup:

Da missus said they look expensive and sound good. That's high praise indeed. It's the first time she's sat down and listened to the Cat Power album with me and she really likes it.

My old speakers were $300 list when new. I've been waiting to move up to monitors in the $750 to $1000 bracket. The Solilioquys were $1000 when new. I got these nos for $550 shipped from Underwood HiFi in Georgia. I took a chance as there's no manufacturer's support but Walter at Underwood said he had all their extra drivers and that he wouldn't leave me hangin' if something wasn't just right.

Gotta get back to the Bama game. They're in a hog...err...dog fight with Ark. who always plays Bama tough.

bobsticks
09-23-2006, 03:23 PM
Nice buy, deano. Lookin' pretty fancy for the dollars and I'm sure they do sound great.Congrats.

Cheers

dean_martin
09-23-2006, 08:58 PM
Thanks, guys.

AD - I considered Mission bookshelf speakers about 5 years ago when I got the AEs. Mission had a run of several highly regarded speakers in a row. I almost got a pair from Audio Advisor.

Bernd
09-24-2006, 01:56 AM
Congrats. They look very nice and are really well finished , I love rosewood. A small inexpensive tip. Try and substitute the supplied Jumper links with Jumper cable. I bet you will hear a difference.
Enjoy.

Peace

Bernd:16:

basite
09-24-2006, 03:30 AM
congrats, Dean, they look very good and extremely well finished, i just wish that every speaker is as well finished as yours these days.

JoeE SP9
09-24-2006, 06:16 AM
Very nice looking speaker. Rosewood looks so much better than black, Oak or Walnut. They should sound even better after the full break in. Congrats!:yesnod:

Kam
09-25-2006, 11:04 AM
that rosewood looks great! beautiful finish on there. ive been wondering about bi-wiring myself, let me/us know if you biwire, what you find.

[although i have to say, i was wondering for just a second, after seeing the title of the thread, if you would post a pic of yourself standing in the living room deliving a monologue.... and i apologize for the lame joke, but i've been reading up on alot of shakespeare. :)]

dean_martin
09-25-2006, 12:30 PM
that rosewood looks great! beautiful finish on there. ive been wondering about bi-wiring myself, let me/us know if you biwire, what you find.

[although i have to say, i was wondering for just a second, after seeing the title of the thread, if you would post a pic of yourself standing in the living room deliving a monologue.... and i apologize for the lame joke, but i've been reading up on alot of shakespeare. :)]

My wife doesn't let me do that anymore. She said it was creepy or something.

nightflier
09-25-2006, 02:02 PM
Dean,

Nice speakers. Regarding the drivers, it seems that many manufacturers (Dynaudio comes to mind) tend to put the tweeters below on their higher end monitors (?).

P.S. What kind of speaker cables are you using?