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.
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.