Has anybody heard Mark and Daniel Speakers [Archive] - Audio & Video Forums

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Jack in Wilmington
06-01-2007, 02:15 AM
The dealer I'm going to on Saturday for a speaker audition e-mailed me today to tell me that he had a new set of speakers that he wanted me to hear when I'm in there. I was just wondering if anybody here has heard them or heard of them for that matter. That will make 5 speakers I will be checking out when I'm there. This may take a while.

JSE
06-01-2007, 01:50 PM
The dealer I'm going to on Saturday for a speaker audition e-mailed me today to tell me that he had a new set of speakers that he wanted me to hear when I'm in there. I was just wondering if anybody here has heard them or heard of them for that matter. That will make 5 speakers I will be checking out when I'm there. This may take a while.


Never heard them before but their monitor speaker has a driver modeled after Oskar Heil's AMT (Air Motion Transformer). My father has Heil's ESS speakers from the 70's with the AMT and they are very nice and smooth. Not a bright speaker my any means (which I like) but very nice mid range and great bottom end.

They should be worth a listen.

Jack in Wilmington
06-01-2007, 03:30 PM
Never heard them before but their monitor speaker has a driver modeled after Oskar Heil's AMT (Air Motion Transformer). My father has Heil's ESS speakers from the 70's with the AMT and they are very nice and smooth. Not a bright speaker my any means (which I like) but very nice mid range and great bottom end.

They should be worth a listen.

That's what I figure. I was going there anyway to listen to the Usher's, the Opera's and the Totem. Why not listen to something unheard of, it may be a diamond in the rough so to speak.

audio_dude
06-04-2007, 01:43 PM
That's what I figure. I was going there anyway to listen to the Usher's, the Opera's and the Totem. Why not listen to something unheard of, it may be a diamond in the rough so to speak.


true that, true that.

well, you never know what a small (or new) company can spit out [< i mean that in the good way]

Jack in Wilmington
06-04-2007, 02:42 PM
true that, true that.

well, you never know what a small (or new) company can spit out [< i mean that in the good way]

Well I did find a couple diamonds in the rough, but it wasn't the Mark and Daniel speakers.
They were just not what I'm looking for. Smooth highs, but with a slight brightness that may wear on you in time. Didn't have the bottom end dymanics that I'm after.

The Von Schweikert VR-1 and the Opera Consonance Eric 1's sounded very similar to me. Nice controlled highs, without a hint of brightness. Went low when they were called on to do so, without sounding boomy. I can see why several of the members here have these speakers and recommend them highly.

But for me the star this day was the Usher X-719. It had the liquid highs that I'm looking for and the bass dynamics that make you forget it's a stand mount speaker. Huge soundstage that filled the room. No matter what kind of music I threw at the X719, it made it sound like I had never heard it before. Or at least not presented in this manner.

Then just as I was packing up to leave, the owner says why don't you let me play these for you. I figured, what the heck. First he asks me to listen to the AAD 2001. These are some very impressive speakers, starting with the fact that each of these average size bookshelf speakers weighs in at 51 lbs. The other speaker was the JAS Orior speaker.
At $3750 they were out of my price range. But an excellent speaker to be sure.

superdougiefreshness
06-04-2007, 11:50 PM
true that, true that.

well, you never know what a small (or new) company can spit out [< i mean that in the
good way]

Does anyone have a contact or website for the Mark and Daniel Speakers ? Would love to see some pictures and read some literature on these babes..........
Thanks
SuprDugiFreshNaa$$$$ - LOL - cus i just had too... Ok :cornut:

Jack in Wilmington
06-05-2007, 01:58 AM
Does anyone have a contact or website for the Mark and Daniel Speakers ? Would love to see some pictures and read some literature on these babes..........
Thanks
SuprDugiFreshNaa$$$$ - LOL - cus i just had too... Ok :cornut:

Go to this web site

questforsound.com

under the speaker section you'll see them listed

topspeed
06-05-2007, 10:51 PM
Thanks for the insight on the M&D's. It's interesting that you found that ribbon tweeter fatiguing, I guess making a small aluminum ribbon cover 800hz-33khz (or whatever it was) can be pretty tricky.

I've not heard the Opera's, but drseid has a pair and is also a Von Schweikert proponent, thus it's not surprising they have similar qualities. It sounds like we may have similar tastes as I'm a big fan of Usher as well. If I ever get around to building another rig, the 8571's are definitely on my short list. I used to consider Usher and VSA as direct competitors, but with VSA's new pricing structure, I think the value balance is tipped more in favor of Usher. The VR4jr's at $4k were a great buy...at $6k? Not so much.

Jack in Wilmington
06-06-2007, 03:29 PM
Thanks for the insight on the M&D's. It's interesting that you found that ribbon tweeter fatiguing, I guess making a small aluminum ribbon cover 800hz-33khz (or whatever it was) can be pretty tricky.

I've not heard the Opera's, but drseid has a pair and is also a Von Schweikert proponent, thus it's not surprising they have similar qualities. It sounds like we may have similar tastes as I'm a big fan of Usher as well. If I ever get around to building another rig, the 8571's are definitely on my short list. I used to consider Usher and VSA as direct competitors, but with VSA's new pricing structure, I think the value balance is tipped more in favor of Usher. The VR4jr's at $4k were a great buy...at $6k? Not so much.

If you ever run across a dealer that carries the M&D's, I would like to hear someone elses opinion. I tried to give each speaker a half hour with various types of music, but the M&D's just weren't doing it for me. But that left me with some extra time to listen to the AAD and the JAS speakers. Now I need to listen to the other couple speakers on my list and cut to the top two or three. I have two favorites now, the Usher and the Dynaudio Focus 140. These last couple speakers are up against some stiff competition.

drseid
06-07-2007, 08:44 AM
Well I did find a couple diamonds in the rough, but it wasn't the Mark and Daniel speakers.
They were just not what I'm looking for. Smooth highs, but with a slight brightness that may wear on you in time. Didn't have the bottom end dymanics that I'm after.

The Von Schweikert VR-1 and the Opera Consonance Eric 1's sounded very similar to me. Nice controlled highs, without a hint of brightness. Went low when they were called on to do so, without sounding boomy. I can see why several of the members here have these speakers and recommend them highly.

But for me the star this day was the Usher X-719. It had the liquid highs that I'm looking for and the bass dynamics that make you forget it's a stand mount speaker. Huge soundstage that filled the room. No matter what kind of music I threw at the X719, it made it sound like I had never heard it before. Or at least not presented in this manner.


Glad you enjoyed the VR-1s and Eric-1s... I'll have to check out the Ushers one of these days. I have heard a lot of great things about them and have since wanted to hear them for myself but alas I keep missing them when I go to CES each year. Maybe the next visit will be the charm... Then again, it might be time for a road trip over to Quest For Sound as I really like that place, and they have some great lesser known lines too. You are lucky to have them in the vicinity...

Good luck with your search

---Dave

Jack in Wilmington
06-07-2007, 04:30 PM
Glad you enjoyed the VR-1s and Eric-1s... I'll have to check out the Ushers one of these days. I have heard a lot of great things about them and have since wanted to hear them for myself but alas I keep missing them when I go to CES each year. Maybe the next visit will be the charm... Then again, it might be time for a road trip over to Quest For Sound as I really like that place, and they have some great lesser known lines too. You are lucky to have them in the vicinity...

Good luck with your search

---Dave
Yea Dave, thanks for the heads up on Quest for Sound. I've never been to a place that carried so many brands of speakers. I spent two hours there and never got out of the room where they had all the bookshelf speakers. Stephen took me around in the beginning for the tour. It's not a high overhead place, so they can pass the savings on to the customer.
The one room he took me in had most of the real high end speakers. The cheapest pair were $25,000.