I finally decided on speakers.

[musiclover187]

After going back and forth between Focal Chorus 826 and GoldenEar Tech Towers. I chose the GoldenEars. They just had a better all-around sound. I also chose the GoldenEar SuperStat 50 for my center channel. I am keeping the in-wall Polks that I presently have as my surrounds. I also have a Polk powered sub that is about 10 yrs old and lacks detail that I will replace eventually. With the powered subs in the GoldenEars I may not need a separate sub. I also ordered an Oppo BR93. I am going to use my Denon AVR 2807 for now.
I presently have the cable box,TV and DVD connected to the Denon via HDMI cables. My question is this...
I want the best possible sound for music. Will the HDMI cable give me that or should I run analog cables for audio? Also...should I connect the new Oppo directly to the TV via HDMI?
Thanks in advance for your insight.
John

[Mr Peabody]

I just recently become aware of Golden Ear, a guy here in town is beginning to sell them but I have not heard them yet. They are supposed to sound really good. I'm not passing judgment until I hear them but the fact they mention using DSP internally made my purist side cringe a bit.

Hook your Oppo into the receiver like the other devices and continue to just have the one connection from the receiver to the TV. I really doubt you will see any difference from that and going direct to TV. If you went direct to TV you'd need two HDMI cables one for audio to receiver and one for video to TV, no sense in that. Your audio connection will need to be HDMI in order to receive HD audio formats, DTS-MA & Dolby Tru-HD. Unless you use multichannel analog which is unnecessary with you having HDMI inputs on your receiver.

Which would sound better analog or digital depends on whether the Oppo or Denon has the best DAC and analog paths. Analog, the Oppo will decode the digital to analog, using HDMI the conversion will be done inside the Denon. The only way to know for sure is to hook it up both ways and compare. I suspect the analog connection might sound better but it's purely speculation on my part.

[musiclover187]

Regarding the GoldenEars.....I listened to PSB Imagine Ts, Image T6s, Focal Chorus 816s,
Focal Chorus 826s, a few Viennas, Thiels, B&Ws and Def Techs(which I didn't care for) So when my dealer asked me to listen to the GoldenEars I was apprehensive to say the least considering the relationship of Def Tech and GoldenEars. I was expecting to say thanks but I'll take the Focal 826s thank you. But I was pleasently surprised and very impressed with the
GoldenEars. I can't wait for them to arrive!

Thanks again,
John

[02audionoob]

Were there any specific characteristics where the 826s fell short?

[devuonoste]

Congrats on the GoldenEars.

From what I've read they seem like an amazing set of speakers. It's amazing how many great speakers are becoming available at reasonable prices in the last little while. Lots of choices out there.

Hope you enjoy them for a long time.

[musiclover187]

low end. The soundstage was fantastic.The imaging awesome. If I didn't listen to the GoldenEars I would have purchased the Focals. The Focals are a bit brighter and up front. Coming from the brightness of my Klipsh Ref 3s I was a little worried that if I really cranked up the Focals I would get fatigued.

[musiclover187]

I hope to enjoy them for a long time.

Congrats on the GoldenEars.

From what I've read they seem like an amazing set of speakers. It's amazing how many great speakers are becoming available at reasonable prices in the last little while. Lots of choices out there.

Hope you enjoy them for a long time.

[Mr Peabody]

As I mentioned I'm just recently learning about the GE, how are they related to Def Tech? Or, did you mean just because they have a similar design using powered woofers?

Appreciate the feedback, the 826 was a speaker recommended to me by a Conrad Johnson dealer, they seemed to think it was a real over achiever.

[musiclover187]

was also one of the founders of Def Tech. Hence the relationship. He was also one of the founders of Polk. So GoldenEar isn't some upstart speaker company. Sandy Gross has many years of experience in the speaker business. According to Mr Gross, the reason he started GoldenEar was to manufacture an excellent sounding speaker at a reasonable price.
Some of the articles that I've read have compared the Triton Towers to speakers that cost 3 or 4 times more. Of course like with anything else it's all personal preference.

[frenchmon]

I've listened to the Golden ear speakers and they do sound great. While im not a big fan of built in subs, they did sound really really good . While one of the designers from DefTech did create the Gold Ear, I find the GE speaker has a totally different sound and is a much more attractive speaker....very adult looking. congrats.

[swan24]

Buyer's remorse is such a funny thing... You purchase something-- esp. a pair of loudspeakers-- and you think, ' could I have done better for the money?...' And you stay up late at night listening for the slightest anomalies... You finally fall asleep, but have visions of loudspeakers... Loudspeakers dancing in front of you... Loudspeakers chasing you down the hallways, whatever...

Takes me a few months to finally settle down and actually enjoy the buggers... (m.)

[Hyfi]

low end. The soundstage was fantastic.The imaging awesome. If I didn't listen to the GoldenEars I would have purchased the Focals. The Focals are a bit brighter and up front. Coming from the brightness of my Klipsh Ref 3s I was a little worried that if I really cranked up the Focals I would get fatigued.

Your description above is pretty much the deal with most JM Labs - Focal speakers until you go way up the chain.

French speakers are known to be fast, accurate, good mids and highs with very clear and distinct bass, that just doesn't get down there. It is definitely a preference to like the sound or not.

My JM bookshelves are everything you listed. The Grand Utopias sound nice too and have bass but at a small price.

Congrats and enjoy.

[Tarheel_]

There is a glowing review of the GoldenEars HT system in the latest Home Theater Magazine...and I do mean glowing.

Congrats on the new speakers!! ...maybe post some pics when you get some free time.

[bobsticks]

I'm not passing judgment until I hear them but the fact they mention using DSP internally made my purist side cringe a bit...

Tell that to Meridian...