3 Speakers Compared! Sound Clips! Ultimate Audiophile Recording!
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- Опубліковано 6 вер 2024
- SWAG: new-record-day...
💎💎💎 Speakers reviewed and recommend! 💎💎💎
Bookshelf:
Elac Unifi 2.0: amzn.to/2OrL5RW
Elac UB5: amzn.to/3qo2msU
Elac Debut 2.0: amzn.to/3uVfWar
Elac Debut Reference: amzn.to/2OnQU2W
SVS Ultra: amzn.to/3uXIkZJ
JBL Studio 530: amzn.to/3uVagNL
Floorstanding:
Q Acoustics Concept 500: amzn.to/3ddGkEx
SVS Ultra: amzn.to/3qo2msU
SVS Prime Pinnacle: amzn.to/2MMYt2J
Elac Debut 2.0: amzn.to/3ruZRX7
Elac Unifi 2.0 UF52: amzn.to/3uXJa8P
Elac UF5: amzn.to/3e9ri4F
Triangle Borea Bro 8: adorama.rfvk.n...
PSB Alpha T20: amzn.to/3uS2swa
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Track 1 - Speaker 1 - 5:04
Track 1 - Speaker 2 - 7:18
Track 1 - Speaker 3 - 8:36
Track 2 - Speaker 1 - 9:42
Track 2 - Speaker 2 - 11:14
Track 2 - Speaker 3 - 12:57
Track 3 - Speaker 1 - 14:20
Track 3 - Speaker 2 - 15:45
Track 3 - Speaker 3 - 17:02
Track 4 - Speaker 1 - 17:52
Track 4 - Speaker 2 - 20:10
Track 4 - Speaker 3 - 22:10
Track 5 - Speaker 1 - 23:49
Track 5 - Speaker 2 - 26:10
Track 5 - Speaker 3 - 28:15
Track 6 - Speaker 1 - 29:51
Track 6 - Speaker 2 - 31:11
Track 6 - Speaker 3 - 32:34
Track 7 - Speaker 1 - 33:56
Track 7 - Speaker 2 - 35:34
Track 7 - Speaker 3 - 33:46
Track 8 - Speaker 1 - 38:11
Track 8 - Speaker 2 - 39:40
Track 8 - Speaker 3 - 40:53
Track 9 - Speaker 1 - 42:06
Track 9 - Speaker 2 - 43:38
Track 9 - Speaker 3 - 44:58
Track 10 - Speaker 1 - 46:53
Track 10 - Speaker 2 - 48:40
Track 10 - Speaker 3 - 51:26
Track 7 - Speaker 3 - 36:46
UA-cam wont let me edit it anymore :(
@@fieldcar bravo!!
I really like this blind speaker comparisons. It might even been better to not know the prices, so it takes out expectations too.
Great suggestion John, appreciate that!
@@nickmathews6226 listened with Sennheiser Momentum 3
I personally like it when we had the prices. just shows that one can get more for less money.
@@Rockit66 He can let us know at the end. I like it without. Therefore there are no preconceived biases.
First, always like your honest assessments...Where you are losing me is...I'm sorry to be critical but my listening spaces are as beautiful as the high resolute audio my rig produces. This space makes me think mom could come in at any moment and tell you to clean your room. Components on the floor...visible wires everywhere. Audio rack is outstanding and deserved some supporting décor. Errant car battery to send the message that you are always in pursuit of the next level. Tell us, no need to show us. Constructive is my only intent. Then you have the open baffle (on screen)
That are capable of putting all in the comparison to shame. Not a fair fight granted, but...You clearly spend more on audio gear than I, so maybe I should just shut up...A nice head to head with the GR -Research kit and the Buchardt's would be amazing...Not sure why the Klipsch were included, much better representation in the under 800 category. imho
The binaural recording method really makes it easy to hear differences.
Thanks for the comparisons. I have to say that I think I'd find it a bit more helpful if you played each set of clips back-to-back-to-back, and then added your personal commentary after the clips were complete. Though your commentary is quite helpful, putting it in between each speaker seems to "reset" my listening and makes it harder to do fine comparisons. I found I had to find the starting points for the audio clips and click back-and-forth to really get a good set of comparisons.
I'd love to hear a comparison between boxed and open baffle speakers (and maybe planar if you can borrow a pair).
This 👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻 but amazing video overall!
This is like a journey into how to listen critically; with a discerning ear. The comparisons are very helpful. I would personally find this experience even more exciting if the first couple of songs didn’t have any commentary, so we can draw our own conclusions. Then, Ron, you can tell us what differences you hear as the video progresses.
One other recommendation: if possible, put the camera where binaural randy is. It’s that much more immersive / true to life when the sound and picture match up.
Don’t know the brands yet, but the 1st sound harsh and boomy, the 2nd sound muffled, and the 3rd sound great. 3rd can hear the space between the instruments and imaging is amazing, sound tight and balanced, everything sounds more “real.” Interested in finding out the makes and models.
They are in the end of the last song....
I fell asleep watching this and when I woke up you were still talking. I really enjoyed the part of the video where I was asleep.
Hahaha
I read most of your comment and liked some of it ☺️
You can even hear differences on mobile, no headphones required. You don’t have to have golden ears, or crazy gear to hear the difference. The 600Ms were so punchy that they made my case resonate. The XLSs did sound neutral, and the Bouchards definitely had an accentuated top end, but in a good way.
That was great. Very interesting. You should do more of these - it's a great way to get everyone involved in a direct listtening evaluation. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thank you!
Very interesting and fun comparison! Aside from the insight into the performance of those speakers, it also gives us some insight into Rons hearing and how he perceives and describes the sound and its differences and details.
Thanks for putting in all the work Ron, must have taken hours upon hours to create.
I have the S400mk2 at home and in this recording it was Speaker 2 that sounded to me more like them than the actual Buchardts (speaker 3). Speaker 2’s apparent accuracy, even handedness and musical insight really reminded me of the S400mk2 even though I knew it wasn’t them based on the price point. I waited until the end of the video to find out what each model was. Strange experience. I listened in Apple ear pods which I know aren’t ultimately very accurate, but the differences in the three speakers were very clear.
Great job Ron. Loved the concept and execution. I’ll listen again with better headphones!
Ron. I really enjoyed this review format. It was really interesting to hear the voicing of various speakers. It was pretty interesting and I enjoyed your commentary. I would encourage you to do more reviews like this. It’s more informative than the usual reviews.
I will say I was surprised I could hear the differences between the three speakers on my iPad and headphones.
Keep up the good work and glad to see you back. By the way. I loved your LOTS video. I’ve used up at least two roles of tape playing with my speaker placement. The one conclusion I’ve made is setup it really really important.
Man, thanks so much John!
🤗😁 I too am listening on my iPad and headphones 🎧 … but I have heard alot one of binaural music 🎼 and I think that it’s the future of great recordings IMHHO 🤗😍😍
Man… this is by far the best video you’ve posted. I was literally looking to the right and stopping the video twice at the start, thinking someone was moving up on me! I guessed the #1 and #3 bookies! :-) Keep on the good work.
I loved this presentation! Might be better if the prices were hidden also. I ranked them as follows: 1. XLS, 2. S400 mk2, 3. RP600M ii. However, I felt like the S400 mk2's were a db or 2 louder. Had it been closer matched, it might be a tie between the XLS and S400's. Now, considering the price, the XLS easily takes it. Great job!!! 👌🏽
Thanks so much!
Blind comparisons are my favorite. Really nice work! I can appreciate the amount of time that goes into a production like this. My brother picked up the Polk R200s from S&S about three weeks ago and I was hoping it was one of the three. We are eager for such a comparison with the Buckhards. He has been on a journey for the past four years for bookshelf speakers. You can imagine how many he's had over this period. It's been commonplace for his weekend plans to include reboxing and sending back the prior month's audition (trial period). The R200s are the first he is keeping. The Buchards are ones I was pushing him to hear. He did not get there, but I must say I too am very impressed with the R200. I am a Fleetwood Audio DeVille owner and extremely happy.
Wow I really enjoyed this, and I feel like the presentation of the comparison (through a mic, then youtube, etc.) was a lot more useful than I thought it would be at the start. That mic might be the real star of the show! The Klipsch were kind of an easy guess, and I guessed right on the Buchardts too but that was more of a stab in the dark. My guess on 2 was Elac Unifi reference. The Buchardts were extremely impressive (the bass is astounding), but those XLS are just the kind of speaker I seek out and appreciate the most.
I would strongly encourage more videos in this format, I loved it, but it might be even more effective comparing speakers that are at comparable price points, and maybe saving some of the commentary for the end to avoid "coloring" our perceptions as much. But regardless, bravo on both the concept and the execution here!
My guess was the Elac's for speaker 2 also, I thought number 1 was a Monitor Audio, and 3 the Klipsch.
I love these videos NRD does but I wish he would allow all 3 speakers to play after each other then do the commentary.
Thank you for this video, quite interesting results..
I would expect the Buchardts to outperform definitely the Klipsch-es and maaaaaybe the DIY set, but i surely didn't think it would be the clear winner in every single one of the tests you made. Kudos to Mads for that.. And also kudos to you , because I think you are the first one to say how things are with the RP600.. yes, i never heard the MKII, but the praise the mkI got, is beyond me.. I simple comparison to the similarly priced Triangle BR03 is really all it takes.
Waiting for the S400 full review, keep it up.
THAT WAS AWSOME. LOVe that you kept us in the dark, must have more of this [;ease
1. had some weight to it, fun
2. amazing from the mid range down, has a open baffle sound there was just something in the highs i didnt like, most balanced
3. great from mid range up, but didnt enjoy the bass kinda like having a great bookshelf with a sub that wasnt intergrated properly
You´re the best out there! These kind of serious demos requires serious response from the viewers, IMO. One thing that might improve us listeners is to edit sound clips between the speakers playing the same song to easier hear the differences instant and leave your professional comments afterwards. I really love your comments and I agree in most of every thing you said. It is good to know that your perceived sound signature equals mine...
Speaker 1. Sounds fatigued with a teenage sound. This is not mature with emphasized bass and top range with a unnatural mid range adding a boxy coloration to the sound. When I discovered that it was from Klipsch I was not chocked.
Speaker 2. Mmmmm. Sound much more dry (less boxy sounding), nothing pronounced, nothing missing. I was wondering if you had all speakers at the same perceived matched volume level as these sounded a little bit lower, IMO. But that could be an effect of less bumped bass/treble? I could live with these speakers as they had less coloration and kept me just listening without distractions and I think they will grow on you.
Speaker 3. Somewhere in between speaker 1 & 2, but way better in every regard comparing to speaker 1. A little bit more dynamic and open sounding against speaker 2. They sounded good to my ears and perhaps a little more fun than speaker 2. Perhaps a little bit more refined 3-D as well. Fun can lean towards listening fatigue in the long end perhaps?... hard to tell.
This is good feedback
I knew 1 was Klipsch RP600 mark ii's from first note and I like them the best. Of course I have RP600's original. Paired with a tube amp like I have I would choose them. I also love the forte IV's
Did anyone notice the most important aspect of this recording?
The nuance, texture and overall simplicity and wholesomeness of the pink ball that lies At the left corner of the room .
It brings forth the wholesomeness of the room which extends to the overall familial reach and character of the reviewer and the review as a whole.
Shocked, simply stunned by the lack of notice. 😍
THAT says just about everything there is to know about the review and the reviewer.
Thank you for putting a smile on my face and A warmth to my listening experience!
Stop giving away my staging secrets man!
That was really fun! Amazing how good they all were. My vote was speaker two. I couldn't hear enough of a difference between 2 & 3 to justify the additional cost. 3 seemed to go a bit lower and maybe a bit more detail in the bass but I would be perfectly happy with #2 as a speaker for me. Love the reveal at the end, I'm a believer.
Cheers.
Thanks for an excellent review. Please do more of these really informative blind comparison videos. The XLS Encore is the closest in sound quality to my much more expensive reference speakers.
i deleted my first comment after listening again. All of these speakers sound much better than average. The Encores seemed less dynamic than the other two but has a very safe sound.. The Klipsch's has a dynamic and upfront sound and they wouldn't be my first choice for orchestral music. The Buchardt 's were very refined. Nothing jumps out at you, just a good presentation. I would feel good about owning any of the three. Thank YOU New Record Day!
Really enjoyed this! I agreed with almost all your comments. The Klipsch were just too thin and shouty. Your internals comment half way through pretty much gave it away that they were a GR Research product. The Encores were my favorite of the three. The Buchardt were a bit technicolor, but good. I preferred them on a few of the tracks, but overall the neutrality of the Encores on everything won the day. Full disclosure: I own NX-Oticas, so Danny's taste is something I agree with.
Speaker 1 > speaker 3 > speaker 2.
Thanks for the video!
Okey so I now checked the reveal, and that alligns with previous judgement from other video comparisons. RP6000 (and polk R200) scores high for me even the mkI which supposedly measured bad by ASR. I think its the high frequency clarity I enjoy. Mostly use the E project youtube page for comparisons whoch also just released a video with the Revel M16 which ASR recommends, and I was disappointed. It wad also done on an amp/dac recommended by ASR, but to me that amp/dac made every speaker sound bad. The Emotiva TA1 and SMSL DA9 sounds much better to me. And so there is defo still quite a lot of taste involved in equipment choice
Great great video, thanks for the efforts to film it and thanks for the awesome experience.
That was fantastic.. Why just talk about the sound and comparisons when you can hear them for yourself. I love the methodology, the rigor and your comments are helpful to confirm what we heard. Thank you so much and this was very enjoyable to me.
Thanks for the comment!
came back to this video 10 months later...now listening with a pair of Audeze lcd-x through a rupert neve design headphone amplifier. impressions were similar to first time: 3rd set of speakers are really fantastic. very realistic with lots of information, clarity, detail, depth, separation... you can listen to the reverberations on each recording; dynamic and organic! 2nd set of speakers, really muffled, unbalanced, dark....extremely colored! liked the least, by far. 1st set of speakers, lack depth (3d) but are fun and dynamic, grab your attention. way more balanced than the 2nd set of speakers.
again, hope you have the time to do more of these sound clips. they are incredibly valuable!!
Just hooked up my headphone systems Geewizzz man that head/mic is the best i have ever heard in a video sound demo
Hell yeah Ron !! I am stunned !!
I'm listening on $14 drivers in custom built enclosures with minimal processing and realize that I'm happy with what I have. Coming from a guy that has no problem spending for quality. Thank you for these type of videos, Helping us all make more informed decisions.
I could not live with the RP600MkII based on this, except maybe in a dead room; I really like the neutrality of the Encore, as I don't see how long listening could ever be fatiguing; but I might miss a little of this Buchardt wonderfulness. Those (Buchardt) speakers sound great to my ear a lot of the time, and I could see spending the extra money to get them over the Encore. But if I never heard the Buchardt, I could be happy with the Encore. Great product, Danny.
Tried to watch this last night. Ended up falling asleep. New Record Day ASMR.
Very helpful demo. It's surprising how much is conveyed. I hope you will continue or expand this format. Thanks for all you're doing.
No good.
Ron, great video thanks for putting in the time and expense to produce this. For my money add an EQ or tone controls and any of the speakers would be great. Dial in what you ears need!
Great Video Ron. Thank you for the effort.🙂👍🙏
Frederick
Thank you for doing this Ron, it was more revealing than I expected. I second the suggestion that you do A-B-C-commentary in the future. The GR speaker sounded the most neutral to me, but all three were easy to enjoy.
Don't you just love the Trains running along hwy 287 all times of the day!! Lol.. I have never heard Danny's speakers before and I was on a tight budget, these would be the ones for me. They are in a sweet spot of consistency imo. I love it when Randy comes out and plays!!! Glad to see you and the family doing good! 👍
Dude those trains!
@@Newrecordday2013 Gotta tell Randy to block those suckers out! Lol. The experience was never ruined, very enjoyable as always!! Thank you Ron👍
i Just Got my Encore parts in the mail last Friday... ordered in November... frankly I had forgot about it with all i have going on. I am pumped to get these built!! They will be my second DIY build, I can't wait to get started on them.
Ron - I did not like speaker 1 at all on any of the tracks and it was no surprise why at the reveal. Im not a fan of the low end Klipsch sound. If I want the "Klipsch sound" Im going for the real stuff - Heritage series. I waffled back and forth between speaker 2 and 3 depending on the track and honestly couldnt decide if I like one better. I kept thinking 2 but then 3 would give me something that I liked - differently I guess. More refined maybe. Knowing the prices ruined the objectiveness for me and may have swaed me a tiny bit but I really liked both and would need in-my-room testing if I had to pick one. Nice job as always!
Thank you!
It’s good to see that your appetite has returned Ron! ;)
The XLS Encores tell you straight news and let the facts speak for themselves. The Buchardts editorialize and add some seasoning to the story, to grab more of your attention. Their mids and highs are definitely voiced for hifi.
I was expecting the Encores to have more clarity but that doesn’t seem to be the case, at least through all the UA-cam compressed audio. Those upgraded crossover components in the Buchardts sound like they’re doing their thing and doing it well.
🤗 RON…NOT TRYING TO FLATTER YOU AT ALL…BUT IMHHO THIS IS THE BEST WAY TO REVIEW SPEAKERS AND I know it’s a lot of hard work 😓.. but I appreciate it and I hope you will continue to educate and entertain us too🤗👍😍😍😍
PS I heard you talking over my right shoulder and with my eyes 👀 closed I heard you move about the room 😎😍😍😍
Thanks man!
Okay, this blew me away. First time I saw a test and demo like that. Wish I commented during the test because it's funny the second pair are from GR. I was considering a pair.
These were my favorite. I thought they had just a more balance than the third speaker. Which surprised me once I saw the brand. The first ones or Klipsch no surprise here, the bass was muddy and just jammed together and the highs are over-pronounced. Total Teenager speaker.
Good one do this again.
I loved this, Ron. After a few tracks, I started to identify what I was hearing: speaker 1 has good bass but a nasal and shouty midrange and uncomfortably bright and harsh uppers, speaker 2 solves most of those problems and sounds smooth, well controlled and easy on the ear but maybe a bit safe, and speaker 3 has the best mids and more detailed uppers that sometimes sounded a touch bright but I think it was being honest to the source. At the moment, I’m chromecasting to my Sonus Faber Concerto Grand Pianos/Electrocompaniet AW220/Creek OBH12/Lite DAC, but I will redo when I get my Spring 3 KTE plus Pre in a few weeks. Can’t wait!
Ron Thank you for your hard work and dedication. The blind test was fantastic! I learned a lot. Speaker #2 for me.
I am thinking about building the CSS 1Td x or the XLS so this was a treat. I would love it if you would binaural those to along with any other speaker you choose in a blind test. Thanks for a great channel you have put together.
The binaural experience on my Grado 325’s was so very interesting & enjoyable and I appreciate your exploring with this model. Thanks and really enjoying those 4 Ohm Buchardts paired with a Vidar for a well matched 200W drive.
Really cool Video!! I thought number 3 were the burchards but i was surprised that number 2 was a GR Kit. I clicked it as my favorit before the end of the video and i found them really natural sounding through my higher end iem setup. This was fun! Thanks!
Three suggestions that would hopefully make comparisons of this kind more useful:
1. I see this was already suggested, but it was my immediate reaction to the video as I started watching: please don't tell us the prices beforehand :) It would have been much more fun if you told us there are 3 speakers, worth around $800, $1500 and $2500, and it was up to us to guess which is which.
2. Level matching: in some of the clips speaker #2 was slightly quieter, and I'm sure you know that louder always sounds better, all else being equal, it is extremely important to match levels as best you can.
3. Most of the clips are acoustical music, it's not very revealing as far as the tonal balance of the speaker. What I mean is that in order to hear the difference in the base region the music has to have base to begin with (and not just one note or one instrument), and the same goes for any frequency range. Music with rich spectrum is more revealing - modern rock, electronic. Symphonic music, perhaps (but it's lacking the upper high frequency range). To me, track #10 made it the easiest to hear the difference between speakers, but this track is also not the best there is.
Congratulations! This was brilliant, hands down the best review I've seen/listened. Listened, that was the key, deciding by myself which sound I like the most, based on the actual sound, not a description of it. It took me quite some time to go over the whole thing, not to mention how many times I marked where spk 1, 2 and 3 were to skip and hear the differences without interruption. My preferences, Buchardt, Klipsch (surprisingly as I'm not a fan of Klipsch) and the GR Reasearch (surprisingly again as I tend to like Dany's creations). Again, simply put, brilliant! Thank you!!!
the detail & resolution plus the voicing makes those Buchardts something special, the overtones & sustain on he acoustic track were pretty amazing. I don't know if its just me, but before the reveal of the XLS's I thought they reminded me of NHTs, magically flat so your other components get the color duties. I think I'd get bored of the Klipsches after a while or I'd be on constant quest to fix the lack of low end resolve. Maybe paired in a mixed brand 5.2 set up & some crossover tinkering might make them servicable...
The binaural recording through headphones is really cool. I did a double take when it sounded like Ron was in my room. Scary. Also, I was in my listening room, so it sounded like the sound was coming from my own speakers. Then it got spookier. Speaker #2 seemed very familiar…. Refined, balanced, detailed, even a bit sweet. Again, because of the binaural there was the illusion that the sound was coming from my own speakers. The reveal was then quite funny that they were XLS encores… that’s what I have in my own room. Ron’s binaural encores and my own, sitting in front of me, totally locking in perceptually, completing the illusion.
Thank you!
😎 VERY COOL…endorsement for binaural 🎙 microphones 👍🤗👏👏👏😍😍😍
Yeah. When Ron opened his commentary over my right shoulder I kinda flinched - wasn't expecting that.
@@wingsounds13 🤗LOL😁😎IT IS THE BEST TIME TO BE IN AUDIO 😍😍😍
Thank you! I was sweating my purchase of the S400 Mk2 over the xls Encores. Didn’t have the time for DIY. Blown away by the S400s in all aspects. Thought I might of had buyer bias. Was so happy speaker 3 was my pick. This gave me the ideal listening test, albeit post purchase. Confirming I made the right decision for myself. With a tube amp the Buchardts gave me a new perspective on how good it can be.
Which tube amp are you using with the S400 Mk2s? I've been thinking about going the same route, but it's hard to decide what would pair up well with them.
Reisong A12. But would only recommend if you do the upgrades by Skunkie Designs. She has a great upgrade series and you learn a lot along the way. Very significant difference in sound quality. Output is sufficient in my room. I have four setups and this is my favorite combo, for now. Watch Skunkie first and see if it in your lane.
@@michaelm.3231 Will do. Thanks for the info!
I love that you did a video like this, but I'd like to hear each of them back to back to back with no commentary in-between.
Great video. This is actually fun. I like this style
Thanks man!
The addition of a subwoofer completely removed the (well fart) of the klipsch, allowing the detailed mids and highs to shine. I suspect the Encore is better, just not worth changing horses midstream. For me, Improvements in sorce and power will be $ better spent. Great video!
Well this was a wowing experience for me using my iPhone, the lighting adapter and Fostex T50 headphones for playback. Although the Fostex’s were under powered using my iPhone., I was able to still hear detail of the presentation which was awesome. Your buddies DYI speaker overall sounded best, followed by speaker (3) then (1) in that order.
Your demo using the binomial listing device in my opinion should be used to set the standard in demoing virtual equipment playback., especially for potential customers (Great selling point). With that said it’ll be hard for me to take other UA-cam presenters word for equipment opinions or recommendations.
Great job👍👍👏👏👏👏👏
One speaker that will shock you for the price
All new $5.7K AudioVector QR7 speakers
One Reviewer replaced his Quad ESL 2912's with these AudioVector QR7's matched with the new Luxman L-507z ! Long waiting list to get a pair of QR7's though !
I could live with all 3. There's a (good) speaker for every occasion.
Speaker 1 -» Stand up, tap your feet and clap your hands.
Speaker 2 -» Lay down on your bed. Close your eyes.
Speaker 3 -» Seat confortably and have a glass of fine wine.
I just broke in some new HIFIMAN headphones and listened. I liked the < $1500 pair (X-LS Encores) the most and was extremely pleased since I built these in 2020 with all the upgrades based on your reviews. I didn't skip to the end so I didn't know what they were until then. I do like the Buchardt Audio speakers and believe they had a little more control on some tracks as you noticed. UPDATE: Just noticed the Buchardts go down to 33Hz which would be too much in my medium room and would account for the added bass I heard.
Thanks for the blind demos with Randy, it is a great way to really audition speakers. Keep up the great work!
Ron Stuckey
I watched & listen to your whole presentation on my 70 in flat screen TV with Bose head phones before looking at the comments on my laptop computer so it truly a blind a blind test for me. Of the thee speakers I liked the XLS Encore's the best. I have owned two of the three speakers. First I owned the klipsch RP 600m's with the GR Research upgrade kit. Which I thought were OK but I still wanted speakers with a sound that had more body to the sound. So I purchased a pair of Buchardt S300 MK II, which by the way are about $1300. The S300 MkII' produce the sound that I was looking for, a sound very similar to the XLS Encore's although I would have to hear them both side by side to really say which one I liked the best. I have had the Buchardt S300 Mk II's for over two years now. But I did order a pair of Buchardt S400 MKII's which I received at the end of December last year. Buchardt has a 45 day trial period so I listen to the for about 120 hours over 40 days and decided to send them back for a full refund. I just like the sound of S300 MK II's better. From your blind sound test the Buchardt S400 MK II's came in last and I just didn't like their sound compared to XLS Encore's or Klipsch RP 600M II's
Love this review format, and the nude censored speakers :)
I suspected that speaker #3 might be the Buchardt mk II. I couldn't guess or didn't have an idea of what the other two were. I thought that while listening to the #1 (Klipsch) speaker, one could very well end up experiencing some degree of listener fatigue... Brighter emphasis of the treble region and a more noticeable boomy (box speaker) bass. I thought that speaker #2 (GR) was the most neutral and would be least fatiguing especially over the long run. I think that I might like the additional bass presentation of the B. Mk II but I wasn't necessarily disappointed by the bass presentation of the GR and one could also augment the low end by adding a subwoofer. I can see why people would find the B Mk II appealing with the voicing (treble/bass) ticked up a notch compare to a more subdued flat neutral presentation. I'll be looking forward to NRD's upcoming full review for the B. S400 Mk II.
Dude during the opening I thought someone as at my front door- dang this sound is good.
That was a good comparison. I wish you hadn't put the price of the speaker. I always preferred speaker 3 but I might have been swayed by the price.
Good show! Thanks Ron!
The comparisons are super helpful, thanks! Hopefully we'll see more of this soon.
Thank you for doing these sound reviews with commentary Ron. Excellent job.
Holy crap you scared the crap out of me with that opening
Thanks Ron!
On some tracks the s400 mk2 went lower in the frequency band. That passive radiator is doing some magic! (And I know that Mads has aimed at trying to make the bookshelf to sound as florstanders, and he has done that to some extent!)
Usually I say that bass reflex port are more or less the same duty.. but they are doing it in two different ways.
But I maybe need to adjust my thinking that a passive radiator can be designed to dig lower.
Of course it is also where is the ports tuned to. But I am starting to believe that a port may have a narrower frequency band that it can contribute with then a passive radiator has..
Did not expect that conclusion.
Thank again for the effort! 🥰
I found the same thing on certain tracks it felt like speaker 3 just dug a little deeper than speaker 2 (speaker 1 sounded like a kid bashing on a plastic drum to my ears, very hard to listen to).
A passive radiator has a 5th order roll off whereas bass reflex has a 4th order roll off, so the passive radiator is always going to roll off sooner. The tuning frequency is what is going to have an impact of how low it digs.
@@DodgyBrothersEngineering thanks for the information! Yes speaker 3 went lower in frequency.
And yes I had also the impression that speaker 1 was like you said without texture and tone and just boomy. 🤔
Then it is even more impressive that speaker 3 played lower frequencies "despite" it roles of steeper.
But on the other hand that is just beneficial when a higher order rolloff is inderecty beneficial. When you want in the lower frequency range play as loud as possible and when out of range just fall off a cliff.
Instead of wasting energy with a lower order rolloff towards the lowest end. When there your hearing is getting more and more insensitive the lower we get. 👍
@@AmazonasBiotop what I have found from my own software modeling is that often port size is drastically reduced to fit in a bass reflex cabinet. So while a BR can theoretically go a bit deeper than a PR design, often it sacrifices port tuning and driver x-max to achieve a port small enough to fit. Shortly I plan to start building a sub I have had the drivers for many years. It will use a TC Sounds 18" LMS Ultra 5400 and two TC Sounds 18" VMP passive radiators, while I could get a BR box to go lower, I want clean sharp bass, so I think the PR's are going to do a better job.
@@DodgyBrothersEngineering
I am not so educated.
"Clean" and "sharp".
Then I would think like this..
Maybe there is cleaner and sharper ways to get bass than PR/BR?
I am thinking like this that air is like a rubber band. You can compress and decompress it. It is not like liquid.
If I try to magnify and slow down what is happening.
Inside the box the transducer goes in and increasing the internal pressure and "after a time" when the pressure is increased enough so it start to move the PR. The same is happening when the trancducer goes out "until" it generate enough under pressure to it starts to suck in the PR inwards.
So there is a time delay that were not in the recording as a rubber band when the trancducer is not acting directly on the PR but indirectly with help of the air as medium.
But if we remove the box and any PR/BR then we mount the trancducer just on a baffle.
What do we have then?
The transducer don't need to work with and against trapped air pressure.
No rubber band effect and the trancducer act directly on the air that you are listening to and not inderecty (no time delay).
Bass is the most problematic frequencies in a room to treat and needs many times more volume of treatment in a room it is not uncommon that the lowest frequencies is bouncing around in the room for 1000 Ms using conventional box speakers.
Therefore at the edge/end of the baffle there back and front wave meet there will cancelation occur.
Meaning that the speaker will radiate in a figure 8 (back and forward). And load the room less than a box that radiate omnidirectional and require more treatment in the room when there in practice because of that bouncing around that act as smearing and also defeat your goals.
It is a open baffle (OB).
The drawback is that it needs more wattage when OB is more inefficient. It will be larger and it needs to come out more into the room.
But in my opinion when done correctly it beats PR/BR in cleaness and sharpness. There is no competition. But if you have other requirements that it needs to be smaller, more efficient, easy placement they all in my opinion is compromises on the SQ.
I have built two (L and R) OB 18" that is hanging in the air in wires so it is not sitting on a boundary. And tuned to the room in there position and to my sweet spot by DSP.
And that is as clean and sharp that I am possible to get it. You hear everything depending on DSP settings done to subsonic.
But one thing I were NOT prepared for were that I do not get any physical experience. No bump in the chest you do not FEEL the bass, nothing is vibrating anywhere in the house, much from the cancelation effect described above.
It will take time to get used to when majority of us are used to BR boxes.
So it is the totally opposite of what you want for home Cinema system.
(Yes, I know that I play low and loud when I can confirm that with a calibrated measurement microphone and REW)
On the other side you hear everything! Thanks to it is clean and sharp.
I am lucky to have a dedicated 2ch sound room there I do not need to take into account many compromises and just go after SQ.
@@AmazonasBiotop preaching to the converted brother ;O) I went active open baffle about 12 years ago... The sub I am looking to build is for movies only, not a believer in subs for music. Nothing beats that clean punch of bass you can get from an OB bass, but as you say don't expect to get bass from one efficiently. I am using a pair of TC Sounds Pro 5100's for my woofers. They barely move but deliver just the right amount of subtle bass.
The lack of feel is a bit weird at first, but you aren't trying to rattle everything off the shelf and creating new unwanted noises into your music either.
FYI in fluid dynamics air is actually considered a viscous fluid... I thought that was weird too. It is just more compressible than most other fluids.
Amazing comparison, thank you for setting this up and conducting it for us. I hope you will do more of these!
I've used pretty good IEMs and an external DAC / AMP, and I was not able to hear any differences between the speakers other than their tonality. I was watching spatial cues / soundstage, and didn't hear any difference in that department. Have you? Has anyone?
I really enjoyed this video. Dang those Buchardt's sound good. I finished my Tigerwood cabinets for XLS Encores a while back while I wait 8 months for the XLS tweeters to show up. I was just informed they are shipping my XLS kit this week. They had an issue sourcing the dome material used in the XLS tweeters. Hearing those Buchardt's makes me less excited now. Dang it Ron does this thirst ever go away?
Nope. Never! Hahahaha!
Thorough and Excellent way to audition speakers. Liked your Gallo reviews also.
Once learning what speakers were used I had to give this a second listen. Yes, I know, your
partnering equipment is top-notch but... if I do want to hear the best that these speakers have
to offer then top notch is the ticket. Now, for whatever reason, I could never have seen myself
even thinking about owning a pair of anything Klipsch ... well (said sheepishly), I thought they
sounded awesome. Now, the Encores? It's really hard to believe that a DIY can be "that" good.
I was surprised. And now, what of the Buchardts? Considering the trouble that they have gone to
in order to bring a well engineered speaker to market? Well, they sounded all of that and then some.
My pick is the Buchardts but I'd like to own all 3. This was truly educational ... thank you Ron...
"top notch" presentation (and fun)🤙
Holy $%*# Ron you gotta stop sneaking up on me from behind the couch! Lol 😂 Guess my Nighthawks do really well with binaural recordings. And yes I did have almost the same reaction to each clip as you did (probably with a bit more mid bass bump on my end). Tough call between #2 and #3 for me. Thanks so much for this!
Excellent idea, but speakers are not level matched + lot of standing waves in bass region (mostly prominent in the first song). Still you are the only one on youtube trying this with hifi speakers, so thumbs up.
Thanks man! Once I have the new listening room up and running, ill be able to get everything dialed in!
@@Newrecordday2013 great. Looking to it.
I picked the XLS Encore. The voice sound had more texture, more "throaty" and 3D voice sound. I reckon the voice sound alone (if it's perfect) basically everything else will be spot on (except for maybe lower bass). Cos we (as a species) know what the human voice sounds like. More than we know what other sounds should sound. Seems to work for my speaker building. Also if you are interested in designing your own speakers, it's easy if you have a decent pair of bought speakers. The XLS Encore would be ideal reference speakers. Just copy the sound of the reference speakers with your speakers, as close as you can by playing with the crossover! And your speakers won't sound as good as the ref speakers cos the acoustics are different with your speakers. But don't worry cos you are not finished yet. Just fine tune the sound of your speakers to your taste, but don't make them sound too different. That is important but all speakers sound different, so you don't have yours sounding exactly like your reference speakers, either. And if you tweak your's just right (to your taste) your made speakers may even smoke your reference speakers! Why? Cos you are fine tuning your speakers how you want them to sound...in that room. That's why. But you still need reference speakers cos every room is different and everywhere you walk around in your room, it sounds different. I have a really bad bass difference in my room. And (unless you are especially gifted) you won't get a pair of home built speakers sounding anywhere near the sound of good bought speakers, just by listening (if you build them from scratch, that is). I learn't that the hard way when I finally decided to get reference speakers (and with a RUDE awakening)! I got B&W 706s as reference speakers and my made speakers absolutely flog the B&Ws. Brass band sounds like metal instruments on mine and they sound like wooden on my reference speakers (as an exaggerated comparison). BUT I would never be able to even come close to doing that without my reference speakers. No way! If you want to build speakers from scratch to save money, you can borrow your friend's speakers for a few days (or weeks) so you can build some killer speakers without defeating the purpose of saving money. That is...if you have anyone who can lend you their speakers.
Great video Ron. I pretty much agree with you on all your commentary.
However, here is my own sum-up:
Speaker #1 (Klipsch): Lacks a bit in resolution. A bit to v-shaped for me. I feel they get fatiguing rather fast.
Overall, not a big fan of these.
Speaker#2 (GR-Research): Pretty refined and balanced sound. Good resolution. Very non-fatiguing presentation.
Sadly, a little bit boring at the same time.
Speaker #3(Buchardt): I really like the elevation/coloration at the top end. Great bass. Sounded a bit less refined in comparison to speaker #2. It was more engaging though.
Not sure wich one I would pick between #2 and #3. But I feel #2 would provide me with longer fatigue-free listening sessions, and that’s what I do appreciate the most.
Thanks for putting in the effort. Loved the “magic” reveal :)
Keep it up Ron!
Yeah, here's my summary copied from the comments section on the poll:
Speaker #1 - It's reproducing sound
Speaker #2 - Musical speaker - gets almost nothing wrong
Speaker #3 - Emotional speaker - the music had a lot of body but the enclosure may have been a tad small
It's a toss up between speaker #2 and #3 - I was 60% leaning towards the authority and detail of speaker #3 which clearly has a bass woofer of sorts (more on that later) but I voted for speaker #2 because it made me want to listen to the clip more - it kept inviting me.
Kudos to the manufacturer of speaker #2. It's clearly meant to have a subwoofer but if it could drop another 20-30hz - man, oh man!
Speaker #1, I'd get a high-end bluetooth like the B&W Zeppelin as it would probably smoke it.
Speaker #3, I detected an unorthodox design and I was trying to understand if it was downward firing or had a separate bass woofer or what was going on because it just didn't feel normal for a standmount. I actually had to look up the design to understand it and the frequency response. It sounded too authoritative except perhaps for B&W's Formation Duo which can hit 25hz. After checking it out, I simply didn't know you could actually design a standmount like that😄
I was able to guess the first two before the reveal. I own the Klipsch and with you revealing price point and my recognizing the sonic signature, especially the 'bloom' in the mid bass, and the horn 'attack' in the upper mids that was easy. The XLS was more of a guess, but the refinement, cohesiveness, accuracy, voicing along with the price point gave it away for me. That was my favorite overall speaker in this lineup. I could mix records on those ALL DAY. I could not place the Buchardt speakers. Thought they may be Sonus Faber. They were a bit too restrained for me. Transients lacked a certain immediacy that is important for my experience. In my view, those are great for general background listening but the CSS excel in providing a richer experience. For the budget and in the right room, those Klipsch certainly hold their own. Mate them with tubes or class A front end gear and there is a LOT there 'there'. Well done!
Huh. Two of the three really surprised me. Thanks for the comparison. I feel like you did a good job highlighting the differences between the speakers.
Great feedback! What surprised you? I’m curious John.
Ooo. Here come the can of worms. I was surprised that the s400 mkII was as tilted up as it was. I would have to listen in person to make a final judgement but using my headphone setup they were pretty exciting on top. I enjoyed it for sure, just surprised that a highly acclaimed “audiophile grade” speaker would be tilted up.
Oh another surprise was that I could pick out the rp600 over UA-cam and headphones. 🤣
Great format!
Would love to see more videos like this one
Very surprised that the XLS Encore is not to my taste. Way too neutral for me, also expected way more and better bass from it from all the reviews. I do understand that room makes a difference and youtube audio is not the same as in person. But I do feel the different sound signatures came through quite clear trough your experiment. I have a pair of Martin Logan 35Xti’s and I love! their highs, upper midrange but feel it lack a bit in low mids and low bass, that’s probably why I like more the Klipsh and Buchardt sound. I was also surprised at the Buchardt S400 highs and upper mids, they are way more resolving than I thought. I am trying a REL T7X soon to fix what I don’t like about the ML’s, if not now I know to try the Buchardt MK2.
Same for the XLS. I assumed the 600M2 and S400s were the other speakers based on the clips and $$$, but was at a loss for the XLS. Kinda boring.
@@photobriangray agree 100%
I feel the same way. I've considered building the XLS encores, but after this, it is not to my taste. Bass sounded recessed, but it was controled very well and not muddy in some tracks like the Klipsch. Klipsch overall was rough around the fine edges and the Buchardt sounded like a more refine version of the Klipsch. Lets be honest, the Klipsch is not that bad of a speaker as these reviewers always make them out to be and the same goes for the ones they hyped them up. They often go on sale, and at that pricing, it pretty good for what you get.
Glad to see you posting videos amigo! When reviewing speakers, would you be so kind as to inform us about how it sounds with low quality audio recordings? Im hesitant to purchase a speaker with too much detail. I had a pair of Paradigm monitors years ago and old/bad recordings sounded awful. Lol
This video got me to subscribe, much appreciated! I guessed speaker 1 and 3, but had no clue on 2. At no point did I ever prefer the Klipsch. Too shrill and shouty, and you’re definitely aware of the sucked out mids. Clearly, the other two are a far improvement and I could probably live with either. I preferred the Buchardt about 2/3rd of the time, probably due to the fuller bass. Well done!
One thing I noticed on most of the tracks is that #3 has a longer decay and sometimes even sustain than the other speakers.
Loved this. I was very surprised that the tonality you spoke of came through reasonably well enough on UA-cam. I'm sure at least some people will be paring the Klipsch with a warm tube amp that might have a slightly rolled off top end, so perhaps that shouty characteristic might be tamed a bit. But not much can be done for the "wellfart" bass (we used to call it "one-note bass" back in the 1970s) that gives an impression of digging deep. Just wondering if you knew what the max dB level was for the speakers at Randy? In other words how "hard" were you pushing them? Good musical choices for comparisons too. About the only long form UA-cam videos I can make it through are your speaker comparisons and notes....
I appreciate this a lot! Were the speakers all brand new with no break in would be my one question? You mentioned that you had just gotten the Klipsch in and would be putting them through the paces. That leads me to believe they didn't have any ours on them or minimal. Would have liked to have heard this comparison after that and not having them fresh out of the box.
the amount of times i got spooked in the begining of the video... yeah 🤣
Oh, and at the end when you walked across the floor to unveil the speakers, your footfalls turned your floorboards into bass drums and my Sonus Faber Gravis sub sent booms through my sofa 😂🤣😂
Good one. Listening to the first speaker, my thought was "sounds like my Klipsch" (which I'm looking to replace as my front mains). The second speaker, the GR Research X-LS Encore, is in top place to replace the Klipsch but I'm waiting on prime days in a couple weeks time - I'm hoping for some killer deals on Elac, Monitor Audio, Triangle, Q Acoustics, Polk or Dali speakers. If none of those come through, I'll bite the bullet and order the Encores.
This is YOU Ronn at your best😀 I feel the involvment again that I so missed👍 keep it coming....
One question though.... is LOTS possioning the same for all speakers? I would be surpriced by that?
the audio from "Randy" sounds amazing
I might be wrong but I woud guess that speaker 1 is the RP600M MK2 and speaker 3 is the S400 MK2. No idea about speaker 2 10nins into the video. I am curious to see the reveal at the end 🙏
Great video, it helps to confirm everything I have ever experienced from a modern Klipsch speaker. Not only are they not a bargain they are likely way overpriced at $750.
I liked the blind test very much and I’m a bit proud on myself because my guess for the 1st aswell for the 3rd speaker was right😊 the Klipsch is much to harsh in treble for my taste. The 2nd is a little bit boring and I would prefer the 3rd speaker 👍🏻
Well done, nice and interesting comparison
Thanks for this Ron. Differences were clear on most tracks. Kind of gave the game away with the Klipschs and I wasn’t surprised when you unveiled the other two. I liked the Buchardts the most. The Encores were sensible but boring. I don’t mind the Klipsch sound for certain types of music.
I don’t know about you guys, but for the first 15’ I could only hear boomines, which says a lot anyway: don’t throw money on gears if you don’t solve room issues first!
I loved the content and format Ron. I only think that your comments (which are 100% spot on) can be Misleading for people who would go for “the first one is undoubtedly the best!” without them…
I like speakers 3, i can live with speakers 2 but i'm in love with Klinger Fabre D46.
thanks for the blind speaker comparisons with good recording, maybe with the price at the final.
(sorry for my english, i never learn)
Enjoying what you’re doing. I really like the binaural recordings. I did notice that it seems like you have some standing waves in your room. This made some of the early recordings hard to enjoy and listen to. Perhaps some bass traps might help? Keep at it!