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| Image ILLUSION |
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The new Illusion speakers just bought are starting to perform. With my single ended tube amplifier, I am only turning the volume pot a quarter turn and that's enough with most recordings. I suppose the VTL monos are very grunty and look like a brick. My amp is only 35 watts. It's the single ended bit that makes all the difference. I am so impressed with these speakers I may build myself a single ended 3000B to play with. My wife thinks she's married to Arnie 'cos I keep saying "I'll be back" to the speakers. I played Dire Straits which was cool. I also played mobile fidelity's Days of Future Past (Moody Blues), Elgar's Cello Concerto (Jacqueline Dupre) was like being there. Joe Cocker's Organic was amazing as was John Martyn, Enya, Simon and Garfunkel, Paul Simon, The Eagles, Red Norvo Quintet - the list goes on. I have my enthusiasm for music back, one minute sitting eyes closed, the next getting up and believe it or not, dancing!!!
Regards |
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| Ian |
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| Image REVELATION |
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For years I have been listening to expensive electrostatics and thought that was the pinnacle. Wrong! A well designed speaker with the right choice of components can easily match what I thought was the best. This is what I found when I tried the Revelation speakers in my own system.
I can have what I want in my lounge (within reason) and chose the Revelations. I have never looked back, and am never likely too. Simply stunning. |
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| Graham Whitaker - Owner, Grahams Hi Fi Ltd |
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| Image REVELATION |
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"Well I have had the Revelations since Friday last week, and I must say, what a huge difference in total sound compared with the 414's. I thought the 414's were a great speaker.
The Revelations add a totally new perspective to all recordings in that they reveal at least 50% more detail in layers to the sound. The treble, what can I say, it has a clarity that I have not heard in any speaker before, and I have heard many having owned a successful recording studio in Auckland, and been a senior salesperson in high end audio in the past. It resolves detail so naturally and the detail! Absolutely superb.
The midrange-I thought the 414's had great midrange-these are superb. The midrange has a holographic depth to it. I can't use any adjectives to describe its sound-it is totally natural and believable. I don't know how you have done this but I would attribute the crossover to have some input. But even more importantly, the way the treble and midrange integrate together-totally seamless. It's as if there were only one speaker covering both aspects.
The bass-well this has given me back the welly and the impact that only a great speaker can deliver. It has impact, power, depth, and a clarity that is very rare to find. The bass is deep and powerful enough to make the world move-well almost. It's not a sub woofer of course, but the bass is truly well integrated with the rest of the spectrum, and the twin drivers obviously communicate all they have to offer with speed and at the same time, offer tonal shadings to instruments.
Being really efficient means of course that they don't require a lot to drive them, and they thankfully retain the 414's ability to have a full overall balance at low volumes.
Definitely the grills off provide a better perspective to the sound. I have tried these speakers out with a huge variety of music, and some of music, and some of my own masters that I retained from the studio. They are absolutely accurate.
Fantastic. Well done." |
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| Bruce Cortesi - Tauranga |
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| Image 414 |
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"They're Here and They're Amazing"
(my) Image 414's
My wife and I sat down when they arrived and listened to music for 3 hours solid - well into the night. I'm very stoked, my wife has become a lover of hi-fi now - after listening to what good speakers sound like. Realising that there are two people clapping in Nina Simone's Sinnerman, one on each side of the sound stage was impressive (always just thought there were lots of people clapping).
But really impressed with how good every type of music sounded, jazz, classical, electro, male vocal, female vocal, the lot! Great range - soft detailed trebble - all the way to the deep bass. Everything I could ask for in a speaker - no faults or deficiencies. You know a speaker is good when you stop thinking about the speaker and just become enthralled in the music!! |
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| Nicolas Rogers - Sydney, Australia |
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| Image 414 |
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"I recently purchased your company's 414 speakers, and would like to express my satisfaction with them. Sometimes we get feedback on products or services only when something is wrong so I thought that a positive response would be in order.
I was previously using B&W CDM1 stand-mount speakers in quite a small room where they were more than adequate, after the extended break-in period necessary to calm the metal-domed tweeter (about a year). However extensive rebuilding in my basement area resulted in a study/hi-fi room that was some 40% larger than before and the lack of real bass from the B&W's became more obvious. (I listen almost exclusively to classical orchestral and operatic music). Floor-standers were the obvious way to go and so I auditioned appropriate speakers at various dealers. Price was a primary consideration because I am presently semi-retired and plan to go into full retirement in a few months time, and it transpired that all of these imports were outside the amount of funds that were readily available.
With this in mind the people at Smiths Sound suggested your 414 speakers and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the sound quality of their demonstration speakers was as good as or better than any of these imports as far as my type of music was concerned. I was originally interested in the B&W CDM 9-NT model (another 2 1/2 way speaker) on the grounds of its affinity with the CDM1 but it didn't seem to come up to their overall standard despite the extended bass, and was nearly twice the price of your 414's. Which were indeed within my price range, so I bought them in confidence.
The only cautionary thing that I could say is that if I had taken home a pair of new 414's straight out of the cartons for a home demo of a few days only I would not have bought them. They were raucous, unfocussed, and unsubtle straight out of the boxes, and if I hadn't heard a pair of well run-in speakers at the shop I would never have considered them. Four weeks after purchase they are approaching what I heard in the shop but they continue to improve on each extended playing and I presume I still need a little more running-in time. They are now totally different from what they sounded like straight out of the box, and to their credit the dealer emphasised that this would happen. As it is the only problem is their positioning within my room to get optimum performance-even a couple of centimetres sometimes make an audible difference and I'm still experimenting, but am getting close.
I particularly like the clarity, neutrality, and sound-staging (L to R and front to back) that I am hearing. They are fine for all aspects of my classical tastes and my son endorses them for the rock music that he prefers. I feed them with a Plinius 8150 integrated amp and they complement the qualities of this very fine piece of electronics very well. As with the Plinius, buying New Zealand-made involves a significant saving on cost without having to make compromises on performance. My CD player is a new Arcam CD 93 upsampling model, which is the least "digital" and most vinyl-like CD player I've ever heard, and the combination is presenting an overall transparency of sound that is not easy to achieve within this price range. I'm listening to the music more and the equipment less even in the last few weeks.
So thanks for a fine product. When they finally reach optimum performance I'll be inviting some friends who are also hi-fi enthusiasts to have a listen, and as none of them had any definite knowledge of Image when I asked for suggestions I think they're going to be impressed." |
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| Duncan McLennan - Auckland |
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| Image Studio Reference |
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After shopping for two weeks to find a speaker system that complimented my new NAD C320BEE amp and C521BEE CD player I rang you regarding Image Speakers based on online forum reviews and Audioenz.
We went to Shore HiFi and sat back with a collection of cd's we had bought in.
We had listened to the same sounds for the last two weeks on a variety of speakers; PSB 5T'S, Klipsch RB25 and RF35's, Polk Audio, B&W 602's, Mission 34's and book shelfs, Kef Cresta and Kef Q4's, Wharfdale something or other and Audio Pro floorstanders.
Frankly, the closest I came to liking was the PSB's (not without issues) and then I heard the Image Studio Reference. OH MY GOD!
At last, a beautiful rendition of sound that my partner and I relaxed into with huge smiles on our faces.
Thirty minutes later, we were the owners of Studio Reference Speakers and have been giggling like little kids since we got home and wired them up, starting to go through our music selection.
This is my first step into HiFi and I am stunned at how good these sound. I love the clarity, vocal rendition and the overall sound stage and the design kicks serious ass! (Not to mention the price was right on my budget!)
I wanted to write to say THANK YOU! These are a truly great listening experience and you deserve every success. |
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Warmest regards
James and Helen |
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