My son is considering buying some ceramic speakers (he is quite taken with these: http://joeyroth.com/ceramic-speakers/). Has anyone on here had any experience with these or other similar products? Are they worth the money and what else should he be considering? He already has a pretty high quality set of headphones.
I've not heard them, but they're probably another example of a 'lifestyle' design over substance product.
They may well sound OK, but I strongly suspect a superior sound could be had for a lot less money with more conventional kit, and I doubt that subwoofer is getting anywhere 40Hz in reality.
If he's aware of this and happy to pay the premium for the unusual design then fine.
Can't argue that they look fantastic. Not sure on the sound and never heard of the brand but with a 60 day return policy they are worth a punt. From the dollar price I'm assuming they are around £600???
If his budget is that high then you can get some serious mid range conventional designs from the usual suspects like mission, monitor, b&w, kef etc.
Visit your local hifi dealer, if they are any good they will be able to help you once they know the room size and type of music and presentation you like.
I really wish I hadn't clicked on that link. I'm now pricing up shipping options on the Joey Roth website!
Originally Posted by jpjsavage
NO
Ten characters
I must be in the minority but I think that they look awful. Clumsy wooden stands and an amp that looks like it was knocked up in a shed. Exposed wires and connectors all over the place. Yuck.
Ceramic drivers are just another way of making a very stiff, lightweight cone that doesn't break up at audio frequencies. They have their own sound for sure but it's the implementation within the whole design that matters. I certainly would've buy any audio, including speakers, without hearing them first, preferably within the system they will be used in. The amp/speaker synergy is critical though that is obviously irrelevant in this case.
They certainly tick the box for style over substance however they're not my cup of tea and I'm sure he could do better for the money.
Agree, there are many better speakers out there for the money.
A couple of years ago was looking for 'lifestyle' speakers and drew up a short list of Gallo and Bose, but despite looking good they all seemed to lack some mid range frequencies and seemed lifeless. Ended up with some Monitor Audios and one of their cracking subs; not as lifestyle as I planned but sounds fantastic.
If he does go ahead with the purchase I'd love to know what he thinks of them.
Thanks for the feedback guys. I will show him the thread tomorrow and I know he will appreciate the combined wisdom evidenced here. I will be encouraging him to go to a specialist audio shop to listen to a few different brands before making a final decision. I wouldn't spend this type of money without hearing the product up front whatever money back offers are out there. I will keep you updated.
On a related matter, I spent my first pay cheque, around 25 years ago on a decent audio set up. The Denon amp is still working well and has been installed in my man shed. However, one of the cones in one of the original Mission speakers is damaged and crackles a little if too much bass is fed through it. Anyone know if there is a simple repair or replacement part around? The original cd player I bought passed away a few years ago.
Suggest he looks at the Kef LS50. £800 buys you an awful lot of quality.
Five minutes with the reviews should suffice to warrant an audition.
Hmm, they're certainly different, quite cheap considering the design. Not sure if they will give him much bang for buck for sound quality though!
Is there nowhere he can go and listen to them?
They look great.
I had some b&w 603s. Sold em to finance well reviewed lifestyle tannoy arena 500's after listening to more satellite based setups. Mistake. Now sold the tannoys and using little bookshelf mini pods until I can convince swmbo floorstanders are in our future again.
Short version ?
Listen properly before jumping. Looks alone don't cut it.
Daft gimmick. Goes against nearly all the proven disciplines of loudspeaker design.
They look great but to me would probably sound no different to my wharfedales. I'd give 'em a miss.
I always swear by B&W. Currently have a pair of CM9's which are fantastic, but had 601 and 603s in the past and they were good too. As for ceramic, haven't a clue but agree on getting along to a specialist shop and having a good listen to various makes.
The drivers aren't ceramic, they're paper cones. It's the cabinets that are ceramic.
I use these now having replaced my LS3/5A's.One of the best speakers I've had in 35years of involvement of HiFi. Absolute magic.
Rod
LS50s are the new anniversary ones aren't they?
I had B&W 685s and absolutely loved them to bits, so versatile! I now use Dali's which I love too!
Oops. So they are. Sorry, I thought the drivers were ceramic.
I had a pair of Dali's. They really were a running speaker.
However I would bow to Rod on this one.
About 10 years ago Norh used to make ceramic speakers, of a very similar design. I don't know if they are still going. I owned a pair of their marble speakers, which were the best I've ever heard ( in my room, etc. ) though they were not cheap. They did use some of the most expensive drivers ( top of the range ScanSpeak ) and weighed about 35Kg.
How the Norh speakers start out :
How they end up :
I imagine that ceramic could be a good material for a speaker enclosure, but there is more to it than that. I use B&W now, which are not as good as the Norh marble, but on the positive side, are unlikely to kill one of my kids if they fall over
Paul
Last edited by Tokyo Tokei; 30th December 2012 at 10:29.
I have an old pair of Ceramic Omnidirectional speakers. The sound (apart from the incredibly confusing sound stage, as a result of the omnidirectional bits) was very good. The drivers were scandyna mid range and a peerless tweeter. Bit like the speaker equivalent of a 2892. I think that Ceramic can work very well for speaker cases. These were sent to me after review by the late Leonard Setright. he also thought they were quite good overall, and hated the omnidirectional sound stage. But he used about 10,000 words to say so. I don't use them anymore hence the, couldn't be bothered to get them out of the attic , photo.
Leonard Setright - LJK Setright? I used to love reading his motorcycle reviews in Bike magazine. One of a kind.
If you're after a pair of compact speakers for £600, have a listen to Totem Dreamcatchers:
http://www.stereophile.com/content/t...er-loudspeaker
They have a tiny footprint, and sound amazing. In fact I managed to pick up mine for less than £300 secondhand. A bargain!
Others to consider are the Quad 9L Active speakers. As there's no external amplification required they're really neat.
Discontinued now, but can be had on Ebay for £250 if you're not too worried about the colour.
I would advise going to the Bristol hifi show in late february at the Marriott hotel.
There will be a huge number of options within budget on demonstration and you can have a good look and listen. Bring your own CDs with you and most dealers will let you play your own stuff.
I have been going there for years, I blame them for all of m hifi spending over the years haha.
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