One of those unique products that their looks matches the sound they produce. Sound simple but very hard to achieve IMHO. Products with unique character, that don't try to be a substitute to something more expensive bring smile to my face
I have had these speakers for about a year now. At first I was a bit disappointed for they were not as universal as I need for my wide ranging music taste. I have Dali Ikon6 now in my living room, very good with all kinds of music. But I did find a good purpose after all for the SC8B. I like to listen to quiet music on low volume in my bedroom before going to sleep. And it is just perfect for that, because of the excellent detailed sound. I have them hanging on the wall with some sturdy hardware. Had to make a large hole in the bottom of the speaker for that. It came in handy that the bass port at the back could be taken out (it's not glued in) so I could take a peek inside and measure exactly where to make the hole in the bottom without drilling into a brace. My recapped Sansui AU555 amplifier matches perfectly by the way. Sweet midrange.
@@dakudakota8502 11 Klipsch for the ability and drive-ability. They rate a 92 on sensitivity and I have the Marantz 8015 which does the job admirably well.
Thank you very much for your informative review. I've learned a lot from your channel the past several months and I enjoy how you present all of the information in a clear and concise manner. I've ordered this speaker along with the Willsenton R8 tube amplifier. Both should be arriving this week so I'm looking forward to start listening and breaking them in. Thanks again for a great review!
Thank you Tarun for another excellent in depth review. Really appreciate your thoughts on what types of music these speakers best suit. And cool to see the puppy!
Very good review as usual. You are very good at explaining the physics in a simple way. Also, a well designed concentric system will be more coherent because of the point source configuration.
Fantastic review as always. I'm not normally into dual concentrics from an aesthetic viepoint, but the more I looked at these, the more I liked them. Im a sucker for a real wood finish xD. I'd be fascinated to hear them perform in the flesh, but sadly, that seems unlikely. Until that day then, your review is the closest I will get to hearing them, so im very grateful you've painted such a detailed and intricate description of their sonic attributes, they sound facinating.
The SC8B is available in the US from Amazon for $800 (includes shipping). BYW, I recently heard these speakers paired with a REGA Brio amp. Nice analog setup for about US $1800 plus the Brio functions well as a headphone amp. From what you said about your Exposure rig, I have to believe theses speakers would work well with a REGA Aethos. Thanks for all your reviews.
Your articulation and choice of info you choose to share (no rambling, no meandering, no fuzziness) is the best so far. You almost sound like a pro in the industry of sound engineering. FYI, I heard the review from NBT, I bought it straight away, and sold it within 6 weeks. I think your effort and clear explanation of the set up, put a "balanced" perspective of this speaker. In other words, if I heard your review, I would have a more accurate expectation. Thank you for what you do! I'm still waiting for your course (that I requested).
@@wiebl5266 unfortunately, I don’t have any plans to do that in the near future. There is a lot of prep involved in setting something like that up. I do like the idea though 😊
Very interesting Tarun……and quite thorough, as usual! These are not my cup of tea…as I most definitely prefer more bass in a speaker, and one that can reasonably handle most genres of music. I need punch! I am still going to needle you to get a pair of Kinki Studio EX-B7 Mono Blocs to review, as I think they would be a super interesting comparison to your Exposure Amps…and I would just love to hear your assessment of them in general. …Thanks again for an interesting review!!!
Not really a fan of this speaker but Tarun reviews so well I ended up watching the whole thing anyway! Always something to learn or of interest. Thanks!! :)
Love your channel mate. Watching for many months. I love your precision and brittishity and your pronunciation, and that lovely lamp on the left side of the image, looks like from dracula's castle. Love it too, even that is from transilvania, I am sure in gb they also use that old fashioned lamps. Anyhow, thanks for your work and time, love your point of view. I would love some music references every now and then. That gives way more credibility to the reviewer, I think. also let us se if you are really into music or not or... you feel me brother, I am sure. thanks again.
👍💪I am not interested much in the speaker but your review was very interesting it proves that I enjoy watching your channel immensely keep up the great work you are a must watch if you are considering purchasing some audio equipment👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Another well done review Tarun. To me, your reviews have a just the right amount technical information balanced with opinion. I really had a to laugh when you said you are tired of comparing the 1SC to other speakers. I have the 1SC as well and have been trying lots of bookshelves to see if I can find something I like better and so far nothing seems to sound better at least speakers below $1500 USD. How can such an old design hold up so well?? Cheers!
Thank you Douglas. It is nice to know that your experiences match my own. The ProAc 1SC has gained a bit of a cult status in parts of the audio industry. ProAc struggled to get the same magic out of it’s successor. I think it was called the D1. I am not sure if the current one is as good. I would love to find out one day 😊👍
I bought a pair of these about a year ago and while not exactly accurate, they are a fun speaker to listen to. I agree with you that they do have a very nice midrange. The top end is pretty good too, as long as you don't push them, although they can go surprisingly loud before they loose their composure. The bass is impressive for the size of the cabinets, although their 30Hz claim is certainly not accurate. I'm powering them with a Willsenton R8 with NOS MELZ 6SL7 equivalents (circa 1952), NOS Sylvania 6SN7GTA (circa early 1960's, and NOS Mullard 6CA7 xf2 EL34 equivalents (circa early 1960's). The amp sounds fabulous in its own right and mate beautifully with the SC8B's. Ok, the combo is not as good as my $10K tube amp and my $10K speakers, but the R8/SC8B is reliably enjoyable. BTW, I love small ensemble, jazz as well as artists like Eva Cassidy among other similar artists, and to be honest, I enjoy the music just as much as I do through the much more expensive combo. Definitely recommended...
Another entertaining and informative review, thanks, Tarun. Horns can be something of a black art in audio. Tweeters perhaps less than full bass horns but a horn needs to be designed to match it's driver. I would love to get my hands on a decent working pair of Decca London horns (ribbon driver feeding a horn for frequencies 1khz upwards). As you noted, turning the wick up can give you a bit of "shout" from the tweeter horn. Bass horns are often de-tuned slightly to avoid the equivalent, a one-note boom. Lowther have their own patented "bicor" designs and if you get the chance to examine them, many of the big bass bins used at outdoor festivals have "tapped horns" where a small portion of the sound from the pressure chamber is vented into the horn part-way along it's length. I agree that dual concentrics give a much better chance of phase coherence in the critical 1-4khz range where the human ear is so sensitive (and where most 2-way speakers have their crossover). In my own experience, the ideal approach is to do away with a crossover in this range altogether. I have heard some wonderful midrange presentations from "full-range" drivers (more accurately "wide range"). Offerings from Lowther, Fostex, Jordan and AED all sound well above average in this respect. They do however benefit from a super-tweeter rolling in between 8 and 12khz (although much less so with the Lowthers). An active sub at the other end does no harm either. I wouldn't willingly part with my big Lowther horns but if I were pushed for space and had a little more amplifier power then I would copy my son's set-up with a pair of Jordan Eikona drivers in LS3/5A cabinets (also below a grand so fair comparison with the above). All the above have marvellous imaging and a delightful open midrange.
Very interesting speaker, shame about the attention to detail regarding the cabinet, also after import duty and taxes, the initial value disappears, with kef tannoy and elac offering better value for money they could be a hard sell. Great review as always tarun. Looking forward to seeing another review soon.
Tarun, nice job as usual. As they say here in the States, you always hit a home run! I have some experience with SoundArtist. I had a pair of the SoundArtist Ls/35a. I was left wanting a whole lot more. Based on the reputation of that speaker I believe SoundArtist must have missed the boat. I moved them on after a couple of months and took a bit of a beating. I don’t think I’d buy another speaker by this company.
Thanks for reviewing the kind of equipment that is of the character and value for money that I tend to truly appreciate. You had a sentence towards the end though that I am compelled to argue with. Something along the lines of "if you put your audiophile aspirations aside, you can enjoy the naturalness...". Any audiophile should aspire to naturalness before "refinement" (often meaning a lack of life) and a technically correct but often less emotional presentation.
Thank you Gabor. I agree audiophile and musical lovers in general do aspire for a natural presentation. I was referring to the overall colouration in sound and the SC8B shortcomings with more complex material 😊👍
You did an excellent job reviewing this product. Thank you!! Very interesting speaker. Have you tried any open baffle speakers and if so, can you make a video about a smallish open baffle design? Cheers! 👍👍
Another good review. The more I watch your videos I have the feeling we could become fast friend. You would fit in with my other friends who don't return my calls either.
Tarun, the acoustics are very echoey, it sounds like you are in a large empty room. you might want to consider some acoustic panels to the left and right (out of sight of the camera) and behind the camera as well. The light from your left is also still a bit bright. Sorry, I'm being pedantic (I know) and thanks for another informative and enjoyable video.
I have to remove the furniture when filming and sit where the room opens up to the kitchen. Actually, with the furniture back in and in the listening position, the acoustics are pretty good 😊👍
Hi Tarun, Regarding your ProAc Response One SCs, it seems to me that you've not found anything yet to better them in all the stand mounted speakers you've evaluated. That's unsurprising. They're exceptional speakers. I can certainly understand why you refer to them. Great work describing this new Sound Artist product.
Wow , great way to present information hence watching your videos at this hour . Tarun I have a question finally I bought speakers i ( British Loudspeaker )now want wide soundstage and depth too do I have to add valve amp is valve amp is must ? I have all separates like turntable, CD players , and 4 Amps
Thank you Atri. Good valve amps are know for soundstage depth but it can be achieved with solid state amps too. The Exposure 2510 is an example. Speaker positioning is also key 😊👍
I'm often curious about these chinese newcomers, so to speak - as far as we westerners are concerned they may have been established 50 years in the business:D As ever, a grand review Mr T. Picard out.
Always watch your reviews, to be honest you are my go to source of infomation, off to audition an Exposure 2510 due to your review. Wonder how these speakers would match up against another cheaper speaker, the Wharfdale EVO 4.2?
Thank you Paul. Very kind of you to say and greatly appreciated 😊👍 I would love to review some Wharfedale speakers. Unfortunately, IAG (parent company) did not respond to my messages.
I had trouble understanding the brand model on a few of your reference models. Would it be good to list your reference system that you are referring to? Great job! I was not interested in this video's topic.....until I was! 🎸🎻✌🎧🎶🌈
I probably won't buy them, but I would certainly like to hear how they perform! Thanks for another great video! Are these speakers more sensitive about amp matching than other brands?
They are quite mid centric and have an open, engaging personality. Sound glorious with simple acoustic, jazz and vocal music. You need an amp capable of drawing out those qualities 😊
7:20 Horn does not narrow dispersion at high frequencies. Every horn besides improving coupling and therefore efficiency also works like a waveguide with more or less good results. In its size depended working range it controls directivity. With higher frequencies where tweeter diaphragm size becomes significant compared to wavelength it starts to beam. no more than a tweeter of the same site without horn/waveguide would. Judging by the looks only that coppery thing is neither a good horn and even less a waveguide. But still better than nothing. That Ampheon Argon 1 (7:58) have a much has a much better waveguide with shallower contour and therefore I would expect better directivity control. By eyeballing alone I would say that waveguide is about 13 cm in diameter and would work down to about 1500 Hz. Remember eyeballing only. But lo and behold, that speaker has a crossover point at 1600 Hz where similarly sized (bit smaller) woofer which should have at that point have roughly equal dispersion takes over. The dispersion then rises with the wavelength. I guess it would become omnidirectional somewhere at or below 1000Hz. It should sound better because power response is better, therefore room coloration is smaller, sweet spot at least in horizontal plane is wider. Loudspeakers are physics incarnated.
Hello sir, could you test a diy amplifier like tpa3116d2 and give your thoughts or opinion about them? I know it's not Hi-Fi but it would be interesting to see your review on something different.
It has been a while since I listened to the F700. They are much better built and more refined but I think the SC8B may be a little cleaner and more open in the midrange 😊
Tarun, please keep on with the comparison with the your go old Proac’s as I find your input to be very insightful. When conducting this review did you at any time ask China HIFI for any speaker measurement to back up any of your concerns (if any) or was this a purely subjective review? I wonder how much development went into such an affordable product? I would loved to know more about why China HIFI brought this speaker to market. I alway have this uneasy feeling that they (China made product) are just thrown together without much thought just to capture international sales. Your review and the price of this speaker alone make this a no brainer purchase. Any additional insight that you may have would be appreciated. Brian
Thank you Brian. I didn’t on this occasion but did when I reviewed the LS3/5A replica. Unfortunately, Lee has limited English so I wasn’t able to get past the communication barrier. It is always a bit of a punt with these products 😊👍
For me buying speakers and amplifiers without a listen don’t work. I had nearly a disaster buying without a listen. Secondly I always buy from a dealer who gives service. Buying from the internet give me not that possibility. I don’t miss any review from. Greetings, Ludo
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Thank you Tarun. I hit the sweet spot with positioning my Triangles recently and they are so detailed, yet smooth. The air, the soundstage is just unreal. I focus on one word you used: refined. These Triangles, while not perfect, are so much for enjoyable than my 'other' 40th anniversary speaker that I will add one more word: a little bit exuberant; but in a refined way.
Hi James, not all speakers with waveguides have good off axis performance. It all depends on implementation. The wave guide is generally used to narrow the dispersion of the tweeter around the crossover frequency to match the mid/woofer. If done correctly, it will improve off axis performance 😊
I bought a pair of these, and if I’m honest, I was a bit disappointed, I fount the high mids to be overemphasised and I thought they roll off around 12K, there wasn’t much there if you like the sound of cymbals and high hats, I’ve put them on eBay.
I think some small adjustments could be made to sound fantastic. But why have you got them pointing at your ears...? I mean that's a big no-no for horns and can cause the coloration as you say around 2000 Hz. Some off access listening is better for horns. Is there any possibility that in the future taking the driver's out and having and good look around I do enjoy that tells me a lot
Thank you for watching and the suggestion John. I didn’t have them pointing directly at my ears. I played around a lot with these speakers to get the best position in my room 😊
I wouldn’t use them in the nearfield but if you are 2m+ from your speakers the SC8B are fine. Generally, horn speakers require a bit more distance than conventional speaker but it is design dependent 😊
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Not so cool as you might think. A pair of JPW AP3 easily outperformed them. They had the same drivers as the Snell K, although not matched pairs of drivers as the Snells were.
Off Topic, but proof Miracles may happen... driving a minor residential road, just ahead of a waste truck on it's weekly pickup. Just ahead was a large brown-ish mass of stuff. Closer it became clear it was 2-Bose 901s, an Onkyo AV Receiver, & Sony CD. Just...placed to be discarded!?!?!! Yep! Stopped immediately. The "miracle" is how quickly this old Italiano was able to put all that in my Honda Fit :-) Their Series 4, & fearing the cones damaged, I unscrewed the grilled to find PERFECT cones & surrounds! Like new. A question, please>> Can these 901s be successfully heard w/o that "equaliizer box" they ship with? I've never owned, or imagined I EVER would own such speakers, whew, so I'm unsure. Gracie'!! Ohhh...this just happened in Punta Gorda, SW FL. USA. Miracles !! :-)
Awesome review as usual 👏 since u mentioned that they're not great for rock & classical I was wondering ur opinion on the best around 2 to 3 grand usd. Well im in Canada but i can figure it out. Maybe u won't know since the pound is higher than our currency. But anyway im thinking on upgrading my dalies i heard the new jbl"s for 3500 but it didn't really impress all that much from the dali's! So was just wondering what u think about that? I run stuff through a moon 340i & an old luxman. Thank u so much 🙏
@@silviopimentel7247 Thank you Silvio. Unfortunately, there is no simple answer. It depends on your room, setup, partnering equipment and taste. But here are some of my favourites… ATC SCM 19s, ProAc D2 (non R version), ProAc DT8 Dynaudio Special 40 Not an exhaustive list 😊👍
Yes, indeed. The Mojo is run of batteries even when powered externally but those cheap switch mode power supplies will pollute the mains and the rest of your system with noise 😊
@@abritishaudiophile7314 Enjoyed your contents. Definitely not an audiophile but love good audio. Like watching to learn a thing or two. But sometimes its beyond my pay grade LOL.
I like your channel.but theres so much bull shit.on utube.the usa has spread all over the world.most hifi amps ext.was made 40 years ago.a.ab.amps.enriched class ab.hegel.old school.2o.hz.to 15khz.1 khz .45 watts..05.at 0.1 watt.same with mqa.!)thats 20 years old.😎😎😎🤗
