WD25T comparison

Has anyone made comparisons between the WD25T & commercial designs? I'm in
the market for some new ones up to £2K so wondered how it would compare to say Spendor S8e, LV Auditorium?

Above all I'm looking for a smooth top end.

thanks

[Cobblers]

Originally Posted by shellac

Has anyone made comparisons between the WD25T & commercial designs? I'm in
the market for some new ones up to £2K so wondered how it would compare to say Spendor S8e, LV Auditorium?

Above all I'm looking for a smooth top end.

thanks

I use both the basic LV's and the WD25a's (not T's) and I wouldn't like to say which of these I prefer.
Given the cost of the 25's this should give you some idea of just how good they are.
Having heard the spendors (but not having owned them) I would say their character is somewhat different. Stronger bass and probably better image depth than the WD25T's but lacking their speed/immediacy
I think the Spendors would be kindest to poor recordings.
LV's have superb imaging inspite of their d'appolito design, I suspect in this area the best of the 3 speakers you mention (all 3 are excellent in this department, despite the 25's width -blowing another hifi myth out of the water.

I suspect for a really large room (well away from back or side walls) the spendor would impress greatly on good solid state gear, but for more modest sized accommodation the wd25's or LV's would work better.

WD25's need a solid wall behind them this could be a great benefit in many homes (it is in the room with the 25's).

All three have excellent vocal reproduction devoid of the annoying resonances which some speakers suffer with hard dust caps, poor or cheap tweeters allied to 1st order crossovers etc.

Even with the basic tweeter WD25 crossing over to the bass unit at a low frequency the wd25's are smooth and detailed.
Obviously the excell tweeter would do an even better job and would be the one to go for (if you can afford new £2k floorstanders!).

Cobblers,

Thanks for the reply - I somewhat agree with your findings.

Though in my room (12 x 18) I found the Spendors were better at imaging than the Auditoriums, they also had a much bigger sound & weight (especially on piano) and went really low, however mid bass was loose (probably due to valve amp), and I think this would get tiring over time.

LV were lighter, faster, more expressive (can hear right into the recording), had good mid bass but seemed lacking lower down especially compared to my current MA speakers.

Both were superb on vocals - smooth, clean etc (no annoying harsh metal tweeter). Spendor do appear to be better built.

I believe the LV Avatar has better bass but it's £3K!

From what you say, I may give the WD25T kit a go!

[david counter]

one thing I've never understood is how a speaker that retails for thousands of pounds can have only five or six hundred pounds worth of components,

where as Peter's component value is high but the kit price is low

[Cobblers]

Originally Posted by shellac

Cobblers,

Thanks for the reply - I somewhat agree with your findings.

Though in my room (12 x 18) I found the Spendors were better at imaging than the Auditoriums, they also had a much bigger sound & weight (especially on piano) and went really low, however mid bass was loose (probably due to valve amp), and I think this would get tiring over time.

LV were lighter, faster, more expressive (can hear right into the recording), had good mid bass but seemed lacking lower down especially compared to my current MA speakers.

Both were superb on vocals - smooth, clean etc (no annoying harsh metal tweeter). Spendor do appear to be better built.

I believe the LV Avatar has better bass but it's £3K!

From what you say, I may give the WD25T kit a go!

The WD25's (both A and T) have notably better bass control and definition (though not weight -applies to both versions) than either of these speakers.

I would say the WD25's bass will work superbly in almost any room, this is not true of many large ported floorstanders.

Spendors build quality is exceptional, pride of ownership should be high, for those who value this sort of thing (high WAF factor for the *ahem* Mr Chomley Warner -well heeled mature customers conservatively styled home).

[Ianm2]

you can build a pair of the lv's if you wish, the drive units cost about £240 all in, i have the dimensions, and cabinets are chip, xovers, too.

i also have the details for the avatars ,not much different, same cab, different units, still vifa mostly

audiotorium c17wg-69 08, tweeter d27tg 35-06
avatar c17wh 09-08 tweeters are scanspeakers 9000 series

that;'s top of the head, but pretty close.

the avatars don't actually go lower, they are flatter and roll off about the same, sensitivity is exaggerated on the figuires, 91 db for audiotoriums, about 92-3 for avatars, depends where you measure it

I suspected the LV don't cost much to make - I think Castle actually make the enclosures. The MA speakers I have are far better built, immaculately finished and cost less than 1/4 of the price! The LV do sound nice though.

Wondering now if I have the skills to put the WD25T cabinet together without making a mess of it.

Oh and just noticed a Radford Acclaim speaker in development on a sister site - whats that all about?

http://www.radfordaudio.co.uk/

[Ianm2]

yes I am afraid LV's are rather cheap, but I liked the basic audiotorium better than the avatar, too polite for me. castle I think used to make the posher cabs.

what's your amp? that should bet the determining factor for the match.

peter's assembly doesn't cost the earth.

Originally Posted by Ianm2

yes I am afraid LV's are rather cheap, but I liked the basic audiotorium better than the avatar, too polite for me. castle I think used to make the posher cabs.

what's your amp? that should bet the determining factor for the match.

peter's assembly doesn't cost the earth.

Amp is Unison Research S6

[Ianm2]

interesting amp, triple parallel single ended according to the web, probably a little speaker sensitive, 88dbs plus speakers, nice load.

David, the commercial markup is usually 5-10x, remember also makers are getting the parts at trade AND bulk, which makes it all the more.

eg. proac d100, basses are £250 a piece, 4 off, mids the same, and £100 each for trebles ish, that makes £2200 retail

Trade perhaps 1/3 that, £700 for drivers, same for cabinet being extremely generous, retail is £15,000, that;s the kind of margins.

perhaps even 1/5th, and the cabs £100. that makes around £500 for a £15,000 speaker, welcome to rip off britain

stewrt tyler not intersted in marketing?( his own quote) classic formula...price something extremely high, great interest and worship, pure marketing imo.

also, how do you get this, auracoustics using volt rv3143, atc mid and a scan treble, £12,000,

pmc mb1, same units essentially, used to be around £5000, and that's a posh expensive transmission line cabinet.

or living voice avatar obx, used to be £4000, £30 bass units, £100 tweets, the avatar costs £2500 then, that makes £1500 for 2 mdf boxes to make the obx/r

4k for a crappy 2 way

in comparison

atc active 100s, used to be £6000, for that you get 12" atc bass, atc mids, 6 separate amps and active xovers/filters/protection, totalling 380 watts.

or border patrol 300b, using sp wound components tx's, costing £6000 plus, tx set is £250 for single, not bulk or trade

doesn't make sense does it?, welcome to hifi pricing, the world of the conman

some of the worst offenders are

living voice ( don't know a thing about loudspeaker design actually)
russ andrews, treading carefully, as he and peter are apparently friends, peter seems nice tho, so maybe RA isn't so bad
audionote
cable people, capacitor people and most accessories
linn
naim
any chinese ones that have a 4 figure number
and anyone who gives mean information and wont' give proper specs. be very suspcious of.

some of the good guys

graham slee
atc
hadcock
sp wound
len gregory
acoustic energy
musical fidelity? heard good and bad, but all in all, for what you get they comparatively aren't dear

name your own good and bad

mushroom customers, keep them in the dark and feed them manure