Sound Artist SC8B

[Markpab66]

Hello there, I've been thinking about buying a pair of these Chinese speakers, wondering if anyone has experience with these unusual speakers. They have an 8" paper driver with a horn loaded tweeter mounted concentric with the woofer. There are 3 or 4 reviews on YouTube that seem pretty positive about them, and they are supposedly fantastic with a tube amp, 90db sensitivity so easy to drive. Thanks.

[Markpab66]

Just a quick update on these speakers, they were for sale at a local HiFi shop for £600, and I was very tempted indeed after seeing several favourable YouTube reviews, but after reading some of the posted reviews under the videos decided against buying them. Some reviews from people who had actually bought them weren't as positive regarding the sound quality. If they had been half the price I would've risked buying them. Looks like I'll be staying with my Rogers and ProAcs after all! As an aside, my Elac UniFi's don't sound well with my Kit 34 amp- think they need transistor power to come alive, their sensitivity is just too low, 85db, 6 ohms.

[Phil Y]

Yes, speaker matching is more complicated than just a bald, output power/speaker efficiency equation. A friend of mine tried some highly rated single ended valve amps with his speakers that on paper were plenty efficient enough to work, but they didn't. The sound was soft, slow and lacking dynamics.

Phil.

[Markpab66]

Yes, Phil, think this is where most money gets spent and wasted on the amp/speaker combo. My Rogers LS7's sounded great with solid state, really smooth speakers, while my ProAcs sounded analytical. However the tube amp makes the ProAcs sing, must smooth them a little while still sounding more detailed than I have ever heard them. Modern amps seem to be all about analytical detail and clarity, which makes them sound harsh. I have Cambridge and Arcam amps that do this, while an old Leak Delta from the early '70s that I restored is much smoother.

[bob orbell]

I think this problem is a lot to do with poor power supply's, the best designed amplifier in the world with a **** power supply will sound **** with any speaker. Bob