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I guess I'm one of the first people to hear the new LCR speakers from Angel City Audio. Got a chance to hear them at Sandbagger's today. Before I go into the details, it's worth explaining my familiarity w/ the Ref line, since these speakers share a lot in common w/ the Ref 3's (e.g. the drivers). I own a pair of Ninja-modded Ref 1.5's that I've used w/ ERT's. Rather like the sound of those (though currently they reside at a friend's house). I've also heard the Ref 3's at a GTG, and had liked them. Had felt that they were on par w/ the Mini's. And before I listened to the LCR's, I listened to Kevin's stock Ref 2's, which were pretty nice.
So, the main point is that I'm familiar w/ the sound of the Ref's and had an idea in my head what I was expected before I heard the LCR's. My idea turned out to be both right and wrong. The Refs, when done well, can sound very musical and be sonically engaging. These elements were definitely there w/ the LCR's. But I hadn't expected the level of detail, density and breadth of the soundstage, and the dynamics. The 2 things I care about the most are the width/depth of the soundstage and getting the details of the music right. Probably comes from listening to a lot of electronic music. Anyway, with whatever tracks (jazz and electronic) I tossed at the speakers (please note that they were in 2.0 at this point), they did a very admirable job. Heard all sorts of details and spacial info that other speakers miss. But, what I really wasn't prepared for was the dynamics. While the detail and soundstage were beyond what I'd expected from Ref type speakers, I do not think of the Refs as being dynamic speakers. And yet, w/ these, the sound flew out of the speakers. Very, very nice effect, especially when we switched to 5.1 (w/ the Turbo MWF). And, of course, when we went to 5.1, there was a nice integration between the left, right, and center channels, since they are very similar.
So, my overall impression is that Angel City has some winners on their hands. Couldn't find fault w/ them sonically. Couple of things of note. First, the bass appears to roll off somewhere in the 30-40Hz range. So, for HT and bassier music (like what I listen to) a sub is helpful. For other types of music, could live easily w/o a sub. Second, the Left and Right are meant to be put on stands. Personally, I'm not a big fan of large speakers on stands, and this is one of the few cases where even if I tried to convince my wife that I needed to buy these speakers, she would veto them. Not sure how feasible a tower version would be, but would be preferable IMO. Third, I have no idea what the price is, so I can't say if these are a good value or not.
So, the main point is that I'm familiar w/ the sound of the Ref's and had an idea in my head what I was expected before I heard the LCR's. My idea turned out to be both right and wrong. The Refs, when done well, can sound very musical and be sonically engaging. These elements were definitely there w/ the LCR's. But I hadn't expected the level of detail, density and breadth of the soundstage, and the dynamics. The 2 things I care about the most are the width/depth of the soundstage and getting the details of the music right. Probably comes from listening to a lot of electronic music. Anyway, with whatever tracks (jazz and electronic) I tossed at the speakers (please note that they were in 2.0 at this point), they did a very admirable job. Heard all sorts of details and spacial info that other speakers miss. But, what I really wasn't prepared for was the dynamics. While the detail and soundstage were beyond what I'd expected from Ref type speakers, I do not think of the Refs as being dynamic speakers. And yet, w/ these, the sound flew out of the speakers. Very, very nice effect, especially when we switched to 5.1 (w/ the Turbo MWF). And, of course, when we went to 5.1, there was a nice integration between the left, right, and center channels, since they are very similar.
So, my overall impression is that Angel City has some winners on their hands. Couldn't find fault w/ them sonically. Couple of things of note. First, the bass appears to roll off somewhere in the 30-40Hz range. So, for HT and bassier music (like what I listen to) a sub is helpful. For other types of music, could live easily w/o a sub. Second, the Left and Right are meant to be put on stands. Personally, I'm not a big fan of large speakers on stands, and this is one of the few cases where even if I tried to convince my wife that I needed to buy these speakers, she would veto them. Not sure how feasible a tower version would be, but would be preferable IMO. Third, I have no idea what the price is, so I can't say if these are a good value or not.
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