I’m interested in this kind of speaker design because on paper it seems to offer so much, including adaptation to different rooms, high quality, and a reduction in box count. I’ve now heard the 8Cs twice at Cranage. Last year was a reasonably large room, and I got the impression of a bright, highly resolving speaker. My concern was whether it would be fatiguing to listen to for long periods of time, but as the music being played then was also likely to be brickwalled, it was quite likely to be attributable to that.
My first thought on going into the room this year was that it would be a real test of whether these speakers could adapt to a difficult room. I was able to listen to the first two movements of Shostakovich’s 8th quartet, and also Miles Davis' ESP. In the quartet, violins were bright, but the viola and cello were muddy and unfocussed, to the point where there was no stereo image of the musicians, and the music did not 'gel'. Exactly the same problem with ESP – bass was badly focussed and seemed to be largely one smeared note, disconnected from the rest of the quintet. Trumpet was OK, but nothing special. I did ask what room correction was configured, and I think this was a filter applied through the mini DSP SHD, not the 8Cs – I don’t know if it would have made a difference to have tried a different configuration.
I’ve hesitated writing my comments on Cranage because I do appreciate the effort made in presenting at a show like this, often in less than optimal conditions. I’m still interested in this kind of design – it’s likely to be the way forward, but based on what I've heard, I’ll probably wait for another couple of years to see what other designs come to market.