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Amphion speakers

hifinutt

hifinutt

hifinutt
Got quite a bright music room always can be a bit challenging for many speakers and i have tried a few there including shl5plus and p3esr , tannoy, B&w amongst others

So heard about the amphion which apparently are smooth but very clear with great bass . Heard a pair of argon 1 at my local dealer with some hegel amps . very engaging and quite a sense of presence . lovely with vocals and electronica . these are the ones at daventry show

daventry amphion 1 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/, on Flickr

I managed to get a pair of argon 3s standmounts on demo at home from my local dealer . They have a passive radiator at the back and are reputed to have good bass but not as much as buchardt . Approximately the same size as dynaudio special 40 .

Currently just using with a very modest arcam A85 which is ok but as you know there are massively more competant amps like aethos and sn3 these days . Using a onkyo sacd player , oddy speaker cable and chord interconects with no mains filtration .

Playing with positioning but so far straight ahead seems ok . stands about 70cm head height . Initial impressions are positive . Playing hans zimmer 2049 bladerunner , you can feel the subterranean bass which goes through the floor and vibrates the chair a bit . pretty good soundstage with this cd . these would be superb in an AV system as Left and right speakers. These differ from argon one as have a switch at back to raise treble 1db. these are set to standard .

playing diamond mine

The sense of clarity in the cafe is pretty good , the piano sounds very real indeed and impressive and real sense of liveness .

Eric Bibb playing where the green grass grows is pretty real too. I dread to think what these speakers are like on the end of better amps .

At some point i will try some JH F5 monoblocks with these . will keep you posted . and no doubt others will chip in, i know sue pertwee on here has some floorstanders

P1070796 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/, on Flickr

P1070794 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/, on Flickr

P1070793 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/, on Flickr

P1070792 by https://www.flickr.com/photos/158267783@N02/, on Flickr
 
The waveguide on the tweeter should mean smoother off-axis response, which should help in a lively room.
 
I use the Argon 3s which replaced some Proac TR8sig which i loved. I moved house and I just couldn’t stop the Proac’s from booming in their new room. The Amphions solved this and the bass is much deeper too. The Proacs were probably a bit more lively but not by much. EWA LS40 speaker cable has elevated things further for the better
 
I find their standmounts generally exceptional, the smaller floorstanders very good, the biggies not as good as I'd hope them to be.

Don't underestimate the abilities of the Hegel though - it will be very much contributing to that lack of shoutiness and over empahsised treble that some manufacturers try to pass off as "detail"
 
Those little Argon 1s were probably my favourite speakers of the ones I heard at the Daventry show. The 2 pals I was with were equally impressed. In contrast I wasn’t impressed by the big floorstander Amphions in the other room.
 
Terrific write up @hifinutt. I have to say that like many others, I too was totally enamoured by that Amphion/Hegel/Rega combo at Daventry. It' was quite incredible that with many thousands of pounds worth of HiFi bling on show in the other demo rooms, it was that real-world combination that drew people in.

Strangely, like you, I too have had some Argon 3S's on demo. They worked superbly coupled with my Supernait 2, had great soundstage, detail and presence, and were easily adaptable to my listening area, even more so with the option of the dB switch. In fact, I was so taken with them i've taken the plunge and ordered a pair. Just hoping they show up in time for Christmas!
 
As a footnote, can anyone identify that album cover in the first picture at the top of the thread? I really enjoyed hearing snippets of that at Daventry but forgot to take a note of it.
 
As @hifinutt says, I have a pair of the smaller floorstanders, the Argon 7LS. I've also used the Argon 3s, and also love the Argon 0 and Argon 1. As @sunbeamgls says, I think all the standmounters are exceptional. I'll stick with my Argon 7LS, but the Argon 3s concedes surprisingly little. I recall the big standmounters (Kryptons) in that room at Daventry, and I know the team demo'ing them had a lot of trouble getting them to sound good in what turned out to be a difficult room. I think they did a pretty good job in a bad room, so don't automatically blame the speakers.

One tip, try them with the grilles off the bass/mid unit (leave the treble one in place). I found this helped add a little extra vitality in the presence region without losing that sense of ease and naturalness that I love about them. They may be a little stiff the first time you try, but they are just a push fit, so gently teasing them off with a small diameter tool like a screwdriver should see them work free (mine got stuck with some sort of sticky stuff at one point on the circumference, but it wasn't hard to ease them free).
 
BertieWorcester said:
Terrific write up @hifinutt. I have to say that like many others, I too was totally enamoured by that Amphion/Hegel/Rega combo at Daventry. It' was quite incredible that with many thousands of pounds worth of HiFi bling on show in the other demo rooms, it was that real-world combination that drew people in.

Strangely, like you, I too have had some Argon 3S's on demo. They worked superbly coupled with my Supernait 2, had great soundstage, detail and presence, and were easily adaptable to my listening area, even more so with the option of the dB switch. In fact, I was so taken with them i've taken the plunge and ordered a pair. Just hoping they show up in time for Christmas!
Click to expand...

fab , i have a small feeling you may have been the gent that demoed the 3s last week from david f perhaps ?
 
So changed the amplification for some beautiful class A 25 watt monoblocks with a ss pre . marantz sacd player . immediately you notice a big change in soundstage. way better than the iintegrated amp on this score . still a very muscular sound , very smooth and engaging . the male voices on hans zmmer 2049 very real and ,melody gardot superb . these speakers certainly respond a great deal to better amps

P1070666 by , on Flickr

i can quite imagine they sound superb with sn2
 
Hello All,
I have a pair that I'm willing to sell at a fair price of 1400£ (to upgrade) or open to swap against a sensible contender :)
I prefer passive radiator any day, somehow my ears are a bit sensitive to flute like ports.
[FS/SWAP] - Amphion Argon 3S | pink fish media


hifinutt said:
I dread to think what these speakers are like on the end of better amps .
Click to expand...
Nowadays, I am using them with a H390.
They sound far robust with H390 than with H190 (that I owned previously) that is for sure.
They ooze authoritative yet controlled dynamics and sensitive highs :)
 
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Stop it!! This amounts to speaker-porn. Having a threesome in your listening room!! Indeed!!

You'll love the 1's, Phil. Their super-dynamic performance belies their size.
 
Nice to see Amphion getting some more love. I used to own a pair of Amphion Argon2, then upgraded to Amphion Argon3. I'd have kept them if the neighbours were not immediately offended. They sound as big as most floorstanders, and stay VERY clean as the watts go up.

Huge soundstage, even dispersion, great imaging, fast, neutral, they have it all really. Maybe a bit 'too' neutral for some... ;)
 
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