I have a pair of Mk I Active Diamonds... If anyone is interested I can take some photos and post them up here?
Anyone got the legendary Cornflake shop Diamond stands?
They did. The designer used them on the first version of his own speakers...One of those magic hifi moments for me was walking into the Cornflake Shop room at a show where they were demoing the original Xerxes/Mission (or AR ?) arm, Nait 1 plus Diamond 1's in those brilliant stands. Santan's Abraxas sounded superb. Why has no one continued with that design of stand?
A mate of mine used to run stacked Kan's mounted in another version of those stands.
Mike
Seriously I wouldnt have bothered.
I've owned the Mk1 (on Kan 1 stands ) and Mk 3 were in the family. They don't stand up today and you can get much later models like the 9 which are better. I heard the mini 9s in a shop system and they sounded fairly good.
The originals were cleverly marketed for the time and suited a budget..........time moves on
I tried IVs (£4.99) with the metal tweeter. They are ok for what they are but you can do much better. There is no need to be searching for early diamonds while the later ones (say series 9 onwards) are on the used market
I would agree the later Diamonds offer more, but the originals are a little like the original Naim Nait amplifier.
They have a 'certain something', in that they connect you to the music.
It's not a 'magic quality', but something certain components have.
A case in point are Stirling MS88 speakers.
60th Anniversay LS3/5as under another name.
Detailed, good imaging, smooth, but didn't connect me with my music.
An original 15 ohm pair I refurbished do the above.
The years I spent with my Lab. pair always connected me...
Expensive speakers are often very coloured, have crazy impedance curves, look like modern art or other quirks.
Some relatively inexpensive brands like Wharfedale, Q Acoustics, Monitor Audio and PSB manage excellent performance
HiFi Choice, issue 41 - Speakers.
Diamond 2 was recommended at £80pr. Response shape like Sara's on acid - eeek!!!!! No bass, severely humped up mid, trough at crossover then peaking up in the tweeter region. perfect for FE LP systems with an LP12 on the front
Well below the test average on sound quality, boxy with thinned mid, it fleshed out a little when close to a wall and once got used to, you either loved or hated it.
I only new the powered "active" version and with a portable CD player feeding them, they sounded great.