Quote:
Originally Posted by jazzman
I cannot comment on the IRS Beta, but I still have a pair of Infinity IRS Epsilon in my garage (my first serious speakers, before many others, I still have an emotional attachment, never wanted to sell them...): same EMIT, EMIM and L-EMIM drivers but a servo controlled single bass driver.
I took the IRS out a few years back, connected them to my Gryphon Antileon and compared to the evolution acoustic MM3 I had at the time. I am sorry, but modern speakers are in fact much better: better defined bass, more transparency, etc. The difference was shocking.
Since then I replaced the MM3 with a pair of Magico Q1 (temporary speaker, waiting for my Ultimate): going from a 600lbs monster to small monitors. As surprising as it can be for most of us thinking "bigger= better", I enjoy more the sound of the Q1, on the music I listen (70% Jazz + voices, J.S. Bach and church music), and I end up therefore listening much more to music. In short: More transparency, more faithful tones, more precise imaging, less bass extension.
And yes, I would take a pair of S5 over a Sasha anytime. Would even take it against a pair of Alexia. They are that good, even if I personally prefer the Q3 over the S5.
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Hi Jazz, you provided a fairly compelling picture of how speaker development has evolved from the classic IRS-Epsilon and earlier predecessors such as the IRS-Beta, from which many of it's drivers evolved. I'm not surprised your Evolution Acoustics MM3's were dramatically better taking into account their price, but of course as you found out with the Q1's, the size or cost of a speaker tells little about how musically satisfying it is.
For me, I liked the overall balance, smoothness and excitement the S5's offer. To my ears they were every bit as coherent as the Q3's and sounded a bit warmer. They are like a higher end version of an IRS-Gamma that just happens to kick the Renaissance 90's, IRS-Sigma & IRS-Epsilon's butt!!
ps: I plan to place my S5's on Stillpoints Ultra 5's with the Ultra bases which, knowing how good the Ultra 5's are, should lift the S5's to the same level as the Q3 (since they are close already)..