Posted by tjmunro [ 65.96.157.109 ] on January 27, 2006 at 16:56:49:

In Reply to: 7pi vs. JBL Hartsfield posted by TyBiggs on January 26, 2006 at 13:57:19:

I haven't heard the 7pi's myself, but I am very interested. Below is an email response I received from someone who has heard both the CAR Hartsfields and 7Pi's, and has posted favorable comments on the 7pi's in other forums. I believe the comments were based on the 2004 Midwest Audio Fest.

"The best speakers I heard at the Midwest Audio Fest were probably the Edgarhorns; they just don't do anything wrong and are sonically competition for speakers many times their price. The most butt-shakingly fun speakers I heard were the Classic Audio Reproductions Hartsfields. I actually enjoyed them more than the Edgarhorns, even though they had obvious audible colorations and didn't image worth a damn. The third best speakers were the 7 Pi's. Very musical and engaging. I knew they were something special when, from around the corner and way out of line of sight, they sounded wonderful. Few speakers can do that - it means they're getting the reverberant field right, because from around the corner all you can possibly hear is the reverberant sound. But live instruments still sound right even from around the corner, so a speaker that gets this right is getting something important right.

The 7Pi's image better than the Hartsfields and probably have less midrange coloration - my recollection is they sounded smoother. They didn't kick butt quite like the Hartsfields, but then nothing else I know of does either.

Now I didn't hear the 7 Pi's until the very end of the show, and even then not for very long, but they sure did make a good impression on me. They sounded very good at low volume levels, and from outside the room - two things that few speakers get right and that in my experience are reliable predictors of long term enjoyment."

Replies: