(1)
18/2/2010
Dear
Greg,
I am writing to give a testimonial of my experience with your loudspeakers.
I have
long admired Osborn loudspeakers and for the past few years I
have delighted in the beautiful music played through them. My
system consisted of Osborn interlude speakers powered by a Redgum
60 watt amplifier and a Redgum CD5 cd-player. I use Osborn silver-link
interconnects and Osborn loudspeaker cables. I also utilise the
magnificent Osborn Monumental Subwoofer (also powered by Redgum
amps) to give extra authority to the bottom octave of music which
for my listening tastes is absolutely necessary.
This combination was so thrilling that I would look forward to
coming home after a hard day at work, get the kids into bed and
then just listen to my music for hours at a time. When I listen
to music I want to be moved by the size of the soundstage and
the impact of full live instruments while maintaining pinpoint
imaging. I want to FEEL and SEE the performance so that I get
a REALISTIC appreciation of the original recording. Osborn loudspeakers
do this! Many small sound systems sound OK but part of that is
due to the fact that our brains fill in the gaps and our imagination
tells us what we should be hearing. With Osborn loudspeakers no
imagination is required and that is why many of Greg's models
are large speakers. You cannot get loud deep accurate bass without
moving large volumes of air; it is a law of physics! Having said
that the build quality and finish of Osborn loudspeakers make
them look like beautiful pieces of furniture which even my wife
has admitted!
Recently I upgraded my interlude speakers for one of Greg Osborn's
new models, the Eclipse Tower Reference. This is a BIG speaker
but as I said above it looks magnificent. Upon delivery I plugged
the speakers into the positions where my interludes were. I quickly
realised that these speakers were so good that I had to remove
the Monumental Subwoofer from the setup, as it was now just clouding
the bass. I adjusted the speaker position which is very important.
I was rewarded with the most amazing soundstage, imaging, impact,
authority, speed and accuracy of any speaker I have ever heard.
These speakers need a lot of running in time and they just sound
better and better each day. There is some talk on the internet
that the Focal Beryllium tweeter employed by Greg is too bright
in other speakers. This is not the case here. This tweeter is
fast, accurate and natural and is ruthless in showing up every
detail in the other components of the system.
Comparing the Eclipse Tower Reference (ETR) to my old system is
to say it is evolutionary as well as revolutionary. The ETR goes
well down to 20Hz within my room, maintaining speed accuracy and
impact that allows me to hear every nuance of the bass lines of
a music track while also punching right through my chest. These
speakers can play very loud and are easy to drive. Therefore I
no longer use a Subwoofer. The midrange is natural transparent
and accurate, with string instruments, horns and female voices
bringing chills to my spine. The tweeter is a revelation, but
in my system never irritating with tinkling bells, shimmering
symbols and even flautists spitting into their instruments all
clearly audible. The improvements over my old speakers are inevitable
given the quality of drivers in the ETR and the fact that a two
way speaker like the interlude is ultimately being asked to do
too much to cover the entire musical spectrum. As an example one
of my all time favourite CD's is Andreas Vollenweider "White
Winds". In the opening track I always believed that the electric
harp was positioned from left to right across the soundstage.
With the Eclispe Tower Reference in play I can "SEE"
the harp is positioned diagonally going from back left to front
right in a much larger sound-stage. This is just one example of
how I am rediscovering my entire music selection.
I could go on for hours and hours but I will finish up. Let me tell you that you would have to spend many times more than the cost of any Osborn loudspeaker to get any where near the same quality. I would recommend audition by anybody serious about the high quality reproduction of recorded music.
Thanks Greg for making my life a more enjoyable experience!
Best regards
Joe
Covelli
hopperscrossingvet@netspace.net.au