swt61 Posted September 30, 2010 Report Share Posted September 30, 2010 So as some of you already know I recently won an A-gon auction for a pair of Daber Audio Monitor 3 speakers. I had never heard of Daber Audio before the auction, and I must admit that the aesthetic of the speakers had a lot to do with me bidding on them. It was pretty easy to do the math and realise I had paid a less than what it actually cost to produce these speakers, so I had no real worries about getting a fair deal. The speakers arrived Monday, and I've been running Pink noise through them since that time. The build quality is awesome! And they are absolutely gorgeous in person! I've had quite a bit of correspondance with Daber Audio's founder Steve Brown, and he's a great guy. He's an audio geek like us, and has been a lot of fun to talk gear with. Steve mentioned to me that he thought the speakers sounded best with the domed mids at ear level, and indeed I came to the same conclusion. Yesterday and today I've had some time to really listen critically, and have noticed that the highs have opened up with break in, as well as the bass seems to have tightened up. The drivers consist of an isodynamic (for us ortho lovers) tweeter, that really has some of that familiar orthodynamic flavor so many of us here love. A 2" aluminum domed midrange and an 8" aluminum/magnesium woofer. Steve custom builds the crossovers himself. The standouts for me are the imaging and soundstage. Those are two characteristics that are most important to me with speakers. And that is the main reason I've owned mostly two way bookshelf speakers. The exception are the ESS AMT 1Ds I once owned, and the Heil air motion transformer on those had fantastic imaging and soundstage. The 12" woofer and 12" passive radiator was a little wooly however. I've been known to sacrifice bass in favor of imaging, and I really don't like loose bass. The 8" woofer of the M3 is a particularly good choice IMO. It has enough bass to satisfy all but the cronic bassheads, but is fast and tight as bass should be. I haven't even bothered to integrate my two 10" powered subs yet. I'm also a mids guys, and admittedly I think I've lost some of my ability to hear the upper most frequencies, due to my job. These have glorious midrange, and are somewhat reminiscent of the K1000 in that regard. I pulled the trigger on these speakers blind, but wanted to pass on that I think they are very definitely a worthy effort. Of coarse I practically stole mine, but they are certainly worth a lot more. Color choices are Piano Black or real Cherry veneer. The images on Daber's website show a squared cabinet, but Steve opted to use elegant curved cabinets on mine, and I'm pretty sure that will be something you can opt for. I hope to bring these to an upcoming Texas meet soon, so that others can hear them. I'm quite pleased with my purchase, and the customer service at Daber Audio is on par with the best I've encountered with any company. I can recommend Steve and Daber Audio with no hesitation. I believe he has some larger speakers due out the first part of 2011, for those interested more in floor standers. And Daber also builds subwoofers, and I believe does some custom work as well. Check out their site... Daber Audio | Better Subwoofers. Period. - Welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dusty Chalk Posted September 30, 2010 Report Share Posted September 30, 2010 Nice review, did read. "...reminiscent of the k1k...", huh? That's fairly high praise. Sent from mah Droid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nebby Posted September 30, 2010 Report Share Posted September 30, 2010 Good to hear that they sound as good as they look, Steve. The finish on those piano black cabinets looks really nice (especially for the price). What are you using to power the speakers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aura Posted September 30, 2010 Report Share Posted September 30, 2010 Good shit, thanks for the commentary Steve. Glad you are enjoying them . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swt61 Posted October 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2010 Good to hear that they sound as good as they look, Steve. The finish on those piano black cabinets looks really nice (especially for the price). What are you using to power the speakers? I'm using my Opera Audio Consonance a-120 linear integrated amp ATM, but my Pass F5 may be a good choice. It's at Marc's now, but I'll try it out eventually. These are fairly efficient at 91 db. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luvdunhill Posted October 1, 2010 Report Share Posted October 1, 2010 I hope to bring these to an upcoming Texas meet soon yes. I hope they'll work with my stands, if not we might want to rig up a scrap piece of wood to help out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diebenkorn Posted October 1, 2010 Report Share Posted October 1, 2010 I am pretty sure those are the same tweeters (Hi Vi) on the Decware speakers I had (Rl 1.5) they are great tweets esp with imaging and soundstage, glad you are enjoying your speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nebby Posted October 1, 2010 Report Share Posted October 1, 2010 When's this Texas meet you speak of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swt61 Posted October 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2010 (edited) yes. I hope they'll work with my stands, if not we might want to rig up a scrap piece of wood to help out. I have some old stands I made in '94 that are easily adaptable. They legs are tubing and can be changed to achieve different heights. Eventually I'll build a nice wooden set. I am pretty sure those are the same tweeters (Hi Vi) on the Decware speakers I had (Rl 1.5) they are great tweets esp with imaging and soundstage, glad you are enjoying your speakers. They are the same, and I agree. When's this Texas meet you speak of? There may even be a small gathering in Oct., not for certain yet. Edited October 1, 2010 by swt61 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.