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Seth=L · 10-02-2007, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtwhickory

With a list price of $1200 I would definitely agree. The $499 price I paid seems about right. Without the equipment the big boys have, I'm sure it is more costly from a manufacturing standpoint to make these. But, that doesn't give Carl the right to complain to us, the consumers, about how much he puts into them!

The main reason I bought them was the hope of getting an open sounding speaker with a huge soundstage. The separate tweeter on top made sense to me in this regard. As far as types of drivers, spacing between drivers, and side mounting goes, I have seen (and owned) several "odd" looking speakers that sounded very good. How about MBL?

Anyway, my point of posting was merely to say that these appear to be well-made in an honest effort at a "real" (not "scam") speaker. How they compare to other speakers in the $499 price range I can't answer completely. I can say that so far, I am happy with the sound. Though they sound thinner overall compared to my Monitor Audio mains (due to the extra 10hz depth of the MAs I assume), they have a huge soundstage and no glaring faults- which is basically what I was looking for.

(I hope the shorter paragraphs keeps everyone literate!)

MBL makes high end speakers, they have a established a solid reputation in the audio world, and hence deserve their position. I do not think that Blue Ridge something audio deserves to have that same reputation. They claim they have made other models that received much praise in the audio world, yet they are no where to be found. The use cheap drivers from parts express and make a mediocre designed speaker. I can't imagine the tweeter would offer a very uniform response.

The 8" woofer on the side is poorly reimplemented, it's passive. I wonder what kind of x-over they use (oh apparently one that is so good it's hardly even there!

) A three way x-over that is hardly their sounds most attractive, except not really.

Now if you like them, that's fine. If someone likes their Theater Research speakers, that is fine. The point remains, they are not honest about their products and don't deserve the credit of a fine audio manufacturer. Just because I can get Theater Research speakers for less than $50 doesn't make them "not a scam", they are a scam, plain an simple, no getting around it.