Opinions about Swans Diva speakers? (1 Viewer)

[Kelly Scott Rickards]

ED: Thanks for that great review.....
Have you ever heard Paradigm Referance speakers?
If so, how would you compare say, the studio 80 or 100 to your 6.1s?

 

[Ed Tyburski]

My take on SOCS w/ the Diva 6.1s is that it is subtle but obvious over time / longer listening. I cannot do any FFT measurements to accurately quantify what SOCS is doing, but there is not a drastic frequency response shift like say a tone control being tweeked. More phase linearization is probably taking place. To my ear, the integration between the tweeter and the mid becomes more transparent, the speakers disappear more, and become even more appealing for long term serious listening. SOCS instilled on a speaker that has wider response varations from flat is likely to be more distinct and apparent, although I believe that Perpetual's philosophy is to leave the speaker designer's "voicing" alone and make the phase response as close to ideal as possible. I have also heard unqualified rumor that Perpetual is working on a "tweekable" SOCS that can allow the listener to do some degree of their own digital domain customization in their room / system without the sonic degredation of normal tone controls / EQ's. In short, SOCS is not mandatory on the Divas to make the value equation so high. Also, if you have bad electronics, don't expect the speaker to compensate. In fact, it is the opposite ... the more linear and extended the loudspeaker, the more revealing of low end electronics.
Again, these are my opinions. The are somewhat biased because I am running them with Perpetual gear, which I can vouch for as near "as good as it gets". I have no direct and valid comparisons with the Divas and other speakers other than to say that they are very competitive with speakers at 2X the price. I have listened to alot of stuff ... good and bad from $100 / pair to extended listening on a high end Wilson HT system with a $20K sub !!. Everyone who orders them should spend some serious time listening / experimenting, and gage their own emotional involvement in the listening experience with their system / room. Going off reviews only takes you so far.

 

[PomingF]

David:
If you don't mind me asking, is AV123 shipping the Divas to you by truck, FedEx or UPS? I need to know in order to decide when to order and be there when they arrive. Thanks.
Btw, good point on the PT-SOCS, Ed. As I mentioned earlier it's a luxury to ADD the SOCS if you already own the PT's or in the market for a DAC but not to get it just for the speakers sake.
PF

 

[Ed Tyburski]

The Diva 6.1's and 4.1's came via "truck" which was actually a van. Too heavy for UPS or Fedex. They call you a day in advance to set up delivery arrangements.

 

[PomingF]

Thanks Ed.
Btw, Mark from PT just posted on the AVS forum's Diva thread and talked about their upcoming new Diva center & surround speakers. Darn this mystery never ends.
PF

 

[PomingF]

Welcome back HTF.
Just to bring this thread back up to remind those of you interested that Mark Schifter from PT is on one of the Diva post @ AVS forum talking about Diva & PT stuff.
PF

 

[Stephen Dodds]

EDITED LATE NIGHT RAMBLING.

 

[PomingF]

Steve:
I would be very careful in throwing the word 'bootleg' around as that & 'counterfeit' are pretty much interchangeable.
As we already responded to your same comment on the Diva post in AVS Forum hence feel no such need to do it again. I for one will not mistaken the Diva as a B&W for I don't ever recall B&W uses colored aluminum woofers. Hey, I have to admit, despite being a proud B&W owner myself, the Divas do look better.
Btw, never own or even seen a Sonus Faber therefore can't comment but I am sure Doug (Lex the CATS) would have spoken up if he feels like his ownership is being violated.

PF

 

[rodneyH]

b&w does use an aluminium driver on their new CM line.

 

[PomingF]

Rodney:
I haven't gone to their website for a while (too slow to load with my ancient PC) but the review I read on Stereophile's CDM9 NT show all Kelvar (+/- paper pulp) except the aluminum dome tweeter basically same drivers as the Nautilus. May be you mean the smaller monitor line? BTW, have you read about the N800 yet?
PF

 

[Paul E. Fox II]

OK...I'm coming to the game a little late, but I'm currently looking for speakers for the Dedicated HT in my new house and these are BEAUTIFUL!, but I want to know:
How they are stacking up in the real world of 5.1/7.1 audio?Is the whole line voice-matched?
Where can I find the Center speaker (I didn't see it on the web site tonight when I looked)?
My current plans are to use them with either a Denon 5800 series or possibly the B&K AVR 307 (not really looking for separates at the moment...not that much of an EB yet ). Will the 4/6 ohm loads be a problem?
My wife even commented on how nice they LOOK...I'm just wondering if they SOUND as nice!
Questions, questions, questions!
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Regards,
Paul
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Pap's DVD Collection
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[David Scott]

The center and surrounds are new to the Diva line of speakers and won't be out until around the first week of August. I just received my tracking number today so can't comment on the sound, but if you do a "search" I'm sure there's plenty of posts (mostly positive).

 

[PomingF]

I am surprised this post comes back up. Over @ AVS forum where this post was linked to early on is where most of the Diva Q&A's been addressed to even Mark Schifter, the owner of AV123 has been chiming in.
In fact AV123 is extending their Independence Day sale to the 15th of this month and if you move fast you may still be able to get in & save some bucks.
PF