Davis Acoustics Speakers

[astral]

Where I live in the Middle East the hi fi market is very immature.

I cannot find a specialist shop to review surround systems and suitable speakers

I can buy a receiver and ship it over in my suitcase, I have the Yamaha RX-A1010 in mind

but speakers will have to be bought locally.

The only half decent shop has Davis Acoustics speakers, specifically

Matisse and Vinci models, a French brand.

I can find technical data on web sites, but no real reviews

Does anyone own these speakers or know of someone who does.

Any experiences welcome.

I am most interested in musical performance.

Ultimately my ears will be the judge, but I want to have some idea beforehand.

Thanks

[davidbar]

yello

i have cezar model and it play a lot off music specialey if you like rock and roll open mid heavy 12" bass and detailed tweter

on my oppinion one of the best relathion betven price and quality

[astral]

With google translate I have found some promising reviews.

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://fr.audiofanzine.com/enceinte-hifi/davis-acoustics/Matisse/avis/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Ddavis%2Bacoustics%2Bmatisse%2Breview%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D979%26bih%3D401%26prmd%3Dimvns&sa=X&ei=D5RQUK3EC8bXrQe3lIGABw&ved=0CDQQ7gEwAQ

[astral]

The Yamaha RX A1010 is in place, having arrived in my suitcase last weekend.

The customs gave me a worry when they x-rayed all bags and asked me to open the suitcase.

A quick look and equally quick questions and I was on my way.

I guess they were looking for arms not smuggled Hi Fi.

No, not LOS before someone asks.

The idiots from the superstore delivered half a pair of the Davis Acoustic Vinci 2 speakers today..........

However that is up and running in quite nicely.

I was very pleased at the demo on Wednesday.

A very pleasant and open sound, firm bass and bags of detail at the high end

More, once the other half arrives in Monday and I get them both well run in.

[CarlBkk]

Heard of lots of French brands but never Davis. I don't think they have any presence at dealerships in the Uk or TH.

[astral]

It was difficult finding any reviews for the Davis Vinci 2 speakers, except in French..........

So far I am very satisfied with the sound and the price, US$1100

[astral]

The speakers are running in nicely.

Some initial loss of treble, but that turned out to be the cable connection.

I made a real mistake not having the banana plugs professionally crimped on at both ends.

The bass is firm and well controlled and the treble good to my 65 year old ears.

Some muddying in the mid range but that may the amp or just the recordings.

I lost my reference recordings of 20 years ago, when I left LOS.

I have downloaded, and have some test discs on order, to try an establish where the problem lies.

Certainly the acoustics of my L shaped room have some issues that need addressing.

Overall the impression is good for the amp, Yamaha RX-A1010, and the Davis Acoustic Vinci speakers.

More when I get the full surround set up.

The centre speaker was damaged on arrival and I have yet to source rear speakers

to get the full effect

[astral]

The more the speakers run in the more pleased I am with the choice

The main port is on the front, thought there is a small port behind the tweeter.

Close proximity to the wall does not seem to be an issue.

[CarlBkk]

They remind me of B&Ws. Don't forget the biggest positive difference to any system is the room acoustics - especially with stone floors as you appear to have. Just by having a look around the room for reflective surfaces (such as glass cabinets, bare walls, glass table, windows etc.) you can balance it out with some soft furnishings such as a big rug, hanging pictures (or even better wall fabric), fabric sofa/chairs etc. Cheaper but not quite as good as going down the proper acoustic panel route. Now for an L-shaped room...not much you can do to correct that apart from setting the listening position 3m or so in front of the speakers and having them "toed in" slightly.

[astral]

@Carl Thanks for those suggestions.

The floor is marble tiles, but next month the carpet will go down for the winter

and that will change things.

I started with a slight toe in, but have set the speakers straight again for the moment.

My listening position is about 3m back from the speakers

The amp is 7.1 but I will only use it as 5.1.

Reading the manual I see this offers me the chance to bi-amp.

So that is another avenue to be explored.

I only ever got to bi-wiring with my original setup, 20 years ago

Since I got it all set up, I find I am turning to the classical radio channels on satellite much more,

and looking to buy a few downloads from the classical music sites. I am choosing FLAC

recordings, 24bit where available.

[CarlBkk]

From my reading experience, upgrading the amp offers much more return in sound that biamping (as a general rule), but then it depends also on the room size and what power you need to drive the speakers to an optimal level.

FLACs are great, can't go back to mp3 after them. I used a Squeezebox Touch as another digital frontend, feeding into a DAC and then preamp. USB stick in the back of it. Great speed of access to FLACs but also worldwide internet radio. CD collection seems to be gathering dust after getting this little beauty.

[astral]

Despite the nay sayers, bi-amping has added a new level of control to the sound,

tighter and more detailed.

All it cost was a length of cable as the amp channels were there anyway.