Sonique Hear My Cry

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Kizzy Burnworth

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Aug 3, 2024, 5:18:34 PM8/3/24

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I'm an Australian now living in Nashville, Tennessee (15 years). For the past 20 years I have relied on a pair of Sonique SAV-4 floor standing speakers bought in Harvey Norman in about 2000 as my go to speakers. I think at the time they cost about AUD$1,600. I have always thought highly of these speakers since the day I bought them and still do.

I am very interested to hear from anyone who has/had these Sonique speakers and who has recently bought new speakers that they consider to be as good or better. By the way, I want these strictly for music listening so I'm looking for speakers tuned for music primarily (not HT) and which don't need the addition of a sub in order to have a decent lower end.

I actually do plan on keeping the Soniques. There is nothing really wrong with them that warrants re-coning etc. When I say "tired" I mean more from a speaker technology standpoint. I feel like there have been some major breakthroughs in speaker design over the past twenty years; materials, tweeter design, port tuning etc. that would be nice to audition. The concern is that sometimes technology = marketing hype and I don't want to spend several thousand only to find that they are no better than what I already have. Someone else on this thread suggested home demo's. That is a good idea but its a major investment in logistics. To do it right you really need to get all of them in at the same time (my short list is currently 7 models) so that you can properly A/B test between them under identical circumstances.

I over generalized when I said English speakers lacked dynamics I'm a guitarist and that POV is likely influenced by the perennial Marshall versus Fender sound debate as it relates to amplifiers. The Marshall sound, largely attributed to the use of Celestion drivers is characterized as being very "mid focused" and to some this can be described as "muddy". The Fender sound by contrast is more brash and emphasizes extremes of the audio spectrum - attributed to the use of Eminence and Weber drivers. I think a better word to describe my perception of English speakers is that they are too "refined". I feel like you'd buy Wharfdale's to listen to a reproduction of a concert at the Royal Albert Hall, whereas American speaker design is going to make you feel like you are front and center at a Southern Rock festival! Likely a lot of nonsense but its my perception. I actually like the reviews of Wharfdale Evo 4.4's - anyone own a pair?

Klipsch in the US is a department store brand. They and Polk Audio tend to be in every discount store and seem to be very popular as home theater components. I think some people buy Klipsch for the look of the copper cones. I personally haven't been much impressed with Klipsch or Polk for music appreciation. Unfortunately the Revel Concerta2 F36 which where looking really interesting seem to be at end of life and no dealer has stock. I suspect they may have been too good as an entry level model and jeopardized sales of Revel's premium lines that are 2 - 4X the price(?)

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