These speakers are being shipped to me for arrival a week from today. Very excited to give them a try.
In other words, the Dentons have a natural sounding tonal balance without high frequency peaks and lift. Average Joe audiophile prefers screaming bright, sadly. I still remember having compared the Dentons directly right next to a pair of Harbeth Monitor 30s and Spendor S3/5s and the Dentons had a very similar tonal balance to the others, also natural sounding speakers. I've never heard Quad 11 or 12L, but I've been curious about them. Now I know they should be avoided as they are likely too shrill and forward for my taste. It's also worth mentioning that the original, legendary Quad ESL 57s, which I've compared directly against the Harbeth Monitor 30, have a similar tonal balance....utterly natural. The 11 and 12L are not true Quad products, but a modern fabrication to suit modern trends and tastes.
Until today, I still continue to watch what is really the impprovement after The above finding,... Good to know how Denton sound comparable to such highly aclaimmed speaker you mentioned. I Still examine mine , & expect their sound will be no longger muffled especially at the low end. The mid I can tell sometime shouty in some music as described by other folks. For the Quad 11L2 to my ears,these are no shrill & not forward either.I have read many comments on how good these with their sonic character .I love their musicallity & PRAT .Never had fatique for long hour listening. S0me also comment as 'dark'. I have listened to some other good speaker in +/- the similar price level :MA bronze 2( bright treble too-much hiss), Qacoustic 20s, Elac B5, AE301. Also Epos M5i& M15.2 . They had a very good reviews .I think I like Quad & Denton sound better( showing my speaker preference ). I haven't got the chance with Epos Epic 2 & am curious to find out.
At a final blow-out price of $399, I decided to give the Dentons another shot. Despite auditioning a pair earlier in the year and sending them back, I find myself still thinking about them, and I suspect that the NOS supply will dry up pretty soon. I noticed that MD was offering a "demo" pair for the same price, so I called them up to see if they would be open to doing a further discount on the demos. The immediate response I got was "Buy the new ones. At this price, we're selling them at cost." So I did! My plan is to pair these in a secondary system with a recapped Pioneer SX-780. I'm thinking that the warm Denton voicing will balance well with the solid state Pioneer. Once the Dentons break in fully, I'll no doubt try them with my Fisher tubes, in place of the LS50s!
Fed by an NAD 326 BEE these speakers are a very good deal for $399. They don't do anything wrong regardless of music given them.
I've been thinking about buying a set of these to pair with my vintage Scott tube amp, but I have my doubts that they will actually be an improvement over the NHT SuperOnes that I'm currently using.
Not that this is the only consideration, but the specs indicate that you will get more extension at top and bottom from the Dentons... NHT SuperOnes: 56Hz - 20kHz +/- 3dB Dentons: Frequency Response: 44Hz - 24kHz +/- 3dB
The Dentons are also rated @ 6 OLMs, whereas my NHTs are rated at 8. Both also have the same sensitivity rating, which is why I'm expecting that there would be some sort of trade-off if I went for the Dentons.
Well, I caved and bought a set. I've been looking to complete the vintage look of my system, and so long as these are at least somewhat comparable sound-wise to my NHTs, I will probably keep them. What really sold me on the Dentons was an earlier comparison to Dynaco A-25s. I used to run a Scott 299 through a pair of A-25s, and the pairing was truly magical.
The Dentons arrived today! And wouldn't you know it... tonight the old Pioneer receiver I was planning to use with them decided to suddenly develop distortion in one channel. So what else could I do? I disconnected the LS50's and put the Dentons in their place, hooked up to the 4 ohm taps on my Fisher X-100. I am immediately liking what I'm hearing, and considering how universally praised the LS50s are, that says something about the Dentons. I'm going to keep them there for a while and get them broken in, and then it will be interesting to swap the LS50s back in for a real comparison. But right off the bat, I'm liking these speakers a lot, more than I expected actually. I should also mention the mahogany veneer on this particular pair of Dentons was a big surprise. I briefly had another set of Dentons here a while ago for evaluation, and that pair looked pretty much like the images you see all over the web - reddish with a sort of striped grain. The pair I just received is decidedly brown, and with an impressive burl all over. It looks quite spectacular! (I'll try to take some photos in the AM, when the light is better.)
Wonder what my set will look like. I'm picking it up on Friday. Had to jump through *many* hoops to get a pair due to international agreements with distributors and the inability of any dealer in Canada of getting a pair. Sure hope they'll destroy my current speakers which are my system's achilles heel.
How impressive!The veneer is really something! Congrats you just have the special edition...LOL. Since you could compare yours, the LS 50 and Denton, I m quite curious to hearing the comparison review between them from your point of listening. As well as after denton getting their break in.
Given your preference for that sweet little X-100 and the 103 I wouldn't be surprised if you ultimately prefer the Dentons.
There are already some things that I'm liking more about the Dentons, but I will comment in greater detail once they've broken in.
I wonder if maybe there is something unique about this pair. I know that natural materials like wood will have some inconsistencies, but the finish on these is unlike any other Dentons I've seen. Instead of red mahogany I got brown burled mahogany - very curious.
