Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Jean-Marie Reynaud Offrande Speakers by meni

Setting a true Hi End system is a very difficult thing to do. You have
to find the right components that you like, making sure that they work
well together, and the most difficult thing is (in my opinion) to find
the right speakers. The reason for that is that the speakers are the
most sensitive item to go with your listening room. A $10,000
floor-standing full range speaker may sound excellent in a big room but
they can sound bad in a small room, and can give you an annoying bass.
It is not getting the most expensive speakers as much as to find the
best speaker that can go in your room.

I had the Vandersteen 2ce Signature running with the Musical Fidelity
A3cr combo and the Roksan Caspian MK2 CD, with the Kimber Silver Streak
and the Oval 9, and I was ready to move on to my next set of speakers.
The measurements of my living room are 23' x12' x 8' , and the
listening area is in one half of the room. Speakers can be 2' at the
most from the front wall, and my listening area is a 9' triangle.
obviously with those measurements. I could not pick the B&W 801, nor
other big floor-standing speakers. I have listened during my life as an
audiophile to many speakers and components, at any price almost, and one
thing I found out is that you can not have it all! (especially if you
don't have the right room). Some monitors can give you image and
soundstage to die for, but the tonal balance and the truth of timbre is
missing.

Some full range expensive speakers (at almost any price) can fill your
heart and soul with life-like sound but the image will be "so so". With
these speakers the "sweet spot" is usually narrow, and if you are not
exactly at the right spot you will feel that the sound comes from the
speakers (poor image). Some speakers can give you almost all but they
are very difficult to set up and if you don't take them at least 4-5'
from the front wall the magic will disappear. I look at it like cars,
you can get a very fast roadster with razor sharp handling but noisy and
not comfortable, or get a big Cadillac with a lot of comfort and
quietness but it will not have the manners and performance of the sport
car. ( even a car like the Mercedes S600 does not behave as a sportscar)

My Vandersteens were very comfortable, for the money I paid they were
good value. I could listen to them without fatigue, timbre was very good
and they had tight bass Sometimes the sound was "mushy" and sometimes
there was compression when I listened at high volume. The image was not
nearly as good as some monitors that I had listened to, but as I said
before, I knew that I have to compromise.

I stayed with them because I could not find any other speakers that will
be as good for my listening room. Some ( like the Virgos ) need to be
far away from the front wall, and some ( Proac Response 2.5) were too
big for my room ( problems with some frequencies). Until I found my
Jean Marie Reynaud Offrandes.

I have had them for almost 2 months and they are broken in already (250
hours). I found everything that I was looking in speakers with these
marvels. The image is so sharp that you can sit almost anywhere, and
still, the sound will not come from the speaker. Some other monitors
may know how to do that but I have never found speakers with such image
plus this kind of tonal balance and natural timbre.

One of my beloved CD's is Art Pepper's "Living Legend" (ojccd-408-2) ,
track number 6 has some percussion that I always heard only from the
right speaker, when I say always I mean that I took this CD to every
audition because this CD was recorded very well (fantasy studios). With
the Offrandes this sound doesn't come from the speaker, it comes just
near the speaker. ( I was shocked when I first listened to this
CD with the Offrandes and when I listened to some classical music
recordings ( Witold Lutoslawskys Symphony No. 3 .( Erato 4509-9711-2))

I can even feel the presence of each and every one of the players. The
timbre of the instruments on some recordings is so real that it is
almost "scary". They go quite low ( 30 hz) and because of the
non-resonant cabinet design this sector also very convincing. I could
find speakers that can go lower but they would have sounded bad in my
room.(bigger woofer doesn't mean always better ).

It is almost impossible to find the "musical nirvana" for people like us
(audiophiles), but I did find my nirvana and I call them "Offrande"...
One day , when I will have bigger room I will audition the Reynaud Grand
Opera and other speakers, but for now I am in heaven

REVIEW: Jean-Marie Reynaud Offrande Speakers Review by meni at Audio Asylum