Xavian BonBonus Speakers

[nn_in]

Sharing my recent experience at AV Lounge / Venkat /Chennai

FMs have already posted their thoughtful comments/opinions and equipment facts.

Thanks to FMs and Moderators in this HFV forum for sharing their views and experiences with various equipments. With some of those inputs i could craft a checklist that works for me.

I had already started a thread in HFV for list of fully sealed/BS/Stand mounts spkrs sometime back. Also received responses but the number of options to audition in India based on the responses was limited. Hence i opened up the selection factor to include front and bottom ports with back port as the last option.I was prepared for a budget around a Rs70k-1.10L range.

Due to the tyranny of choice made a checklist so that its easy to decide what "not " to audition.Else its quite possible to drift from BS to FS spkrs and back and keep auditioning many spkrs forever.Some folks may feel that i may have missed some great FS spkrs in the process. Yes that's possible but i preferred this route that allowed me to stay on track in a given timeframe.

A list of some buying/checklist factors i had in mind for a commercial buy other than the budget

1. Bookshelf/Stand mount only (this was a must) made primarily for stereo and not HT

2. Preference for Bookshelf/Stand mount that has a dome HF unit and not a very specialized driver.

3. Fully Sealed ( or can be front or bottom ported )

4.Audition is a must and needs to be compact (Approx not more than HxWxD = 14inx10inx12in).Since i made a DIY BS the size was much bigger and i wanted a smaller commercial available BS.I can transport this if needed easily and i have a existing DIY spkr stand.

5.Availability in India

6. As far as possible the spkr should be easy to drive from a typical solid state budget stereo amp and as far as possible not need any specific amp or topology or device preference.(I have a Dayens Menuetto and NAD316BEE and a bunch of DIY amps)

7.I may be not in a position to carry any music to play every time.

8. If possible a seller/vendor who can share some unique insights about acoustics/spkrs that is not there on the web. ( This was a wishlist for me and not a deal breaker)

I don't use a analog source (TT ,Tape or equivalent) and i do not have any plans to change the source at this time
Ipad +Dragonfly DAC to Amp ----OR- Ipad + miniblink Arcam wireless to Amp
IC for DAC to amp is a DAC brand cable(bought from hifimart )
RCA (tower series) cable from Pioneer DVD player to play CDs.
Spkr cables are audioquest.

Auditioned the usual suspects. Dali Zensor1 and 3 ,QAcoustics 3010i ,3020i,WF Diamond 225,Dynaudio Emit20,NHT Superzero,Superone.

After emails exchanges with AVlounge i had alerted Venkat that i would not take a immediate call on buying right away was the reply.At the same time i mentioned i would only audition what I need.As stated by FMs at AVlounge my experience was similar.

After auditioning Proac BS i landed up at AVlounge.

Venkat was engaging,courteous, and to the point.

Walked past the Room1 which had tube monoblocks,TTs and Rosso Fiorentino's spkr setup but not playing.

In Room2 Rosso Fiorentino's /Giglio /BS was setup.Listened for sometime.Since it was backported and bigger BS .Then we moved on to play the following Xavian's ....Joy,Bonbonus(first ver.),BonBonus(new ver.)

I requested Venkat to play music via CDs. The interesting aspect was these BonBonus/Joy series of spkrs europe were bundled by Xavian with popular brands like Yamaha,Onkyo,Marantz .The idea that these don't need any specific brand amps was a welcome note.Offcourse the other spkrs i auditioned before coming to av lounge can work with any amp but i do read that some spkrs and amp combos work well because of bright/warm combo.

Infact Venkat also suggested that i listen to mini Xavian FS in another room that was connected to m2tech dac and amplifier (both from rockstar series).However he was also conscious of the fact that i was not inclined to auditioning FS.

Now its decision point and what if questions came up ?

Given the access and availability should i stick with the commonly available brands available or take a call on Xavian given that its priced and positioned much higher? Not much is there on the web/blog compared to other common/legacy brands?
Venkat explained in detail the design approach and the why and what of each of the models.

So back to the checklist.Given the sound,form factor and vocal rendering.

On that day and time to my ears i preferred the Xavian .In my opinion interactions i would like to mention that Avlounge is redefining the customer experience into a more engaging format.

(Note that i do not have any affiliations etc with AVlounge.Iam just another audio enthusiast on this journey)

 

[arj]

If you look at points 2,3,4 in your expectations, you have made a very good choice. The only considerations you must take into account is that the speaker has the biggest impact of sound other than the room itself hence you buy a speaker which will stick by even if you do a amp or source upgrade.

My suggestion listen to it with a better and source which venkat may have and if the sound quality improves significantly ( which i assume it will) you are in a good position. Xavian makes good speakers across a wide price range so you will not go wrong there as they are a high end manufacturer.

The only area which you need to look at is the bass response as these are 55Hz speakers at -3db. If the bass response is enough for your kind of music, you are good.

 

[sidvee]

Now its decision point and what if questions came up ?

Given the access and availability should i stick with the commonly available brands available or take a call on Xavian given that its priced and positioned much higher? Not much is there on the web/blog compared to other common/legacy brands?
Venkat explained in detail the design approach and the why and what of each of the models.

So back to the checklist.Given the sound,form factor and vocal rendering.

On that day and time to my ears i preferred the Xavian .In my opinion interactions i would like to mention that Avlounge is redefining the customer experience into a more engaging format.

(Note that i do not have any affiliations etc with AVlounge.Iam just another audio enthusiast on this journey)

Not sure at what budget the Xavians are and what your budget range is, but I would highly recommend that you listen to ATC SCM11. I believe Cinema Focus Chennai is the dealer and they may have it on demo.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[arj]

Sid, Since you are the local expert on ATCs ( ! ), will his amps drive them well ?

 

[sidvee]

Sid, Since you are local the expert on ATCs ( ! ), will his amps drive them well ?

Not sure on the expert part Arj, but what I have experienced with the new v2 series of the ATC's is that they are not very hard to drive when compared to the older v1 series. What is required is that the amp. be rated into 4 ohms, and nn_in's dayens which if I am not mistaken is rated 70 watts into 4 ohms should drive the SCM11's quite well. Of-course additional power is always welcome but that is the upgrade path that one can consider down the road without having to change the speakers.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[Kannan]

@nn_in How was you experience with the Proac. I presume you heard the Tablette 40 anniversary edition. I heard them extensively yesterday with two of my amps (one a 5 watt single ended Class A and other 6o watt dual mono Class AB).

Its small form factor was truly attractive and quite an ambitious design by the company. I got it moved into their ATC 2-channel studio room for audition. Heard a number of Illayaraja songs, couple of Rehman, country, floyd and couple of emma and jazz tracks (all my personal collections only that I had taken in CD format).
In my experience it has excellent mids and highs with very good stage width and layering. Depth was a bit lacking and is a bit forward sounding. It also had a good bottom but the upper midbass was bloated and could not handle power that well. Possibly that can be controlled to some extent by playing around with speaker positioning.
Overall a good pair of speakers.

In that price bracket, Xavians are superb sounding speakers. There is one model with ring radiator (dont remember the model number) which is special.
Similarly the Rosso Giglio is another superb standmounter which hits way above its weight at its price point.

Wish you a great New Year ahead, and a fruitful journey in search of your speaker pair.

 

[nn_in]

Not sure at what budget the Xavians are and what your budget range is, but I would highly recommend that you listen to ATC SCM11. I believe Cinema Focus Chennai is the dealer and they may have it on demo.
Cheers,
Sid

Did audition the FS ATC at Cinema Focus but I was pre determined that ATC would need higher wattage amp .It sounded as it should the amp was a perreaux ..very detailed yo my ears.If I had taken the Dayens then that would have been a different story.Dayens can drive as their own spkr are not that sensitive.I was not willing to get. Dayens spkr shipped to India due to all the paperwork needed ,clearance etc.

 

[sidvee]

Did audition the FS ATC at Cinema Focus but I was pre determined that ATC would need higher wattage amp .It sounded as it should the amp was a perreaux ..very detailed yo my ears.If I had taken the Dayens then that would have been a different story.Dayens can drive as their own spkr are not that sensitive.I was not willing to get. Dayens spkr shipped to India due to all the paperwork needed ,clearance etc.

To my ears the ATC bookshelves are much better sounding than their floor standers and perhaps easier to drive as well. But anyways good luck in you speaker search.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[nn_in]

@nn_in How was you experience with the Proac. I presume you heard the Tablette 40 anniversary edition. I heard them extensively yesterday with two of my amps (one a 5 watt single ended Class A and other 6o watt dual mono Class AB).

Its small form factor was truly attractive and quite an ambitious design by the company. I got it moved into their ATC 2-channel studio room for audition. Heard a number of Illayaraja songs, couple of Rehman, country, floyd and couple of emma and jazz tracks (all my personal collections only that I had taken in CD format).
In my experience it has excellent mids and highs with very good stage width and layering. Depth was a bit lacking and is a bit forward sounding. It also had a good bottom but the upper midbass was bloated and could not handle power that well. Possibly that can be controlled to some extent by playing around with speaker positioning.
Overall a good pair of speakers.

I auditioned the Proac BS that has a back port.I actually wanted Tablette 10 but that was not there for demo I think Tablette 10 anniversary was there but I didn't to audition that.Proac to my ears was great with soundstage as you mentioned.If the Tablette 10 was on demo it's highly possible I would have walked out with the Tablette 10 as it met most of the points in my checklist.
Later when I auditioned the Xavian I found it to my ears balanced.I thought (assumption)these would be more forgiving to my source compared to ATC.I think it's possible to live with Proac,ATC or Xavian or comparable brands.The Dynaudio Emit20 also had a wide soundstage and extented high and lows.Dali Zensor 3 (though not fair compare)was also extended highs and lows but less detailed compared to Emit20 .Xavian does have that much extended highs and lows but it feels just right.( don't know how to put it in words exactly). Maybe the mood of the day also matters.iam ok with quality bass not keen on absolute low end bass.Also prefer not to have subwoofers and one more variable

 

[nn_in]

To my ears the ATC bookshelves are much better sounding than their floor standers and perhaps easier to drive as well. But anyways good luck in you speaker search.
Cheers,
Sid

Xavian BonBonus (new version) was the final choice

 

[nn_in]

To my ears the ATC bookshelves are much better sounding than their floor standers and perhaps easier to drive as well. But anyways good luck in you speaker search.
Cheers,
Sid

Oh ok Thanks.

 

[nn_in]

@nn_in How was you experience with the Proac. I presume you heard the Tablette 40 anniversary edition. I heard them extensively yesterday with two of my amps (one a 5 watt single ended Class A and other 6o watt dual mono Class AB).

Its small form factor was truly attractive and quite an ambitious design by the company. I got it moved into their ATC 2-channel studio room for audition. Heard a number of Illayaraja songs, couple of Rehman, country, floyd and couple of emma and jazz tracks (all my personal collections only that I had taken in CD format).
In my experience it has excellent mids and highs with very good stage width and layering. Depth was a bit lacking and is a bit forward sounding. It also had a good bottom but the upper midbass was bloated and could not handle power that well. Possibly that can be controlled to some extent by playing around with speaker positioning.
Overall a good pair of speakers.

In that price bracket, Xavians are superb sounding speakers. There is one model with ring radiator (dont remember the model number) which is special.
Similarly the Rosso Giglio is another superb standmounter which hits way above its weight at its price point.

Wish you a great New Year ahead, and a fruitful journey in search of your speaker pair.

Xavian BonBonus (new version) is home !

 

[Kannan]

Xavian BonBonus (new version) is home !

Congrats

 

[arj]

Xavian BonBonus (new version) is home !

congrats !

 

[nn_in]

If you look at points 2,3,4 in your expectations, you have made a very good choice. The only considerations you must take into account is that the speaker has the biggest impact of sound other than the room itself hence you buy a speaker which will stick by even if you do a amp or source upgrade.

My suggestion listen to it with a better and source which venkat may have and if the sound quality improves significantly ( which i assume it will) you are in a good position. Xavian makes good speakers across a wide price range so you will not go wrong there as they are a high end manufacturer.

The only area which you need to look at is the bass response as these are 55Hz speakers at -3db. If the bass response is enough for your kind of music, you are good.

Yes. I did notice/consider the 50Hz (-3db) (new ver. as per Xavian website).Hence audition was a must.Learnt a lot on quality of bass vs quantity of bass in these auditions.

 

[JayaRaa]

Congrats, enjoy the new speakers.
Couple of observations
Why such am odd speakers placement?
You will most certainly need to improve your source now, else your speakers will not be doing justice to showcase their worth.

 

[nn_in]

Congrats, enjoy the new speakers.
Couple of observations
Why such am odd speakers placement?
You will most certainly need to improve your source now, else your speakers will not be doing justice to showcase their worth.

Thank you for the response.Attch hall sketch.
Spkr now placed approx 1.5m apart . This is symmetrical to the left seat and placed along the longer wall. Suggestions welcome.My earlier speakers when placed in corner near the french window tended to boom.
Source : Suggestions welcome

 

[nn_in]

I auditioned the Proac BS that has a back port.I actually wanted Tablette 10 but that was not there for demo I think Tablette 10 anniversary was there but I didn't to audition that.Proac to my ears was great with soundstage as you mentioned.If the Tablette 10 was on demo it's highly possible I would have walked out with the Tablette 10 as it met most of the points in my checklist.
Later when I auditioned the Xavian I found it to my ears balanced.I thought (assumption)these would be more forgiving to my source compared to ATC.I think it's possible to live with Proac,ATC or Xavian or comparable brands.The Dynaudio Emit20 also had a wide soundstage and extented high and lows.Dali Zensor 3 (though not fair compare)was also extended highs and lows but less detailed compared to Emit20 .Xavian does have that much extended highs and lows but it feels just right.( don't know how to put it in words exactly). Maybe the mood of the day also matters.iam ok with quality bass not keen on absolute low end bass.Also prefer not to have subwoofers and one more variable

Correction : Typo error "Xavian model BonBonus i auditioned to my ears does NOT have that much extended highs and lows as Emit20,Zensar3 and is a tad lower but it feels just right.( don't know how to put it in words exactly).Since the music played and location was different for all three...and auditioned with number of days in between may have impacted my listening too.

 

[JayaRaa]

Thank you for the response.Attch hall sketch.
Spkr now placed approx 1.5m apart . This is symmetrical to the left seat and placed along the longer wall. Suggestions welcome.My earlier speakers when placed in corner near the french window tended to boom.
Source : Suggestions welcome

Why not swap dining table position with seating position & place speakers on opposite wall of where currently dining table is placed? Should work much better with not only placement but listening wise as well.

 

[nn_in]

Why not swap dining table position with seating position & place speakers on opposite wall of where currently dining table is placed? Should work much better with not only placement but listening wise as well.

Sure will try out.