Excellent soundstaging. Accurate. No coloration. Beautiful cherry veneer finish. Best customer service I have experienced.

Recommend use with a good subwoofer to get full range.

Earlier this year, I purchased three Sapphire IIIs to serve as my main and center channel speakers (replacing B&W 602s and a B&W CC6). The Sapphires are paired with an ACI Titan subwoofer.

I had found my prior monitors (B&Ws) to be a bit fatiguing. By contrast, the Sapphires are very smooth and easy on the ears. The soundstage is wide. I find myself listening to music for much longer periods with the Sapphires.

The Sapphires are excellent speakers in their own right but are a tremendous value when you take into account the price. The people at ACI are very helpful and easy to deal with. I am very pleased with my choice. Highly recommended.

Similar Products Used:

B&W Monitors

balanced (bass/mid/hi) amongst best, clean Hi, and Mid's very good bass.

i can't point any, it may not be suited with cheap, or overly "bright" electronics!

This is review on SapphireII Have them less than a month. I bought them solely from reading review's, and i am not dissapointed. Just opposite, i am thrilled. It is perfect match for my "laid-back" Majik.
Sound is clean, detailed. Bass? I don't understand complaints about LF of this speaker. On "Stereophile" test CD 2 bass freq goes down to 31.5 HZ? I do listen mostly classical and acoustic instrument's, so bass isn't so much priority to me, but it is very good, not just for monitors, but for any speakers, period! If you have, decent amp, and source, or even if you have SUPERB front end, and listen "classical" "acoustic-instruments" and "voices" you should audition these speakers. I don't recommend these speakers with cheap recievers, or bright amp's. They will sound too forward and probably not so good. I have to agree, with most of the reviewers here 5 star all the way!

Similar Products Used:

Linn Tukan, Linn Majik, Karik, Transparent, Kimber PbJ, linn K-400 cables

Mid/high range-- clarity, imaging, soundstage

Bass

I listened to many speakers in the showrooms over the last year but decided to take a chance and bought the Saphire IIIs based on the great reviews. I now have around 80-90 hours on them and am extremely pleased with the purchase. The key to making them shine is to hook them up with a good subwoofer as the Saphires themselves just can't reach down quite low enough (and they shouldn't have to, they're monitors right?). Anyway, after I got my subwoofer the sound was transformed. Now I really can't see how anyone can consider anything other than a monitor/subwoofer combination. It's pure heaven! My musical tastes run the full gamut from rock, jazz, alternative, classic, latin and instrumental. These speakers can take everything that's thrown at them. A truly outstanding pair of monitors. I never realized what I was missing....

coherence, ability to display weaknesses in upstream components

ability to display weakness in upstream components

i've had these speakers for over five years now. sometimes, when everything clicks, these speakers and my system is awe-inspiring; other times, not so impressive. i originally thought that the condition of the ac power might be the cause of this, but i tried a ps audio 300 and it didn't have the effect i thought it would.

i had the audio bug a while ago and have a lot of different amps and preamps (tube and solid state) and cables. these speakers actually reveal a difference in the sound of electronics and cables and interconnects rather easily. i think what is so good about the speakers is their tonality. they are slightly lighter sounding than the seiferts (a company that went out of business about ten years ago, but one that made a speaker with about the best tonal balance i have ever heard), but far more transparent. they are warmer and smoother than the nht's (but don't discount the nht's, they have some excellent qualities). the size of the soundstage is not quite as large as the seifers or the nht's, but the image outlines are more precise.

i really think the quality of the recording has a lot to do with the quality of sound. too bad most good music has been recorded so poorly. but the tonality comes through on good systems.

i think aci is a good company; good product, friendly people, good service. they have a good business model.

Similar Products Used:

nht super one, seifert research maxim IIId

Terrific sound, presence and soundstage

None that I've heard

My previous speakers were a pair of Magnepan MG.5's. I dearly loved them, but I finally had to accept the fact that their physical presence in the small living room of our vintage house was overwhelming. We needed something smaller. After reading the comments on this board, I decided to give the Sapphires a try. And I'm glad I did.

The Sapphires are absolutely wonderful. Accurate and musical, they are pure pleasure. My system also includes ACI's Titan sub--together they produce the full range, and I find myself listening to old favorites with renewed interest. Even without the sub, the Sapphires give decent bass extension. They are clean and very musical, imparting no sound of their own. The sound is perhaps not as "transparent" as that of the Maggies, but is nevertheless very immediate and "live" sounding. They're very easy to listen to for long periods.

The fit and finish is very good. They are obviously very well made.In addition, ACI's customer service is the best; shipping was prompt and packing was excellent. Responses to e-mails are prompt and friendly. ACI is a class act with a great product.

I upgraded my speakers from ACI's LV satellites to the Sapphire IIIs. The imaging of vocals and wind instruments is incredible. The Sapphire IIIs have great tonal balance as well. I have them hooked to an ACI LV subwoofer. The Sapphires deliver solid upper bass that blends unoticibly with the low end punch of the LV subwoofer. The engineers at ACI have done it again!!!

Well, there doesn't seem to be much activity or enthusiasm for this ACI Sapphirereview board anymore... So I'll just post an update to my review/query of 9/13/98. Since then I have ordered and received a pair of Sapphire III's in
Cherry finish. They are really nice looking IMO. Just got them a day ago
so have not had a chance to live with them nor break them in yet. First
impression is VERY favorable. I will be comparing them to my Sapphire II's
and will plan on a write up if anyone is interested. As far as I am concerned
for now, I detect no serious fault with their sound and only detect a slightly
elevated region in the high frequency region. All else is wonderful. But
like I said I only had them for a night of listening so far. Will post back
here when my final verdict is in. As of now if you must know, they are
definitely 5 star stuff. We'll see if it holds after I live with them for
awhile.

I have owned a pair of Sapphire IIIs for over six months now, and they still have the ability to amaze me every time I listen to them. I've been a fan of ACI for over ten years now -- the Sapphires replaced a pair of Compact Monitors I built from a kit about eight years ago -- every one of their products and/or suggestions I've tried has led to better sound. One of the things you notice first about the Sapphires is their remarkable transparency. My wife, who cares nothing about stereo gear, noticed when passing through my listening room that "those speakers sound REALLY good, really clear." They impressed her so much that she actually took a couple of her favorite CDs down and listened to them on the system. That NEVER happens.
I could easily go on for several pages about how wonderful these speakers sound, but I'll just mention a few of the highlights. They manage to communicate the emotional essence of whatever music you're listening to. I'm not sure exactly how they do it, but I think it has to do with their ability to convey the textures, rhythms, and dynamics of music. They make it very hard to sit still while listening -- the urge for some body part to start tapping, slapping or wiggling is nearly irresistable. Something else I've noticed is that through the Sapphires each recording has its own individual sound. Recorded space, reverb, and other ambient cues are easily heard.
I've been in the audio business for years, and ACI has been one of those companies that seems to somehow remain a "best kept secret" even while producing remarkable products year-in and year-out. Maybe the Sapphire IIIs will change that. I know of no other speaker near their price that approaches their performance and quality.

Some of the best image and soundstage I've ever heard. Very musically involving

None at this price point

The Sapphire III LE is an absolutely wonderful speaker. For those of us who really love all kinds of music, it is tough to beat at anywhere near the price. This pair replaced my Sonus Faber Concertos which were quite a bit more expensive. In a few words, they really beat the Concertos handily. I liked the Concertos quite a bit, only tried the Sapphires because a friend damaged the cosmetics of my Concertos. I thought what the heck, good chance to try something else. The Sapphire are considerably more dynamic, bigger soundstage, clearer in the bass and more detail in the mids and upper end. At the same time they have that nice warmth that the Concertos have. If you're looking for under $2000 speaks, try these!

Similar Products Used:

Sonus Faber, B&W, JBL, Paradigm

"In-the-room" realism, detail and timbral accuracy with well recorded material. Wonderful depth and transparent imaging. A steal at the price I paid!!!

Are you kidding?? I haven't found anything even close for anything less than about $1900/pr!!!

I was one who swore I would never go back to box speakers again. I was that happy with my Maggies. But my girlfriend was not happy at all with the Maggies physical domination of my living room.(I am still using Magnepans in my home theater room) I also had recently upgraded my amplification and speaker cables/interconnects. My amplification upgrade was a move from a 200 w/ch Adcom GFA 5500 to a 50 w/channel JoLida JD302B tube integrated - and YES it was a HUGE improvement!!! The Maggies however(inefficient beasts that they are), really need more grunt to sound their best. So, between the girlfriend and the lower output of the JoLida, I strted auditioning small stand mounted speakers. The first I auditioned was the Sonus Faber Concertos - very nice, but after the Maggies, I had a hard time justifying $1900 for a net loss in soundstage, imaging and midrange veracity. To cut to the chase - after auditioning everything from Soliloquy to KEF and finding nothing that I felt as though I could live with long-term, I ran across some reviews(including these) on the net of the Sapphire III. Virtually all were raves, and more importantly the noted strengths of the speaker seemed to match the qualities that I find most important in a loudspeaker.
With a 30 day money back satisfaction guarantee, I gave them a shot. I got the last pair of IIIs(non SE's)that they had. In short - everything that is raved about in these speakers performance is - if anything - UNDERRATED!! Once through break-in(and they definitely DO need to be broken in properly) the sound is absolutely jaw dropping. An acoustic guitar sounds like an acoustic guitar in the room - you can hear the resonance of the wood. Vocals - male and female - sound utterly natural and "live". Acoustic music is exhilirating, rock is dynamic detailed and three dimensional. Jennifer Warnes "The Hunter" is obviously a very well recorded album and you can hear it. Jennifer is in the room singing to me - I can almost feel her breath between phrasings. Taj Mahal "Senor Blues" like seeing Taj live in a small club - in my living room!!! Fantastic!! Very plausible soundstaging, imaging, and solid image placement. I feel as though I stole these speakers. Nothing else that I auditioned at even twice the price, to my ears, sounds as near to reality as these speakers. Buy them!!!!
Word of caution - you MUST give these speakers a chance to "break in" before judging them. On my first listen after setup, they sounded somewhat shrill and rough-edged in the upper mids and treble. I noticed significant improvement after about 10-12 hours of mid level operation. They continue to improve, sounding magnificent by the 40-50 hour mark. I now have about 65-70 hours on mine and they are still improving!!!!!! I don't know how much better these can sound, but they still seem to be getting better!!!
They seem to be an absolutely perfect match for the JoLida 302B!!! VERY highly recommended.

System:
Jolida JD302B(w/ Sovtek EL34 tube upgrade, NOS Mullard 12AT7 drivers and NOS 63 vintage GE 12AX7s.)
Njoe Tjoeb 4000 CD player(w/ "orange globe" label NOS Amperex 7308s in the output stage)
Alpha Core Goertz MII Veracity Speaker cable
Music Hall MMF 2.1 turntable w/ Shure V15Vxmr cartridge
McIntosh MR77 FM Tuner

I'd give more than 5 stars if it were possible - a high end steal.

Similar Products Used:

Magnepan MMG, MG 1.6QR