Crystal clear highs and mids. Great to look at. Incredible value for the dollar. I would spend much more than the bargain price I got them for ($2000 CDN)

None worth mentioning to my ear.

First time doing this, so here we go. I hate to sound like I am gushing but I was truly amazed at the quality of the sound from these beauties. My wife, who previously thought a boom box was all anyone really needed for music, was amazed. I have tried Totem Hawks, Missions, Kefs, Swan Divas and some lesser known Canadian brands (Sinclair). All were blown away by the Obbligatos. My desire to constantly upgrade has been sated. The highs and mids are incredible. Bass response from the side-firing driver is surprisingly tight. I found that the Bryston 3Bs I am using in bridged mode appear to have become even warmer and really brought out every layer of sound in the music. The sound stage grew in every direction. Strings are crystal clear and the vocals are fantastic. They are even pleasing to the eye with a cabinet that rivals any I have seen on the market (much more important to my wife than I). Proper placement is a must. I agree with the reviewer who mentioned a larger room as a requirement. Throw out the furniture if you have to to make room for these speakers, you won't be sorry.

Similar Products Used:

Totem, Mission

detail neutral easy to drive great midrange

Need a decent size listening room

I got this speaker from an audio enthusiast from my area ( Ottawa). He was looking for monitors. These are great speakers. The sound is great. I got those at a great price ( 1900$ cdn). But they do need space to be able to get the maximum. It is to bad that Angstrom does not do a good job in the marketing/distribution of this product. The esthetic of the speaker is beautiful. I might not know the components of the speakers but the sound is great.

Similar Products Used:

Totem Hawks Totem Forrest PSB Gold i Paradigm Reference V.2 60,80 & 100

Crystalline, detailed highs, mids you can practically touch, powerful but never loose bass, cabinet resonance very well controlled.

Occasional crossover from mid drivers to subwoofer noticeable, as mentioned above.

I have owned these speakers for close to three years. This is actually the second pair I've had, since UPS damaged the first pair in delivery and they had to be returned. (However, the factory packaging, I'd have to say, is not adequate to ship these nearly 200 lb. per pair speakers.) That aside, I have been extremely happy with these since the first day I set them up. To my ears, break-in period was much shorter than the 200 hours described in another review. The driver componentry that another reviewer called average and mid-level, I find to be superior to the competition in the price range. (Also, I've learned the hard way to look beyond the driver selection, or number, or even the speaker design -- and close my eyes and let my ears decide.) The speakers, in part due to the excellent focal tweeter, produce incredible detail. The Totems I have in my office, while good, simply cannot compete. This detail is, of course, a double-edged sword. You can clearly hear the shortcomings in recordings that the engineer might have missed (or did not have time or budget to fix), and the weaknesses elsewhere in the system are apparent. I don't find the tonal balance lean at all, but then I'm using another excellent value / excellent reviews product, the Monarchy Audio SM-70 monoblocks in full balanced mode, and a short run of Audioquest Crystal bi-wire. Midrange is absolutely palpable -- at the moment I'm listening to Yo-yo Ma play his Davidoff Stradivari cello, solo. Not only can I hear his breathing, but the horsehair on the strings, the wood of the soundboard, the flute-like harmonics in the upper registers -- all come through beautifully. Bass is powerful, tight and accurate, never loose and sloppy. One small complaint there, and it's probabably due to the fact that I have the woofers facing each other rather than the walls, (but could be due to the steep roll off of the crossover) is that I can sometimes hear the lowest frequencies "crossing over" from the dual mid-low drivers to the subwoofer. This is hardly always audible, and the crossover point is at 65hz, so it's below the range of most music. To sum up, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better speaker for the price, and it absolutely beats any of the mass-produced, though often very good, Canadian products. (Mirage, Energy, PSB, etc.) If you can find 'em, give 'em a listen. You won't be disappointed.

Similar Products Used:

Energy Audigy and C- series, Monitor Audio Silver series, Totem Sttaf, Martin Logan Aerius, Paradigm Studio 60.

Speakers disappear. Listening to them in the dark is incredible. Full range speaker with very adequate bass. Incredible sound for the dollar.

Can sound lean but careful set up fixes this weakness.

Took a real chance and bought these having never heard them - oh my gosh was I ever rewarded for the risk! First of all, they are beautiful to look at but that isn't a priority for me, it's the sound. I am a big fan of Maggies but can't live with them due to what I perceive to be a lack of dynamics and bass. What I do like about the Maggies is the way they reproduce vocals and small instrumental ensembles. With the Obligatos you get the strenths of the Maggies plus the bass and dynamics. I have never owned speakers for this long without having some desire to find better ones. I am pretty sure that I would have to spend thousands more to get better sound. I have to agree with the reveiwer who said they have a tendecy toward leanness but with careful set up, short speaker wire, and biamping, that problems seems to disappear. I am continually amazed at how good these sound. Amazingly, I have no desire to go speaker shopping. Good luck finding these. If you can find them you won't be disappointed.

For the money, I can''t think of any

I really can''t say enough good things about this speaker so it''s tough to figure out exactly where to start. They took a little time to get placed correctly, but aren''t super finicky. Once in the "right" spot, they''re nothing short of amazing for the money. They throw a huge, deep soundstage and image extremely well. The bass response is about all my room can handle - integrates well overall, is fast, and deep without being overpowering. The midrange is clean and sweet and the top-end is typical of the focal inverted dome tweeter - crystal clear and smooth. These are my favorite midrange drivers - two 5.25"s do such a good job. They are very revealing speakers as well - the Inner Ear review is pretty spot on... I have been playing with cabling quite a bit and you can really hear the difference with each change. As far as cabinets are concerned, good luck finding something that looks a whole lot better. Really nice detail work - first rate fit and finish overall. You won''t see too many of these (which is another nice thing), but if you come across a chance to hear them, give them a shot.

Similar Products Used:

Magnepan 1.6QR, PSB Stratus Bronze, PSB Stratus Goldi

beautifuly transparent and dynamic

none

An absolute delight to lissen, these speakers are outstanding in transparency and dynamics. Neutral in nature
they reproduce very accurately the quality of the amp and electronics. An outstanding value ! I agree with the The inner ear report magazine review in all aspects. Used in conjuction with Audiolab preamp 8000 Q, and monoblocks 8000MX, Rega Planet CD, Transparent interconnnects and
MIT 2, bi-wire. (highly recommend bi-wire) they reproduce
sound quality matching or surpassing speakers twice their price range. Burning period was approximately 200 hrs as recommended by the manufacturer with the sound progressivly improving in transparency and smotheness. Angstrom has my
highest recommendation.

Detail, soundstaging,dynamics,beautiful cabinetry.

Slightly lean tonal balance. Inconsistant design execution.

Properly set up, these speakers are capable of developing a huge soundstage with a nice open top end and a highly detailed midrange.The only drawback being a slightly lean tonal balance.This could be a really great speaker but unfortunatly I think too much of the manufacturing cost is tied up in the cabinets.The main driver compliment is decent quality Focal, but the 10" bass driver is a generic stamped metal basket affair, and the rear firing dipole tweeter does'nt sound great. The crossover boards look far too complicated,and as a result parts quality is very average.They are also screwed directly to the back panel without any attempt at isolation. Internal hookup wire is also suspect,but at least there is a decent gauge running to the bass driver.All that being said this is still a superb speaker for the money,capable of dishing up a big slice of the high end.

Similar Products Used:

Proac 2.5, Epos 30,s, Totem Model 1 Sig.

This product truly redefines speaker performance in its price class. You not only get what you pay for but you get more than what you pay for!!!The speakers are finished in real cherry veneer and are hand polished and oiled.
The name plate is finished in brass indicating when made, serial number and where they were mfgd. The cabinets are just gorgeous. But that is just the start. They sound as great as they look.
They are extremely neutral and will let the personality of the amp and pre-amp show. They have dynamic highs and mids. Their bottom end would have to be heard to believed. These are truly a full range speaker and do they deliver!
You will not find a more transparent speaker than these. They disappear with any electronic attached to them. The inner ear report has reviewed these speakers and they raved about them. I can see why. The magazine gave them their highest rating for speakers They did so for only two pairs of speakers for the whole year. They felt they should sell for twice the price. So do I.
Read their review if you like at www.innerear.on.ca. or just buy these speakers and just enjoy. (I have included the review details as I do not believe they have been released in the U.S. yet. Too bad, they would be a success. I would rate these a 6 if I could.