Fuzz
New member
As some of you might know, I?ve recently gotten into this scene. Keeping that in mind, good audio to me has been more daunting than most with the absolute assault of options available to the ordinary person. Does one go stereo? Do you go the AVR route? Do you do both? Each avenue having its own set of nuances to grapple with. Either way I chose to go the decent starter AVR route as a way of dipping my toes in the water. The next question to throw me for a loop was what speakers should I go with?
Given that the electronics alone are enough to confuse a man, speakers have a seemingly limitless amount of choices presented to a person. Do I just refer to What HiFi? Do I trust my ears? Do I trust the ears of those who are vastly more seasoned in this than I am? Enter Bizkit (or Morne), who warmly offered a helping hand in terms of giving me a demo of what Bentley Acoustics has on offer.
TL;DR - I loved the experience and was particularly impressed.
For those of you that love reading, I?ll breakdown my experience and highlights below.
A friend of mine and myself visited Morne?s house and we were immediately greeted by a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. Cutting through the initial chit chat, Morne proceeded to take us through his living room setup with the range of the Bentley 100 series speakers, connected to a Denon x2400h AVR (the same as what I have).
My initial interest was with the FR100 bookshelf speakers as I gathered from the reviews and comments on here that they are a decent starter set of speakers at an encouraging price point. My logic told me that the hype around the speakers was valid seeing that:
1. They are locally made so cutting out the import fees and added distribution fees means more speaker for the same money as other entry level sets.
2. The willingness to help from all those involved with Bentley Acoustics is very reassuring.
Morne fired up the system, using a Dolby Atmos demo disc, showcasing what his setup had on offer. It comprised of the following:
1. Denon x2400h AVR
2. FR100 bookshelf speakers
3. FC150 centre speaker
4. Jamo J12 sub
5. Jamo Dipole surrounds
6. Creative Atmos speakers
The demos sounded rich, entertaining and frankly very impressive from the get go. As a setup that I see myself having and using on a day to day, this immediately put me at ease. The imaging was on point, it sounded wonderfully clear and crisp, and the way the subwoofer blended in with the speakers really caught my attention. We watched a few more movie scenes and game trailers and we were definitely taken in by the overall quality of the system. The fun really started when we switched over to demo the individual speakers using Morne?s Yamaha amp, along with the FR100s, FS120 floor-standing speakers and the FS150 floor-standing speakers.
The FR100s:
I really did not expect this kind of musical muscle from speakers that looked this small. They were pleasantly loud, well detailed and had such good bass. I was immediately sold.
The FS120s:
These were equally impressive adding further detail and crispness from where the FR100s left off, we played Bury a Friend by Billie Eilish and the coarseness of here voice really came through. Smaller details in the recording were revealed with gusto and I was in awe.
The FS150s:
These big boys sound as magnificent as they look. I chose to play Sweetest Taboo by Sad?, one of my favourite songs and a song I?m very familiar with and simply put I was blown away. Once the introduction of raindrops receded and the instruments peeled in, I immediately had goosebumps. I had never heard this song sound so beautiful before. It was euphoric listening to such a faithful representation of such a great song. I was already sold by the other two sets of speakers but these had me in a state of utter joy. The way in which the subtlety in the detail and effortless reproduction of the highs and lows really made me smile was the highlight of this demo for me.
Moving from the living area to Morne?s home cinema, we were just getting in bonus treats at this stage. In the cinema, the Bentley Acoustics 200 series speakers were on offer. The kit that I recognise as follows:
1. Denon X4500H AVR
2. FS200 Bookshelf Speakers
3. FS250 Floor-standing Speakers
4. 2 x Jamo J112 subwoofers
5. Jamo Surrounds
6. Jamo Atmos speakers
7. FC250 centre speaker
FS200s:
Immense. Going back to listen to Billie again showed how accurate these speakers are. The details that it picks up and delivers back are astonishing. I appreciated the clarity as well as the forward sound profile it brought. These bookshelves will pull apart and expose anything with bad recording quality. As the song played these speakers revealed the different distances that Billie was away from the recording mic.
FS250s:
The cream of the crop. The elevated sound stage it brought to the fore was actually something I?ve never experienced before. It felt like we were sitting before a live band. Using Billie as our reference material these speakers brought every last drop of The recording atmosphere to us. One could even tell the manner in which Billie swilled her tongue in her mouth as she sang. The slight pop of a saliva bubble as she pursed her lips together even showed up. This must be what aural heaven is.
We then watched the first race scene from Ready Player One, using all the other speakers and I could not get over how organic and natural it all sounded. It was absolute immersion, feeling like I was part of the movie.
The next highlight was the much acclaimed Live Aid concert scene from Bohemian Rhapsody. The way in which the sound was produced with the music and crowd gave me that goosebump moment again. The way the system worked together with the all the speakers giving just the right input where it all blended so well together giving a feeling of involvement was really amazing. I will never forget this AV experience ever.
Thank you to Morne and to Bentley Acoustics for the invite and demo. This really set the par for where I need to be to achieve the goal for good and faithful sound.
Needless to say we have concluded a deal and expect a review once I have everything installed in my own home.
Thanks for reading!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Given that the electronics alone are enough to confuse a man, speakers have a seemingly limitless amount of choices presented to a person. Do I just refer to What HiFi? Do I trust my ears? Do I trust the ears of those who are vastly more seasoned in this than I am? Enter Bizkit (or Morne), who warmly offered a helping hand in terms of giving me a demo of what Bentley Acoustics has on offer.
TL;DR - I loved the experience and was particularly impressed.
For those of you that love reading, I?ll breakdown my experience and highlights below.
A friend of mine and myself visited Morne?s house and we were immediately greeted by a friendly and welcoming atmosphere. Cutting through the initial chit chat, Morne proceeded to take us through his living room setup with the range of the Bentley 100 series speakers, connected to a Denon x2400h AVR (the same as what I have).
My initial interest was with the FR100 bookshelf speakers as I gathered from the reviews and comments on here that they are a decent starter set of speakers at an encouraging price point. My logic told me that the hype around the speakers was valid seeing that:
1. They are locally made so cutting out the import fees and added distribution fees means more speaker for the same money as other entry level sets.
2. The willingness to help from all those involved with Bentley Acoustics is very reassuring.
Morne fired up the system, using a Dolby Atmos demo disc, showcasing what his setup had on offer. It comprised of the following:
1. Denon x2400h AVR
2. FR100 bookshelf speakers
3. FC150 centre speaker
4. Jamo J12 sub
5. Jamo Dipole surrounds
6. Creative Atmos speakers
The demos sounded rich, entertaining and frankly very impressive from the get go. As a setup that I see myself having and using on a day to day, this immediately put me at ease. The imaging was on point, it sounded wonderfully clear and crisp, and the way the subwoofer blended in with the speakers really caught my attention. We watched a few more movie scenes and game trailers and we were definitely taken in by the overall quality of the system. The fun really started when we switched over to demo the individual speakers using Morne?s Yamaha amp, along with the FR100s, FS120 floor-standing speakers and the FS150 floor-standing speakers.
The FR100s:
I really did not expect this kind of musical muscle from speakers that looked this small. They were pleasantly loud, well detailed and had such good bass. I was immediately sold.
The FS120s:
These were equally impressive adding further detail and crispness from where the FR100s left off, we played Bury a Friend by Billie Eilish and the coarseness of here voice really came through. Smaller details in the recording were revealed with gusto and I was in awe.
The FS150s:
These big boys sound as magnificent as they look. I chose to play Sweetest Taboo by Sad?, one of my favourite songs and a song I?m very familiar with and simply put I was blown away. Once the introduction of raindrops receded and the instruments peeled in, I immediately had goosebumps. I had never heard this song sound so beautiful before. It was euphoric listening to such a faithful representation of such a great song. I was already sold by the other two sets of speakers but these had me in a state of utter joy. The way in which the subtlety in the detail and effortless reproduction of the highs and lows really made me smile was the highlight of this demo for me.
Moving from the living area to Morne?s home cinema, we were just getting in bonus treats at this stage. In the cinema, the Bentley Acoustics 200 series speakers were on offer. The kit that I recognise as follows:
1. Denon X4500H AVR
2. FS200 Bookshelf Speakers
3. FS250 Floor-standing Speakers
4. 2 x Jamo J112 subwoofers
5. Jamo Surrounds
6. Jamo Atmos speakers
7. FC250 centre speaker
FS200s:
Immense. Going back to listen to Billie again showed how accurate these speakers are. The details that it picks up and delivers back are astonishing. I appreciated the clarity as well as the forward sound profile it brought. These bookshelves will pull apart and expose anything with bad recording quality. As the song played these speakers revealed the different distances that Billie was away from the recording mic.
FS250s:
The cream of the crop. The elevated sound stage it brought to the fore was actually something I?ve never experienced before. It felt like we were sitting before a live band. Using Billie as our reference material these speakers brought every last drop of The recording atmosphere to us. One could even tell the manner in which Billie swilled her tongue in her mouth as she sang. The slight pop of a saliva bubble as she pursed her lips together even showed up. This must be what aural heaven is.
We then watched the first race scene from Ready Player One, using all the other speakers and I could not get over how organic and natural it all sounded. It was absolute immersion, feeling like I was part of the movie.
The next highlight was the much acclaimed Live Aid concert scene from Bohemian Rhapsody. The way in which the sound was produced with the music and crowd gave me that goosebump moment again. The way the system worked together with the all the speakers giving just the right input where it all blended so well together giving a feeling of involvement was really amazing. I will never forget this AV experience ever.
Thank you to Morne and to Bentley Acoustics for the invite and demo. This really set the par for where I need to be to achieve the goal for good and faithful sound.
Needless to say we have concluded a deal and expect a review once I have everything installed in my own home.
Thanks for reading!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
