Hello everyone
@Ian and I did a comparison of these over the last two days. The main reason for the write up is to express how ridiculously good value and excellent the Falcons are. It’s a speaker that is probably not possible to demo before buying and so hopefully this is useful to someone.
Round one was at my temporary home in Nottingham. Sparsely furnished with wooden floors. System: Innuos Zen Mini/power supply; Benchmark DAC 2 HGC; Audio Research SP17; Audio Research D130. Speakers: my ATC SCM11 vs Ian’s Falcon Q7.
Thoughts: the difference between the speakers was immediately apparent. Obviously the bass on the ATC was deeper but that isn’t what struck me. On the Falcons there was more detail in the midrange which meant that the flanger used on the guitar on Talk of the Town by the Pretenders was more obvious and the reverb on the vocals was more dense sounding and better defined. The treble wasn’t projected as much as the ATC even though the detail was the same or slightly better on the Falcons. The Falcons had some similarities with the ATC in that they sounded open and detailed but the Falcons sounded a bit sweeter and it was a slightly more relaxing listening experience.
I can imagine that people would prefer either the more lively ATC or the sweeter yet more detailed Falcons. But in my large room the Falcons couldn’t compete in bass extension. On a Jon Hopkins track with low electronic bass the Falcons struggled. I was seriously impressed by the Falcons though to the extent that I have been reading up on their IMF 100 (same drive units but bigger cabinet).
Day 2 was at Ian’s lovely home. System: Quad 99 CDP-2; Croft 25R; Primaluna Prologue 5. Speakers: Ian’s Harbeth P3ESR and Falcon Q7.
Thoughts: we started listening to the Harbeths and it sounded glorious. I have the P3ESR at home in Portugal and so it was great to hear them in a decent system in a smaller room. I was half expecting a much lusher warmer sound than at mine because of the valve amps used but how wrong I was and they sounded clear and dynamic.
When we changed to the Falcons I noticed a difference but it wasn’t as great as the difference between the Falcon and ATC. The Falcon’s were more open than the Harbeths and also had a little bit more bass but the Harbeth had deeper tonality and I preferred how Jon Hopkins piano came across on the Harbeths. But these differences were small. To some they could be significant and certainly in Ian’s system I preferred the Harbeth overall.
There was a greater difference between the ATC and Falcons than the Falcons and Harbeths. All three are excellent speakers. The Falcon Q7 kit is £1100. If I didn’t need a speaker the size of the ATC then in my system the Falcon would have been a no brainer as I preferred it over *all* of the other speakers in my Standmount mega shootout thread. A seriously great speaker. Then when compared to the price of P3ESR or Falcon’s own LS3/5A then it’s also ridiculously good value.
Bottom line if you are considering Harbeth P3ESR or Proac 10 or any of these small speakers then the Falcon Q7 should be on your list or maybe just buy them.
It was great to meet @Ian who is a lovely guy and has great beer on hand. I am very grateful for firstly him bringing the Falcons to mine and his hospitality at his. Also Ian introduced me to the stunning music of Jon Hopkins who I had never heard of and in return I introduced Ian to Goldfrapp (the folk electronica) and Isaac Hayes. Hopefully Ian will add a few words as whilst I know Ian’s thoughts it’s better if he speaks for himself.
@Ian and I did a comparison of these over the last two days. The main reason for the write up is to express how ridiculously good value and excellent the Falcons are. It’s a speaker that is probably not possible to demo before buying and so hopefully this is useful to someone.
Round one was at my temporary home in Nottingham. Sparsely furnished with wooden floors. System: Innuos Zen Mini/power supply; Benchmark DAC 2 HGC; Audio Research SP17; Audio Research D130. Speakers: my ATC SCM11 vs Ian’s Falcon Q7.
Thoughts: the difference between the speakers was immediately apparent. Obviously the bass on the ATC was deeper but that isn’t what struck me. On the Falcons there was more detail in the midrange which meant that the flanger used on the guitar on Talk of the Town by the Pretenders was more obvious and the reverb on the vocals was more dense sounding and better defined. The treble wasn’t projected as much as the ATC even though the detail was the same or slightly better on the Falcons. The Falcons had some similarities with the ATC in that they sounded open and detailed but the Falcons sounded a bit sweeter and it was a slightly more relaxing listening experience.
I can imagine that people would prefer either the more lively ATC or the sweeter yet more detailed Falcons. But in my large room the Falcons couldn’t compete in bass extension. On a Jon Hopkins track with low electronic bass the Falcons struggled. I was seriously impressed by the Falcons though to the extent that I have been reading up on their IMF 100 (same drive units but bigger cabinet).
Day 2 was at Ian’s lovely home. System: Quad 99 CDP-2; Croft 25R; Primaluna Prologue 5. Speakers: Ian’s Harbeth P3ESR and Falcon Q7.
Thoughts: we started listening to the Harbeths and it sounded glorious. I have the P3ESR at home in Portugal and so it was great to hear them in a decent system in a smaller room. I was half expecting a much lusher warmer sound than at mine because of the valve amps used but how wrong I was and they sounded clear and dynamic.
When we changed to the Falcons I noticed a difference but it wasn’t as great as the difference between the Falcon and ATC. The Falcon’s were more open than the Harbeths and also had a little bit more bass but the Harbeth had deeper tonality and I preferred how Jon Hopkins piano came across on the Harbeths. But these differences were small. To some they could be significant and certainly in Ian’s system I preferred the Harbeth overall.
There was a greater difference between the ATC and Falcons than the Falcons and Harbeths. All three are excellent speakers. The Falcon Q7 kit is £1100. If I didn’t need a speaker the size of the ATC then in my system the Falcon would have been a no brainer as I preferred it over *all* of the other speakers in my Standmount mega shootout thread. A seriously great speaker. Then when compared to the price of P3ESR or Falcon’s own LS3/5A then it’s also ridiculously good value.
Bottom line if you are considering Harbeth P3ESR or Proac 10 or any of these small speakers then the Falcon Q7 should be on your list or maybe just buy them.
It was great to meet @Ian who is a lovely guy and has great beer on hand. I am very grateful for firstly him bringing the Falcons to mine and his hospitality at his. Also Ian introduced me to the stunning music of Jon Hopkins who I had never heard of and in return I introduced Ian to Goldfrapp (the folk electronica) and Isaac Hayes. Hopefully Ian will add a few words as whilst I know Ian’s thoughts it’s better if he speaks for himself.
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