So after my Demo of the Bentley Fr100 I just had to get a pair, thanks to Audio Gears special I was able to get a pair at a great price. The service from Pierre was excellent, I can highly recommend his services.
So the unpacking, I was very impressed with the packaging small attention to things other companies don't do. The protection around the binding posts is a first, not even Sf do that
My impressions after 20hrs burn in.
At first listen they sounded a bit rough around the edges, bass was also lacking compared to the Demo I had. I let them play for the day and sat down the following day for a proper listen.
First thing that sticks out is the balance of sound, nothing sticks out immediately, the frequency response graph is pretty smooth and flat and it seems to reflect on the sound character.
The tweeter is nicely detailed without sounding bright at all, it's smooth end extended enough to not sound rolled off. It adds enough detail and sparkle yet holds back enough to not make those poor recordings ear bleeding.
The Bass is very very nice, full sounding without a perceived bass bump, drums and percussion have good punch and sound tight, it seems to excel on bass in acoustic and jazz music, pop music at times excited the port a little, but in all fairness I was pushing it to see what it can do :angel: I'm battling to replicate the Bass in my main room compared to the pair I demoed in Pe, but that's more than likely a room issue, so I moved them to my smaller room to test and the Bass was there. The amount of Bass for such a small speaker is impressive and you don't get the feeling they trying hard to reproduce it, actually it flows with ease, whereas a lot of speakers in this price bracket suffer from compression when pushed hard and sound strained. My room is 40sq meters so it's not an easy space to fill and the Bentleys never broke a sweat.
Now the midrange... It sounds beautiful. It's not forward or recessed, but a balance between the two, Female vocal sounds good but there is a hint of roughness when the higher notes are hit, but it's a small complaint again at the price point. There an ease to the midrange delivery that's nice, it's musical and never sounds forward or exaggerated, with nice subtle details coming through.
To sum it up as a whole, this speaker plays the balancing act better than most, where most manufacturers will concentrate on Bass or lots of detail the Bentleys make sure you get the right amount of all 3 but maybe they've added just a little more to the midrange where the magic lies, it's musical and not analytical, but it doesn't throw away the Bass and Treble at the expense of the midrange.
Something that really impressed me most was the level of transparency and resolution, at the price I truly think it's on another level. To be fair though I tested it on my Audio Analogue amp, I think most people will be using a more entry level setup with them. Soundstaging is also very good with very very good width, I have almost 3m free space to the sides
of my speakers so that also helps a lot.
To be fair and balanced there are two minor faults, but take them in context of the price you paying.
The Vinyl wrap is not 100%, small areas where they missed or the fold wasn't done right, very very small area and only visible on very close inspection, but at a retail of R5999 that puts it close to the MA Bronze 2 and the finish on the MA is incredible, for the people who buy with there eyes this might affect there decision, this is just my feeling based on the price of R5999.
The Badge on the grill is not fixed and caused a worrying rattle against the wood frame, it was an easy fix with a thin piece of double sided tape.
So for those who are still doubters go listen to a pair they are extremely enjoyable, and they get the balance right, I never feel my attention is drawn to sonic compromises but instead it's drawn to the musical flow and easy of sound.
Well done guys :dop:
So the unpacking, I was very impressed with the packaging small attention to things other companies don't do. The protection around the binding posts is a first, not even Sf do that
My impressions after 20hrs burn in.
At first listen they sounded a bit rough around the edges, bass was also lacking compared to the Demo I had. I let them play for the day and sat down the following day for a proper listen.
First thing that sticks out is the balance of sound, nothing sticks out immediately, the frequency response graph is pretty smooth and flat and it seems to reflect on the sound character.
The tweeter is nicely detailed without sounding bright at all, it's smooth end extended enough to not sound rolled off. It adds enough detail and sparkle yet holds back enough to not make those poor recordings ear bleeding.
The Bass is very very nice, full sounding without a perceived bass bump, drums and percussion have good punch and sound tight, it seems to excel on bass in acoustic and jazz music, pop music at times excited the port a little, but in all fairness I was pushing it to see what it can do :angel: I'm battling to replicate the Bass in my main room compared to the pair I demoed in Pe, but that's more than likely a room issue, so I moved them to my smaller room to test and the Bass was there. The amount of Bass for such a small speaker is impressive and you don't get the feeling they trying hard to reproduce it, actually it flows with ease, whereas a lot of speakers in this price bracket suffer from compression when pushed hard and sound strained. My room is 40sq meters so it's not an easy space to fill and the Bentleys never broke a sweat.
Now the midrange... It sounds beautiful. It's not forward or recessed, but a balance between the two, Female vocal sounds good but there is a hint of roughness when the higher notes are hit, but it's a small complaint again at the price point. There an ease to the midrange delivery that's nice, it's musical and never sounds forward or exaggerated, with nice subtle details coming through.
To sum it up as a whole, this speaker plays the balancing act better than most, where most manufacturers will concentrate on Bass or lots of detail the Bentleys make sure you get the right amount of all 3 but maybe they've added just a little more to the midrange where the magic lies, it's musical and not analytical, but it doesn't throw away the Bass and Treble at the expense of the midrange.
Something that really impressed me most was the level of transparency and resolution, at the price I truly think it's on another level. To be fair though I tested it on my Audio Analogue amp, I think most people will be using a more entry level setup with them. Soundstaging is also very good with very very good width, I have almost 3m free space to the sides
of my speakers so that also helps a lot.
To be fair and balanced there are two minor faults, but take them in context of the price you paying.
The Vinyl wrap is not 100%, small areas where they missed or the fold wasn't done right, very very small area and only visible on very close inspection, but at a retail of R5999 that puts it close to the MA Bronze 2 and the finish on the MA is incredible, for the people who buy with there eyes this might affect there decision, this is just my feeling based on the price of R5999.
The Badge on the grill is not fixed and caused a worrying rattle against the wood frame, it was an easy fix with a thin piece of double sided tape.
So for those who are still doubters go listen to a pair they are extremely enjoyable, and they get the balance right, I never feel my attention is drawn to sonic compromises but instead it's drawn to the musical flow and easy of sound.
Well done guys :dop:
