0:01 what's up guys welcome back to the
0:02 channel Nemo propaganda here now ever
0:05 since I reviewed the kabas Morano that
0:07 was on sale you guys have been asking me
0:10 about the Minorca bookshelf the Antigua
0:12 bookshelf and the abyss amp and I'll be
0:14 honest I didn't want to do a dedicated
0:16 review for each one of these products
0:17 you know these things are on sale
0:19 there's limited inventory it doesn't
0:21 make sense but I'm like you know what I
0:23 can grab all three and just do like a
0:25 quick hangout session where I just
0:27 candidly talk to you guys about him so
0:30 this video isn't necessarily a review
0:31 this is a video for those of you that
0:33 you know you saw the sale price you just
0:35 want to know if it's worth it or not
0:37 what my thoughts are I'm just here to
0:38 kind of help you make a decision either
0:40 you know walk away and consider
0:42 something else or may maybe this is one
0:44 of these is for you right so let's get
0:47 into it real quick so uh the Antigua all
0:49 the way on the end uh is a three-way
0:53 speaker its normal MSRP was about $800
0:56 and now it's on sale for about 550 I'll
0:58 go ahead and say I think at 800 bucks it
1:00 might have not been super competitive
1:01 and I can actually understand why they
1:03 didn't sell super well these days we do
1:05 have a lot of great options around that
1:07 price 10 years ago that wasn't really
1:11 the case but now we do however at $550
1:13 it is a significant value for a couple
1:15 of reasons one it's a full-size
1:18 bookshelf speaker where most you know $
1:20 500ish doll bookshelf speakers tend to
1:23 be smaller use a 5 and a/ qu inch driver
1:24 this is using a 6 and 1 half inch bass
1:27 driver and it does have quite a bit of
1:31 Bas it has very strong base actually um
1:33 I'll go ahead and say it probably has
1:35 more base than most speakers that are
1:37 selling for about $500 one of the
1:38 reasons I don't like to review
1:40 inexpensive speakers as most of them
1:42 don't have much Bas and as a result the
1:44 mid-range tends to sound a little bit
1:46 thin the Antiga doesn't have that
1:48 problem it's got a very full confidence
1:50 sound in the lower end now it's not the
1:51 tightest Bas it's going to have a little
1:54 bit more Bloom to it but it is quite
1:56 powerful and extends respectably low for
1:58 a bookshelf speaker moving up to the
2:01 mid-range it's a little bit thicker uh
2:02 thanks to its base it's going to give
2:04 you a little bit of a fuller sound but
2:06 not super thick it's not super warm and
2:10 juicy like a d audio D audio evoke might
2:12 be for example the mid-range is going to
2:14 air more neutral more open more
2:16 expansive just a little bit of warmth
2:18 moving up to the treble this is an
2:20 energetic speaker it is on the forward
2:22 side of neutral now here's the
2:23 interesting thing and this may be true
2:25 with all speakers but I noticed more so
2:28 with the Antigua with most speakers you
2:30 point them straight out into the room
2:31 right you're going to have a little bit
2:32 less trouble energy hitting your
2:34 eardrums and as you tow them in more and
2:36 more the speaker should get brighter and
2:39 brighter that that's usually the case
2:40 and that was the case with the Antigua
2:43 but the contrast was substantial and
2:44 that's either a good thing or a bad
2:46 thing depending on who you are if you're
2:47 the type of person that's like no I
2:49 think that's super cool because if I'm
2:51 in the mood for something very relaxing
2:52 I can just point them straight out into
2:54 the room and when you do that the treble
2:56 is very
2:58 relaxing but if you're in the mood for
3:00 something spicier you aim the M your
3:02 ears and it becomes a bright energetic
3:05 analytical treble region so I thought
3:07 that was interesting you I haven't seen
3:09 that big of a contrast with tow in uh
3:11 versus straight out into the room with
3:13 most speakers the Antigua seems to
3:16 really you know change based on how much
3:19 you to them in and out quite a bit so
3:20 again the value ads are simple you're
3:22 getting a full-size bookshelf speaker
3:25 it's a three-way it's got respect
3:27 respectably strong base and can play
3:30 relatively loud um around 500 bucks I
3:32 can't really think of uh too many
3:34 competitors but at the same time I got
3:36 to be honest with you guys you guys know
3:38 I don't really review a lot of speakers
3:39 in and around this price category so
3:41 there could be some options I just don't
3:44 know about but I think at 550 bucks it's
3:46 a decent speaker I think it's a fair
3:47 price for it I'm not going to go ahead
3:49 and say it was like the Hi-Fi deal of
3:52 the year the way the Morana was but I
3:54 think at $550 you getting a lot of
3:56 speaker for the money but I will say
3:59 this it does seem like both of these
4:01 speakers were designed around the abyss
4:04 amp specifically and the abyss amp
4:07 preloads a DSP profile for these
4:08 speakers when you connect them and tell
4:10 the amp that's the speaker you're using
4:13 and it does bring out the best in them
4:15 um I tested this these speakers with
4:17 regular amps also and they sounded good
4:20 with regular amps also but I noticed
4:22 these speakers both sounded best with
4:24 amps that had more features whether they
4:26 be tone controls or just anything that
4:28 allows you to dial in the sound in One
4:31 Direction or another these speakers take
4:33 really well to any kind of eqing in any
4:36 direction you really want to go in um
4:38 let's talk about how the Minorca is
4:40 different the Minorca normally
4:43 $1,300 uh on sale for about $650 right
4:46 now so it's only $100 more than the
4:49 Antigua sound mostly the same except the
4:51 monca is a little bit more energetic in
4:54 the treble region a little bit warmer
4:56 and not warmer a little bit thicker in
4:58 the mid-range a little bit more fullness
5:01 and the base of the Mona extends quite a
5:04 bit deeper uh is a little bit Fuller and
5:06 a little bit tighter um otherwise the
5:09 two speakers have a similar sound but
5:11 the the Minorca is going to also give
5:12 you a little bit more sorry treble
5:14 separation I didn't mention that more
5:17 treble separation in the Minorca
5:19 so again use both of these speakers with
5:21 different amps as well as with the abyss
5:24 amp I liked them with the abyss amp the
5:27 most when I loaded the abyss amp's DSP
5:30 profile for either speaker so
5:32 oh let's talk about the value is it a
5:35 deal at $650 so let's talk about the
5:37 full price first at
5:40 $1,300 uh I'd say ATD at that price
5:42 again it's kind of like the Antigua I
5:43 could see why they didn't sell a lot of
5:46 them you know at $100 less there's the
5:49 elac ubr 62 and I think that's more of a
5:52 performer there's the SVS Ultra
5:54 Evolution bookshelf I think that's going
5:56 to outclass the Minorca at you know its
5:57 full price of
6:00 $1300 but at 6
6:04 50 the only competitor I can think of
6:06 that's got like you know better maybe
6:08 treble quality in mid-range not base
6:12 though is the rbh 5i the rbh 5i is about
6:16 700 the minorca's uh 650 right um the
6:18 rbh 5i is substantially smaller so look
6:20 it it does not have the base that the
6:23 Monarca has it it cannot compete it
6:25 doesn't have the mid-range weight either
6:28 it can't it's a much smaller speaker but
6:30 if we're just talking about like treble
6:33 quality the rbh 5i does have better
6:35 treble quality with even more space more
6:38 air more separation more refinement
6:41 overall but if you want the Fuller sound
6:43 the larger sound the thicker more
6:45 confident Fuller base it's going to be
6:48 the Manara the only other speaker I can
6:50 I can think of for about $650 that I
6:53 really like is the pul reserve r100
6:56 that's a fantastic speaker um the treble
6:58 quality of the Minorca is actually
6:59 slightly better slightly more more
7:01 refined with slightly better separation
7:03 moving down to the mid-range both
7:05 speakers have a good mid-range the
7:06 minorca's mid-range is a little bit
7:08 Fuller moving down to the base the monca
7:10 again takes the win because again The
7:14 the pulk Reserve r100 is like the rbh 5i
7:15 it's a great speaker for its price but
7:17 it's going to be a smaller speaker
7:20 usually guys this the price category
7:22 like under $700 you're usually getting
7:24 five and a quar inch drivers they just
7:27 can't have the base of a 6 and 1 12 inch
7:29 driver it is what it is so again the
7:31 value ad for either of these speakers is
7:33 going to be one you want to get into a
7:34 three-way speaker you want something
7:36 that's a full-size speaker you want
7:37 something that's going to have a lot of
7:39 Base you don't want to break the bank
7:40 that's what these speakers bring to the
7:42 table right you want the one that's got
7:44 a little bit of a darker sound that's
7:45 going to be the Antigua you want the one
7:47 that's got a little bit tighter base a
7:48 little bit more air and treble
7:49 separation that's going to be the
7:52 Minorca it's that simple but what I
7:53 really want to talk to you about is this
7:56 amp this amp really got me going I
7:59 really really like this amp it's small
8:00 it's got a good amount of power it's got
8:02 a good feature set it's got a subwoofer
8:05 output um it's got DSP profiles that you
8:07 know you tell it you're using one of the
8:08 kabas speakers and it makes them sound
8:10 better magically it's got tone controls
8:12 balance controls as well as what I like
8:15 to call a presence option uh there's
8:18 these like four or five different preset
8:22 modes right and they really change the
8:24 tonality of the speaker whether I
8:26 whether I was using a kabas speaker or
8:28 something like my ATC scm11 or my bard
8:31 s400s you turn this thing up all the way
8:32 it makes the speaker bright and
8:34 analytical right you turn this thing
8:36 down more and it makes the speaker like
8:37 a little bit darker a little bit warmer
8:39 a little bit darker a little bit warmer
8:41 and that was interesting to me because
8:42 usually when you're just adjusting
8:44 treble for example you can't make a
8:46 speaker sound warm necessarily you're
8:48 just going to have a speaker that has
8:51 less trouble but with the abysses
8:52 presence control I don't know what they
8:54 actually call it you know at this point
8:55 you've probably seen a screenshot of it
8:57 on on the screen on screen element if
9:01 you will um it it did slightly change
9:02 the tonality of any speaker I had
9:04 plugged into it and I found that very
9:05 enjoyable I was able to get most
9:07 speakers to sound pretty darn good my
9:09 ATC SCM 111s are really hard to drive
9:11 the abyss amp didn't have any problems I
9:14 used my S400 Mark 2s and I'll go ahead
9:19 and say this I understand why this
9:21 category of like smart streaming amps
9:24 exist of course has a onboard streamer
9:26 it's a onebox solution I understand why
9:29 they exist now I really do you know
9:30 whether this one or one of the NAD
9:32 options I think they have one called
9:33 something like the
9:35 c700 get like a nice modern screen on
9:36 the front you know you could see your
9:40 album artwork you have some options to
9:44 tune the sound to your liking right um
9:46 You have modern features like you know
9:47 your subwoofer output and you know this
9:49 thing at least when you're using kabas
9:51 speakers it'll even highpass them for
9:54 you and the darn thing sounds pretty
9:55 good like when I went back to my
9:57 monoblocks did my monoblocks sound
10:00 better yeah you know between like my
10:02 mono blocks my my preamp my DAC we're
10:04 talking about like $110,000
10:06 right it wasn't like that big of a
10:09 difference though like it it like it was
10:10 a difference right it's sure you know my
10:14 $10,000 stack and multibox solution you
10:17 know more air more space more layering
10:18 in The Sound Stage specifically that was
10:20 probably the biggest standout
10:24 but for 1,500 bucks to have a onebox
10:27 solution if you're in a situation where
10:30 for one reason or another you know your
10:31 sound system needs to go perhaps in a
10:34 shared space you know family room for
10:37 example and you and your family you
10:40 don't want to deal with a multibox
10:41 solution you might really want to
10:44 consider the abyss amp because it is a
10:47 performer it sounds fantastic it did
10:49 everything I wanted and all from this
10:51 like little package right um the app
10:55 works very well um I use title most of
10:57 the time the only thing I wish I wish it
11:00 had a tap volume option as well uh it
11:02 has a slider volume adjustment there's
11:04 no remote your phone is the remote right
11:07 um so yeah those of you that use blue
11:09 sound um software you know the blue
11:11 sound volume adjustment is a slider but
11:13 there's also a tap option I wish this
11:16 had a tap option also but it's a
11:19 performer I I really like this amp a lot
11:21 I really did um I like the sound quality
11:23 of this amp a little bit more than
11:25 something like the bookart i150 I'm not
11:26 sure if they still make that amp that
11:28 was the amp I liked quite a bit I think
11:31 it was $2,000 for Bard customers or
11:34 2,500 for non bouard S400 customers so
11:36 it was a little bit more expensive um
11:39 but and that amp sounded good but that
11:42 amp was a little bit little too cold for
11:45 my taste whereas the abyss doesn't have
11:48 that typical coldness or roughness that
11:52 class D generally has um don't get me
11:54 wrong you can make it sound like that if
11:57 you want that but you can also make it
11:59 not sound like that like when I
12:02 connected my s400s to the abyss it it
12:05 didn't make my S400 sound bad by any
12:07 means where whereas like you know most
12:09 of the time I could just kind of hear
12:12 the the dryness of Class D the abyss
12:15 didn't sound dry to me so that that's
12:16 what I have to say about these three
12:20 products um I'll leave you with this um
12:24 the Antigua I prefer that speaker over
12:26 the monca even though the monca is
12:28 technically better the uh monca is
12:29 better because it has the better treble
12:32 separation and the tighter base but I
12:34 felt like the Antigua even though it was
12:35 like the cheaper one and the kaba's
12:38 cheapest speaker just something about
12:41 its slightly darker sound and even
12:43 though its treble separation wasn't as
12:47 good there was something about that that
12:50 added some naturalness if you will to
12:54 the presentation that I did enjoy um
12:55 again the Monarca is technically the
12:57 better though just so we're clear I just
13:00 happen to like the Antigua more but the
13:03 amp to me is the real winner and that's
13:05 a bummer cuz the amp doesn't have as
13:07 steep of a discount on it as the
13:10 speakers do but I mean it is about $500
13:12 off which is I mean that's no small sum
13:15 right so look if you got any questions
13:17 holler um sorry this review I didn't go
13:20 into as much depth as usual but that's
13:21 not what I wanted to do I just wanted to
13:23 kind of hang out with you guys give you
13:25 my honest take on three products all at
13:27 the same time to help you you know make
13:29 a decision if this is for you or not so
13:31 holler if you got any questions until
