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Equinox Pluto VS VAF DC-2
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Copyright (c) Trevor S :)
Equinox Pluto - http://www.equinoxaudio.com.au/products/speakers/pluto.php
VAF DC-2 - http://www.vaf.com.au/catalog/products/dc2.htm
I managed to get a new pair of Equinox Pluto (assembled $650 + delivery) speakers in a barter arrangement with Rick from Equinox. I already have a pair of VAF DC-2s (assembled* $709 + delivery) and I thought I would take the opportunity to do a comparison.
I am not a professional (or even amateur reviewer for that matter) so a little background. My main interest is in HT (Home Theatre) and music has always been a background activity for me. That is to say I am no "audiophile" but probably closer to Joe Q Public. This is why I have not posted this "review" to Aus.Hi-Fi, bear that in mind prior to reading further, if I have not lost you to boredom already. No, I am not being "paid" to do this, I had e-mailed Rick and Philip from Equinox and VAF respectively advising them of what I wanted to do to make sure I was comparing apples with apples. I did this review of Saturday and Sunday.
Packaging
Both companies supplied the speakers superbly packaged, solid crates and plenty of padding. The Plutos packaging was a little more impressive, though there was nothing wrong with the DC-2's. Rating the packaging 1 - 10, I would have to give Equinox a 10 and VAF a 9.5.
Finish/Connectors
The Plutos are beautifully finished, I have the basic finish in both DC-2s and Plutos, a high piano gloss finish from Equinox and the stocking like sleeve that goes over the DC-2's. I had assembled the DC-2's myself but I presume they come they same way from the VAF factory. If it is your thing, you can take the driver covers of the Plutos, you cannot do this with the DC-2s. I am a man who likes his options and prefer to be able to remove them if I want. I was surprised to see the Plutos had good quality screw in connectors for the speaker wire and not the clip type connector that the DC-2's had. I prefer the screw in connector myself, as it seems more "solid" and if want to use banana plugs you will need this type of connector. The physical size of the speakers is similar for height and width, however for depth, the Pluto is significantly longer, look at the dimensions on the relative web pages to give you an indication. I would rate the finish as 9.5 for the Pluto and 5 for the VAF.
I decided to listen to a variety of material that reflects my eclectic taste in music; ranging from rock, pop, classical, bluegrass through to zydeco, in fact just about every genre under the sun except Jazz which never did do anything for me. I also grabbed a few MP3 files from the net burning them to CD-RW, these were at a combination of 160 and 192 kbps, being the lowest bit rates I listen to. I decide the easiest way for me was to connect the Plutos in my lounge room, next to the already installed DC-2s. I simply ran some extra cable and connected them to the B speaker terminals on my venerable SONY STR -D1015 av receiver that was marking time in my lounge room until I decide what to replace it with. The amp was fed from the analogue stage of my Pioneer DV 515. The amp easily drives these speakers at high SPL in the 10 - 11pm position. These are by no means audiophile quality components but then people purchasing these speakers are probably like me, driving them with low to mid fi equipment. To make sure there was nothing odd about running them as B speakers after listening for a day I disconnected them and changed positions.
Show me the money !
All of the above is relatively immaterial in the final scheme of things. How do these puppies sound is the real question What sounds better ? Better in this comparison was one compared to the other, not what necessarily provides the definitive sound. I had become attached to the DC-2s as they had been used for some time for listening to music so I was very used to how they sounded, after listening to the Plutos I was surprised at how "different" they sounded. My wife was there at the time, so I asked her what she thought, she looked at me oddly, advised me I was an idiot (all the confirmation some in this group need !) and asked why I was not out doing the mowing. Okay, not the answer I expected. So I promptly ignored her and continued listening.
At first I did not like the sound from the Plutos and instead, preferred the relative brightness that comes from the DC-2s but after listening through Saturday and Sunday, I am starting to prefer the Pluto's. All this means is that both speakers, for what they offer, do an excellent job. They _are_ different, the Plutos have more bass and are not as bright as the DC-2s this is all relative as I have no idea what the original sounds like. On the second day of listening, I asked my wife again to offer an opinion, plonked her down and loaded on her favorite, the Bee Gees, she instantly picked the Plutos as her preferred sound, saying she thought the DC-2s sounded too bright. If you quickly flick between the two you notice the difference, after leaving the speakers on for an hour the both sound wonderful.
Home Theatre Use
I quickly tested the speakers in my home theatre as rears and preferred the DC-2s but I suspect this has more to do with tonally matching coming from the VAF I-66s (brilliant speakers) up front.
What would I recommend ?
The Plutos, it is no lay down messier as the DC-2s are great speakers in their own right but the Plutos are better finished and sound a little better to my ears. What does this all this mean ? If this is what we get from Australian speaker manufacturers then what can I say, the future is indeed bright and I would not go anywhere else but "local". As an aside, this was also interesting for me as it is the first time I have listened to speakers critically at home to compare them, prior to this it has always been in the store.
Now, if I can just convince Rick to sling me some Perigee's, I can get down to the serious business of comparing them to my I-66's :)
Trevor S
* You have the option of saving $110 and assembling these yourself, something that is relatively easy, assuming you can use a soldering iron making the DC-2s excellent value IMO.
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