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Am I broken? Am I stuck? Do I have to return my audiophile card now?

Hi Everyone,

 

I hope you're all doing well!  I am looking for a little advice or input and see if others have experienced this, or am I broken?

 

First, I want to say I am a Wilson fan boy.  Love 'em, hate 'em, whatever, but I love their speakers.  I will also fully admit that I've been in love the with the idea of owning Wilson's since I was a teenager.  Well, about a year ago things worked out - I had the money and we moved into a house (from a condo) - so I auditioned a few different speakers but the Wilson's were what ended up being my choice, specifically SabrinaX's.  I LOOOOVE them.  I drive them with an RME ADI-2 DAC into a Luxman L-509X.  To me, it sounds fantastic.  What one reviewer said about the Sabrina's is what I feel most accurately expresses how I feel about them.  It was something along the lines of, "I enjoy every moment I spend listening to the Sabrina's and think about listening to them every moment I am not listening to them."  

 

But the Sabrina's have one flaw.  They aren't Sasha's, or really, WATT/Puppies as those were the speakers my young self always wanted.  But I wrote off the Sasha's at the time because they were more money, and are MUCH bigger.  Life was good.

 

But then my dealer had a Wilson event and I met the one and only Peter McGrath.  What cool dude.  Anyway, I mentioned to him my love for Sasha's and he fired back that the DAW's were going to be soon replaced that my dealer could probably work out a pretty sweet deal on a pair. 

 

My dealer auditioned the DAW's for me with a pretty modest (relatively speaking) amp, at my request.  A Hegel H120 using the internal DAC/Streamer.  Well, the DAW's easily blew my Sabrina's out of the water here.  The imaging was far, far sharper, bigger deeper, taller stage, far more detailed, actual SLAMM and the dynamics...  Oh brother, the dynamics....

 

So here's the thing, my dealer is amazing just doesn't know how to say "no" so he's offered me a smookin' good deal on a trade in for my Sabrina's for the Sasha's.  I can very comfortably afford to do the swap.  My wife is fine with the size/looks of the DAW's.  Everything is a go!  But...  But I come home and listen to my Sabrina's and think, "This is friggin amazing!" and so I am left not pulling the trigger.  I'm actually happy with the sound, despite knowing that there is better.

 

The other side of this is that I used to want to pursue a better amp/DAC for my Sabrina's but now I don't really.  After having heard the DAW's I know the Sabrina's will never reach that level, regardless of gear.  So spending on a amp/DAC seems silly when, if I am going to spend the money, I know I should just get the DAW's as that will offer a greater improvement.

It's like I've stale mated myself!  

I don't want to change my Sabrina's because they sound so good.  But the DAW's do sound better.  But I am happy with the Sabrina's!  And so the circle goes...

So am I broken?  Am I to be stripped of my audiophile card?  Has anyone else experienced this where they can fully acknowledge that there is better than what they have, but still not have the motivation to make the leap?  Or maybe I'm just being cheap (I do also want to support my dealer because he's amazing)?

Maybe I'm alone here in how I feel.  But I suspect there are a few audio-friends who may understand.

Happy listening,

-Paul

 

bigfatpaulie
pindac's avatar
pindac
2,386 posts
 

I don't see a Stalemate being the created situation to be resolved.

I would suggest it is a dichotomy or dilemma which is being faced up to.

Here is my take, maybe the Sabrina's used with your system in your listening environment are producing something quite special as a sound.

Maybe a little more investigation into learning how to couple the Speakers to the Room in a improved manner and learning how to control room reflections and room modes, will bring even more to the forefront, resulting in being further impressed by the qualities of the Speaker.

It will be a punt to believe that bringing another Speaker Home, even a sibling Speaker from a similar design ethic, will be the next level of sound quality.

Keep in mind the day the Wilson Speakers come out of the Manufacturers Testing Facility and commenced on their Journey into the homes of their owners. The speakers are already on a slippery slope, when it comes to matching the performance as a comparison to the one the design team were experiencing.

A end users listening environment is quite capable of trashing any speaker, it takes a thought out approach to offer a Speaker a suitable environment, to offer some of its best traits designed into it.

prof
3,440 posts
 

I was in a similar quandary.

I'd gone back and forth between Devore and Joseph Audio speakers, ended up buying original Joseph Perspective speakers when they'd just come out with the new graphene version.  My idea was to eventually send them for the upgrade.

Over the years I had an "Audio fund" account where I'd put little bits of saved money but mostly if I sold any gear the money went in to that account for new gear.

I'd finally used up almost all the funds, and had sold my last bit of gear so...no more fun money to play with.   Then Devore came out with the O/baby and I was also considering grabbing those to have the Devore sound around "at hand."  Or, put the money in to some things I needed to upgrade for my home theater.

So the question was mostly whether to put that last bit of money, and it was still a substantial amount, to upgrading my speakers.    It was so easy to rationalize either way:  "The Perspectives already sound AMAZING.  What do I need the upgrade for?   Just use the money for an actually NEW speaker for the collection like the Devores, or finally friggin' do that HT upgrade you've been needing!"

At the same time I sort of saw the Josephs as my end-game speakers.  They were the most expensive speakers I've owned, and no way I'd be throwing any more money to upgrade to a different speaker.   So I wanted them to be "the best they can be."   I just knew that despite all the rationalization above about "they sound fine!" that...just being audiophile me...I'd continually wonder about how they would sound with the upgrade, so maybe just do that and call it quits.

So I decided to pay for the upgrade.  Result:  yes they sound amazing.   Way better?  Not necessarily, but still...wow.  But it does seem to have eradicated my upgrade itch.  They are as good as they can be, I used the strategy of "throwing money at it until I can't throw any more" so I don't even contemplate money going towards new speakers (or other gear).   I'm set...partially out of necessity.  And in that way it's sort of freeing :-)

 

 

sgreg1
612 posts
 

When is your birthday? You sound like a Gemini! Not that that is good or bad just I live with one and know how this goes.

kingsleuy
173 posts
 

You don’t have to turn in your audiophile card. In fact, you will be issued an Audiophile Platinum card.

Go for it!

You like the sound of them. You have the space for them. You obviously have the money to get them without having your house go into foreclosure. Mostly, score high on the Wife Acceptance Factor. As a Platinum Audiophile, you will deal with what issues may come ahead.

An Audiophile is Broken or Stuck when their Beer budget can’t keep up with their Champagne taste.

jetter
2,953 posts
 

Anyway, I mentioned to him my love for Sasha's and he fired back that the DAW's were going to be soon replaced that my dealer could probably work out a pretty sweet deal on a pair.

Playing the devil's advocate, what if you like the DAW's replacement better than the DAW?  

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