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Avalon Acoustics vs Wilson Audio

I would like to know how Avalon's sound compared to Wilson's. I heard that they have a similar sound, but just want to make sure from other peoples experience. I have heard, Sophia 3's, Sasha w/p, and the x2. I liked all 3 models. I haven't heard any Avalon's yet. I will definitely be looking to audition. Just thought I would ask for now.

My budget ($15k-$30k)is pretty broad for the sake of keeping an open mind. Realistically I'm thinking $20k'ish. That price is just for the pair of speakers mind you.

My current setup consists of Paradigm studio 60's v.5 (mains), cc-590 v.5 (center), studio 10's v.5 (rear's), Arcam avr-600. Primarily its an HT system, but I use it for music alot as well. It's a pretty good sounding system, but I've grown out of it for music. Its a superb setup for gaming and movies though. This is pretty much why I'm thinking of a dedicated 2ch setup.

Second option, is to upgrade my current system with better speakers. Use an outboard dac dedicated for music in conjunction with the avr-600. It would still be a 5ch system in the end though.

Any thoughts?
kazmann

Showing 3 responses by bo1972

bo1972's avatar
bo1972
2,789 posts
 
You want to keep the Arcam? Arcam is no match for Avalon or Wilson. Arcam is a brand which is not good at depth. Depth is the strongest property of Avalon. So you need an amplifier who is capable of this.
bo1972's avatar
bo1972
2,789 posts
 
The thing I noticed with Wilson Audio speakers is that most of this people had a lot of acoustic problems. Even with very musical amps classical music did not sound as it should be. Depth is ok, but there are enough speakers which do this better. I sold Avalon for about 6 years. I prefer them over Wilson Audio. But I am still not convinced about it. The stage is deep and wide, but instruments and voices are smaller and more sharper focussed in real than wenn I hear it at Avalon speakers. For realism in sound for classical music I prefer B&W 800,801 and 802 and the top od Sonus Faber. These speakers are not perfect either and have the limitations to be poor in depth.
bo1972's avatar
bo1972
2,789 posts
 
In 2009 I had the chanche to listen to the Wilson Audio Alexandria 2 with my own music for 1,5 hours. It was with Ayre's most expensive power amps/pre, most expensive Transpanrent cables and the most expensive Wadia. I thought I will start with Nils Lofgren Acoustic Live. He was toooooo big. His head was far over 1 metre. Speakers were about 3m from eachother. Sorry, wenn you do a demo like this I never will take you serious. 2nd number: light my fire from jacintha is her name. The cross flute on the left side was at the same line of Jacinha her voice. It is recorded a few metres behind her voice. Wenn a system of this price is not able to let you hear depth I also will not take it seriously.
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