Experience w/Cabasse Farella 400s/Audio Note AZ2

I had Farella 400 for a long time in my B system, driven by various low-power 2a3 SET and moderately powered tube and SS amps. They are good speakers at used prices. I wish I had taken a look at upgrading crossover components to improve the 400, which has a bit of glare. Have not heard AZ2 or Heresy III.

all are different...none is a dramatic step up over another..imo, the heresy III is the keeper.

I like the Heresy iii. I like it better than the Cabasse which is more laid back. I have not heard the Audio Notes but I have heard that they are good with tube amps which Audio Note also manufactures. So if u r sticking with solid state amps I would keep the Heresys. If u r switching to tubes I would test out the Audio Notes and see if they are worth it to u. I think they are kind of expensive.

I have extensive experience with the Cabasse Farella 401's with a Pass Labs Aleph 3, a SE DHT amp and P-P tube amps and while all 3 offer very good matches, the SE DHT amps and the 401's are an all around very good combo both musically and performance wise. However, the 401's are a little light in the lower registers but at the same time pitch resolution is very good and this leads to the "bright" description many find when the 401's are poorly matched and this includes system cabling. When carelessly paired with mediocre SS amps and budget cabling, the 401's are ruthlessly revealing and thus the speaker is blamed.

I did find that removing the passive crossover from the 401's and mounting them externally improved the resolution of the 401's quite a bit and is well worth the effort and for full range performance, a musical/pitch articulated subwoofer is necessary as when paired with such a sub, the overall result is a music system that allows one to be drawn into the music and forget about the mechanical/electrical means by which the music is being reproduced.

I lived with a pair of Farellas 400s for more than 10 years. I second NMmusicman's opinion. Very musical speaker with limited low frequencies. Benefited from the Mapleshade maple plinthes and expensive cabling (SR).

I remember reading Stereophile review of Cabasse Farellas. One sentence went like this: " If these are right then the rest are wrong ". That was about their sound.
No personal experience.

Thanks for all your replies; I very much appreciate them.

As it happens, I was looking at a pair of Farella 400s on e-bay that were priced at $419.00, but they sold last night or early today (after being listed for over a month, I believe). At such a low price, comparatively, I thought they would be worth A/Bing against the Klipsches if they were as revealing as the one or two reviews I found on line mentioned. If a pair shows up on Audiogon for reasonable money, I'll probably buy them, based on what you've all said here.

No comments on the Audio Notes, which leads me to believe that they're not well-known and probably no better than the Heresy's that I have now.

If anyone can recommend a logical step up from the Heresy's, apart from other Klipsches, I'd be very interested. I'd like a fast, revealing, almost-bright speaker priced around $1500. It doesn't have to have amazing bass; I'm fine going with a subwoofer.

Thanks again, all.

Ribbon speakers?