Focal -JM Lab Nova Utopia Be VS. B&W 801D

The Nova is a better speaker than the 801D, it produces a wider and slightly taller soundstage and the Beryillium tweeter is smoother than the B&W. I would say that at $40K the JM Labs are a bit pricey.

The B&W are very good at playing loud without distortion but I have never heard them sound great unless played by big solid state. The JM can work wonderfully with tube amplifiers.

I would add that the Nova has some of the best bass definition I have ever heard -- if you want to hear timpani reproduced in a lifelike manner, it is hard to do better.

I otherwise agree with Dave (Audiooracle). I have heard the diamond tweeter in a pair of 802D's and was very impressed, but the Nova is a more refined speaker (as it should be given the gigantic price differential). Be careful with tube amps featuring high source impedences, however, as they will tip up the high frequency response and make the berylium tweeter sound hot.

Raquel,though my proposal stiall stands( -:) ),the Nova has inaccurate bass response.It is very enjoyable,and I LOVE the speakers(if set up correctly...not easy,btw),but the definition is NOT really accurate.Hear a big sealed box,to know what I mean.The "Q" factor is not ideal for this,and many other models.
Best!

Hi Sirspeedy:

I respectfully disagree. I have heard a lot of acoustic-suspension designs, not to mention that I ran Dunlavy's for six years with solid-state amplification (and I owned Advents for many years, not that they were particularly good examples of the design approach). For that matter, my closest hi-fi friend ran huge Dunlavy V's and I knew them very well. Sealed-box, ported, transmission line, isobaric, peanut butter -- it's all blather depending upon how the speaker is actually designed and executed (although I will grant you that a properly implemented sealed-box design has a lot of advantages). In short, I do not recall having heard a speaker that is more spot-on in the bass than the Novas.

PS - I hate to disappoint you, but I'm a guy. Raquel is my wife's name. She was with me when I was rushing to bid on a cartridge a number of years back and I needed a quick user name. The clock ticking loudly, I asked in a partial panic, "What name do I use?" She said, "How about my name?" I agreed. I won the cartridge. I still have it. I still have my wife (last time I checked).

I heard the Nova Utopias at Sound by Singer in Manhattan last fall. The speakers were being driven by Zanden SET tube amps. The sound was RELENTLESSLY bright. Otherwise, I thought the performance of the speakers was commendable, but it was difficult for me to get past the tipped up treble response. Does anyone have enough experience with the Novas to know whether the sound I heard was the result of impedance issues resulting from the pairing of the speakers with SET tube amps? Or is the Beryllium tweeter inherently bright?