new member, some questions, need help please

Audiotroy annually I attended axpona, Alta room always sounds musical. For many yrs I wasn’t impress with Wilson until last year I heard the Wilson and Dan Agostino gear with them. Quintessen audio finally got it  right. I was floored. I believe now with the right gear , cabling, and room? Wilson Watt puppy will shine. 

All of this subjective.  Everyone hears differently,  Reviews are a guide but not the final word.  Go with what sound you like, nobody here can tell you that. Find gear within your budget.

Here are some suggestions - Line Magnetics amps are excellent because they use very good transformers.  That is where the music starts.  Take a look at Revival speakers.  Excellent for the money.  Find a source that you like that is very subjective.  You don't need to spend a lot to get great sound, just know what makes music sounds good.

Happy Listening.

Well, thank you all for the sage advice!  I feel I can exhale regarding performance degradation over the years. I will heed your advice regarding audio shows, also, very good insight on our own emotional intelligence in choosing a speaker based on overall emotion and being moved by how the music makes us feel (like how a piece of art on the wall makes us buy it) as apposed to dissecting the music for technical merits.  I get it!  I would have definitely be lost in this respect.

I can see that this is going to be a moving target with all permutations available with each component in the audio chain. Synergy and personal anatomic differences in each one of us physically adds to the choices (audio acuity to our ears, depth and diameter of ear canal causing different resonant frequency for each of us, so much synaptic variability in our brains....... sorry, got a bit nerdy here).

Moving forward, I'm thinking of jumping up to the Sasha1, which looks like it would be about 4-6K more than pre owned WP8, another 4-6K for the Sasha 2.  I'm staring down the slippery slope here.  So many questions.... I've been reading some audiophiles saying Sasha 1 to sasha 2 not worth it for the money, some say a big improvement, I'm thinking once again this is a very personal choice based on the above physiologic difference and "fit" we all have.  Seems the only way to more closely evaluate the choices in speakers would be to have a decent system and the only variable changing would be the speakers so that A-B comparisons would be meaningful. 

Today I heard Focal Scala Utopia being fed by Luxman amp, Rose DAC.  Wow, they sounded great, articulate, wide stage, wish i knew more superlatives here...I'm learning tho..

Next to the Focal were a pair of Sonus Faber, I think they were the Olympica, also very nice with tremendous base for their size, but in my opinion lacking in the mid frequencies compared to the Focal, but also not 55K in price either.

Need to read more and visit audio stores more :-)

Jaime

Definitely audition Rockport speakers. Superb sound. Good luck!

"Got into med school, married, children, mortgage, fast cars, fine wines"

My hearing has been in a steady decline for quite some time. The stereo doesn’t quite provide the intimacy and emotional connection to the music of years past. But, my cars have gotten faster. If my left knee holds on a little longer, banging gears accompanied by the exhaust note of the "correct" number of cylinders (8, or more) still brings out my inner 9-year-old.

Good luck in the quest for the perfect speakers for you.