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New Speaker advice

I'm torn on new speakers...thoguht I would canvass this forum, which I have much respect for. I have done extensive auditioning at hi-fi stores, and am still torn! I do however have it narrowed down to the following:

1. Revel f206

2. Revel f36

3. Focal Aria 936

4. MoFi Sourcepoint 10

Initially, I was all in on the Revels because of how well the measure, particularly off axis, since I have an open concept living room kitchen that is wide. So the majority of my in store demos focused on them exclusively. To my surprise, I actually preferred the cheaper f36 models to the f206, perhaps due to the 1.8kHz crossover  between the tweeter and the top woofer, which is quite low...or perhaps it's due to the slightly higher sensitivity...or maybe it was just paired with a better amp. But regardless, to my ears, the f36 was just a more fun and exciting listen than the f206 which felt a bit bland and boxed in by comparison, despite being the better 'measuring' speaker. 

Being confused by the Revels in this way, I started exploring the Focal Aria line, and really enjoyed the Aria 936. Compared to the Revels, it sounded more 'exciting' to my ears...more forward without being fatiguing, big open soundstage and really nice texture. 

Recently, I auditioned the Mofi Sourcepoint 10 because, like many, I wanted to see/hear what all the hype was about. I was suspicious, even with Andrew Jones as the designer, with it being Mofi's first foray into speaker design...but I was honestly kind of blown away by them. 

At the moment, I am tempted by the Sourcepoints, but they are pushing my budget at over 3,500K with stands. To that end, the Aria 936 can be found in great used condition for around $2,500 and the Revel f36 for even less still.

Just curious if anyone has heard all of these speakers and has any feedback / insight? Or recommend anything at a similar price point. Attributes I'm looking for are: Open, airy sound but not too bright, great midrange (priority), and good off axis response (horizontal).

Current set up for context:

Vandersteen 3A, powered by Audio Research D-300, Denon 4700 as preamp, Topping D90 DAC, Sota Comet TT with Rega Exact cart and Parasound JC3 Jr phono pre.

Thanks 

128x128mattsaunders2000
yyzsantabarbara
4,811 posts
 

I owned Revel Salon1 ($20k) long ago and loved it. However, the sound I am getting in a small room with the $999 Magnepan LRS+ and KEF KC62 sub is better to my ears (LRS+ needs a lot of power). The Revels were in a perfect room and the LRS+ needs help since the room is small. The Maggie is pretty special if you put enough power behind it.

My speaker cables cost 4x more than the LRS+ , but it made a big difference. You will hear each upstream improvement.

So my suggestion for the OP is to look for a bigger Maggie and give it a very strong amp. I use a Sanders Magtech.

 

mattsaunders2000's avatar
mattsaunders2000 OP
8 posts
 

@soix, 

whew Nelly! David Lewis Audio! That’s some high end stuff! I have an appointment with them on Monday 😬…will definitely audition Joseph Audio and ProAc…thanks for the rec @soix, and all the advice in general. I just hope I don’t fall in love with a pair of $6,000 speakers!!

mattsaunders2000's avatar
mattsaunders2000 OP
8 posts
 

Update!

First of all thanks to everyone here! This thread was so helpful and I appreciate the generosity and advice from y'all. I ended up purchasing a pair of MoFi Sourcepoint 8’s. They are bringing everything I was missing with the Vandersteens, detail, clarity, neutrality…air…all those buzzwords. I’m supplementing the loss in lower frequencies with a Velodyne subwoofer. But! The biggest leap forward in sound was the addition of a dedicated preamp into the chain, so thank you @soix and others for that invaluable suggestion! Looking for synergy with the ARC D300 solid state amp, I went with an ARC SP-16 tube pre with HT bypass, and I must say…it’s wonderful!!! So open and transparent, the veil is been lifted as it were! I can’t believe I went for so long using that damn AVR as a preamp! I It’s night and day…game changer…all those expressions are apt! Even the Vandersteens sound better!

 

I’m having an issue on the digital side of things however. When streaming through the blusound and external Topping D90, everything sounds bloated and bass boomy. I should mention that when listening to the Sourcepoint 8’s The Velodyne subwoofer is ported with on board crossover and volume controls. The Vandys being more full range, I run without the sub. Anyway, with the ARC SP-16 now in the chain, I honestly prefer the system sound better when using the internal DAC of the blusound node over node + topping D90. This seems crazy to me though given how much “better” the D90 is as a DAC. I run the D90 in DAC mode only (not the default preamp mode), I have also experimented with different signal options, coax, optical etc. But again, I’m finding that with the D90 in the chain, everything sounds bloated, and boomy…I have to turn the sub volume way down, almost to zero! Overall volume and gain seems to be boosted with the D90 in the mix as well. When I take the D90 out and just use the internal DAC of the node going directly into the line stage of the ARC SP 16, everything seems to improve…more focus, air, clarity etc…less bloat…the subwoofer and low frequencies are much easier to tame, dial in etc. Again, given the supposed differences in the quality of these respective DACs, I’m truly perplexed by this…is this a case of perhaps too many components in the chain?? I know it’s tough to access without hearing in person or seeing my system up close but does anyone have any theoretical thoughts?

Anyway, it’s an ok problem to have…given that everything sounds SO MUCH better with the dedicated preamp, so again, thanks to all for that advice! :)

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