New Speaker Conundrum - Vandy's, Spendors, Salk, Ascend - Mainstream or ID

@ctsooner - apols haven’t been on this thread for a bit but your choice with words is spot on - scaling. My brother was over - moonlights as a musician otherwise a partner at McKinsey - keep teasing him about that - but he was bowled over - good enough for me :).

Thanks twoleftears and revrob,

revrob - I will add Canton to my list - was not tracking this German brand. 

At this point I might pivot slightly to the ProAcs/Vandys. I will keep Spendor, Cantons and Salks (in that order) as my fall back - as I cannot audition these.

Thank you for all the feedback - I already learnt so much in just these few conversations. Please keep them coming.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thank you noromance - hadnt considered Tekton as an upgrade path - I will do some research on the Moab.

Thanks donvito - I will speak to Johnny about the D48r again. He seemed to prefer the Treos over the D48r in my setup at home.

donvito - I did not see any but will ask. I was interested in the D48r as an option to the Treo CT but I have only auditioned the Treos/Quatros.

Thank you.

Thanks thecarpathian - I actually dropped Ascend a note to confirm upgrade options (including the RAAL).

@gdnrbob2 Quatro's is looking very tempting tbh as a long term option.

Thanks @tomic601 - the quatros are more than likely going to end up on my list :).

Thanks @milpai - current list as I see it would be Vandy, ProAc, Ascend, Salk in that order and I am adding the Focal 1038Be to the list as well.

Thanks @dtrandall - Might narrow down this list after auditioning at Johnny's this weekend.

@twoleftears my worry with that is buying without auditioning. I did try that with my Tektons but not sure I want to do that again. Though I only hear good things about Salks.

I think this thread has some great suggestions and I hope it helps others as much as it is helping me. Thank you all.

@dep14 - thank you so much for the detailed explanation - it just made things a little harder for me in a very good way :). I have to agree with you on the Tektons - they are fast/dynamic - however I have a feeling as I age I am looking for something outside of their unique house sound (which I think is still great).

Thank you so much for the Canton suggestion @revrob.@jdal - I had not considered Bache Audio.

I did visit JohnnyR@audioconnection today. Had an extended listening session with his Quatro CTs - mostly played through Gilmour (Live at Pompeii) given that I love the mastering on that one. It just blew me away - and this was not my first time auditioning the Quatros.

It looks like I will be moving ahead with a pair from RichardV - fingers x'd. I will keep you all posted.

Once again this thread goes to show how helpful Audiogon is to people looking to pick this hobby up. Thanks all.

Thank you so much @revrob 

@tomic601 - I am going with basic black to match with the rest of my gear and the rest of the room. Thanks again.

@ebm :) - all set - put in the order yesterday.

Thanks @kuppe38. Johnny has been through pretty much all my hifi journey so far except for the tektons- so made a lot of sense to me to have him help me out. Not saying audiodoctor is not awesome but the amount of times Johnny has been over to my place to adjust my setup and just plain listening - made a huge diff to me. But you do have a point re:A/B comparison.

@kuppe38 - apologies I meant John Rutan of Audio Connection in Verona, NJ.

Thanks @bigkidz - I was thinking about that option but just fell in love with the CT in the Quatros.

Thanks @mr_m. Cannot wait. I am going to say it again - this thread has been super helpful to me.

Heh - more a take on the alter ego mechanic from the cannonball run :)

JohnnyR and Samir were over from Audioconnection to install the Quatro Wood CTs. One word MINDBLOWN!!!!

It is setup just the way I like it and I cannot believe what I was missing from the Tekton DIs. Pls don’t get me wrong Tektons were phenomenal but Quatros are (completely personal opinion) in a different league. Could just be my taste in music - listening to Eva Cassidy as we speak - mesmerizing, immersive and non-fatiguing.

I could see myself listening all night. Thanks to all who helped me down this journey.

Jim,

Yup - Nightbird - I have it on digital, CD and looking to get a Vinyl pressing as well.

I am going to let it settle in and work with JohnnyR on a good IC/Speaker cables combination.

Whenever you are in town - let me know - would love to have you over for a listening session - good bourbon, single malts and beer :).

@douglas_schroeder 
I was speaking with another Audiogon member who is contemplating the DIs and I really do not want him to be swayed by my comments. To your point - having a new experience - swayed me completely. And I do not have anything negative to say about DIs - they are good. The key thing for me was whether the improved listening experience (multiple times) at Audioconnection and the Quatros would translate over when I bring them in home and they did and queued me to what I was missing (as you said completely different designs).

The best way I can capture this (please forgive my ignorance as I am barely an amateur in this hobby) is that the DI makes for a great presentation for short duration listening sessions. It could get quite trying (for me personally) if I listen for an extended period of time. Caveat being the experience could be completely opposite for somebody else.

We are lucky to have the options in this hobby :) with new radical designs out all the time.

Thanks Bob. You were able to articulate it better than I was - it is refinement which persists even if you crank up the volume. Separate across high range and low range frequencies - it is like more of the same imaging but just louder - it does not smear (if that is an audio term :)). Just relentless unfatiguing listening - could not ask for more.

PS. @douglas_schroeder  - I wanted to add that I am uber jealous that you are able to experience amazing gear on a daily basis :).

Sounds like a plan Jim. And 100% agree re: offloading sub 120Hz - talks to a well thought out design.

I think I will give this a couple of months to settle in then will work with JohnnyR on the cable swaps (ICs and speakers).

Spent last evening listening to Ana Popovic, Heather Gillis, Southern Ave and Joanne Shaw Taylor - wow!

Thanks Soix. Just got the Quatros installed. Happy to take you up on the meet option though :).

I keep hearing the splendors come up in conversation - only heard good things about them however haven’t heard them in person. 

Spendors, ATC, ProAcs - quite a few solid British brands - 

@ctsooner hope you are doing better mate - you, @tomic601 and @gdnrbob got me onto the Quatros.

So it has been over a couple of months with the Quatro CTs and all I can say is I just brought my hearing experience at Audio Connection to my living room - it is all that and much more.

I do have to say equal credit goes to the Rogue Audio RP-7/M-180s which power them.