New Speakers under consideration - but I’m afraid


I really like my speakers but I am considering an upgrade. I have B&W 801 S2 MkIII that I bought new in 1999 (re-coned with modded x-over). I’m afraid that what I get will not equal them and new may  just be different.

They are bi-amped with McIntosh up top and Krell on the bottom. Analog is Revox B77 and dig is Oppo 105D with Bryston DAC3.

I will also likely upgrade the DAC but this thread is about speakers.

I need a dynamic loudspeaker that is as good with chamber music as it is with acoustic jazz, rock and electronic music (everything but Country and Rap).

I haven’t heard anything yet but am considering Borrersen X3, Wilson Sasha and B&W 803 D4.

Should I be afraid or will these speakers all best a 25 yr old design?

ritter06

Good speakers are Gawd-awful expensive.  Because you are bi-amping already, I recommend that instead of taking out a 2nd mortgage to buy new speakers and having to figure out who you can dump your old ones on, get yourself a miniDSP DDRC24 active crossover, with DSP EQ, along with the measurement mike they have.  The DDRC24 includes the Dirac DSP EQ system.  Measure your system in your room and then you can have Dirac create a custom EQ filter for your room.  The difference is incredible.  The whole thing will cost  you hundreds of dollars, not thousands.

I'd certainly look at Joseph Audio, Pulsar 2 Graphene for standmounts $10,000, or Perspective 2 Graphene for floorstanders $17,000. The only brand of speakers that most will agree are amazing speakers for their price point.

Sonus Faber, but I can't recommend models

Volti Luceras, horn loaded and super dynamic, on my final list for my next upgrade along with the Joseph Audio

I lived in Barbados for a year.  Consider how humidity can affect the speakers and their sound.   

Like others here, another vote for Rockport if you can afford them, which i cannot--they are my win the lottery speakers--having heard several versions on multiple occasions i have yet to hear a better speaker at any price and they would easily surpass your current B&Ws.  Did you mention a budget?  If so i missed it--but the speakers you listed are pretty far apart in price range.  i assumed since you mentioned Sasha that Rockport could be in the picture...happy listening.

That’s the thing. I can experiment with things like DACs and bring them back and forth in my carry on. Speakers not so much.

Maybe I should just get a killer DAC and be done with it 🤓

Seems many audiophiles share this sentiment. Unfortunately, it leads to them owning a poorly skewed system in which the DAC, source, and often, even the amplification, far outclass the performance of the speakers. This isn’t to say they don’t hear a difference or achieve some improvement. It’s just that the improvement/difference is often minuscule relative to the same money otherwise invested into a speaker upgrade.

It would probably have the heads of some here doing 360°s to know that I use a $400 DAC in my system that’s anchored by the $11K X3s. I know many would claim the DAC is a bottleneck in my system—understandable logic. However, after owning a couple dozen DACs and ≈40 pair of speakers over the last decade, I have zero doubt that my X3s are still a bigger bottleneck than most DACs, including my $400 Topping E70. I would rather invest $20K into a speaker upgrade than invest $2K in a DAC “upgrade.”

It’s a rather unfortunate reality that speakers and the room they’re within, account for 75% of a system’s sound quality, that is if the system’s primary source is not a turntable. Probably 20% of the remaining 25% is the speaker—amp synergy.

DACs have been a mature technology for the last decade or so. Back in 2013, you had to spend about $3K on a DAC to get 21-bit resolution, perfect linearity, and great load tolerance. These days the same performance can be had for $250. Now the boutique manufacturers are mostly going the opposite direction of objective performance, just so their products can sound different and more easily capitalize on the same cognitive biases that have succeeded so well for the cable industry.