I'm going to take a several hour road trip to the Washington DC/Baltimore area to demo some speakers in the $10,000 range for a once in a lifetime purchase. I plan on listening to some Magico A3's, Aerial Acoustic 7T's, and Spendor D-9's. One of the dealers also has Paradigm
Persona 3F's on the floor, so I'll take a listen to them too. While I'm up there are there any other speakers in that price range you'd recommend I try to locate and take a listen to. I'm open to and welcome your suggestions and will take the time to research each one as well.
I'm not in the market for used equipment. Thanks for any and all suggestions.
@skyscraper Congrats on your A3's! I heard them just the other week on Hegel gear and they were mighty impressive. As always though, it is hard to tell how they will sound in my system, in my home but it left an impression on me that I am finding hard to forget.
I also am considering the Proac D48R. Did you get a chance to listen to those and how would you compare them to the Magico's?
That’s exactly how I felt Freesole.. I didn’t get to hear the Proacs. They were to be my next stop to audition on my trip to DC, but I was so impressed by the Magico’s I just had to have them. Their sound was just so crisp and clear, and had an un-speaker like quality I couldn’t easily describe. Even some extremely expensive speakers I’ve heard didn’t have it. I’ve heard Quad electrostatics with that quality, and an old Ohm tower years ago that had that aspect in the upper frequencies, but not top to bottom.
On a much, much smaller scale, it was a little like when I met my wife of many years for the first time, thinking "wow". Sounds stupid, but it is analogous. When she was available a couple of years later I couldn’t marry her fast enough. Couldn’t buy those Magico’s fast enough either, which is why I forgot to go to the Proac demo. I’m hardly the impulsive type either, but knew I’d found what I wanted.
I expect I’ll be happy with those A3’s indefinitely too, plus write one check and you’re done, no courting involved. Real life should be as straight forward. Take care,
@ otinkyad - What is it you don't like about the current setup? When navigating the swamp a while back, the [hate the name] Golden Ear Triton series were only bested by B&W 800 D3s & dual REL subs.
Which Hsu sub do you have? [ported is a NoNo] How is it crossed over to the 7's? Location relative to the 7's? Room size?
Skyscraper, thank you for your very detailed reply. This is *extremely* helpful information -- thanks again! I may pick your brains with additional queries down the road, and hopefully you or others will be able to reply when you can. Happy listening when your Magico arrives!
@skyscraper love your analogy, sometimes when you know, you really do know. I'm thinking about the A3's too and am looking to make a decision on a pair. Just need to convince the wife ;)
Freesole, good luck with your choice and the same with convincing your better half. Choosing a speaker will be the easiest of the two tasks I'd imagine.
Otinkyad, you're very welcome. Don't hesitate to ask if I can be of any assistance. Others on this site know way more than I ever will about this equipment, so it's nice to be able to give back in some small way.
@ieales -- Thanks for responding. As I said, my knowledge about high-end is quite limited, so you may already have identified some things that I can tinker with about my current setup to improve it. To clarify, what I have currently are the GE Triton 7’s, not the GE Triton References. Which was the GE Triton that in your experience was only bested by B&W 800 D3s & dual REL subs? -- was it the Triton References..?
My current setup: GoldenEar Triton 7’s, crossed over at 60 Hz to: Hsu Research VTF 15H MK2 sub. It has plugs to keep the two ports open/closed; currently both ports are open. (When I initially set it up I thought it sounded best that way, but I should probably experiment again with closing the ports). Source: AIFF files on a Mac laptop, ripped from CDs at 16 bit, 44.1 KHz. Connections: Mac optical out --> Toslink --> Marantz AV 7704 pre/pro --> Emotiva XPA-5 Gen 3 --> speakers. Room: short description: irregular shaped, approx 8000 cubic feet. Longer description: L-shaped open-plan main living space (living/dining/kitchen). Horizontal area of L is the living area where the music system is; this area is a rectangle approx 25’ (length of lowest line segment of L) x 16’ wide, with arched vaulted ceiling of average height approx 12’; so 4800 cu. ft for this area of the L. Vertical area of L (not including horizontal area at all) contains the dining and kitchen, and is a rectangle approx 25’ long x 16’ wide, with 8’ ceiling, so 3200 cu ft. for this area of the L, so total 8000 cu ft in total for the room. Unfortunately, this is the only possible "listening room", as I spend very little time in any other room except to sleep. Speaker placement: Triton 7s are approx 7 feet apart on wall at base of L, roughly centered wrt the vertical part of the L. So, approx 3.5’ and 10.5’ from lower left corner of L, along lowest line segment of L. Hsu sub is *approximately* in the lower right hand corner of the L. Not much flexibility in placement, because of furniture and needs of other family members (wife and kid).
Not sure how much sense that made, sorry...
What I like about current setup: good lower end, decent midrange, upper end not too bright ("neutral", I suppose), non-fatiguing -- that was a big reason for choosing GoldenEar.
Why I’m thinking about upgrading: -- I would like bigger/deeper "soundstage", and greater midrange "presence" -- hope I’m using those terms correctly. The current lack of those may be a function of T7 speaker size relative to room size, which is why I hoped bigger speakers like the GE Triton Reference could help. -- I would also like a bit more clarity and detail in the midrange and upper (which I’m beginning to think may require going non-GoldenEar).
I very recently auditioned the GoldenEar Triton Reference at a dealer, repeatedly swapping the T Refs out with [Triton 7’s + JL Audio sub]. (The dealer was great, left me in there by myself for over an hour to play my own music from laptop --> toslink --> preamp, and swap speakers back and forth as I wanted). I also had a second opportunity the next day to compare TRef and [T7 + sub] swapped back and forth at another dealer, but for a much shorter period of time, and with interruptions.
On both auditions, I thought the Triton Reference had maybe 40% bigger soundstage than the [Triton 7s + sub], and at most 5% more midrange/upper detail/clarity. To me, those improvements feel too small to justify replacing $1.4K speakers with $8.5K speakers.
Hence the rabbit hole of other speakers...
Not sure if that made enough sense for comments/thoughts...
I heard the References, 2+ and the 7s. Family resemblance was good.
I don't think the Hsu sub would be a good match in your room and layout.
IMO, the key to great imaging with a sub is to have good phase linearity for seamless integration. Without a crossover to roll the lows out of the 7s, a continuous phase control on the sub and freedom to place optimally, it's well nigh impossible.
Additionally, the LF processing maybe playing havoc with the 2ch playback.
@ieales -- Thanks for the thoughts about my room setup. But I'd also be very interested in your thoughts about the comparison between T Refs and 7s in a less problematic setting, as it seems you may have auditioned both in typical dealer listening rooms(?)
Skyscraper, Your Luxman amp should have plenty of power for the A3's. It is a good choice. We all have budgets, and I am sure you can find quality speaker cables within your budget. The prior SE version of the Audience speaker cables, available on the used market, would work well for you. IMHO, MIT and Transparent cables are overpriced for their performance, both new and used; Audience cables are fairly priced. The other speaker cables that would work are Jena Labs, which I use in my BR system. They are superb, but not easy to find used.. I use an Audience AR6 power conditioner with an Elrod Silver power cord. I have always loved Elrod PC's. They are something special.
Hey Mike! I just discovered this thread, a great read and congrats on the new speakers. I am also in Roanoke and have spent tons of money both at Audiotronics and Command AV up in DC (great guys). I just picked up a Luxman L-509X and it sounds pretty incredible through my La Scala IIs. Wish there was an audiophile group or something here in the Roanoke area, we should connect somehow!
Tseliot. thanks for your good word on the Luxman amp and your tip on the Audience cables. I bought my first, to me, pricey power cord today for my newly purchased used Shunyata Denali 6000S power conditioner. I called Shunyata and they recommended, not surprisingly, their own Shunyata Venom cord, which they were running a sale on for $175.00 (usually $300) through their online dealer network.
I’m not convinced it will work any better than a shielded hospital grade 12AWG power cord, but what do I know except I don’t know, so I’m going to get one of those too. Then I can do a side by side comparison. I don’t think the Venom power cable would be any worse, and its not a fortune thrown away if their performance is the same. I’ll be trying the same experiment with returnable Rocket 88 speaker cable versus some Belden cables. I wish you were close by and I could demo your Elrod Power Cord too. I really need to hear the difference between various types cord and cables to convince myself what’s real and whats hype, before I throw real money at them.
How do you like your Audience AR6 power conditioner? My Shunyata Denali is the first power conditioner I've ever owned. Before I started reading on this site I'd not even heard of them before.
Jsqt. Thanks. When I get my Magico A3's in February and my new system set up, I'll send you a pm if you'd like to come over and give them a listen. I was over Audiotronics a week or two ago listening to them demo a couple of speaker cables on their Klipsch speakers. Maybe they were LaScalas like yours. I didn't note which model Klipsch model they were though. You're fortunate to have the Luxman 509X. That's the model they are using to demo the Magico A3's at shows now. I really wanted one, but had to reign myself in and drop down a model after spending so much on the Magico's. Luxman's have such a nice build quality.
I think somebody mentioned to me there was some type of audio club in Roanoke years ago, but probably long gone by now.
Yes, Audiotronics has the big La Scala IIs up in their main listening room, which is where I bought mine... in fact they had my cherry Heresy IIIs and distressed oak Forte IIIs in there for about 3 months after I traded up. I think they finally sold the Heresy IIIs as they were not there when I went by yesterday to check out the PrimaLuna Dialogue integrated they have now.
The PrimaLuna was impressive - my rig before the 509X was a Luxman CL40 valve pre and PrimaLuna ProLogue 4... so I wanted one final comparison between a top shelf tube integrated and my "best in class" solid state integrated. The Dialogue sounded very nice, but I did not come away with any buyer's remorse for the 509X.
Definitely try to remember to ping me when the A3s come in... Would love to hear what they sound like. And if you ever want to check out my 509X/La Scala II/Hegel HD30 setup you're more than welcome!
Congratulations, We can't predict what you'll like only what we heard and considered stand out products, but we all have priorities we listen for and hifi is a compromise. You should be set for at least 10 years.
Jafant, the dealer checked with Magico a couple weeks ago and they said they should be ready to ship the end of this month. Can't wait. Thanks for asking,
Thanks Elizabeth. It’s been a long wait since October 3, but I’m excited the day is close at hand. Every time the phone rings I think it’s the shipping company trying to schedule delivery. They’re over a hundred pounds each, so you and Jafant should come over to help me move them up a flight of stairs to the entertainment room. Take care,
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