Soliloquy or Silverline?


I listened to the Soliloquy 5.3 this weekend. The 6.3 were not available for me to hear. But I don't want to spend $3K on just the mains anyway. However, I noticed a pair of Silverline Sonatina II that are demos for $2200. These are normaly $4000 I beleive, twice that of the 5.3.

Has anyone heard the Sonatina II and compared it to the 5.3?

Also, does Silverline make a center that matches it?
gunbunny
Hello,
I had a pair of the Soliloquy 5.3's and now have a pair of the Silverline Panatella II, a level below the Sonatina II. I like the Silverlines better. It seems to me to be a more dynamic speaker and more open on vocals. A friend of mine purchased a pair of the Sonatina II instead of the Soliloquy 5.3 and he's glad he did.
I own the 5.3s and am seriously considering trying the Sonatinas. I've heard them at shows and my impression is that they may be better balanced overall and easier to place in a room(5.3s can be bass heavy in certain rooms and/or with less than optimal setup--they need lots of room to really open up). I think the Sonatinas have a more "neutral" sounding midrange, as opposed to the 5.3s that have a more rich and full sounding midrange. They both are exceptional at pulling off the disappearing act.

Silverline does make a center channel, but I don't think it's perfectly matched to the Sonatinas(doesn't have the dome mid) but I haven't heard it and it's probably at least very good. The Soliloquy center uses the same drivers as the 5.3.

All that said, at the same price point I think I would choose the Sonantinas, but I have not heard them side by side with the 5.3s so this is really just an educated guess, for what it's worth. Best of luck.

Tim