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Sonus Faber vs Wilson

I currently own a pair of absolutely gorgeous Serafino Tradition speakers. They are about 3 months old and I’ve finally got them positioned nicely in my room. They are being driven by a Gryphon Diablo 300. Great soundstage and imaging even off access. Tremendous detail and I just love the way the speakers look. I must add that it’s really important to me how all this stuff looks in my home. I love the tight fast and nuanced delivery of the Gryphon but not loving the way it looks…alas..that sound made the decision for me and I’ve hidden it away so my wife doesn’t have a coronary.

So….this brings me to my newest quandary. My local dealer has a gorgeous dedicated listening room in the lovely Biltmore hotel just minutes from my home. (Very dangerous…!) There are a pair of Wilson Sasha DAW speakers that sound…well…that sound like the best speakers I’ve heard. I absolutely HATE the way they look…and I would dread getting them up the three front steps of my home…but that sound….

Do I keep the lovely sounding and gorgeous looking Serafino’s or swap them for the ugliest best sounding speakers I’ve ever heard.? 
(There is an $18k price difference so there’s that too…!)
jomonhifi

Showing 2 responses by james633

james633
1,051 posts
 
tonywinga,

I once almost went from Thiel 2.4s to Wilson Sophia 3 for the improved bass. I ended up buying two subs and high passing them at 60hz and have surprisingly been happy. My system is a bit upside down now with my speakers only making up 25% of my system cost but you know how it goes lol….
The wilson are fine but I lost interest when the Sophia turned into the Yvette and went up $10k. But honesty even if I had the Sophia’s I would want to run subs with them. Once you have true 20hz bass you can’t go back. 
Imo mid size well designed speakers (Sopra 2, Olympica iii, 228be, Thiel 3.7 etc) with subs give these large very expensive speakers a run for their money. In reality mid sized speakers with subs are often better as you can tune the bass to the room. Once you run subs it is hard not to question the price of these large speakers unless you truly have a large room and sit far away. If you have a large room but sit within 10’ then it is irrelevant again. 
james633
1,051 posts
 
tonywinga,

You have a really nice system and room BTW. I have no complaint with Wilson really other than the cost. 
One more thing to try before throwing cash at the system. If you have the ability to highpass the subs and cut the lows out of the mains it will make a huge difference. Running the subs at around 60hz (right where your bass driver rolls off and the passive radiator picks up) will really elevate the bass (no pun intended) and the whole system. 
Subs are just so good these days might as well let them do their thing. At 60hz they will blend well. At 80hz I find I can hear them and at 40hz and less the system as a whole is not near as good. That has been my experience in a few different rooms with the same system. 
Anyway, something like the JL Audio CR-1 would add the ability if your system lacks a high-pass.  If you end up using a higher crossover you might want to pull the subs a little closer to the mains. If you keep the face of the driver less than 39” away from the front wall you should still be good at 60hz and less for room nodes based on the 1/4 wave. 
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