2. speakers
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Time to change. But to what?

I've had my B&W N803 for a while now. Love them. But have a craving for a different type of sound.

I want speakers that play all kinds of music equally well. Excell at soundstaging, imaging, resolution, are NOT analytical, sound natural(this is very improtant...I hate artificial sound), and do the bass so you not only hear it but feel it as well.

I started building a list of potential candidates.
Here goes it:
1. B&W 803D
2. DALI Helicon 800MkII
3. DALI Euphonia MS4 or 5
4. Dynuadio S5.4
5. Sonus Faber Cremona

from the list I am familiar with S5.4, 803D and Cremona. I have never heard DALI speakers.

Room width is about 14 feet. Length is 18 feet. Speakers are on the short wall. Behind the speakers corners are treated with 8th Nerve Rectangles and Triangles, there is an area rug in front of speakers.

I listen to rock music, jazz(vocal and instrumental but dynamic stuff...no smooth jazz at all), acoustic music, solo, chamber and large orchestral classical(Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Bartok, Shoenberg, Shostakovich, etc). I would like the orchestra to be rendered as large and real as possible within the natural limitations of my room, system, listener.

I like to listen on realistic levels when I can, but since I have a 5 year old who goes to bed early, low level resolution is VERY IMPORTANT. I do a lot of late night listening at low levels and want to hear as much information out of the speakers as possible. My B&Ws excell at playing loud without strain. I want this quality to remain with the new speaker as well.

The speaker upgrade will most likely force me to use my Bel Canto DAC3 as a preamp for a while.

I am selling my BAT VK-51SE preamp right now to raise some funds for the speakers. Once I sell the preamp I plan to sell the B&Ws.

DAC3 isn't that bad direct into my Pass Labs X250.5 and I have a feeling I can deal with it for the time being.
No plans to change the amplifier, or anything else. Just the speakers.

What are my options?

Your advise is greatly appreciated.
audphile1

Showing 3 responses by flav

flav
13 posts
 
Audphile1 - I don't put much stock in “in-Store-Audio-Demonstrations”. I audition all of my prospective gear at Home. I have a large dedicated listening room with good acoustics, that I am well familiar with, plus I hold on to my old gear to use as a reference - a relaxing and familiar atmosphere, were I could take my time, works best for me to honestly evaluate a new component.

When I listen to the larger Wilson models, it doesn't make me appreciate the Sophias any less – to me, the best sounding Wilson model, is the one that I happen to be listening to at the time.

I’ve auditioned many different high-quality electronics and cables through the Sophias, and they have never sounded bad – only different degrees of very good.

If you could find a clean pair of Sophia1s for under $7K delivered - I would go for it - this model is well vetted - not much of a “leap of faith” here.

Good luck!
flav
13 posts
 
I upgraded out of a pair of B&W N803s (which I enjoyed very much) to Wilson Audio CUB2 and then Sophia Speakers. The Wilson Speakers were vastly better than the B&Ws in every way, in my Room with my Electronics, there was no comparison. I kept the same Amplifier with the highly-efficient CUB2s, but eventually upgraded into a PASS X250.5 + X1 with the Sophias and the sound exceeded all of my expectations.

A used pair of Sophia1s could be had at a reasonable cost, and will push your system to the next level. The PASS Amp. worked-out best for me, in comparison to BAT, Krell, McIntosh & others that I tried. The X250.5 that you own, is "the best" sounding SS Amp. that I have yet to hear on Sophias.
flav
13 posts
 
Audphile1 - I too had mixed feelings regarding Wilson Speakers, but when they were properly set-up in my Home, with good electronics - the results were mind-blowing. Everyone that came into my Home had the same reaction - they simple could not believe what they were hearing. I had the B&W N803 and a pair of Focal 1027Be at the same time as the CUB2s and no A/B Test was needed - the CUB2s sounded real and the B&Ws and Focals sounded like typical stereo speakers - and the Sophias are better still.

If it were my money, I would sell your BAT Preamp. and B&W N803, and replace them with a PASS X1 Preamp. and a pair of Wilson Sophias. The sonic differences between the Preamps would pale in comparison to the night & day differences between the Speakers.

Note: Another benefit to going with the Sophia1, which many people may not know, is that they are fully upgradeable. In the future, you could have them upgraded to "Series 2" - my local Wilson Audio Dealer offers the upgrade "in Home" and will re-voice the Speakers when finished.

I'm currently using Transparent Plus Series Cables.
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