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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 johnnyb53

johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
A speaker that comes to my mind given your criteria is the Legacy Audio Whisper. It's physically imposing, but unlike most speakers that size, its free-air woofers function as dipoles, making it easy to place them closer to side walls. The woofers can also be amped and attenuated separately, so it is relatively easy to dial the speakers in to the room size and avoid bass overload.

Finally, the Whispers are aptly named if the multiple reviews are to be believed. The reviews consistently report that they are particularly good at low level detail and holding the musical presentation together at low volumes.

Stereophile review here.

Also, given your criteria for detail plus engaging musicality, the Sonus Faber Cremona is a must-listen. The SF's all have a very natural-sounding tonal balance, the antithesis of hyped-up "hi-fi."
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
09-01-08: Audphile1
I recently heard Thiels, the new models...3.7 may beIwith a round top)? But didn't like them too much. Thought they were a bit analytical for my tastes. No warmth at all.
That's the dilemma with Thiels--they tend to be cold and analytical, but they present a challenging load to amplifiers (wild swings in an impedance curve that drops down to 2 ohms), so they don't mate well with tube amps. The one solution seems to be using a tube preamp to soften things up a bit before feeding to a high current SS amp.

As for me, life's too short to try to live with Thiels if you want to enjoy your music disc after disc (or record after record).
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 
09-01-08: Pops
Johnny, my problem with Thiels is this, 3.6's have been my speaker now for about 9 years and I don't know what I would ever go to. When fed right which I've done the resolution and coherence is addicting. Your right though you have to work a little and be ultra careful with upstream components and wire. I used a Blackbird cartridge for a while which leans towards the sharp side, however, my ortofon jubilee is perfect and when everything connects that is when Thiels are really hard to beat for me.
Yep, you're right. What I posted before was what I feel about Thiels in *my* situation, which is I often can't sit in the sweet spot and having had two heart attacks, I just can't submit myself to the stress of speaker placement and system tuning that the Thiels require.

But you're right. In this respect they also remind me of Wilsons. Picky about room placement and where you sit, but if you get it right, few speakers hang the images in 3-D space like these guys. And it's thrilling when you get it right. And I can sure see where an Ortofon Jubilee would help make that happen.

For me, I gave up that nth degree of pinpoint imaging in favor of a robust soundstage and natural timbres throughout the room that I get from Mirage omnidirectional speakers.
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