Wilson Audio Sabrina . . . I'm smitten. Should I consider others?


Went on a small audition trek last week and heard the following:

Tekton Double Impact SE (I was curious based on the posts/comments)
Magico S1 MKII
Magico S3 MKII
Devore Fidelity Orangutan 0/96
Wilson Audio Sabrina

The Wilson Sabrinas were not initially on my list, but when I stumbled across them while searching for Focal Sopra 2s, I couldn't resist.  The Sabrinas were very impressive.  In fact, after hearing the Magico S1 and S3, I went back to hear the Sabrinas a second time to confirm what I had heard.  They were initially driven by the ARC Ref6 preamp and the new ARC $30K monoblocks, but the second trip I asked if they could be driven by more economical equipment, so they used the LS28 and VT80.  The source was the dCS Rossini both times.  Because there was no A/B comparison of equipment, I really didn't notice any drop off in performance.  

The Sabrina's price point is my upper end, but I'd like to achieve a no stone unturned level of search/comfort before I pull the trigger.  Most brands are not easily accessible in Kansas City, but I'm willing to make the effort if justified.  Are there any other loudspeakers I should consider in this range?  I listen mostly to older rock, blues, jazz, and female vocals  Streaming with something like an  Aurender A10 will be my primary source.  My goal is to decide on the loudspeakers for this system, and work backwards into the components.  That'll be a future question.  Appreciate your time and help.
kcpellethead

Showing 4 responses by sciencecop

The DeVore are some of the most colored loudspeakers out there. Their top-end in-room response is dramatically shelved down, and their prominent midrange is riding everything else. (https://www.stereophile.com/content/devore-fidelity-orangutan-o96-loudspeaker-measurements). They will be more suitable as a guitar amp then a hi-fi speaker. To claim that they are more open or transparent than a Magico is a bridge too far (several bridges, actually).

However, obviously, they do appeal to some, and you may very well like them.
Listen, you can like what you like. We all love this hobby, and just like you I have spent the last 40 years listening, and buying, hi-fi gear. I also spent many years in school (and work), learning about the phenomenons that allow us to enjoy music in our home (Electrical and mechanical engineering). It makes it easy to understand what it is that I am hearing. It is actually quite simple, once you understand how things work, and my subjective assessments usually correlate to the objective one.
You can quote JA, saying that:

“…with recordings of solo acoustic piano they get in the way of the music by producing noticeable coloration, the piano’s midrange sounding uneven, with some notes obscured”
and then claim that: 
“With the Devores that (you) often got "that’s a real acoustic guitar or piano...”

I am sure you heard a piano before, so have I. My impressions are with JA, and the extremely poor measurements of these speakers (It is rare of JA to have such harsh criticism). Why we reach different conclusions is a whole nother matter, but I do know that mine exist in reality. In regards to the Devore, I think that JA is extremely polite, in my book, if you can’t do a piano, and the Devore certainly cannot, you can’t really do hi-fi. Yes, you may be able to do Rock and such, but so is a $2000 JBL, or the horrendous (sorry) Devialet phantom, they will “jump” at you like nothing else, and if that is what you like, go for it.
Measuring "perfectly flat" means absolutely nothing. Measuring evenly, relatively linear and smooth ON, and smooth fall-off OFF axis is critical for good performance (some prefer a slight gentle, smooth slop down, 2-3 dB on-axis from 20Hz to 20KHz). Some of the speakers in question here have severe deviation from that.
@prof This is where it gets a bit complicated.

There is a reason you (and many audiophiles) are drawn to this (colored) type of sound; it has a lot to do with how we perceive loudness (see ’Fletcher–Munson’ curves). To compensate for the dynamic limitation of any hi-fi system, many loudspeakers are designed with a certain “boost” factor. It can be a port that makes the bass output more efficient than the rest of the frqs, or in case of the Devore or the Lowther type, the midrange. These can be very entertaining on some recording, but devastating on others. By essentially EQing the sound, you trick the mind to think it is real. The problem is that by doing so, you not only EQing and permanently change the nature of the recorded signal, you also decrease the dynamic range of the speakers (think “Loudness” button on an old Japanese receiver). There is a real price to pay for any of these artificial “excitements”. For instance; if you have a boosted bass, due to the way we perceive loudness (again, see Fletcher–Munson curve), as you increase the volume, the level of boost changes. I am sure you notice that on loud volume, ported systems linearity and resolution diminish (or maybe you didn’t ☹). Not to mention the increase of distortions, non-linearity, spectrum compression, group-delay and many other ill factors I don’t think you will want to be bothered with. Unlike real music, where a specific “boost” ONLY belong to certain instruments or sound "events" (kick drum, trumpet, etc.), in a loudspeaker, the contamination is across the board. It may work on a kick drum but will be a disaster on a human voice (and Piano and basically most acoustic instruments).

Of course, to some, this is what makes it fun, and finding the “right” ancillaries to work with these abnormalities is the essence of our hobby. But, whatever the results may be, ultimately, you are stuck with a very limited, and problematic, outcome. To many this is fine, and like I keep saying, IT IS FINE. BUT, to some, these deficiencies are detrimental to the joy of music listening.