Would you Upgrade?


Hi everyone, i'd like to get everyone's opinion on upgrading my set of loudspeakers.

I would be going from a pair of B&W 802D (the first of the diamond models, around 2010) to a pair of Focal Sopra 3's.

Is there much of an upgrade making this change?

I heard the Sopra's at an upscale dealer with a close to perfect setup: speakers about 15 feet from the front wall and about 10 feet from the side walls. Electronics were all Esoteric, including their $44,000 Grandiosa M1 monoblocks, preamp, cd player, power regenerator and $3,800 Cardas clear stereo speaker cables.

I'm not sure if these speakers would sound much different from my current 802D and my humble Classe CAM 100 monoblocks.

Also, how many years do speakers last before they degrade (speaker, crossovers, etc...)

thanks to everyone in advance.
onehorsepony

Showing 1 response by hilde45

+1 @chayro 
When I made a choice of speakers, I tried out a number of options in home: Dynaudio, Martin Logan, Fritz Speakers, Focal, and finally Salk (which I kept). These speakers were fabulous, but not all worked in my space. Thank goodness I limited my choice to those I could try at home, because the room is a huge factor and the dealer experiences, while fun, did not tell me much compared to my room.

Where'd I get these to try? Well, a couple came from The Music Room, an excellent and reliable dealer of used and new gear, which tests and verifies all used gear AND allows a 14 day trial. I strongly recommend the values and trial option with them. Crutchfield is another company that enabled me to try Martin Logan ML 60 XTi speakers-- 100lbs each, shipped -- for 60 days and $10 each for shipping. I am not joking. They have a variety of very well-regarded brands, offer free shipping, and have great open box or scratch and dent options. They have both mid-market and higher end gear, so don't judge them too quickly as a mid-fi company. They have some great stuff and are great to work with.