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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 mijostyn

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
@onehorsepony, trying the speakers at home is not a bad idea. We use to bring the speakers to the person's home, set them up and picked them up a few days later.
Personally, I think you are going sideways. Put the money into a cookie jar and save a bit longer to make a bigger jump. Your amplifiers are not bad at all and will drive just about anything. Improving your speakers will make a more noticeable improvement in sound quality. Also it is always important to know what loudspeaker you are driving before you buy an amp as this is the most significant synergistic decision in the entire system next being cartridge for tonearm. 
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