Quest for speaker upgrade

reverendo

Well-Known Member
Mar 10, 2014
119
9
325
Dallas, TX
I've heard David's Valentina recently at a friend's house in Annapolis. They are refined, coherent, and detailed, but they don't escape the box sound entirely as they have 2 cone woofers in a box, and the electroststic isn't dipolar, the back wave is captured. You might give an Emerald Physics or Spatial speaker a try.
thanks. will take a look at them.
 

christoph

Well-Known Member
Dec 11, 2015
4,660
4,058
825
Principality of Liechtenstein

SineDave

New Member
Sep 28, 2017
2
0
0
I recognize I'm new around these parts (I've been lurking for a while), but based on your price range and your love of AMT's, I strongly, strongly recommend giving Legacy Audio speakers a listen, especially the Focus XD and Aeris. These are really special speakers, and given my first major love in "high end" was the Vandersteen Quattro (which you enjoyed) I think these will be right up your alley.

It's a bit of a drive, but you can go hear them at Raven Audio in Onalaska. If you're ever in Houston, you're also welcome to hear my slightly lower end Signature SE's driven by a few different amps/pre-amps.

Raven Audio
Dave Thomson
dave@ravenaudio.com
(936) 662-5100
135 Old Groveton Road South
Onalaska, TX 77360
Auditions by Appointment
 

reverendo

Well-Known Member
Mar 10, 2014
119
9
325
Dallas, TX
I recognize I'm new around these parts (I've been lurking for a while), but based on your price range and your love of AMT's, I strongly, strongly recommend giving Legacy Audio speakers a listen, especially the Focus XD and Aeris. These are really special speakers, and given my first major love in "high end" was the Vandersteen Quattro (which you enjoyed) I think these will be right up your alley.

It's a bit of a drive, but you can go hear them at Raven Audio in Onalaska. If you're ever in Houston, you're also welcome to hear my slightly lower end Signature SE's driven by a few different amps/pre-amps.

Raven Audio
Dave Thomson
dave@ravenaudio.com
(936) 662-5100
135 Old Groveton Road South
Onalaska, TX 77360
Auditions by Appointment

Hi Dave,
Great to see you here. You know I'm a big fan of your valves and I really do like the Legacy. Just still think they're too large for what I'm looking for, but they do sound great.
Any news on the DAC project?
Hope to see you soon. Send your family my best.
 

bonzo75

Member Sponsor
Feb 26, 2014
22,448
13,475
2,710
London
Andre, will the infinity irs sigma work for you in terms of size? At an used price of roughly 4500 Euro they are excellent, a bit like duetta
 

johndoe21ro

Well-Known Member
Oct 3, 2012
104
8
260
40
Europe
Dynaudio Confidence, Triangle Magellan, Vienna Acoustics, Elac FS4xx, ProAC D40R...
 

reverendo

Well-Known Member
Mar 10, 2014
119
9
325
Dallas, TX
Andre, will the infinity irs sigma work for you in terms of size? At an used price of roughly 4500 Euro they are excellent, a bit like duetta

Hey Ked, where did you listen to them? Could you give me more info?
 

bonzo75

Member Sponsor
Feb 26, 2014
22,448
13,475
2,710
London
In Rome, at the place of a vintage turn table restorer who is manufacturing his own TT called Blackstone. He uses these speakers with class A 200 w Italian amps called AM audio. They have good bass and dynamics, open, play most music well. At 4500 Euro tough to go wrong, and easy to listen to, for 6 hours a day. I am not exactly sure how much space they need behind, as though he had space from the wall he had a big cupboard half their height (that he used as a rack) directly behind them
 

christoph

Well-Known Member
Dec 11, 2015
4,660
4,058
825
Principality of Liechtenstein
Hi Andre

What about the Heil Kithara?
Did this not pan out the way you wanted?
 

reverendo

Well-Known Member
Mar 10, 2014
119
9
325
Dallas, TX
In Rome, at the place of a vintage turn table restorer who is manufacturing his own TT called Blackstone. He uses these speakers with class A 200 w Italian amps called AM audio. They have good bass and dynamics, open, play most music well. At 4500 Euro tough to go wrong, and easy to listen to, for 6 hours a day. I am not exactly sure how much space they need behind, as though he had space from the wall he had a big cupboard half their height (that he used as a rack) directly behind them

just looked up the dimensions. unfortunately too large for my needs. I do see a resemblance to some Legacy Audio speakers. Thanks for the hint, though.
 

reverendo

Well-Known Member
Mar 10, 2014
119
9
325
Dallas, TX
Hi Andre

What about the Heil Kithara?
Did this not pan out the way you wanted?

I reached out three times to the gentleman, but unfortunately didn't hear back, so that didn't work out.
 

christoph

Well-Known Member
Dec 11, 2015
4,660
4,058
825
Principality of Liechtenstein
Pity.
I would say we tried a lot but now it has to be the Duettas :rolleyes: :b
 

bonzo75

Member Sponsor
Feb 26, 2014
22,448
13,475
2,710
London
just looked up the dimensions. unfortunately too large for my needs. I do see a resemblance to some Legacy Audio speakers. Thanks for the hint, though.

Bill is really liking his Heco direkt
 

bonzo75

Member Sponsor
Feb 26, 2014
22,448
13,475
2,710
London
Andre, Bill has liked the Heco so much he gave up the focal maestro utopia and used that money for an SME 30/2.

So Heco has now displaced a raidho and a focal. If you are on a budget and space constraint, you are going to find bearing these tough
 

PeterA

Well-Known Member
Dec 6, 2011
12,523
10,688
3,515
USA
Andre, Bill has liked the Heco so much he gave up the focal maestro utopia and used that money for an SME 30/2.

So Heco has now displaced a raidho and a focal. If you are on a budget and space constraint, you are going to find bearing these tough

If you don't first extract the information from the groove there is no chance that it will reach the speaker.
 

bonzo75

Member Sponsor
Feb 26, 2014
22,448
13,475
2,710
London
If you don't first extract the information from the groove there is no chance that it will reach the speaker.

And if speakers of that size don't have a concert hall room, there is no point extracting any information.

He already had kuzma stabi ref, triplanar, and aesthetix io signature with Lyra kleos.
 

PeterA

Well-Known Member
Dec 6, 2011
12,523
10,688
3,515
USA
And if speakers of that size don't have a concert hall room, there is no point extracting any information.

He already had kuzma stabi ref, triplanar, and aesthetix io signature with Lyra kleos.

Yes, but tell that to Steve Williams and to Michael Fremer who both don't have concert hall sized rooms and very good analog source equipment. I'm not familiar with Bill's room or speakers. I was simply suggesting a reason he decided to prioritize a turntable upgrade over speakers at this time. Of course it is a balance and we all may approach it differently. I think the source and the speaker/room match are two areas of a system that can be thought of somewhat independently. He must have liked something about the new turntable enough to do the upgrade.
 

bonzo75

Member Sponsor
Feb 26, 2014
22,448
13,475
2,710
London
Yes, but tell that to Steve Williams and to Michael Fremer who both don't have concert hall sized rooms and very good analog source equipment. I'm not familiar with Bill's room or speakers. I was simply suggesting a reason he decided to prioritize a turntable upgrade over speakers at this time. Of course it is a balance and we all may approach it differently. I think the source and the speaker/room match are two areas of a system that can be thought of somewhat independently. He must have liked something about the new turntable enough to do the upgrade.

He loves the SME. Point is, he got the Heco for a second system, and realized you get a "whole" sound more through such speakers into such rooms, so he decided to sell off the bigger ones and get SME.

Andre is looking for a speaker at a budget and which is flexible with room sizes as he keeps moving.

As for Steve's and MF's room these are custom built with loads of treatment. Custom build is rare in the UK, if at all.
 

reverendo

Well-Known Member
Mar 10, 2014
119
9
325
Dallas, TX
update

It's been a long time that I haven't posted here and in the meantime I was able to move and, therefore, know a little better what my limitations are regarding placement.
The speakers will be set up on the short wall of our living room which is 17ft x 21ft x 11ft (sloped), which will be used roughly 2/3 for the A/V setup. Unfortunately I cannot pull the speakers out very much (roughly 3 feet) and I practically will have no side walls, as you will see in the attached picture.
I am traveling next week and will probably listen to some additional speakers during my trip in Germany and Switzerland. Here is my current shortlist, with speakers that I have already auditioned and that still make the list in bold:
  • Audiovector SR6 Avantgarde
  • Lawrence Audio Cello
  • Gold Note XT-7
  • ELAC Adante AF-61
  • Boenicke W11
  • Janszen Valentina
  • Higherfi Audio HFX-3
  • Oskar Heil Kithara
  • Wilson Audio Watt/Puppy 7 or 8
  • Kharma CRM 3.2FE
  • Revel Salon 2
  • Pure Audio Project Trio 15 Heil
Revel still is a runner because of the reasons that I mentioned before and because of the adaptability to front wall.

WA W/P was recommended by a friend who is very knowledgeable, saying that the closeness to front wall makes them a great contender.

Will be listening to the Boenicke and Kithara on this trip.

Still very curious regarding the Valentina, but the hassle of having an in-home audition before getting of an idea of the house sound is not something I'm comfortable with. Same thing for the Trio 15 Heil.

I can get no decent information on the Higherfi speaker and they haven't been useful in getting more information on these speakers. On paper I like the concept of a planar tweeter, ribbon mid and cone bass, but it most likely is a nightmare to get that to mesh correctly.

I don't think I will be able to listen to the Cello nor the SR6, so they'll probably leave the list soon. the AF-61 is unobtainium. Have contacted several ELAC dealers here, Germany and Switzerland and they're hard to find to audition. Don't know what's up with that.

Just wanted to give the members of this thread an update. Am still open to suggestions that might fit my overall goals as described in the first post.

On a last note: The sofa is going to change and there will be an additional rug between it and the console, hopefully helping to diminish some reflections.
20180628_111609.jpg
 

About us

  • What’s Best Forum is THE forum for high end audio, product reviews, advice and sharing experiences on the best of everything else. This is THE place where audiophiles and audio companies discuss vintage, contemporary and new audio products, music servers, music streamers, computer audio, digital-to-analog converters, turntables, phono stages, cartridges, reel-to-reel tape machines, speakers, headphones and tube and solid-state amplification. Founded in 2010 What’s Best Forum invites intelligent and courteous people of all interests and backgrounds to describe and discuss the best of everything. From beginners to life-long hobbyists to industry professionals, we enjoy learning about new things and meeting new people, and participating in spirited debates.

Quick Navigation

User Menu

Steve Williams
Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator
Ron Resnick
Site Co-Owner | Administrator
Julian (The Fixer)
Website Build | Marketing Managersing