Speaker upgrade options, options, options

[MusicLover]

You have a lot of choices, I strongly recommend you do a home demo if at all possible. Speakers are quite a personal choice and room interaction is also hard to predict.

Try SF Olympicas as per other postings. I also heard (and bought) PMC 20.26's after an exhaustive search of many options. Proac D30R also great too. Moving up the price ladder, I heard the B&W 802 several times, it's great and since it's been replaced you might find good ex-dem deals.

Nice options guys...

Silly, I know, but the old-fashioned 'Boxy' type speakers I am not sure I could live with after the Triangles, and I am certain my other-half would hate them, so PMC and Spendor are sadly out of my list, good that they reportedly are...

Frankly, looks are almost equally important these days (to get them passed the boss!)... otherwise my life will not be worth living, and divorce is way too expensive!  

Many seem to rate the B&W Diamonds, but after reading up, I wonder if they will be to laid back for me given I have got so used to the Triangles...

So far the list looks like:

Wilson Sophia - Someone mentioned Sophia, but wondered about Sabrina? Anyone care to comment?
Kef blades
Magico S?
SF  Olympica II

Of course the next issue is how on earth do you find dealers close enough to audition (and then at home?)...sounds like this is going to take time....

Intrigued by the TADS but access to these I think would be an issue....

What about Martin Logan? Any experience on these?

Hi teddlesdee,

Re the Wilson Sabrina, yes I did try them in my D400 system at home. They are detailed and open, and give a terrific soundstage, but to my ears they had a sharpness in the top end which was a little fatiguing for me - I couldn't relax and fully enjoy the music. I couldn't be sure whether this top end emphasis was speaker related, or room related. I was comparing them with my Wilson-Benesch ACT1s which were, to me, much more relaxing.

As has already been mentioned, there is no substitute for a home demo .


David

As David has already pointed out, if possible, a home demo is a must.

Once at home for me the most significant tweak has always been, by a long stretch, speaker positioning. Once you have lived with the speakers for a good while and breaking period is behind you, it's time to fine tune them in the space of the room. That fine tuning, done with friends whose taste and capacity to appreciate music you trust (in my case also my girlfriend), is what has made the difference between boredom or goosebumps.

I recently attended a demo where a setup almost identical to mine was being shown. The room was extensively and I would say exquisitely treated, still the sound, somehow, was just uninspiring, lacking the presence, spatiality and vividness of mine at home (I suspect the main reason was the speakers being too far into the room where you could barely feel the bass and attack of notes).

Last, personal taste should be the final judge. Never buy according to brand or even rave reviews, get the ones that make you cry of emotion every time you play your favorite cuts! (easier said than done I know!)


ML