20-Nov-2020, 01:13
@zambie
I can get holographic imaging with the Sopra 2s, and I could also with the Dynaudio Contour 1.3 SE that I had before the Sopras. I think you could get holographic imaging with the Kansas but holographic imaging really depends more on speaker and listening position placement and/or acoustic treatment to deal with reflections that confuse the ear. I think provided a speaker is capable of providing stable and precise imaging, then you can get holographic imaging but if you're in an apartment, if the system is in your living room, and if you have a partner who wants a living room that can function as a living room rather than a dedicated audio listening room, you're probably going to have to settle for good to great imaging that falls something short of holographic.
It's hard to say whether a speaker would be overkill for a room without trying it in the room. I thought the Sopra 2s might be overkill for my room but decided to take the risk. I'd say it's borderline whether or not they're overkill. I've had to do a lot of work on setup to avoid overkill, mostly because my room is L-shaped and awkward as a result. I think the floor area would be fine for them if the room was rectangular, the asymmetric shape places restrictions on placement and listening distance which made setup a bit on the awkward side. Acoustic treatment can help with overkill setups but it's not living room or partner friendly.
I've heard 2 versions of the Wilson Alexandras and an old version of the Watt Puppies in people's systems and been impressed. I wouldn't worry about a tweeter roll off at 21 kHz. because most people older than 20 can't hear 20 kHz, that's a really young person's upper limit, and for most people of 40 or older with good hearing the upper limit is probably closer to 15 kHz or so. When it comes to music, the highest fundamental produced by an instrument is in the 7 to 8 kHz range, anything above that is overtones, and air becomes increasingly absorptive of high frequencies as frequency increases. A roll off at 21 kHz might be an issue if you're listening to source material which includes high frequency content above 20 kHz which basically rules out digital sources with 44.1/48 kHz which hit a brick wall at 22/24 kHz, and if you've got a room with a lot of absorption.
I'd listen to the Sabrinas and anything else that strikes your fancy which is in your price range and I wouldn't worry too much about what other people say. Just listen. People told me things like the Beryllium tweeter on the Sopras is hot, Devialets are bright, and the result of that combination would not be good. Those people have since heard the combination in my room and not one of them complained that the sound was bright. I once heard a pair of Avant Gard Unos in an incredibly small alcove at a dealer's shop, set up with aluminium cladding on the wall behind them, glass walls either side, and horn loaded tweeter and mid and expected that the sound would be bright. It wasn't, and it was surprisingly good considering the very small space they were in, in fact I thought they sounded better than the B&W 800s which they had set up in their main demo room. There's only one way to find out whether a speaker will do it for you or not and that's to listen to it. Just go and listen and see what you think.
I can get holographic imaging with the Sopra 2s, and I could also with the Dynaudio Contour 1.3 SE that I had before the Sopras. I think you could get holographic imaging with the Kansas but holographic imaging really depends more on speaker and listening position placement and/or acoustic treatment to deal with reflections that confuse the ear. I think provided a speaker is capable of providing stable and precise imaging, then you can get holographic imaging but if you're in an apartment, if the system is in your living room, and if you have a partner who wants a living room that can function as a living room rather than a dedicated audio listening room, you're probably going to have to settle for good to great imaging that falls something short of holographic.
It's hard to say whether a speaker would be overkill for a room without trying it in the room. I thought the Sopra 2s might be overkill for my room but decided to take the risk. I'd say it's borderline whether or not they're overkill. I've had to do a lot of work on setup to avoid overkill, mostly because my room is L-shaped and awkward as a result. I think the floor area would be fine for them if the room was rectangular, the asymmetric shape places restrictions on placement and listening distance which made setup a bit on the awkward side. Acoustic treatment can help with overkill setups but it's not living room or partner friendly.
I've heard 2 versions of the Wilson Alexandras and an old version of the Watt Puppies in people's systems and been impressed. I wouldn't worry about a tweeter roll off at 21 kHz. because most people older than 20 can't hear 20 kHz, that's a really young person's upper limit, and for most people of 40 or older with good hearing the upper limit is probably closer to 15 kHz or so. When it comes to music, the highest fundamental produced by an instrument is in the 7 to 8 kHz range, anything above that is overtones, and air becomes increasingly absorptive of high frequencies as frequency increases. A roll off at 21 kHz might be an issue if you're listening to source material which includes high frequency content above 20 kHz which basically rules out digital sources with 44.1/48 kHz which hit a brick wall at 22/24 kHz, and if you've got a room with a lot of absorption.
I'd listen to the Sabrinas and anything else that strikes your fancy which is in your price range and I wouldn't worry too much about what other people say. Just listen. People told me things like the Beryllium tweeter on the Sopras is hot, Devialets are bright, and the result of that combination would not be good. Those people have since heard the combination in my room and not one of them complained that the sound was bright. I once heard a pair of Avant Gard Unos in an incredibly small alcove at a dealer's shop, set up with aluminium cladding on the wall behind them, glass walls either side, and horn loaded tweeter and mid and expected that the sound would be bright. It wasn't, and it was surprisingly good considering the very small space they were in, in fact I thought they sounded better than the B&W 800s which they had set up in their main demo room. There's only one way to find out whether a speaker will do it for you or not and that's to listen to it. Just go and listen and see what you think.
Roon Nucleus+, Devilalet Expert 140 Pro CI, Focal Sopra 2, PS Audio P12, Keces P8 LPS, Uptone Audio EtherREGEN with optical fibre link to my router, Shunyata Alpha NR and Sigma NR power cables, Shunyata Sigma ethernet cables, Shunyata Alpha V2 speaker cables, Grand Prix Audio Monaco rack, RealTRAPS acoustic treatment.
Brisbane, Qld, Australia
