Silverline Face-off: Sonatina II vs 17.5

Hi Jax2. SO FAR, after a few hours of testing, I'd have to say you pretty much nailed it in terms of describing the differences. However, I've had the Sonatina II's for several years and the 17.5 are new to me. In a close call I'll keep the newer speakers. But you are right, the Sonatina II's do a better job of filling the room gracefully and have more height of soundstage too. 17.5 sound more pure, disappear better, and I think are a tad clearer. They sound so much more similar to each other than I expected!

What I did not expect is how different the 17.5 sound on different stands. Yikes! On sand-filled Skylan 24D they are extremely poised, natural, a tad restrained. On EPOS ST12 stands, they have more air, larger soundstage, seem to be enjoying them selves more, but a hair metallic compared to the Skylan, not quite as natural tone.

All 3 sound great. Right now I could toss a coin.

I did expect the Dynaudio drivers in 17.5 to sound more different than Sonatina II.

BTW my Sonatina II are serial numbers 1818. Alan once told me he made an important change around serial number 1800. FWIW.

Art

ps: Care to describe the sonic differences among the various versions of 17? :)

Kill the sub, then listen. Then after you feel confident in your conclusions...add the sub back. Then listen again.

Agreed, you should definitely leave the sub out for basic comparisons and, especially,for comparing stands and such.

Yep, sub is turned off. Just gathering dust :)