@glissando My reference to the Thiel CS3.7 + 2 AHB2's in mono comment came from this post. The poster is Tom Thiel, brother of the speaker designer, Jim Thiel. I also believe Tom was one of the 3 founders of Thiel Audio.
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/thiel-owners-2/post?postid=2040594#2040594
I was going to get the Focal Utopia but the dealer I bought the HPA4 (also a Focal dealer) told me to try the Meze Empy first. He said it was a great match with the HPA4. I have been told that the Meze is a little darker than many other top quality HPs so it works well with the HPA4. I had to get an after-market cable to get more details out of the sound, a WyWire Platinum XLR.
One of the things I love about this Benchmark stack is that I am loving more music. Old music that I may not have liked as much I love now, such as the first 6 Van Halen records. I grew up with the group so I have heard this stuff a lot before, but now with this gear I love it. Lot of old music has been like a new discovery.
My last big speaker before these Thiel CS3.7's was the first iteration of the Revel Salons (the R2D2 speaker). You must have the Salon2's. My understanding is that Revel has now discontinued the Salons. A real shame if that is true.
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/thiel-owners-2/post?postid=2040594#2040594
I was going to get the Focal Utopia but the dealer I bought the HPA4 (also a Focal dealer) told me to try the Meze Empy first. He said it was a great match with the HPA4. I have been told that the Meze is a little darker than many other top quality HPs so it works well with the HPA4. I had to get an after-market cable to get more details out of the sound, a WyWire Platinum XLR.
One of the things I love about this Benchmark stack is that I am loving more music. Old music that I may not have liked as much I love now, such as the first 6 Van Halen records. I grew up with the group so I have heard this stuff a lot before, but now with this gear I love it. Lot of old music has been like a new discovery.
My last big speaker before these Thiel CS3.7's was the first iteration of the Revel Salons (the R2D2 speaker). You must have the Salon2's. My understanding is that Revel has now discontinued the Salons. A real shame if that is true.