Rel Strata III versus Rel Britannia B3


Hi all,

I am looking to match a pair of Spendor S5e's (powered with Simaudio I5.3) with a subwoofer and was trying to figure out if anyone has experience with the Strata III and its new "replacement" the Britannia B3. I believe that the B3 is a ported design from a structural perspective versus non-ported for the strata. (sidenote: I have heard good things about the B1 comparable or even better to the Storm in the ST series).

Anyone have any experience out there with both?

Thanks!
froodyguy
I have used a Strata III for a couple years. It blended well with a pair of Paradigm Studio 40 v.3's. The Paradigm's are now gone, replaced with a pair of Dynaudio Focus 140's. I continue to use the Strata III. Sounds great.
Valinar, how do you like the Dynaudios? As good as the S'phile review says they are?
Drubin,
I like the 140's very much. As the Sterophile article stated they take a long time to break in. I am using a Musical Fidelity a3.2 integrated and am thinking of another integrated with more power. I'll see.
I think there is an even newer line after the Britannia. Still I'm happy with my Strata III. The most important thing is to GET a sub. It seems to add color to the entire spectrum of music, I don't know how to explain it.
Art
Well - I had to ship my Spendors back to fedex for damage inspection. Super long story, but am now essentially on hold for sub set-up with the B-3. For the 10 hours I had to play with them both in the system I could tell an immediate difference, but it will take some fine tuning as the listening in the room was very location specific.