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£15k $22k to spend on speakers...but which?

Over the years I've built up a system I like but I've saved the speakers till last because I want to spend enough to get them right. It now saved up and am about to embark on this purchase.

My system is Audio Research Ref 3 & 110, Transparent Super speaker cable and a Melco N1/Chord Hugo (which sounds really good) and Rega RP8 turntable.

I've (initially) narrowed down my speaker selection to:
Wilson Sabrina
B&W 800 D3
Focal Sopra 2
Sonus Faber Olympica 2

I listen to everything from choral and piano through pop to Frank Zappa, jazz, progressive rock and orchestral. I like accurate reflection of the human voice, clarity and good deep dry bass.

Should I look at used Sophia 3? Anything else I should add to my list.

I'd be really pleased to hear people's views as, of course, it is almost impossible in the UK to hear comparative listening tests between these different brands.

Thanks

Matthew
mwelliott99
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Chayro,
I am somewhat surprised the TF Pharaohs could sound thin and bad under any scenario. Makes me wonder if this was an incompatible ampler or odd listening room acoustics. You just don't know until you actually hear something yourself.
ebm
9,311 posts
 
Used Magico S3 or S5.
zephyr24069's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
zephyr24069
1,244 posts
 
"A rich man has about the same chance of entering audio nirvana as a camel has of passing through the eye of a needle. ..."

Great stuff,....very funny!!!

On the speaker choice,...from what I've heard on that list, you may wish to re-target your list and look for a speaker with very fast, hyper-accurate and deep bass (no Sub required if the speaker is good enough....) that will deliver on rock, prog-rock, pop, techno, etc...the speakers on the list excel at many things but for hard rock, rock, prog-reck, I think you could do better....you may wish to look at Legacy AERIS and Focus SE. They definitely "rock" down to 16Hz and can cover the range of other music you listen to. There are other choices as well, some mentioned above plus others like PBNs, etc.....
zuio's avatar
zuio
96 posts
 
ATC SCM 50, Aries Cerat Gladius, Eclipse TD712mk2+Sub
chayro
3,001 posts
 
Charles, the speaker/room interface is so critical and when you have limited placement options, you never know. As much as I love Harbeth, I could not for the life of me make the Monitor 30s work in my room. They just hit the wrong nodes (I guess) and they sounded like the bass was absent below 100 hz. I probably could have made them work with a pair of Mapleshade Bedrocks, but I didn't feel like going that route. Good bass, but reduced image height, as I recall. My friend who bought the Pharoahs has very good ears and I believe him when he said they didn't work for him. That's why I insisted on a home audition before plunking down 12.5K.
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