So, I went on a road trip to listen to couple of loudspeakers. At the first dealer, it was PSB Imagine T3 Vs B&W 804D3 Vs Pioneer S-1EX. The front end was a Pioneer DVD player whose optical out was to a McIntosh integrated with a built-in DAC. Cabling was Nordost. Started with the BWs and found that they are not exciting, but portray recordings as-is. Seems pretty neutral. The first CD was Dire Straits BIA (xrcd). Somehow the bass was not strong. But the high frequencies were extended. Then switched to PSBs, whose bass was much better, but not as good as I remembered as on my own SACD at home. So we switched to Eva Cassidy - What A Wonderful World. I know this song so well, and it made comparisons much better. Also bass was good on this recording. I wanted to like the PSBs, but the bass seems to overwhelm the room and (probably because of this) the high frequencies were not as extended as the B&Ws. But the B&Ws seemed to do everything better than when I heard them last time at another dealer. The "presence" on the B&Ws was pretty good - could bring goose bumps, if they would be carefully placed in my room. Lastly switched to the Pioneers. These also loaded the room. I found the PSB and Pioneers sound like thick syrup, unlike the B&Ws which were agile, albeit slightly lesser bass.
Next day headed to another dealer who stocks Focals. Unfortunately the 1038s were not around, but the Sopras 2 were and I was impressed by the demo. I did not find the Be tweeters bright. The front end was a Simaudio CD player and Hegel pre/power amp. I found out that this dealer also stocked Harbeth. So I decided to take a listen to the 3 of them that ranged from $5k-$7k. This demo changed my impression of Harbeth. My experience was bad from AXPONA 2015. But these were really musical speakers and compared so much more favorably to my Quads. The CDP was Line Magnetics and the integrated was the limited edition VPI. I liked the way they imaged, their sound stage and the bass they produced, for their size. I liked the $5k ones better than the $7k ones.
The road trip was worth it, and I am looking forward to go to AXPONA again this year.
Next day headed to another dealer who stocks Focals. Unfortunately the 1038s were not around, but the Sopras 2 were and I was impressed by the demo. I did not find the Be tweeters bright. The front end was a Simaudio CD player and Hegel pre/power amp. I found out that this dealer also stocked Harbeth. So I decided to take a listen to the 3 of them that ranged from $5k-$7k. This demo changed my impression of Harbeth. My experience was bad from AXPONA 2015. But these were really musical speakers and compared so much more favorably to my Quads. The CDP was Line Magnetics and the integrated was the limited edition VPI. I liked the way they imaged, their sound stage and the bass they produced, for their size. I liked the $5k ones better than the $7k ones.
The road trip was worth it, and I am looking forward to go to AXPONA again this year.