Thank you all very much for your responses and help with this.
@markmendenhall - my experience is almost exactly what your dealer describes. When I heard the Focal Kantas for the first time I was just blown away with the clarity and how "clean" they sounded especially compared to the other speakers I had heard earlier on the same day (Focal Electras 1028be/1038be and the Aria 936). This is what got me excited about them because I was not in the market looking for speakers in that price range. The only reason I did was to compare them with the Olympicas IIIs which I now have an option to buy pre-owned.
My initial thoughts on the Kantas were that while they sounded great would they be a bit too bright or forward over longer listening sessions. I think the Beryllium tweeters definitely have some magic about them though. Also don't know how much the Devialet 130 Pro has influencing the clear/forward sound.
The Olympica IIIs on the other hand sounded much more relaxed to me and I thought they needed to be played louder to sound good which I'm not sure is a good thing with any speaker.
I'm also now a bit concerned that all the amps you'll have recommended for the Olympicas (Pass Labs 150.8, 250.8 and Hegel H30) are more expensive and much more powerful than the Primaluna HPs and wondering if the PL HPs would not be enough to push the Olympica IIIs well enough?
@tablejockey- the speakers will be in a reasonably largeish room 18" * 17" (it's the living room hence the requirement for reasonably nice looking speakers) but unfortunately this room opens out a bit on one side (to the side of one of the speakers) to a long corridor (33" * 4.5") and on the opposite side to a dining area (about 17" * 9"). To add to this I don't have much room to place the speakers too far apart from the walls. I can keep them about 1.5" away from the back walls and about 2" away from the side wall (this applies only to the speaker on the left while facing me as the one of the right has the long corridor on it's side). Sorry about the description, really hope that made some sense!
Do you think the Olympicas IIIs would work well in such a space?
The pressing matter for me now is to decide whether the Olympicas IIIs at the price ($7000) are not worth losing out on or if I should hold out and wait for something better at a similar price (what?) later on or save the purchase for later and stretch a bit more for something like the Kantas or even Sopras if I can find a good price. Unfortunately though I don't have access to AG and all the great deals on pre-owned gear as I don't live in the US.
Thanks again for all the responses, really do appreciate it!
@markmendenhall - my experience is almost exactly what your dealer describes. When I heard the Focal Kantas for the first time I was just blown away with the clarity and how "clean" they sounded especially compared to the other speakers I had heard earlier on the same day (Focal Electras 1028be/1038be and the Aria 936). This is what got me excited about them because I was not in the market looking for speakers in that price range. The only reason I did was to compare them with the Olympicas IIIs which I now have an option to buy pre-owned.
My initial thoughts on the Kantas were that while they sounded great would they be a bit too bright or forward over longer listening sessions. I think the Beryllium tweeters definitely have some magic about them though. Also don't know how much the Devialet 130 Pro has influencing the clear/forward sound.
The Olympica IIIs on the other hand sounded much more relaxed to me and I thought they needed to be played louder to sound good which I'm not sure is a good thing with any speaker.
I'm also now a bit concerned that all the amps you'll have recommended for the Olympicas (Pass Labs 150.8, 250.8 and Hegel H30) are more expensive and much more powerful than the Primaluna HPs and wondering if the PL HPs would not be enough to push the Olympica IIIs well enough?
@tablejockey- the speakers will be in a reasonably largeish room 18" * 17" (it's the living room hence the requirement for reasonably nice looking speakers) but unfortunately this room opens out a bit on one side (to the side of one of the speakers) to a long corridor (33" * 4.5") and on the opposite side to a dining area (about 17" * 9"). To add to this I don't have much room to place the speakers too far apart from the walls. I can keep them about 1.5" away from the back walls and about 2" away from the side wall (this applies only to the speaker on the left while facing me as the one of the right has the long corridor on it's side). Sorry about the description, really hope that made some sense!
Do you think the Olympicas IIIs would work well in such a space?
The pressing matter for me now is to decide whether the Olympicas IIIs at the price ($7000) are not worth losing out on or if I should hold out and wait for something better at a similar price (what?) later on or save the purchase for later and stretch a bit more for something like the Kantas or even Sopras if I can find a good price. Unfortunately though I don't have access to AG and all the great deals on pre-owned gear as I don't live in the US.
Thanks again for all the responses, really do appreciate it!