5-10k budget... so many choices

I had the opportunity to listen to the f208 by revel and the 1028 be, kanta and sopra 2 by focal.  All were powered by a Macintosh 5200 integrated and rega cd player. 

The room was setup wider side having the speakers against it and not any acoustical treatments on the walls.  No doubt the audio equipment tested would sound better in a room setup for listening specifically.  I asked why the room had no acoustic treatment other than defusers set behind the speakers?  The sales person said we want to portray the speakers in an environment similar to what you would have in a typical home.

The revel F208 was the most linear and balanced speaker I have listened to upto the 5k  range and I would have been completely happy with these had i never listened to a speaker with beryllium tweeters or mid range.  The detail and image of speakers with beryllium are just in an entirely different league to my ears.

The 1028 be was a pleasant speaker but not for me.  This speaker was the most focused sharpest imaging speaker I have listened too to date.  There seemed to be a bit of over emphasized areas in the highs and the lows that seemed to come and go depending on music type (it felt like certain frequency ranges were over compensated for which caused an unnatural bump).  Perhaps the room was somewhat to blame but the same room and equipment powering others were all much smoother to my ears.

The Kanta was a great speaker very smooth and slightly laid back driven by the equipment in the test room.  I enjoyed the detail and sound stage that was nice and in focus although not as hyper focused as the 1028 be.  Great overall speaker it is very close to the persona 3f I listened too before.  The personas have just a sweeter mid and top end where the kanta plays down lower more linear than the personas.  I personally would want a sub with either but the kanta can get away without one.

The sopra 2 was a great speaker sounding very much like that kanta and it just had a little more of everything from detail to low end extension.  The one thing that was odd to me about this particular setup was the image was very forward with these.  The image was also unnaturally wide an even with the front speakers or even slightly forward of that.  Again this is probably due to the room setup and lack of acoustical treatments. I have seen these 15k speakers demo or used for 11k or so many places which makes them a bargain.

(((I am completely taken back by your continued mention of Raidho speakers being “bright” or too detailed. They have perhaps the most magical tweeter on the planet. I haven’t ONCE heard them sound bright or fatiguing in any way.)))

I think what he meant was Raidhos can be hard to live with as not being able to play with the finesse on voicing, for example, One of our listeners that had the 70K plus Raidhos found female voices hard to live with its multiple drivers blending or transition and traded into Vandy 7s, now very satisfied.
 
As for the OP the Vandy Treo CTs should definitely be on his list as he may also discover and appreciate its unique Time correct design works as well ..
Best,
JohnnyR

Well he very obviously didn’t mean that if you read his posts.   Also not sure what you’re talking about with female vocals.  Never heard anyone mention that about Raidho speakers before.  

I don’t disagree with your recommendation of Vandersteens though.  :)

It would seem we were in the same boat and I we chose Focal originally we did 2-1 then 3-1. Then 5-2.  What really sold us was the sound and the expansion.  I like focal for a lot of music but what my wife loved was the Movie experience.  Focal is where that is and you can’t go wrong!  I paired the focal with Anthem amps. 


We do have our own music room, and that runs a completely different setup but, Focal is hard to beat, I like Spendor (can’t really expand as far as home theatre) and a quality tube amp the best! B&W (top of the line) is fantastic as well Focal but $10,000.00 won’t do it unless buying used.  

My current home theatre setup is $20,000.00 not all at once of course.  My listening room is triple that if not quadruple!  $10,000.00 is a great start!  I am still impressed by Focal and better yet the wife actually shows it off! It really is beautiful setup!  

Lowspark, I was at RMAF all 3 days this past October and had the opportunity to hear most of the speakers mentioned in this thread. One, and only one of them made me want to upgrade; the Focal Kanta. Upon first listen I just melted into my seat and did not want to get up. Acoustic instruments and voices seemed convincingly real. They are detailed without being bright, imaging and soundstage were just right, but most of all they had an organic quality that was irresistible. My wife joined me on Saturday and her response to the kantas was identical to mine. We kept coming back to this room, but the biggest problem was getting visitors to give up their seat. Everyone that heard them seemed gobsmacked.
By comparison, some $10,000 floor standers down the hall sounded boring and even a bit irritating (poor setup was a contributor)
The Kantas were driven by all Naim gear.
I haven’t heard them again since RMAF because if I do, I’ll likely be $10k poorer.
We also heard the Sopra 2 and preferred the Kantas. Sure, the Sopras did some things better, but they didn’t have that same organic quality of the Kantas. As always, this is just a subjective opinion based on my particular taste.