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New Speakers up to $15k - The more I read the less I know!

I am looking to upgrade my speakers and I am in search of guidance. I presently have B&W 803S and I find that these are excellent speakers and have really responded as I have steadily upgraded my system. I am now looking to buy speakers that will disappear, image and sound as neutral as possible. The 803's are close. 

My system is: ARC REF110 w KT120s, ARC LS27, ARC PH8, VPI Aries 3 fully upgraded, Lyra Delos, Rega Saturn CD, Oppo Sonica DAC, AQ Water & Niagara IC's, REL R528se Sub and more...

Actually, the ARC REF110 and B&W's are a much better match that I would have ever thought and the amp has plenty of power to drive at very high levels. I mainly listen to analog. 

I am looking at Vandy Treo CT, Quatro Wood CT, B&W 802D (used) but I need more ideas... I would prefer to buy new but I will look at used if the right deal presents itself. I am leaning towards the Quatro Wood CT so if anyone has experience with these and a REF 110...?

Thank you.
pilrem
ctsooner's avatar
ctsooner
2,480 posts
 
I'm so glad that you are enjoying that TT as much as I did.  I loved that thing.  For the price, I wasn't able to find anything, even used, that was close.
pilrem OP
40 posts
 
I decided on the Quatro Wood CT after many a listening session. I really like 5A and 5A Carbon but I think for my 16’x16’ room, the ability to place the CT’s closer to the back wall was appealing. Finish is Mahogany Walnut.

I listened to Wilsons, B&W, Focal, Thiel, KEF and many others. The Vandys are near perfection to me. There are things I like about all the speakers I listened to but to me the Vandys have no strengths. They just disappear.

I was going to buy a set from Ultra Fidelis in Milwaukee. John and Bob there are simply great and I have spent lots of money in that place. That was the plan and then I saw a used set on Audiogon for a great price including XLR xovers.

I want to learn as much as possible so setting these up by myself will be a thrill to me. If I am not happy I’ll ask John at Ultra Fidelis to do a "master setup"

I have the RS meter and laser for measuring. I am building a spreadsheet and am laying out my room on cad... Overkill perhaps, however I don get the speakers until late next week so I have something to obsess about!


ctsooner's avatar
ctsooner
2,480 posts
 
Wow, awesome. So you are the lucky one who got them.  There is another thead I'm on and they were all wondering if it was for real or not, the condition etc... Sounds like it was legit and that you are one lucky guy.  I paid Rutan to drive to CT to set mine up, but I can't move anything with the MS, lol.  Keep using this thread to keep us up on your set up.  
gdnrbob
4,458 posts
 
I concur with CTsooner.
 Congrats, enjoy and let us know how you fare.
B
pilrem OP
40 posts
 
Wow, Amazing. That’s really all I need to say about these speakers.

They were delivered yesterday in excellent condition. High pass filters batteries are dated 2022 and have QA Wind balanced connections; I am running AQ Niagara and Water, nice match.

In the week it took to ship the speakers I studied the setup manual and created another thread here asking for help. I followed all the advise and did my homework and had all of the proper tools. The setup took a few hours and all I can say is I am extremely happy. These Quatro CT’s blow away my B&W 803S by a wide margin and I loved those speakers. Time to re-listen to my Vinyl!
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