Wilson Audio Sabrina . . . I'm smitten. Should I consider others?

kcpellethead-
Yep,  I am hip.   Mention the dealers/retailers visited in your travels.
Happy Listening!

My two cents:

1)  Speakers are very personal, there are speakers on your list I do not like, and some I love, but all of them are well regarded, so it really has to do with what you like best.  

2)  It is really, really, really hard to compare speakers from dealer to dealer.  Dealer showrooms all sound different, and in turn your room will make the speakers sound different.  I have used Magnepans for 20+ years.  I have heard them sound terrible in dealer rooms more times than good, and had I not heard them well set up, would have never tried them.  

3)  I am a big mail order person and like buying used.  You are in the situation where I think spending the extra money on a local dealer is well worth it.  It needs to be a dealer that is willing to help you setup and dial in your speakers, as well match equipment, and be able to provide demos in your house.  You are spending a lot, it should be optimized.  

4)  I would burn a CD with a variety of music you listen too, including poorly mixed music.  Use this for your demos for consistency.  It will also help you evaluate whether a potential speaker is livable with less than well recorded music.  

@mcreyn 

Great points.  I especially need to burn a CD as I've relied on a Tidal playlist and encountered two dealers that couldn't access Tidal when I went to audition.  

Which Maggies do you have now?

I have 3.5s which I just had rebuilt, so older.  They work great with a Rythmik sub, but they really are a speaker people tend to love or hate.  Generally people who like Maggies like Vandersteens also.  I also found the new Revel F36 to sound really good (used a pair while my Maggies were being rebuilt).  The older Salons were also good sounding, haven’t heard the newer midline, but always like Kevin Vocks designs from when he was at Snell. 

Auditioned two more from my list, the Magnepan 20.7 and the Legacy Aries. Was also able to hear the Magico A3, albeit not yet fully broken in. Auditioned the Maggies in a less than desirable situation. Small room with the speakers only spread about 7’ and seating just about 6’ away, plus Roon lost connection so many times that I lost count. Made it difficult to concentrate. I would really love to hear these properly set up and ideal circumstances, because as is, they don’t make the top five.

The Legacy Aries audition was similar. The dealer is not moving forward with their Legacy line and so the Aries had been removed from their set ups. They were hastily reset and connected. I won’t bore you with the details, but as much as I wanted to love these, I expected to love these, but it was not to be based on this audition. We also heard some Audio Physics loudspeakers with Zesto components and a complete Gold Note rig. Both sounded better, with some really great sound from Gold Note, although asethitically the walnut GN were not my cup of tea.

Finally, heard the Magico A3 with an Octiv integrated and a Lumin streamer. Simple system and the A3 really surprised me, although they have not yet fully broken in. Honestly, I liked them better than the S1MKII. The were articulate with better base extension and had a really meaty midrange.

Nothing has Yet to unseat the Wilson Sabrina so far. Next week I hope to hear the Vandersteen Quattro CT and Joseph Audio Perspective with some Ayre equipment. I really want to love something from my local dealer. I’d also like to hear the PAP Quintet15 with the horns, and I’d like to see if I could get down south to hear the JA Pearl 3. Then it will be done and I’ll have exhausted my search and feel good about my decision.