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Focal Aria 936 / Elac Adante AF-61 / Von Schweikert VR-33 , impressions, thoughts?

Thinking of upgrading my speakers and in the past have just gone with what I thought was a great deal, sometimes that worked, more often it did not!

Have a shortlist right now of those 3 speakers.

Focal Aria 936
Elac Adante AF-61
Von Schweikert VR-33

Presently using Triangle Altea ESW speakers.

What am I lacking right now? Possibly some lower bass, the Triangles are superb in the mids and upper registers but you can definitely tell they are  a little limp below 40hz. And at the end of the day even though I consider them to be fantastic speakers, they were after all only 2k brand new so there are likely better options out there to consider.


So thoughts and impressions on those 3 speakers or any serious contenders in the same sort of price bracket, I am looking at used examples only so think 3k max.

Will be driving them with an Ayre AX-7E integrated which I will NOT be changing anytime soon (famous last words I know!)

Thank you
128x128uberwaltz
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz OP
13,381 posts
 
Thanks Corelli, a little at odds with Stereo5 impression but reinforces my belief that EVERY situation is different.

LoomisJohnson, I did try a sub but even 3 different subs gave me same annoying ground loop hum on phono that I could not eliminate.
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
6,405 posts
 
@uberwaltz...…………………………………..

I don't get it either as I have never had trouble getting bass in my room.  Even the Conrad-Johnson 200wpc power amp I purchased for them didn't make them sound better.  I am clueless why.  The guy I bought them from told me he didn't care for them either, he went back to his Maggies. The speakers I had before them were the Odyssey Kismet Reference.  They had a 7 inch Scanspeak woofer and Scanspeak silk dome tweeter and the bass was astounding.  When my brother heard them, he was looking everywhere for a subwoofer but there was none.  The VSA are the only speakers I had problems with in that room.  If you can listen before you buy, that would be great.  On the VSA forum on Audio Circle, people are always asking if someone in their area has a certain VSA speaker they could listen to and most of the guys are more than willing.  That may be your best bet.

Seeing as you like the Triangle sound, the Focal may be your cup of tea.  I myself can't get past the BE tweeters as they are quite bright to my ears but they may be just the ticket for you.  If I was ever to buy another pair of speakers, I would go with Legacy Audio.  I have loved every one of their speakers that I have heard.  I spent a lot of time at RMAF listening to them. 
uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz OP
13,381 posts
 
Stereo5

Fortunately the aria range does not have the BE tweeters, I think that would end up being too clinical especially with all my Nordost cabling.

The vr33 having a 10" woofer should knock bass out of the ballpark on paper at least.

Not sure if anybody in my area has them but worth a shot.

Looks like no love or knowledge for the Elac so far though.
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uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz OP
13,381 posts
 
Another speaker I should consider as I like the Triangle house sound is one of their bigger brothers like the Volante.
Another option for sure.
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