Best Loudspeakers for Rich Timbre?
I know. I've held off in buying $50-60K efficient speakers because I'm getting so much great sound/music from my Legacy Focus speakers using older high end equipment and recently acquired tweaks, When I upgrade, it will cost a lot to exceed my current sound. Buy used older Legacy's for great timbre plus their other attributes for a bargain that beginning audiophiles can afford. |
I recently went on the search for the perfect speaker, and the ability to capture the natural rich sound (timbre) of an acoustic instrument was one of my priorities. I home auditioned 15 speakers (review here: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/a-brief-review-of-15-high-end-speakers-on-home-demo-including... and found some well-loved brands lacking in this area. The two which really shone in the reproduction of a natural rich timbre were the Sonus Faber and the Boenicke. I ended up purchasing the Boenicke. Interestingly Sven Boenicke, the designer, records live concerts of small classical ensembles, and one of the aims of his designs is to have a speaker which reproduces that natural sound of the instrument which he tries to capture in the recording. I find with my Boenicke even the troublesome violin is rendered perfectly. I also heard the Joseph speakers in the Munich HiFi show. They were excellent too. Jazz was being played (isn’t it always at HiFi shows?!) from a reel to reel via an Alluxity amp. It sounded wonderful. |
@fleschler I have the Magico A3 in my system for over a month now. I listen to many speakers before I chose the A3. Some of the contenders were the Wilson Sabrina the Dynaudio Contour 60 and Confidence 2 and the Focal Sopra 2. I don’t like Harbeth they are too warm, with very bad resolution ( I am a musician, and do a lot of recording, I need to hear what was recorded, not added noise from the loudspeakers). Apparently like coloration and noise, all the speakers you mentioned are extremely colored. |
I've heard various Wilsons in stores, and their overall character always seemed to me to be summed up in the adjective: relentless. And not in a good way. I haven't heard the Sabrinas, and from everything I've read, it really seems as if these are voiced rather differently. BTW, I recently auditioned the 40.2's and was blown away by them (in a good way). They immediately vaulted to the top of my shortlist. |
