2. speakers
  3. 149634-133255

Deciding between kef r11, b&w 702s2 and sonus faber sonetto v

Hi,

  After listening to a few speakers, these are the speakers that have sounded the best to me. Unfortunately they were heard at different dealers wth different rooms setups soI cannot definitely say which I liked the best. 

Kef r11 - heard 3 months ago. Rich sound and very well rounded speaker overall.  nice and tight bass. Dealer setup was poor with stuff all around and playing through a parasound amplifier that sounded a bit bright (which I found later when he switched another speakers from a rotel to parasound, and the speaker became way too bright)

b&w 702s2 -  room setup was great. Used mcintosh amps. Possibly the best conditions for demoing. Under those conditions, the speakers shone. Very nice bass, great imaging and spacing. Mids and trebles also very good, though in hindsight the treble may have been a tad bright. But I dont remember thinking that at the time, so I may be playing mind games on myself. 

Sonus faber sonetto v - very musical and easy to enjoy speakers. Really enjoyed listening to them. Beat a b&w 703s2 pants down in a double blind test (dealer had forgotten which speakers was connected to a/b). Room setup was not great, many bare walls and lots of equipment lying around. So though i dont remember being as moved as by the b&w 702s2, given the fact that it beat their little brother easily, I think the speakers could have done amazingly in good conditions. 

I know ultimately speakers are about personal preferences, but curious to hear other peoples opnion about these speakers. I also heard Focal aria (forgot model) but they were disappointing. Not really considering any other brands because I am not able to demo them (though there is a PMC in brooklyn that I am tempted to drive down to). 

So what so you think?


kachda
65whalergon
1 posts
 

Deciding between Sonus faber Sonetta V and B&W 702 s2.  (possibly DynAudio Evoke 50)  I know this thread is a few years old, but I can't find these exact models in town and need your opinions before I order speakers.  

I listen to classic rock, traditional jazz (Miles Davis), southern rock, and blues rock.   Occasional movie with 3.0 surround.  I have owned Klipsch Cornwalls for 45 years and they need some new drivers and capacitors.   I listened to new Forte IVs, and they left me un-impressed with dynamics and were not live sounding.    I am thinking of not investing $1800 to re-build my Cornwalls with Crites drivers (JBL Selenium), and put that toward some newer designs.

I am down to Sonus Faber Sonetta V vs. the B&W.    Or possibly DynAudio Evoke 50.   No one seems to stock DynAudio in Dallas.   I have some bookshelf DynAudio Contour 1.1 that are amazing for their size.   I want larger towers with good bass extension, good imaging, real sound stage, lively dynamics.   They need to sound good at live SPLs and at low volume.   I currently do not run a sub-woofer.    I use a Classe solid state amp CAV-150.

Thanks in advance for sharing your opinions on these speakers.

Mark

pierr
1 posts
 

I am in the same conflict, though I am still stumbling between the KEF R11 and

the Sonus Faber Sonetto VIII .... the Kefs sound greatly and wife, the timberland is great but the Sonetto are more enjoying... the Kefs costs 30% more though

mofojo
2,301 posts
 

@66whalergon,

If you were left unimpressed by the Forte 4 dynamics then your really gonna be unimpressed by the 3 speakers you have in your list. 

mapman's avatar
mapman
22,304 posts
 

They are all good. Whichever YOU prefer is all that matters. 

christian_lacroix2005's avatar
christian_lacroix2005
1 posts
 

Have you evaluating the Goldenear Triton 2+ ?  I demo them with the Sonus Faber Sonetto V and I gave the edge to the Triton.   Give it a shot.

More to discover