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Heard my friend's system, thinking of leaving hifi

I asked a friend to come over and listen to my system which consists of a Cary 303/200 CD player, Plinius 8200 integrated and Soliloquy 6.2 speakers with Acoustic Zen cabling all around, most of which was purchased from this site. He politely told me to gather my best music and invited me to go to his place and listen to his system.

He has some type of Meridian arrangement where the CD player goes directly to internally powered fullrange speakers. Oh my, the first 10 seconds and I wanted to cry! It was all there: imaging, soundstage, naturalness to all instruments, non-fatigue, front row... I've been to alot of trade shows and dealers in my area so I know what a great system sounds like and where my modest system stands in comparison, but geez that Meridian system sounded amazing! I mean it dwarfed all by comparison. (The only flaw that I could find was that in the systems current state it didn't allow for the addition of an FM tuner.)

Naturally most of us can't afford to drop that kind of money on a passtime. Certainly, I really can't afford to drop $50k on a system like that, but jeez it sounded great! I mean I came home and wanted to give my system away and find another hobby!

Does anyone have any suggestions about any changes I could make to my system to start working towards getting to that sound? I would say that first the speakers would have to go. Something "fuller" than the 2-ways I currently have. Perhaps something with powered woofers? His sytem seemed to present all frequencies in a balanced manner. Mine seems a bit thin in comparison and certainly lacks the lower end. Any suggestions would be appreciated...
portugal11

Showing 2 responses by pdreher

pdreher's avatar
pdreher
1,185 posts
 
I've owned the Plinius 8200 MKII, and its a fine product for the price. However, I've also owned the Soliloquy 6.2i's and think you can do much better.

I don't know what you have in mind for a budget, but my first speaker recommendation would be something from Dynaudio... maybe the 72Se's that are currently listed.

However, since you don't really care for the Dyn's aesthetics, and you've stated interest in Von Schweikert & Audio Physics, consider the VR-4Jr's or the Virgo's.

Another gentleman recommended Harbeth... once again, not the last word in style, but a terrific recommendation, especially when mated with a REL Storm III subwoofer. The same can be said for Vandersteen 2CE Sigs... excellent value, but not necessarily easy on the eyes.

Another well respected brand to consider would be Spendor... and they also fill the niche when it comes to pleasing aesthetics.
pdreher's avatar
pdreher
1,185 posts
 
I've owned the Silverline Sonata II's. Decent speaker (kinda large), but despite it's size, it is lean in the bass and would benefit from a subwoofer (you only need one BTW). Even though Silverline does employ some Dynaudio drivers in their designs, my experience with the Sonata II did not resemble the Dynaudio house sound... and I've owned 5 pairs of Dynaudio's, and still own 3 pair.

The Sonata II's would be a very significant upgrade over your Soliloquy 6.2i's (I owned these just prior to moving up to the Silverline's). However, try to find (or wait for) a used pair of Sonata III's... they are supposed to be more dynamic, full & balanced sounding vs. the II's, and to me, the Sonata III's are much better looking than the II's.
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