Silverline Sonata III & McIntosh MC275?

You want to know the sonic differences between the I and the III. Unless some one here has actually owned both you may have to rely on a mixing of the reviews on Soundstage (I believe) and 6moons. I like Potis' comments on 6moons. I bought the Bolero's and found his review of them, right after he reviewed the III's, to be very fair in its description. I have no reason to believe that his review of the III's would be far from the mark. From what he said, I would be cautious in matching them to a Mac 275 unless you know in advance that the tone would be to your liking. From what I have heard, the original Sonata, and its successor the II's had a warmer tone with somewhat lower resolution than the III's.

FWIW.

Jim, In defense of Tvad, although he has his own voice and can speak for himself, this thread is getting a bit long. Now I'll make it a bit longer rather than hear you guys wrangle.

In my opinion Tvad has exacting expectations (don't we all!) and the level of bass resolution with tube amps, at least the ones he tried, were not up to his level of expectations. Thats all.

None of us have definitive opinions about anything. Faced with the alternatives between the III's and the Bolero's I picked the Bolero's because they did what I wanted speakers to do using tubes. I doubt that either of you would be happy with them no matter how they were driven because we have very different expectations. If I had been confident that the III's might have sounded good (to me) with tubes I might have given them more consideration. But I guessed they wouldn't and I just didn't want to have to use SS amps, even Pass's (or according to my preferences, some of his old Threshold SA series amps).

I think what the OP should draw from this is that the III's are like a fine instrument, their sound is greatly affected by the choice of amps, and while they may be a much better speaker than the I's or II's he will have to be committed to finding the right amps to drive them, and hls Mac may or may not be the right amp for him. If he is not prepared to change it out he should either learn to be happy with what he has (my first choice, because he already is happy) or pick a speaker which may not be so critical of its source.

FWIW.

I haven't found the set up of my Silverlines any different that any other similar full range dynamic speakers I've used. They all worked a couple of feet from the wall behind them, the bass was a bit uneven, and the soundstage depth was compressed. I love my speakers and if I had no alternative I would move them back rather than replace them.

But would I have spent all that money on a high resolution speaker in the first place, probably not. I'd have lowered my expectations and gotten some less expensive but good quality speakers like Spendors. FWIW.

Samzx12, FWIW, but do not conclude that I agree with your premise about Alans promotion of Pass Amps. When I went to his 'show room' which is VERY modest, to audition my speakers, listen to the III's, as well as some stacked mini's, the Pass Amps were not connected, but they were in the background and I did wonder why. He was using very modest but modded, inexpensive, Monarchy Amps, an old, but probably modded CDP, and I forget what pre-amp.

Perhaps he was just trying to demonstrate what his speakers could sound like on inexpensive components (thinking I was some sort of cheapskate), or was just not trying to max out his equipment because of the nature of his show room and would not want you to conclude that what you heard was the best that they can do. Perhaps.

I could certainly understand why he would NOT use this stuff at a show though. If he did I don't think anyone would give him the attention and credit his products deserve. Alan is a pretty clever person, I think, and wouldn't risk a sale for any reason he could avoid.

As I said, no speculation from here, just a factual recounting of my observations.

Bondmanp, FWIW, When I demo'd my Bolero's at Alan's I listened to some jazz over some stacked Minuets driven by Alan's inexpensive SS stuff, mentioned above, and probably what you heard at the show. Come to think about it, that is what was hooked up when I got there and Alan was anxious to demo it, even though he knew that was not why I came.

Anyway, they were very impressive - imaging was unbelievably good. If I could fault anything, it was that overall the sound was just a tad dark, not as balanced or finely detailed as either the Sonata or Bolero model, and obviously there was no deep bass, but what there was was quite good.

A set of good compromises at a very attractive price I think. Tonally they were more like the Bolero's than the III's. Personally, I think a lot of the attributes and differences (I observed) can be attributed to that little mod'ded Monarchy amp's interaction with the speakers. When I got my Bolero's home and set up, they did not sound much like they did at Alan's. They were much more open and balanced hooked up to some of my tubed stuff, not nearly as dark. But at Alans the III's never sounded dark at all.

The conclusion I reached was that for someone on a budget those stacked Minuets and a good sub woofer would be a great combo for someone on a budget, and in a small room, sans sub would be an even better deal.