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Would you Upgrade?

Hi everyone, i'd like to get everyone's opinion on upgrading my set of loudspeakers.

I would be going from a pair of B&W 802D (the first of the diamond models, around 2010) to a pair of Focal Sopra 3's.

Is there much of an upgrade making this change?

I heard the Sopra's at an upscale dealer with a close to perfect setup: speakers about 15 feet from the front wall and about 10 feet from the side walls. Electronics were all Esoteric, including their $44,000 Grandiosa M1 monoblocks, preamp, cd player, power regenerator and $3,800 Cardas clear stereo speaker cables.

I'm not sure if these speakers would sound much different from my current 802D and my humble Classe CAM 100 monoblocks.

Also, how many years do speakers last before they degrade (speaker, crossovers, etc...)

thanks to everyone in advance.
onehorsepony

Showing 2 responses by soix

soix
8,651 posts
 
Vocals tend to wander from center to left to right within the same recording.
Maybe cut down on the merlot a bit while listening? Seriously though, I’d recommend going to give the Joseph Audio Perspective 2 a listen if you can find a dealer. JA speakers are masters of imaging/soundstage and disappearing as a sound source, and they’re small enough that an in-home demo should be possible. I’ve heard JA speakers next to B&Ws on a couple occasions and both times the JAs sounded significantly better and made the B&Ws sound congested by comparison. FWIW.

soix
8,651 posts
 
In my selection, I also need a speaker that will make poor recordings and older recordings sound musical.
Well gee whiz, that would’ve been useful info to have shared earlier don’t ya think?  Were we supposed to just somehow know this was one of your major goals through ESP or something?  Jeez.  Just go buy some Harbeths and be done with it. 

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