“House” Character of Popular $20-$30k Speakers


I’ll be upgrading my speakers in a bit (after I add a turntable to my system). I’ve always thought that people two often end up attempting to correct or compensate for a quality they don’t like in one of their system components. My thought is that speakers and amps shouldn’t try to “correct” each other, but rather, they should complement each other, while sharing many similar qualities in their sonic signatures.

With that in mind, I’d describe my Gryphon Diablo 300 with the internal DAC (fed by an InnuOS Zenith MK3 streamer) as being rich, lively, engaging, slightly warm but moderately detailed, with dramatic dynamic swings that can often simulate a live sound. Smooth but energetic and engaging at the same time. My speakers I’ll be upgrading from are B&W 803 D2’s. Big full and bold sound but with finesse and moderate quickness too.

What brand of speakers would be along the lines of the sound I describe above? I’d be hoping to follow this sonic signature in my next speaker purchase, but adding some small capabilities with transparency and detail, imaging, and low end presence.

The speaker brands I have in mind to look into are:

-Magico (would check out the A5’s. I hear the A5’s could be too analytical for some, but have an excellent and clean bass presence.  Bust most rave about the A5)

-Sonus Faber (heard these are too relaxed for some?)

-Wilson Audio (if I can get over how they look)

-Monitor Audio

-Dynaudio: Maybe this brand could be a sweet spot?

-B&W: I’ve tested many and find them lacking in bass presence resulting in a mid forward style. That said the 802 D3’s I auditioned matched the sonic character of their upper ranges very well.

Would be interested in how others describe the house sounds if the brands above…

 

 

 

nyev

I strongly disagree with the notion that Focals are analytical. If that's how they sounded, it's on the rest of the system.

I use Boulder amps with my Stella Utopias and they are richly textured to the point of being lush, and have truly stupendous bass

 

@styleman I was lucky enough to get a pair of Focal Sopra No2's when they first came to the U.S. and they will probably be the last pair of speakers I purchase.  I find they "work" with all sorts of musical styles, from soft acoustic to loud rock and roll.  When I was auditioning them I did find they didn't "shine" being driven by some amplifiers, sometimes sounded "edgy", but being driven by smooth sounding electronics, they really sing!

@mournbladeiv

 

Thank you.
 

Btw, my audio guy brought over one of his employees to listen to my system. He turned it up louder that I ever would even consider or thought it could go… no clipping, just perfect musical reproduction at really high volume… with 70wpc.

I second the suggestion to consider Vandersteen which IMO represent excellent value. Also check out Egglestonworks.