I haven't been this excited in a while!

I recently introduced a Pair of Speakers to my system that are very different to my long-term used main Speaker being ESL's.

ESL's are the Speaker of choice for near 30 years and have not been a Speaker that I have set myself up to find their Successor, well not until late 2024 and throughout 2025.

Experiences of Speaker in other systems and models brought into the home, created a inquisitiveness, which led to investigations, resulting in the ESL's being superseded. There was not much of a challenge, the ESL's are excellent and have won much favour, they have their own fan club when used in my system. Others who are aware of what has occurred with their future are astounded by my decision made, not even a return to a comparison at a later time is a consideration. The New Speakers have floored the ESL's and I can't even say I pine for traits of the ESL to be found in these Speakers presented End Sound.

Enough about Olden vs Newly Acquired Speakers.

The Newly Acquired Speakers are Tall on their Pedestals they are 1700mm ( 72") High. Not as High as the ESL that was 2000mm ( 80") High.

I do intend on changing the Pedestal / Sub Plinth and lower the New Speakers to 1550mm ( 66") High.

In relation to setting up a Speaker within a dedicated listening space, what have I discovered about the New Cabinet Design Speakers in comparison to other Cabinet Design Speakers used for periods as an alternative to the ESL End Sound and the ESL's within the same dedicated listening space.

The New Speakers are much more sensitive to incremental changes to orientation and positioning to the local structures than I have a recollection of any other Speaker used. 

5mm ( 2/8") changes to the Baffle Toe and Baffle Leaning from being vertical plumb, creates audible change.

Additionally, 50mm (2") movement used for the Speakers Spacing and the distance form the listener / offset from local structures is audible and impacts on the perception of the End Sound produced. 

Never have I had such a broad range of impressions for what can be referred to as the Sweet Spot. I would say at this stage of experiencing the Speakers I am close but can't fully determine until I create a new height for the Sub Plinth. I say this as my listening chair is now for the first time ever sat upon a 100mm (4") High Sub Plinth. 

More importantly, the positioning for these Speakers is close to 200mm different to Tape demarcation on the Carpet used for the siting of older model Cabinet Model Speakers.

For the OP @dhite 71, When New Speakers are in the listening space, do take the time to find out how sensitive they are to the siting given within the Space. What one thinks they know, is easily proven wrong, when the time is taken to investigate.

A low profile Dolly Trolley used to sit the Speakers on, does make the reorientations and distance changes extremely easy to nail the better positioning. Using a Sub Plinth to decouple the Speakers is a common discussion and I prefer a Sub Plinth. Usually a Sub Plinth made up of tiers of materials in conjunction with Pneumatic Isolation Footers being in contact with the Speaker.

When the Sub Plinth is utilised. I use an already found dimension to local structures from the dolly trolley usage. When at the selected dimension positioning, only tweaking Baffle Orientation is occurring. Baffle Toe, and Baffle Vertical Plumb is toyed with.

My seating is at 3 mtrs (10'), with all my Cabinet Speakers and ESL's having  benefitted from a Baffle that leans forwards and not be a Vertical Plumb Speaker Baffle. My Co-axials have a end set up with a 25mm forward lean, the New Speakers are at the current time with a 10mm forward lean. The ESL's were 75mm Leaning forwards when they were set up. 

Substantial information embedded in the recording is lost or not with any accentuation in the End Sound, when generalisation for Speaker Positioning is the discipline expressed when setting up Speakers.

Honing the positioning of the Speaker over a period of time, and working with the Mounting Method for the Speaker, along with interfacing the Speaker to the Room Space and structures. Does go a very very long way, to get one a Speaker that is able to be very impressive and not just a creator of a Sound. A Speaker with a infectious End Sound is able to be eked within the listening Space when time and experimenting is the intention.         

OP keep racking up the real road and music miles -!this is a journey of self discovery at the core… audiophile know thyself…

congrats !!!!

@dhite71 

You nailed the sound of the Harbeth C7ES-XD. I’ve posted about them several times times. Ever since I bought them in 2024 my music listening has been at another level for me. I’ve own  B&W, KEF, ATC, Quad and Thiel. The Harbeths just sound like live music with a midrange that is just superior to any I’ve heard. And yes the low end is wonderfully impactful with no need for a sub. 

@pindac What are your new speakers? It would be nice to know what superseded your ESLs.

@dhite71 With the Wilsons being so bright in your system, what made you keep purchasing the Wilson line? Just curious if you might benefit from listening to a variety of speakers at one of the 2 (or more?) nice HiFi shops over in Nashville.

Cheers

@dseltz 

I have listened to all the Wilson speakers at a few different dealers and no Wilson speakers ever sounded bright 

First I tried the Alexia 1 and it was a HUGE failure.  It defied all expectations as the bass from my Sophias was deeper and cleaner and they were extremely bright.  They sounded so bad that I could not even listen to them while I waited for a buyer, they were rolled away into the corner for months.  At the time, I had the ARC REF 75SE for an amp and while I know most will say will there's your problem, I don't think so.  I took it with me to pick them up from the guy.  He had McIntosh gear, a 2700 preamp and the 450 x 2 amp.  We listed to the Alexia with his set up and then swapped to my REF 75.  The overall output/volume was identical.  We kept the preamp volume in the same position and both agreed the REF 75 sounded better.  It was more musical.  They did not sound bright in his room.

Wilson and dealers all pointed me to the DAW so I started the hunt and finally committed.  They were pretty awesome for the most part, but still on about 15-20% of material were bright.  This was not just in the triangle, I could be all the way around the corner in the kitchen and still sounded bright.  The bass and overall dynamics was great though.  

Next I was trying to use my own logic and thought if the Sophia are so great, the Yvette are kind of a Sophia 4 so maybe that overall size and driver complement will do the trick.  They basically gave identical results as the DAW but maybe at about 80% of how impressive they were in comparison.  

One dealer told me if I want to continue with Wilson, maybe I should go back to the same era as my Sophia 1 and consider a W/P 7 or 8.  I may try that one day.