$30K Budget - On the quest for my "end game" speaker

[MKR]

Sounds to me like the A5 and the Revel Salon 2 are the top contenders?

Yes, plus the Legacy Aeris

 

[MKR]

Very fun read. Thanks. And, wow, what a list! That must have been fun.

A lot of your impressions match what I've heard from others, or what I heard myself from some of those speakers (like your description matches what most people describe about the Acora Acoustics speakers).

I also wasn't very moved by the Kii 3 even after having heard them a number of times. I found the Magico A3 to sound a bit too "audiophile" in the sense of sort of controlled to a fault - they sounded sort of dry and lacking in dynamics and drive with lots of tracks I knew well. The A5 are supposed to be better though.

I'm a fan of the Devore O/96. I like that meaty sound!

Your review makes me want to hear the Revel Salon 2 again some day. I only heard them briefly at an audio show.

Looks like Revel are your first choice at this point?

Can‘t speak for the A3, but I would certainly not describe the A5 as a speaker that lacked dynamics. It was outstanding in this regard, right up there with the Acora, Legacy, Salon 2s, and Zellaton.

Yes, if I had to choose today, Salon 2 at the top.

 

[MKR]

Sounds like a great trip... And that was a fun read! Thanks for the writeup and letting us all follow you vicariously.

Of the speakers I've heard on the list, your impressions mostly mirror my own (particularly Kef being a bit too polite, and the 228be having 'nothing to complain about'). I also enjoyed Wilson's (can't remember the exact model) when I heard them, but didn't feel them particularly special. I heard Magico (M3 I believe) speakers and thought they sounded refined.

I can only conclude I didn't have a worthy demo of the Salon 2 either of the times I heard them; they didn't sound much different to me than the 228be in the same room (both were nice but didn't blow me away); maybe I need to revisit the Salons somehow/someday?

Did you not get to hear the JBL M2? Or was it just REALLY not to your liking (haha if can't say something nice, don't say amything)?

Sadly no M2s. Dealer where I auditioned the Salons had a pair but recently sold them, could have compared side by side with the Salon 2s! … and strangely in the area I was at, aside from this dealer, not a single JBL dealer

 

[MKR]

Oh they are very nice speakers, indeed! I have recurring thoughts about buying Kef or Revel bookshelf speakers for a secondary system to get a different listening experience compared to my more 'lively' system.

My comment was purely a personal preference for a more lively presentation, not a judgement on their quality... They're technically outstanding speakers.

My thoughts exactly, please do not take my comments as a dig on the KEFs, quite the opposite. Those Ref 1 metas were very, very good. Just lacked the dynamics and “liveliness” that I prefer. I am certain he Blade would be more to my taste, but i just can’t imagine I would prefer them to others I really liked on this trip. Hopefully I get a chance to hear them, but will not go out of my way to do so.

 

[MKR]

Loved reading your impressions! Sounds like a great trip you had with your boys.

About you 3 having the same taste, might be that they learned to listen to music with you? I am finding myself having the same taste than my dad and sure learned to listen to music on his system.

I didn't know the existence of boulder amplifier. What a thing! Those Acura Acoustics have an intense looks too.

I love the looks of those Salon2. You get me interested again in trying out a couple of passive speakers as 'end game' system... Not a worry for a few more years here.

Have you another trip in mind? More speakers you want to listen to before making the final decision?

Planning another trip soon … would still like to hear JBL and Vivid

And another I am sure all of you are wondering about (maybe a bit the elephant in the room) … Genelec Ones … I really don’t want active (I have my reasons), and further, two of the dealers I visited were actually professional recording engineers! Both with extensive experience with all of the top tier monitors. One preferred JBL (he actually does movie soundtracks), nothing good to say about Genelec. The other Kii and ATC, again had no positive words for Genelec (quite the opposite), who is an acoustics engineer and has designed/built studios all over the world (I connected with some amazing folks on this trip ).

And I well know ATC is a bad word for many here on ASR, just sharing what I was told by a professional. These were of course their subjective opinions, and they were dealers for the brands, and I take it with a big grain of salt. But data points nonetheless. Still will try to listen to them, but won’t go out of my way to do so.

 

[MKR]

Plenty of overlap with my impressions. What was the Billie Eilish track you listened to on the Salon 2s?
A few comments- The Kef Uni-Q tweeter has consistently underwhelmed me but the Blades have been noticeably better. I'd put them around the Kii 3s for solid competent performance that's not top tier exciting.
I haven't heard the Magico A5s and S3/5 Mk II back to back but liked the latter better. They're up there in my top 5 or so, exceptional speakers that don't sweeten things but are more matter of fact in a way that the complaints about them being flat or clinical totally make sense to me- not that I agree.
To my ears the Salon 2s were midway between something like the Blade (competence, not getting things wrong) and the Magico A5 (starting to get more exciting/exotic).
I'm very interested to see how you feel about Vivid Audio

Billie Eilish track -> “when the part’s over”

As the S5s were over my budget, I suspect there may have been some “self fulfilling prophecy“ psychology going on in my brain. I couldn’t afford them, so I didn’t want to like them … with that said, my sons had same impression

i will be auditioning the Magico A5 and Vivid Kaya 90 at same dealer in next 1-2 weeks!

 

[MKR]

I don't know if MKR likes to crank things, but the Vivid Audio speakers respond well to volume. They go surprisingly loud/clean and feel pretty powerful for their size.

I am a “cranker” to be sure … just ask my sons who asked me multiple times during the trip to “turn it down a little” … of course they have much younger ears than I, so that was part of the issue

 

[Sokel]

Since I didn't see them in the thread and since you're in US I was wondering if you ever consider to have a listen to Barefoots.
I mean,apart from SQ and the rest,they can mimic other monitors according to their manufacturer.
I have listened to them and it's fun!

Barefoot Sound » MasterStack12

barefootsound.com

 

[MKR]

Nice write up.

Of the many you auditioned, the only ones I've heard were the Kii Three (and had similar impressions to you). Out of interest, will you audition the Genelec setup and Dutch & Dutch 8C?

Maybe Genelec, but not D&D

 

[MKR]

Since I didn't see them in the thread and since you're in US I was wondering if you ever consider to have a listen to Barefoots.
I mean,apart from SQ and the rest,they can mimic other monitors according to their manufacturer.
I have listened to them and it's fun!

Barefoot Sound » MasterStack12

barefootsound.com

No interest in Barefoot, but thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Sokel]

No interest in Barefoot, but thanks for the recommendation!

I was wrong anyway,it's 30K per speaker,so way out of designated.

 

[MKR]

Great write-up, thank you for sharing. A few things stand out to me based on the above impressions;

- Bass quality (again) seem to really matter for subjective impressions.
- You seem to enjoy wide dispersion and/or soundstage qualities.

The Salon2s have very extended bass, several woofers in different heights giving less SBIR problems in the mid/upper bass and very wide and even dispersion. No wonder it sounds really good, if space allows for it. Extended and powerful bass is, in my opinion, very important for the sense of scale, realism and size of the soundstage and shouldn't be under-estimated.

In my eyes the bass is a simple thing when designing a system, several subs and bass towers will provide world-class capability in that area. Then it simply becomes a question of preferred dispersion and power capability above that. I must say I've been curious whether or not you'd find the 4367 worthy of consideration, any plans on listening to that? Looking at the spin of the Magico A5 there's a chance you would find the M2 likeable too as it's quite similar in the (commercial) spins;

Yes, I am a bass head to be sure. As to wide dispersion and soundstage, yes, very critical for me. But I put it differently…. Want to be transported to the live performance venue! Only way to achieve that as far as I know is wide dispersion and big soundstage.

And yes, will still try to audition the JBLs

 

[MKR]

I was wrong anyway,it's 30K per speaker,so way out of designated.

You can do better for the money anyway per my research

 

[thewas]

But I put it differently…. Want to be transported to the live performance venue!

In my experience you can reach that much closer (especially with your large budget) with a good multichannel setup.
And the by far best $30 (not $30K) you will can is to get to Toole's book first.

 

[MKR]

In my experience you can reach that much closer (especially with your large budget) with a good multichannel setup.
And the by far best $30 (not $30K) you will can is to get to Toole's book first.

Indeed, agree … this system will be double duty theater also, so multichannel by default

And that book is definitely on my reading list. Fun trivia … Toole has Salon 2s in his listening room, but he suspends them upside down from ceiling, with tweeters at ear level at MLP!

 

[thewas]

Indeed, agree … this system will be double duty theater also, so multichannel by default

And that book is definitely on my reading list. Fun trivia … Toole has Salon 2s in his listening room, but he suspends them upside down from ceiling, with tweeters at ear level at MLP!

Yes and he uses them as part of his excellent multichannel listening system

Source and more: https://www.thescreeningroomav.com/...te-real-world-home-theater-and-listening-room

 

[mglobe]

So far the results are not surprising to me based on what I’ve seen in measurements, and unless you were biased by the data on what you listened to, it fits really well to Dr Toole’s work. I had a feeling (again based on data only) that the Magicos were going to pop up to very close to the top.

The best part of this story is having your sons travel with you. Great to experience it all together, and to share the passion for top quality audio and music.

 

[olegtern]

Legacy Focus SE

I heard them two or three times at audio shows, and although overall I liked their presentation — it was a very dynamic and involving sound, which I really appreciate in speakers. But I find that the top octave was too hot, at high volume it was sometimes close to unpleasant, it can cause fatigue. Just my 50 cents, I would pay attention to it.

I am glad that the speakers choice moved into an active phase, I can imagine how many emotions such a trip gave to you!

 

[mj30250]

Thanks for the write up. I'm sure it was a ton of fun finally being able to correlate measurements (where available) and other peoples' subjective impressions with your own.

I know it's a very difficult question to answer, but had well integrated subs been in place for your auditions, do you think your opinions would have changed in any meaningful way with any of the speakers?

In particular, I'm curious about your comments regarding the F328Bes and the Salon 2s. I've never heard them in the same room, which puts me at a distinct disadvantage compared to your experience, but I can't say I got the impression that they were all that different outside of low bass output when listening to them, albeit at different times and in different rooms. I'd agree that the Salons are much more a true full range speaker, but I wonder what you'd have thought had bass been essentially equalized between the two via subs.

 

[fieldcar]

And yes, will still try to audition the JBLs

Speaking of JBL's, I'm curious how a lot of these speakers stacked up to your 590's.