Speakers advice needed

[Chichomancho]

Hello everyone,

I am looking for new loudspeakers to replace my Infinity Classia C336. Currently looking at the following models in that pricerange:

Sonus Faber Lumina V Amator
Sonus Faber Sonetto VIII G2
B&W 702 S3
KEF R11 Meta

My equipment is Technics SU-G700M2 amplifier and SL-G700M2 CG player, I am pretty much listening only CD's. No vinyl, no streaming, no tapes.
I need advice which of the listed speakers would you recommend. For Sonus Faber ones I am struggling to decide if the Sonetto VIII G2 is worth the money, since they cost twice as much compared to the Lumina's V Amator. Do they sloud twice as good ?
Thanks everyone for your input.

All the best,
Stefan

 

[amper42]

Hello everyone,

I am looking for new loudspeakers to replace my Infinity Classia C336. Currently looking at the following models in that pricerange:

Sonus Faber Lumina V Amator
Sonus Faber Sonetto VIII G2
B&W 702 S3
KEF R11 Meta

My equipment is Technics SU-G700M2 amplifier and SL-G700M2 CG player, I am pretty much listening only CD's. No vinyl, no streaming, no tapes.
I need advice which of the listed speakers would you recommend. For Sonus Faber ones I am struggling to decide if the Sonetto VIII G2 is worth the money, since they cost twice as much compared to the Lumina's V Amator. Do they sloud twice as good ?
Thanks everyone for your input.

All the best,
Stefan

In that price range I would prefer the Revel F228Be at $6000 a pair on sale.

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-VeqRISC7u7b/p_265F228BES/Revel-PerformaBe-F228Be-Metallic-Silver.html

 

[DanielT]

Hello everyone,

I am looking for new loudspeakers to replace my Infinity Classia C336. Currently looking at the following models in that pricerange:

Sonus Faber Lumina V Amator
Sonus Faber Sonetto VIII G2
B&W 702 S3
KEF R11 Meta

My equipment is Technics SU-G700M2 amplifier and SL-G700M2 CG player, I am pretty much listening only CD's. No vinyl, no streaming, no tapes.
I need advice which of the listed speakers would you recommend. For Sonus Faber ones I am struggling to decide if the Sonetto VIII G2 is worth the money, since they cost twice as much compared to the Lumina's V Amator. Do they sloud twice as good ?
Thanks everyone for your input.

All the best,
Stefan

Hello and welcome to ASR.

Two good speakers to add to your list of candidates:


As of this writing MSRP is $5900/pair.

Arendal 1528 Monitor 8 Review

Arendal 1528 Monitor 8 Review

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

_____


As of this writeup MSRP is approximately $5000/pair.

MoFi SourcePoint 888 Tower Speaker Review

MoFi SourcePoint 888 Tower Speaker

www.erinsaudiocorner.com

Edit:
Think about what type of dispersion pattern you want and like. Pros and cons of both narrow vs wide dispersion. It's mostly a matter of taste and preference.

Also. Choosing a speaker with a smooth frequency response is a sensible thing to do.

While you're at it, try to get speakers with fairly low distortion.
Higher up on the priority list is good frequency response and then dispersion, but in my eyes, low distortion comes in an honorable third place in importance.
Plus, if you play at a really high volume, you want speakers that can handle the high SPL level without tiring your ears with annoying distortion.
(you also need enough amp power in that case)

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

Welcome to ASR, hope you stay, learn and enrich us with your own knowledge and experience...
The vbes is great here at ASR, but different, very much based on Science and on repeatable measurements...

This said and for the budget, Two speakers I would recommend:
Revel F228 Be
Kef R11 Meta

Both are objectively better than the other speakers on your list...

 

[Jiraya369]

If you can get the R11 Meta and like the look, there's really not much else you can ask for if you go in knowing what it offers.

Its soundstage is not that wide but it has soundstage DEPTH as the sound is more consistently spread out than the wider but more uneven sound from others. The Mofi 888 is a close competitor but the KEFs are still more 3d sounding. That's pretty much it. You get narrow but 3d sounding soundstage or wide and more diffused soundstage, things are harder to point out and the depth feels confined to your room instead of farther beyond it (if you close your eyes).

Totally depends on what type of sound you want. Maybe also look into getting a dsp dac and a umik-1 to be able to cut down room modes as these speakers have deep bass and will cause bass to be muddy if your room isn't perfect

 

[Chichomancho]

Thanks everyone for your input. @Jiraya369 I like listening to the music without any additional adjustments - like touching the bass, treble etc.
I understand that this sounds cliche but I like to listen to the music the way it was recorded by the artist.
My biggest trouble is that unfortunately I cannot listen to any of the listed speakers in person, since they are not available in the local store for demo purposes.
Don't ask me why ... So whatever I am buying will be pretty much completely shooting the pitch black dark.
And also I am assuming that any comparison with my current speakers is obsolete, as they are much lower quality.

 

[mglobe]

Of the speakers listed, the KEF’s are the winner by a significant margin. Another speaker in the price range that is worth considering is the Ascend Aoustics ELX Tower.

https://www.ascendacoustics.com/products/elx-tower-pair?variant=40602626916406

 

[Chichomancho]

Of the speakers listed, the KEF’s are the winner by a significant margin. Another speaker in the price range that is worth considering is the Ascend Aoustics ELX Tower.

https://www.ascendacoustics.com/products/elx-tower-pair?variant=4060262691

thank you for your input ! I forget to mention that my listening room has an area of 20 sq.m.with 3m high ceiling, if that matters.

 

[Grotti]

From the mentioned speakers I would only consider the KEF. It's the only speaker with a controlled directivity which makes it easy to EQ...A parametric EQ I btw is mandatory in my opinion to achieve the best results in a given room. Of course you can listen to the KEF without EQ, but still....

 

[Mort]

Sonus Faber Lumina V Amator
Sonus Faber Sonetto VIII G2
B&W 702 S3
KEF R11 Meta

You won't find much love for Sinus Danger (leaving it) and B&W on this forum. They 'color' the sound too much.

 

[Chichomancho]

You won't find much love for Sinus Danger (leaving it) and B&W on this forum. They 'color' the sound too much.

thanks for your message, I am not looking for love for either Sonus Faber nor B&W. I am just looking for people's opinions on the subject.

 

[Chagall]

Thanks everyone for your input. @Jiraya369 I like listening to the music without any additional adjustments - like touching the bass, treble etc.
I understand that this sounds cliche but I like to listen to the music the way it was recorded by the artist.

Striving for "artist intent" sounds admirable, but in practice it’s a bit naive.

There is just no way artist can account for the wide variety of playback devices. Music ends up on everything: from phones and Bluetooth mono speakers to car audio, all the way up to systems that cost hundreds of thousands and the sound changes the moment you move to a different system than the one it was mixed on.

Also, mixes aren’t made for your exact room - they’re made to translate. Engineers use reference setups and accept that the listener's room and gear will reshape the result. That's exactly why DSP room correction or simple EQ exists: not to "ruin the mix," but to counter the response errors your speakers and room introduce, plus a little tuning to taste. By not doing it, you are just robbing yourself.

Honestly, I doubt artists obsess over the purist experience. There are too many variables, and you shouldn’t either. The only place they have more control is live shows and even there, what you hear depends a lot on where you’re standing or sitting.

 

[LTig]

[..] I like listening to the music without any additional adjustments - like touching the bass, treble etc.
I understand that this sounds cliche but I like to listen to the music the way it was recorded by the artist.

If you want to hear what the artist intended then you must use room EQ. The interaction of speakers and room create a very uneven frequency response so without any counter measures you do not hear what the artist intended. Artists listen to the recording in the mastering studio where those counter measures are implemented, so you have to as well.

 

[mglobe]

I agree with the comments about the need for EQ to get to what was created in the studio, but no point right now in convincing the OP of this. That said, buying speakers that have good off axis response will make EQ possible down the road should the OP decide to do so. The speakers that I and others have suggested do just that.

 

[Chichomancho]

@mglobe should I be worried that the KEF's are manufactured in China ?

 

[Nopiano]

@mglobe should I be worried that the KEF's are manufactured in China ?

No, you shouldn’t. That’s why they’re such good value for the performance.

As a Sonus faber user, I also love KEF designs and have owned several. Sf are a ‘heart’ decision, which you can’t buy blind. KEF are a ‘head’ decision which are the safest bet.

 

[Power Pop 23]

Thanks everyone for your input. @Jiraya369 I like listening to the music without any additional adjustments - like touching the bass, treble etc.

Consider the ways your listening space may be changing the way the artist intended the recording to sound and how room EQ may bring you closer to what the artist intended.

I vote for the KEF R11 Meta - In this review, Amir recommended some bands of EQ for this loudspeaker but considered the sound without EQ to be 'accurate'.

 

[Mort]

For that price consider the Revel F328Be also.

 

[westyjeff]

First off Im an owner and a big fan, in that price range the Phillharmonic BMR towers are a hard to beat option.

 

[mglobe]

@mglobe should I be worried that the KEF's are manufactured in China ?

No sir