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Loudspeakers You Wish To Try But Probably Won't Own In This Lifetime

ex brickie said:
Does that mean that the Sopras are/were worse than the 1008Be that came after Diablo?
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I have never listened to either of the alternative models you mentioned, so, contrary to what most forum keyboard know-it-all warriors do, I shall refrain from giving a useless, uninformed opinion on them.

I can however confirm that I own the Sopra 1 model since 2018 and with all its imperfections it has remained and will remain a constant in this particular system. They look good and they sound good (to me, which means that everything is subjective opinion).

I have also found that Naim amplification suits them quite well, when said Naim amplification does not suffer from poor component selection and implementation.
 
Mat C said:
MBL ... But it would only a dream
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I'm with you on this. I heard a pair at a show (remember when we had shows?) in Manchester about 10 years ago. I've never heard anything like it before or since. I can't understand why they aren't talked about more often.
 
keiron99 said:
I'm with you on this. I heard a pair at a show (remember when we had shows?) in Manchester about 10 years ago. I've never heard anything like it before or since. I can't understand why they aren't talked about more often.
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Its almost certainly the looks & the price. I am sure they are wonderful but not many will get the chance to hear them or have the wallet/room to own them.
 
For me it has to be Linn Klimax 350's. I have never heard them but they must be mind boggling. Incidently i have an almost all Linn system but nothing I could use to partner them so it isnt just the cost of the speakers of course but everything else I would have to upgrade as well that puts a stop to that ever happening.
 
IceG said:
Listened to the B&O BeoLab 90s (think Casper the Ghost trapped in carbonite) which are on demo in Harrods a couple of days ago.

The listening space is very poor as it is open and there is a lot of ambient noise from other devies and people. But the depth and quality of the bass was noticeable. Treble and imaging however seemed mutually exclusive as the salesman played with the DSP settings. Might be worth further investigation...
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Have been running a pair of those 13" Scanspeak subs in my own active speakers but with miniDSP 2x4`s and six Hackernaps for a couple years.
Upgraded to the HD versions of the miniDSPs about six months ago and what a change, I still cant get over how good they sound. Living in flat with neighbours I can only push it so far,
Would love to see what B&O can get out of them, I like that the specs just say <17Hz and can confirm those drivers are more than capable even in my `modest` setup
May have to drop in there sometime
 
Heard these at shows and demo's at dealers.

TAD R1
Living Voice VOX Olympian
MBL 101 X-treme
Focal Stella EM
Vivid Audio Giya G2

The most expensive above is the MBL which with matching electronics has an almost hemispheric sound. Back to earth and the Stella EM and R1 are both excellent speakers; spent many hours listening to the R1 and CR1 (stand mount version) going back a few years. The Living Voice VOX Olympian I heard in 2017 is a brilliant speaker.

Getting the speakers is one thing. Then matching with electronics double's or triple's the price. Then a bloody big listening room - new house!
 
I find the gargantuan size and weight (not to mention the footprint of and cost of amplification) of the 8-foot tall, half-tonne, £100k+ behemoths such as the MBL 101's to be very unappealing! My personal sweet spot for speaker size is simply one that has enough cabinet size and driver surface area to play cleanly below 30hz to a moderately high level. As I don't blast music at 118db and or use my speakers in an enormous room, I would prefer to have a set that didn't dominate the room.

With that said, cost no object and practicalities aside, some speakers I would actually love to at least try out (if not own) would be [in ascending order of cost]:
1. Marten Parker Quintet (£25k)
2. Wilson Audio Yvette (£29k)
3. Focal Scala Utopia Evo (£32k)
4. Avantgarde Duo XD (£34k)
5. Magico S3 Mk II (£37k)

I have tried speakers from all of these brands except Avantgarde (included in this list because I would like to try a horn and also because I just think it looks cool) - they were all built like tanks and sounded fantastic. Most of these mid-sized floorstanders weigh less than 80kg, so they would not be too arduous to handle. With the exception of the Quasimodo Yvette, all are at least non-offensive to look at (and so crucially meet WAF eligibility criteria). Their prices, while sky-high, aren't anywhere near the gouge-your-eyes-out levels of some of the other candidates mentioned in this thread. Purchased used, you wouldn't even need to win the lottery to snag a pair. As far as performance goes, they all play cleanly down to the limit of my hearing (at least if their spec sheets are to be believed).
 
B&W Nautilus (to sit and stare at as well as listen!). They clearly left a lasting impression on me the first time I saw an image of them years ago.

For now I'll just have to console myself with my delightful black Nibbles (even though the base cones fire sideways Tony ;-)
 
DAPPER said:
B&W Nautilus (to sit and stare at as well as listen!). They clearly left a lasting impression on me the first time I saw an image of them years ago.
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I saw a pair in the flesh so to speak in Hifi Corner in Portobello a couple of years ago. Unfortunately they hadn’t been set up but visually they didn’t disappoint. Apparently B&W keep at least one set for dealer display events.
 
Focal Grand Utopia
PMC BB5 XBD-A
Original B&W Nautilus
Tannoy Royal Kingdom
Meridian DSP8000XE

Any of the above would take a lottery win (all 6 numbers) so a dream but that was the point of the question I assume..
 
Exchanging my SCM40 passives for SCM50 passives is an obvious move and unlikely to happen.
A totally different speaker I would like to hear in my system would be the Shahinian Obelisk 2
 
nostromo said:
I'm really curious to try the Naim Ovator S800 speakers. I hope they're nothing like Focals which I've heard at shows and demos (generally thin with a scratchy top end imho). I'm hoping they may be a bargain S/H as they were discontinued over 10 years ago, they would have to be the active version with the associated external crossover. They are a two-way design and were just under £30K new, I wonder if a pair could be had for under 10K.

What HiFi, 10 years ago described these S800 as: 'an imposing loudspeaker designed for the owner with a larger than average room and one who appreciates music played with a natural sense of scale and dynamics'

2022-01-09_11-12-25
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I've just visited the Naim product history site.

Seem as Ovators were launched as late as 2009, discontinued 8 years later, must have been in order with Focal took over management or they didn't sell well, maybe a logistic/space issue too.

I vaguely remember the S600 were first on the street, not really finally developed at release.
No idea if they managed to sort out issues, later on the S400 and finally S800 came through.
Guess S400 sold well (I don't remember price level on Ovators)
S200 bookshelf never released as far as I know.

SL2 and n.SAT were released earlier around 2002/2004
 
PerF said:
I've just visited the Naim product history site.

Seem as Ovators were launched as late as 2009, discontinued 8 years later, must have been in order with Focal took over management or they didn't sell well, maybe a logistic/space issue too.

I vaguely remember the S600 were first on the street, not really finally developed at release.
No idea if they managed to sort out issues, later on the S400 and finally S800 came through.
Guess S400 sold well (I don't remember price level on Ovators)
S200 bookshelf never released as far as I know.

SL2 and n.SAT were released earlier around 2002/2004
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Interesting follow up... Thanks. So I'm guessing the S800's are very rare... Possibly a collector's item now. They must have made a few pairs as there were some reviews.
 
nostromo said:
Interesting follow up... Thanks. So I'm guessing the S800's are very rare... Possibly a collector's item now. They must have made a few pairs as there were some reviews.
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Never seen or heard S800 myself.
I Remember a few owner pictures, probably on Naim Forum and the former Naim manager ran them at home.
Guess your right about limited numbers made.

Once heard S600 which was a mixed experience and so very different to SBL for example.
 
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