OK! Esoteric K1 is the winner. ==• now we need to move to the speaker!!!!!}{[]>

[timm]

Thanks Bernard... I've been following their ads for the elipsas on audiogon . I have not heard it but with the strads being better and somewhat close in price, I think I'll wait for a strad to pop at the right price. Unless a good 800 diamond pops up.

Joey. I have heard b&w before but not the 800s. I heard the Strads and thought they sounded quite different than a b&w. almost apple/orange different. Do you agree with this?

Fwiw. I did hear those Strads on all tubes. New ARC Galileo series - all tube pre and all tube amp. Sounded fantastic.

Anyway- that's a lot of jack. Be patient and measure twice / buy once!!

You mentioned Logan's in your other room. Which Logan's ?

 

[Joey_V]

"If in doubt, go without" as they say. I reckon you'll do better

Thanks... Made me feel better.

 

[Joey_V]

Joey. I have heard b&w before but not the 800s. I heard the Strads and thought they sounded quite different than a b&w. almost apple/orange different. Do you agree with this?

Fwiw. I did hear those Strads on all tubes. New ARC Galileo series - all tube pre and all tube amp. Sounded fantastic.

Anyway- that's a lot of jack. Be patient and measure twice / buy once!!

You mentioned Logan's in your other room. Which Logan's ?

Thanks Tim! I can't decide... One minute it's the strads and then the next it's the 800 diamonds.

I hear you, strads sound fantastic. But I've only heard once and I can't audition again unless I fly back to Chicago. But the 800 diamonds are a tour de force when it comes to tech, and it would appear that the Diamond series are very responsive to upstreams since I have heard the 802 sound from good to crap depending on the upstreams. This tells me that they are transparent.

Plus my brother has the 804 Diamonds (Ethos level speaker at $7500) and although it does not have the presence or scale of the 800... It sounds mighty good with my loaned to him Cary SLP05 tube preamp.

 

[Joey_V]

And the Logans I'm thinking about are probably Montis or Summits... For the downstairs.

 

[Bernard]

Joey, why not forget the downstairs system and put all your money into the one system you really want, instead of compromising based upon cost? After all, you can only listen to one system at any one time!

 

[timm]

And the Logans I'm thinking about are probably Montis or Summits... For the downstairs.

Well... Back to what I thought! This is going to pose a huge conundrum for you I think. . On one hand you will have this Cary driven system with either incredible speaker and on the other you will have the Logan system. Wow. I hope you have some big friends to help you carry stuff around because ....you just know you are going to want to hear them side by side on the same gear at some point!! Haha.

Guys? Is it time for an intervention here for a severe case of latent Joeyitis? Dr Tim.

 

[Joey_V]

Joey, why not forget the downstairs system and put all your money into the one system you really want, instead of compromising based upon cost? After all, you can only listen to one system at any one time!

Good thought though... And I thought of that. However, it would be nice if I had a decent system downstairs where I would be able to enjoy a different flavor and sound.

And also because I've heard speakers that cost 50,000 and to me there isn't enough of a performance delta to warrant the price increase. I honestly had to strain to hear the difference between alexia and sasha2, but the price difference was easily 2 systems worth! I could build a Montis system and another system for that 25,000 swing.

I have heard a 120,000$ speaker and although my wife would kill me if I bought the sonus faber Aida (I did think about it), it didn't sound good enough for me to seriously contemplate saving up for X amount of months to buy it.

I heard 33,000 rockport aviors and I didn't think they were 40% better than the 800 diamonds in the same room.

I might change my mind if I had more money or if I were independently wealthy... I have no doubt in my mind that there is a performance increase once you start going up in price from my budget point, but as it gets up there, the more and more I begin to feel the financial hurt. So I think for me that takes away from the performance delta. I'm sure it's a mind thing.

 

[Joey_V]

Well... Back to what I thought! This is going to pose a huge conundrum for you I think. . On one hand you will have this Cary driven system with either incredible speaker and on the other you will have the Logan system. Wow. I hope you have some big friends to help you carry stuff around because ....you just know you are going to want to hear them side by side on the same gear at some point!! Haha.

Guys? Is it time for an intervention here for a severe case of latent Joeyitis? Dr Tim.

I have a plan for a 3rd system... Shhh... Don't tell the wife! I've already gotten enough flack for the main system now that we are getting closer to putting the order in.

"Your hobby is weird!"

"You're not in the music business but you're looking at 24,000 speakers!"

"You say you're not going to upgrade now, but what happens when you see that 50,000 new speaker in a couple of years?"

"And what about your other hobbies?"

*Sigh*... Even when you think you had an understanding seeing as I had the full Summit system when I was in school and before we were married, I still get resistance.

 

[Joey_V]

And I've been searching, so far no dealer that carries both BW and SF. It's like they are mortal enemies or something.

 

[User211]

I sold a United Electronics 211 to a Strad owner a few months back. He was a hotel manager in Manilla. He was using Air Tight 211s with them.

They do look nice.

 

[timm]

And I've been searching, so far no dealer that carries both BW and SF. It's like they are mortal enemies or something.

In ann arbor Mich.... a place called Paragon.... they have both... they are about 1 mile from my house... that is where I heard the Strads / Wilsons ... and they definitely have the 802 diamonds... not sure if they have the 800s... they may.... and it is about 4 hrs from chicago..... just a thought....

Give them a call .....they have some unbelievable kit.... and seem happy to show it off....

 

[Joey_V]

In ann arbor Mich.... a place called Paragon.... they have both... they are about 1 mile from my house... that is where I heard the Strads / Wilsons ... and they definitely have the 802 diamonds... not sure if they have the 800s... they may.... and it is about 4 hrs from chicago..... just a thought....

Give them a call .....they have some unbelievable kit.... and seem happy to show it off....

Someone about 3 hours from me just PM'd me that he has the Strads for sale and upgraded from the prior generation 802D (not the diamonds, though still has the diamond tweeter but before the tweaks)... keep in mind this is not the 800 Diamonds.

We will see where this goes.

I know where aAnn Arbor is, I went there to interview for residency.... but I would probably just have to fly there directly to avoid the pain of traveling by car. Not sure how I can manage this with the Holidays coming up.

But yeah... THANKS Tim for looking out for me. :rocker:

 

[Joey_V]

I sold a United Electronics 211 to a Strad owner a few months back. He was a hotel manager in Manilla. He was using Air Tight 211s with them.

They do look nice.

Did you hear them my friend?

 

[User211]

No but I have done before. In a room full of Sonus Faber's of differing types. One of those cases where I couldn't draw any conclusions, though. Too many people, not enough volume etc etc.

So effectively I haven't, ho hum

The one I want to hear is the new Extrema. It looked fantastic at Munich on a still display.

 

[timm]

Ok Joey. I've been drinking a little and I now have the courage to say it. Get the STRADS!! Wife be damned!!

 

[Bernard]

Joey, have you budgeted for cables?

 

[Gordon Gray]

And a rack, and a PLC, and vibration control devices, and room treatments, and .......

I hope so.

 

[Gordon Gray]

Wife be damned!!

Woof. I assume this is the alcohol talking.

 

[Joey_V]

Ok Joey. I've been drinking a little and I now have the courage to say it. Get the STRADS!! Wife be damned!!

Ahhhh don't worry buddy Tim.... I have cleared it and even cleared it with my parents. The answer is that it is 99% a go.

Strads!!!!

How do I know it's gotta be a good speaker? It's the last of Serblin's creations, it's a well regarded speaker in history, and everytime I find one they someone is selling, they always move up from the Diamonds. Which tells me 2 things.

1. The strads are probably better overall speakers than atleast the 802 Diamonds that they are replacing (none are replacing 800).
2. The strads and the diamonds probably share a similar tone since they both draw similar customers.

 

[Joey_V]

And a rack, and a PLC, and vibration control devices, and room treatments, and .......

I hope so.

A oustic treatments are a work in progress. Isolation I have some but not all encompassing. I have an ok each but will need to be upgraded. Power? I had dedicated 20 amp plugs and I do plan on trying out the p10.