Scala v2 to Stella
 

Hello. Have anyone here make a move from scala to stella? I am so itchy to do so but i think it also mean i need to upgrade my amp. Currectly i am using mc275le mono. I am pretty sure it wont be able to drive stella but be glad to hear otherwise if someone had experienced it.

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The Stella is quite efficient at 94db, I would think you would be fine.

Thxs Masterlu. Quite right.

Btw, you photos of Uthopia add to the itchiness :-)

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The Stella is not too challenging - you should be fine with that. The Maestro is the toughest of the whole range fwiw.

Mind you, I would have thought you might want to consider something slightly more resolving to really appreciate the magnificent Stella. The macs are great (used to own myself) but they hide a lot of information IMO. So it depends what you are ultimately after. The Stella will give you much bigger scale and sound staging with your existing amps - upgrade them to the 2301s would be magnificent. :thumbsup:

Stella has got two binding posts, one for the main, which is the MTM section, and one for the bass, which is the EM woofer section. If you're thinking of upgrading. You could consider MC275 for the MTM section, should be sufficient. The loading of the EM I believe will be hefty, and it will suck the life out of your MC275 easily. While Stella's are sensitive, they appreciate good deal of power for the woofers. MC601s will do very well in a biamp configuration.

The sensitivities of the amps Mc275 and MC601 are different. But I heard an MC2301 and Mc1.2KW into the Stellas, and it was quite formidable to say the least. We had the MEN220 as an active crossover, and did some tweaking to the gain, which gave excellent results.

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It isn't that they are challenging to drive, it is that Focal loves, and I can't stress LOVESSSSS power. Even from tubes.

You aren't doing them a favor with just a 275. They deserve 2301's or something in that realm. (Heck, even Scala2's do.)

Thanks guys. This get me thinking. At this price point (btw, what is the retail price for stella in the US) there are others worth considering like SF Aida, Time, Alexia.... Hmmmm

i have the Scala v1 and the stella's. there is absolutely no comparison in the sheer Image size between the two. the stella is one of the most authoritative Speakers i have heard. i also do have maxx3's and sasha's.

any well powered amp will drive the Stella with no issues. but as mentioned before, the more power the better. the bass the stella delivers is mindblowing in Detail and sheer power.

i believe US retial is around 90k

Thanks intouch. A vote of confident for sure. I will be auditioning Aida and Stella this Friday. What do you use to drive Stella

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During your audition, look for imaging and staging. The MTM design of the Stella is a huge plus for me.

The EM woofer has this Force factor that not many speakers have, so feel free to hit them hard with drum tracks, enjoy the utter speed of these drivers in the speakers. Snare drums and hi-hats and pressure of the drum sticks on the skin is very telling with the Stella. Totally authoritative, totally majestic. Does extremely well in Jazz, Blues, string ensemble.

If a soothing tone is what you're looking for, Aida's are great. Has a nice relaxed bass, and warmish mid-highs. Elegant sounding. Aida does well with vocals, and has a totally different feel to the Stella with string ensemble.

Personally, for $90k, maybe Xrt2k should be a serious contender, with a bit more stretch. Then you'll know what McIntosh is really about, even with 150watts. Just personally. Not many share my appreciation of the Xrt2k over the competition for strange reasons. Just my opinion.

Cheers!

Enit.

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Thanks. Will let you know how it goes

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i tend to vary the amps used for the fun of it.
mainly i use a pass x350.5 with a n xp-10 pre and naim hdx.

but i have also powered them with audio research reference 210, halcro dm 78 and bryston 28B.

all with great result, hence i find them an easy match with a lot of amps.

what amazes me about the stella, is how versatile they are in the choice of music genres. they just seem to do it all very well.

Halcro+Utopia to this day is still one of my absolute favorite gear combos.

I went to listen to Aida today. It was paired with AR Anniversary 40 and Ref 250. I am not good in writing review but suffice to say the sound was excellent - warm, massive sound stage and big depth. We listen to varieties of music from Jazz in pawnshop to frances black to steely dan. I was demo'ed goldmund telos 250. While it was ok but certainly not match to AR preamp. I think the impedance was not right.

Overall i really enjoyed Aida. Obviously i cant compare with scala that i currently have.

Next week will be stella paired with Mc1.2kw.

Attached some pics.

Stella hands down.

Now deciding MC2301 or MC1.2kw to drive stella.

Cant wait :-)

Wow, congratulations.

Enit, would you rate 2301 or 1.2kw be better match for Stella for you. Why?

Thanks

If you play dynamic tracks, this would be relatively straight forward. MC1.2kW gives you so much headroom, effortlessness, control than the MC2301 ever will. Not to say MC2301 isn't great- MC2301's tube-ness is a perfect blend of high fidelity response and just a little roll off.

While the Stellas are real sensitive, the EM Woofer needs some very good control, and the MC1.2kW does it much better for me, there's more force factor with the MC1.2kWs.

I've heard them on bi-amp- MC1.2kW on bass, and MC2301 on the MTMs, and I thought it was perfect. MEN220 as active crossover.

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Very nice. What did you think were the relative merits over the Aida?

I'm just gonna take a shot at his answer just for fun:
1. Speed.
2. Realism.
3. Impact. (Force factor)

I'll personally add imaging, depth, spaciousness.

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Aida is a very good speaker too. It is just too relax and too musical to my ears. I think it excel in certain genre of music especially for women vocal. Stella on the other hand is very punchy, bigger headroom, realistic, speedy and suitable to wider range of music. I listen from classical to heavy metal (I am not sure if Metallica could be considered as one now) and anything in between. This is where Stella really shines. Construction wise, Aida is really work of art. The woodwork is simply amazing. From the grain of wood to the lacquer that was applied, it oozed passion and skill in craftsmanship. Stella is not too shabby either. Deal is signed. Speaker to be delivered soon but I won't be able to hook it up until May when the construction of my house with dedicated audio room is completed.

I am more inclined towards MC1.2kw but just worry I would loose the the 'tube sound' that i am currently enjoying on Scala with MC275LE. I would not be able to biamp this. at least not for now. My wife would demand tit-for-tats if I do that and that could be expensive :-)

IMHO, more to gain with the MC1.2kWs. Any opportunity to try both at home?

The difference when putting the MC1.2kW in is so audible, it's going to be very hard to let go. If you have a chance, do that with the Scalas first before the Stellas.

Congrats on the deal, Stella Utopia is very up there with the best of speakers, and it is majestic to say the least.

What finish did you get them in?

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Unfortunately my dealer don't have MC2301 for demo. Yes, demo'ing Scala on MC1.2kW would be a good idea. I will try to arrange that.

I am getting special deal on Emperor Red Stella. Since red is one of my favourite colour, it is no brainer. My Scala V2 is chocolate finish. :banana:

Enit - I am impressed with you knowledge on Mac. Are you in the audio industry. Many thanks for your input.

Emperor red is marvelous! A real statement! Very happy for you.

I'm in it for the interest and passion just like many here, my dabbles in music also help. Thanks for the compliment.

Cheers!

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Yup.. emperor red = yummy

Did you manage to try out the MC1.2kW on the Scalas?

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What a coincident. Just took delivery of MC1.2kW yesterday. I was blown away. It is so much faster and powerful than mc275le. All detail came out. I could hear eric clapton tapping his foot while playing guitar. I think i made the right choice.

Wow, that is such a gorgeous setup. I just cant help but drool over those Focal's. Thanks for the pictures, at least I can live vicariously!

Excellent choice, and nicely done! :ok:

http://www.audioaficionado.org/attac...-948767767.jpg

You've got a great set up!

It's also because it's a quieter amp- higher signal to noise ratio, and all that reserve juice that controls the Scalas so very well.

It's like driving a Rolls Royce Phantom at 40mph. Just luxuriously effortless.

Glad you you like your choice! Say, what settings do you have on your Scala?

Can you imagine the Stella on it now? The mid range is going to be real smooth!

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Bryston 7BSST2
 

Guys new to the site how would a pair of &B's sound with the Sopra no2's also paired with BP26 and Audioquest Aspen speaker cables?

Thinking about pulling the pin on a pair of Sopra no2's

Thanks for your time

Re-igniting an old thread!

I'm considering the focal utopia line. I have a mediumish room (19.5' x 22' x 8') and am looking to focal.

I am considering the Scalas and Maestros. What kind of sonic differences do you hear between the two?

Of note, I already own 2 REL 25 subwoofers for the low end.

Maestro- more homogenic sound, bigger scale, natural hights, natural midrange, more tolerable to sibilant records.

Scala -airier hights. Midrange to high frequencies transition not so seamless as Maestro.

I can confirm the above having owned both but I wouldn't say the Scala has airier highs alone - those highs are brighter and more ragged. The Scala (although I enjoyed my time with it) needs a complete overhaul - the tweeter needs smoothing out, the midrange needs a massive upgrade in terms of clarity and the woofer needs to be tighter and more properly blended into the whole so that the speaker sounds like a single point source as the Maestro does. Given all that, I'm pretty excited for the Scala EVO as that looks like it fixes all of the above and should make the Scala the speaker it should have been from the beginning.

btw, if you want those airier highs on the Maestro - all you have to do is put the jumper in the high position - it's as open as the Scala's highs and almost as "exciting" but considerably smoother.

Ultimately, it's no contest, the Maestro crushes the Scala in terms of performance, BUT you need MASSIVE amounts of current into 2ohms to get full performance out of the Maestro (I'm finding that my current amps are not up to the task at 300W/8 ohms, 600W/4ohms but only 720W/2 ohms so I'm having to move to a beefier solution, but even with my current amps the Maestros are clearly superior) - if your amp doesn't have that, then wait for the Scala EVO, I expect that should be a fantastic speaker.

I had very bad expierence on Maestro withtop Orpheus and top Ayre amplification. I didnt listened but for some Technical Brain TBP-Zero/EX seems perfect match and 20years finalising search of perfect sound.

What do you mean by "bad experience"?