[Lee3]

I've been doing a lot of listening as of late for new speakers and these were not even on my list. I've had the last 3 versions of b&w 802s (with plenty of others before them) but it had been a pleasure for the past 10 or 11 years with b&w. I had watt puppies before the first 802's (n-line back then) and given the accolades of the sasha, I went to demo those today thinking it could be fun to return to that sound for a while. Obviously some fantastic dynamics but after an hour of listening, I had the same concerns that I had with them 10+ years ago which for *my ears* involved listener fatigue. They do a wonderful job disappearing and presenting the live sound in all of its glory but I'm not 25 anymore and listen a little more politely throwing dominoes with my better half over a bottle of wine in the evening.

To make a long story short, the dealer suggested I give the Giya G2's a listen which I did for the past few hours. Wow, any adjective I have would be an understatement and I demoed them on the same system I heard the sashas (which consisted of a dcs purcell front end with an ayre pre and 300w monos with transparent cabling). Price wise it's not a fair comparison as the Giyas are about double the retail but I've simply never heard music played back that way. It's a unique soundstage seemingly more deep than wide though to be fair the room plays a large role that I'm not used to.

I still want to hear the rockport avior (something I need to get on a plane to do) but this is going to be a tough one to overcome. Unfortunately, the local dealer does not have a the giya G1 and I'm curious if anyone here has had the pleasure of listening to both the G1 & 2 could give me your feedback? At first blush I thought the look of the speaker was on the feminine side for my tastes but after listening to those for a couple hours, I don't care what they look like and feel deep down that this is going to be nearly impossible for me to top. Last question for any owners of the G1 or 2 being how are your impressions of the speaker months or years later? IE anything that you're missing compared with previous speakers you owned but from the couple hours I just had with them, they had no weakness other than price tag but then so does most of this pursuit. Thanks in advance