#21
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Hi Bruno2009, when I purchased my Sabrina's I listened to the B&W's in the same store and the Focals separately. I think that the $15,000 range is a sweet spot in all the high
end speaker manufactures lines. A lot of trickle down tech and competition at that price point. It is to bad they are not closer in price like here in the states. I think you would like Wilson's if they were apples to apples in price. The dealer told me that he had not had anyone buy anything other than the Sabrina in that price point. Good luck in your search |
#22
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I auditioned the B&W 800D series and was not a fan of the Diamond tweeter; especially when paired with Classe. I have all McIntosh pre-amps and amps and while I bet this would help a lot (as others have said) it still wasnt worth it when there are silk dome tweeters available in other brands.
I ended up going with Wilsons and dont regret it whatsoever. Focal is also intriguing and look to be a really good value. If you have the cash I would go the Wilson route but would not fault someone for getting Focal.. |
#23
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Comparing Wilson Audio to Focal to B&W
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Hi - in the States the Sabrina seems to be, what the 802 is in Europe - absolut "best buy" product at under 20k. Yes, you are absolutely correct, were the price even close, I would pay a lot more attention to Wilson Audio. As value matters to most people though, this is an issue. Should I actually consider (some) Wilsons to be far superior to B&W, I might try to buy in the states and have them imported myself... in that case I`ll need a reliable dealer in the US. Still finding out about the differences though... Sabrina and Sophia are very beautiful products, but do not make big enough a gain in quality over the 802Diamond to me, to justify such a step... it`ll probably have to be something along the lines of the Yvette - and then I`ll have to compare to the D3 Series...
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Christoph Last edited by bruno2009; 01-03-2017 at 12:24 PM. |
#24
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Comparing Wilson Audio to Focal to B&W
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See how different the experiences are, due to some free time yesterday I again had the chance to audition B&Ws D2 (notD3) against Sophia and preferred the B&Ws (I knew this before, but wanted to check again, before auditioning the bigger Wilson Audios sometime later this year). Focal - to my ears - is by far less musical sounding than B&W and still has horrible treble. It took me 10 Minutes to find that I would have the same problems with these speakers than I did 15 years back. Really do not like their sound at all - it`s fatiguing and annoying to me. Between these three Focal has fallen out for me. Sophia and Sabrina are great speakers that do sound different to the B&W Diamonds but not by far better (especially at the european price level) - thus leaving the Yvette and/or the Sasha as only alternative, should I really decide to upgrade from the 802Diamond. I have no doubt that they are fantastic speakers - but are they really worth two to three times the price... ? The option of buying in the states and importing myself is still there, but I do have my problems to hassle a dealer over here to do extensive listening and then buy behind his back in another country.
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Christoph Last edited by bruno2009; 01-03-2017 at 04:07 AM. |
#25
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Bear in mind that Wilson Audios speakers are sensitive to positioning. Badly rigged Wilsons doesn´t sound good. But well rigged and matched Wilsons is a treat to the ear and music enjoyment. It is worth the hassle. Atleast in my opinion.
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#26
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Quote:
You will be surprised! You can forget all these Focals, Wilsons, B&W's IMO. |
#27
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Christoph, are you in Denmark or close to ? Then i could recommend a dealer with Wilson.
I had set my mind for the Focal Sopra 2, they are good but not much better from what i have now, so i was not sure and thought why not visit a dealer and hear the Wilson to see what the talking was all about. I was simply put blown away on how good they are. I heard the Sabrina - Yvette - Sasha 2 paired with Audio Research Ref. 6 / 150 as well as Devialet. I have also heard the B&W but they never seem to do it for me. Update. December 2018, some months ago i had the chance to listen to B&W 802D3 with Audioquest cabling and Accuphase E-650 , and that was really good was positively surprised on the speakers. Last edited by FDPDK; 12-08-2018 at 11:34 AM. |
#28
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Comparing Wilson Audio to Focal to B&W
Well - considering this is the Wilson forum it's obvious that most people prefer Wilson. People on the B&W board argue the other way around. I totally agree on Focal - not my favs either. Wilsons and B&W are very different but I believe both are excellent manufacturers. B&W certainly has the better value - Wilsons seem spectacular in a different way - but then again they are up to three times the price - so that's actually not a very fair comparison. You'd probably have to throw in the original Nautilus to make an even comparison. I'm still thrilled and keep thinking to upgrade my 802s to a pair of Wilsons - but buying a three times more expensive speaker to make a serious difference does not degrade a B&W... more the opposite. Still Wilson keeps fascinating me... one day I'll probably take the step...
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Christoph Last edited by bruno2009; 06-04-2017 at 06:10 PM. |
#29
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Compared the Yvette's to the Sasha 2's. Sasha 2's on order! :-)
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#30
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Sasha 2 would probably be my upgrade of choice too - regular retail price over here is 45.000 USD (incl. Tax) though. What's the price in the states?
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Christoph |
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