I had to slip that in at the end for some forum members who have multiple systems and multiple sets of speakers and I’m sure they all sound great!
In this new COVID era it’s difficult to get into let alone find a hifi shop to sit down and enjoy equipment that most can only dream of owning. I was fortunate today to stop in a local high end audio store and listen to a pair of speakers that sounded superb!
The place is called Audio Experience (formerly F1 Audio) and the speakers are the Estelon YB. The sound that came from these speakers was so detailed and the soundstage was huge. I always read the speakers should disappear and the YB was very capable of that. The speakers are there and visually unique but the sound was center stage! Amazing speakers! Support came from a Rossi preamp, MSB Dac being fed by a Innuos Zenith and power came from a Classe stereo amplifier. I have never heard of Estelon before today but if you ever get a chance do yourself a favor and give these a listen!
I was able to listen to a pair of Estelon XB Diamond speakers finished in a beautiful blue cobalt liquid gloss! Amazing to look at equally impressive sound! At the opposite end of the spectrum KEF LS 50 wireless II I was pretty blown away with the KEF $2800 all in one solution! It was my first time hearing the KEF speakers!
I heard a pair of Sonus Faber SE-17 Speakers at Audio Excellence, my Wilson Dealer. $200K US. Amazing engineering that gives quite the musical experience. Out of my pocketbook range but still…wow!
Going to give these a shot. Reviews are paltry, but universally positive if you have the wattage. Peachtree had a clearance for Peachtree owners for $299 and I couldn’t resist. They’re pretty inefficient, but supposedly have surprising bass performance. We shall see.
With respect, it’s not difficult at all. They are all open and thriving. No more difficult than going to any other store. Vaccines readily available for anyone who wants one. I’d argue it’s easier than ever, and with brick and mortar dealers thriving they have more new inventory than at any time in recent memory.
Everyone should get off the computer and get out there and hear what’s available. Big world out there with lots of amazing sounding gear. In the last three weeks I have demo’d (speakers only, to say nothing of the various amplifiers and preamps and dacs) Wilson Audio SabrinaX, Paridigm Persona 5F, Martin Logan ESL 15a, Bowers & Wilkins 805D4, Klipsch Cornwall 4, and probably a couple others that I’m forgetting now.
If you simply limit your listening to your own system, you are not experiencing the breadth and vitality of the hobby, and if you are not comparing what is available before making purchasing decisions, you are severely limiting the quality of your eventual system, IMO.
The best part: it’s free, folks! Walk in a store and sit down and listen to what is set up and playing. Don’t even have to bother a salesperson with a request. Most stores will have 3-4 systems up and running, you just walk in and sit down. Couldn’t be easier. Do that a couple times a month over the course of a year and you develop a knowledge base of the general house sound of much of what’s out there. And you probably make a bunch of new friends as well.
It won’t be this easy for everyone, of course, depending on where you live, but I live in a metro area that is not even in the top-15 in the US, and I can easily do it within a 50 mile drive.
I really need to go to the local shop that has K-horns setup sometime. I’m a bit afraid that I will like them too much. Maybe I should limit myself to Fortes.
I was at one dealer Saturday that had Khorn AK6’s set up and also Cornwall 4. A second dealer same day had Cornwall 4 and LaScala. I only got to hear the Cornwall 4 due to lack of time that day.
Not a huge Klipsch fan myself but that’s just personal preference and because I can find things at the price I like better. But I’m much better off in my audio journey having heard all that stuff so that I really know what it all sounds like and I can better determine what I like the best for me at a given $$ amount
I would love a pair of Heresys or Fortes for the times I’m in the mood to sit barefoot on the floor and listen to my Boston records. That’s what they’re for. Or “Seconds Out” by Genesis. Or Led Zeppelin.
I could be a young Tony Soprano lying between a pair of classic JBLs, Klipsch, or KLH paper cone monsters versus my oh-so-British LS50s and their impeccable manners.
What I will say for sure is that the current generation of Klipsch is really really improved over the last generation. Cornwall 4 is damn good for its price. I am probably going to recommend them for my brother because he has some room placement issues that I think the Cornwall would be excellent for.
Forte loses me with the big rear-pointed woofer. That’s odd. LaScala is nice but too bass shy for a $12k speaker, IMO. But Cornwall, yeah I could get into that. These are just my opinions, of course. Everyone’s MMV.
I am officially out of the recommending business. I don’t recommend anything to anyone anymore. I’ve been burned too many times with angry people. It’s amazing how people take it so personally. Now I just say “this is what I use. It may or may not satisfy you”. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
Ha, talking about Klipsch reminded me of the other thing I did at a dealer recently, while listening to LaScala’s. I paged through the entire new 75-year tribute book that Klipsch just put out. Was just sitting on a coffee table there.
It was awesome. American company started in 1946 in Hope, Arkansas, products still made there. Really well done book. I probably won’t ever buy Klipsch speakers for myself (but I got my daughter Klipsch wireless headphones rather than the Airpods she wanted!!), but much respect for that company. Loved the early photos and drawings of KHorn stereo speakers with a Cornwall center channel. Good stuff. Really cool to see not only photos of the vintage gear, but also the employees who built the stuff. I don’t know how many photos are in the book, but I’d guess over a thousand.
Dang I sound like a Klipsch salesman, but in truth I probably rank Klipsch speakers in the bottom third of what I prefer, but I only know that because I get out there and listen to everything. I guess that’s the point of this thread!
Go with what you like and is within your budget. When assembling a listening system there are so many variables it is difficult to transfer the sound you have attained to another’s room and mix of components. I do like suggestions and find those who happen to have similar tastes to be beneficial. Then apply one’s musical tastes and it is very difficult to translate one “sound” to another’s system. Personal recommendations can help when listening preferences are similar.
It’s only free if you make it out without buying something! Even if I don’t buy something eventually that visit usually ends up with myself upgrading to something new or used and its rarely free! Always enjoyable tho and yes I agree get out and enjoy the HiFi!
BTW with respect, Things have changed quite a bit since April since I typed this thread at least where I live.
I have Forte III’s in my family room. So I put on Led Zeppelin’s first album, sat on the floor, and cranked it up. Most enjoyable except for when it was time to get up off the floor. I’m getting old.
