KEF, Focal, Megnepan, B&W, Sonus Faber, which brand is better suited for piano and orchestrative music?

Believe me. I have a pair of ls50 (now without use), and also a pair of boenicke w8. There is no means of comparison between them. The Boenicke costs about 8-9k.

@wudai_e I also run the DSD>BHK-Pre>M1200s currently into B&W801s and have been auditioning KEF Reference 3’s, Focal Kanta2, and Sopra2. Also listen to classical and as much as I like the Kanta2’s my dealer is calling my M1200’s overkill on the Kanta’s and of course recommending the Sopra2’s. The Kanta2’s have a distinctly different sound signature than the Sopra2 and my thoughts are to let the Kanta2’s “scale up” with the M1200s as you are doing with your LS50s. My room is close to your dimensions as well. Best of luck, but one thing is for sure, the BHK-Pre is an end game component. Cheers

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That is a great idea…

While my Aria 948s were amazing with my former A21…my new JC5 really
has “scaled up” my Arias beyond my expectations…

The flax drivers are nothing to sneeze at…the newer slate drivers have a different
sound some say more “liquid” less textured than the flax drivers…

The Sopras have a more advanced motor magnet drive system incorporated into their
mid and bass drivers…than the Kanta and Aria…

There is a you tube video that is very well done comparing this exact thing using same
tracks with the Kanta and Sopra2…from my recollection the Kanta seemed to present textures
where as the Sopra2 was more liquid, howver it appeared that the Sopra2 had more kick 'em
in the pants punch and lower notes than the Kanta…
Amazingly the recording equipment allowed this to come through in the demo.

Maybe I can relocate this video and post it for you all…

Best wishes all

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From Thomas Stereo on you tube describing the differences Kanta2 vs Sopra2…
good insight…but not the video I was refering to earlier.

Another video

Sopra 2’s in system (BHK300’s/Audio Research LS28) 4,000+ hours. The great majority of listening is classical; opera, chamber, orchestral & solo instruments. Over the past 45 years I’ve spent hundreds of hours in concert halls, venues & opera houses (most at the Metropolitan Opera) & to me the Sopra 2’s gets the sound of acoustic instruments in an unamplified acoustic space right to a greater extent than most speakers I’ve auditioned (I have not heard the Kanta’s - they didn’t exist when I purchased the Sopra 2’s). The impact of well recorded, full scale orchestral music is realistic & visceral & well recorded piano (try Maria João Pires Schubert 4 Impromptus D899 & D935 Esoteric SACD, it’s stunning in it’s realism). As an ardent opera goer vocals (I’ve heard many of these singers live) are paramount & the Sopra 2’s are first class.

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It’s a shame the 20T is out of your price range (and mine), but I will tell you the long discontinued Aerial Acoustics 10Ts which I owned for upwards of 5 years were sensational for large scale orchestral works. The dynamic range of the 10T was awesome. The 10Ts had a flaw, an overly polite top end, but I have never laid ears on a pair of conventional speakers that weren’t 500 pound monoliths that did justice to that genre of music like the 10Ts. If I had the scratch I would run, not walk, to my nearest Aerial Acoustics dealer for a 20T audition were large orchestral works the mainstay of my collection. At 32k retail (last time I checked) they’re too dear for me to afford.

My dream speaker as Grace and time permit…
The Focal Sopra 2

I’ve had quality components in system over the past 50 years but it took until I crossed into my 7th decade before I was able to acquire a system this good, so stay the course.

Please help understand why the Sopra 2-3 speakers have a seemingly
open rear port on the backside…it appears to be a hf wave guide of some
sort…I thought I knew…

Please help me understand…to me these seem as an equivalent of a rear
facing tweeter…

Thank you

Darren Meyers voiced his amps using Harbeth for what it is worth.

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Not a rear firing tweeter. The tweeter is loaded by a progressively damped, tapered horn-shaped duct filled with dampening material so that the sound waves created from the back of the tweeter are delicately and gradually absorbed.

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Really?! The 40.3 XDs?

Biased response. I had Maggie 20.7s and they are great with piano and any live recording. I powered them with BHK 300 monos and a BHK pre fed by a DS Dac. Loved that set up in a larger room 18 wide by 13. If you went 3.7 Maggie’s you might want to add a bass panel that they make. I recently had some fortunate things happen and have upgraded to an all MBL setup.

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The 20.7s are excellent reproducing piano and all other percussive instruments.

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Agreed. I have had many iterations of Magnapans
going back to Tympani 1Ds and their sonic signature compliments classical music, particularly with strings and vocals. They require good power and placement, but are nearly unequaled in top to
bottom seamlessness. A pair of 3.7’s and REL subs
could get you there.

I forgot to also mention that the dipole sound wave form of the Maggie’s makes it easier to deal with treating a room for reflections. Essentially you really don’t need to worry about the first order reflections you get with dynamic speakers. Simply diffusing behind the Maggie’s is usually enough. I found that my room seemed cleaner sounding with my Maggie’s than any dynamic speaker I used in my room. Ultimately the Maggie’s lead me to the Omnidirectional MBLs because the dipole waveform the Maggie’s had just seamed more real or alive. Jonathon Valins review of 20.7s from the Absolute Sound does a good job of explaining the “your at the venue” experience Maggie’s give you. I like the live experience Maggie’s and MBLs give me versus the pinpoint accuracy of what I think you get with some good dynamic designs. Different strokes for different folks. Nothing ever is completely right or wrong in this crazy hobby.

But then again… my Aria 948s excell in these as well as strings… vocals in particular …

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Thanks for your reply…

You are correct…I found this explanation in more detail…matching
your description…

INFINITE HORN LOADING

Our Beryllium tweeter features an incredibly light and extremely rigid dome, that deliver a transparent and dynamic sound. Its main limitation comes from the compression of air in the cavity behind it. But the requirement for Sopra to be compact meant that as much of the cabinet as possible had to be used for the bass. We had to explore other options for loading the tweeter, which led us to come up with the IHL system. The “IHL” system enables to load the Beryllium tweeter respecting the compactness demand of the speaker. The rear wave of the tweeter is delicately and gradually absorbed to avoid any distortion. The treble definition is pushed to the maximum

Yet it appears like a tuned wave guide to allow the effect of a virtual
rear firing effect…
Here I thought knew something…gee whiz…

My understanding is that the system is designed to gradually & completely absorb the back wave of the tweeter.

The Tweeter cavity is closed. No output or sound from the tweeter radiates from the rear of the cabinet.

According to Focal
The rear of the Beryllium tweeter is loaded via a small cavity which is connected to the exterior of the enclosure by a horn. whom inside is filled with a damping material. Sound waves from the rear of the tweeter are delicately and gradually absorbed. Its acoustic impedance approaches zero so that no resistance alters the movement of the dome. This reduces distortion by 30% and pushes definition to its maximum .

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