When I had decided on my lovely Totem Forest Signatures I took Mrs Mike to the dealers and showed her the Focal Kantas and said “these are what I want” and she said “no, we are not having those things in the house, they are ugly”. So I said “what about these” pointing at the Totems and she said “they look lovely”. I said “oh, okay then” 
. Well, they sound way better too.
I’m running them with a 252/250, I’m sure they would be happy on a 552/300.
Who’s going to start the ‘show us your bin’ thread 
As an aside, if a traditional speaker design is a preference, then I think Devore Fidelity are making some of the prettiest veneered speakers on the market at the moment. Can’t comment on SQ sound as I’ve never heard them, but the craftsmanship and attention to detail appears second to none from the photos online. Also like John’s pragmatic approach to design in general, and enjoy his vinyl reviews on his Youtube channel which he started during lockdown.
I’ve seen them in the flesh, they do look lovely, heard them driven off a valve based system.
My main gripe was untextured bass that was disconnected (timing?) from the rest of the music. The mids and treble didn’t make up for it either. Auditioned with same system I have at the new flagship store in Berlin. I am reluctant to slag them off too much on such a welcoming forum, but frankly I found them quite awful, personally. And I really wanted to like them because they would fit into the apartment so well
Getting there. I was successful in ruling out some (see here and am closing in on a final decision. More soon!
Hmmm… that doesn’t sound right at all. Certainly not what I experience at home. Were the speakers firing straight at you, or toed in, incidentally.
I love mine (Sopra 2)and to look at too, Everyone is different
Sounds like a set up issue.
They look hideous
That is strange . Mine are toed in and sound great . I have same system too, although waiting on a 500
Maybe it was, but then I expect that the flagship store in their own room manages to set them up. When I was not happy, we tried both with and without toe-in. I liked the store as such and the sales person was very helpful. However, it did not seem to me as if I successfully communicated what my problem was, although I did say that the bass was energetic but lacking texture and seemed disconnected. However, the sales person seemed happy with the sound, so I had to assume that this was what they were supposed to sound like. I also tend to be too polite in these situations instead of bluntly saying that I find something awful.
Though they were not the only speakers I found unconvincing during this round of auditions, including one forum favorite. Difficult.
I would have returned for another round usually, but auditioned other speakers that just clicked, so have been pursuing these paths for now - will see if I still get a reason to circle back.
It’s very personal as we know about speaker preferences. Keep us posted
I went through this exact choice 3 months ago - listened to all sorts and demo’d PMC 25.26i and Fact 12Sig, Dynaudio’s, Focal’s, Wilson Benesch, Kudos, Audiovector and ProAc - all in the £8k to £15k range.
In the end (for me anyway, speakers are so subjective) it was VERY close between the Kudos 606 (prefferred them to the 707) and the PMC Fact 12Sigs - I ran them side by side at home for a week.
I ended up with the PMC’s as they just worked better in my room and I liked the small adjustablity they gave me but would have been very happy with Kudos as well.
Not saying I’m right, just my experience
Have you finally found something? Or other speakers to listen to ?
Yeah, but aren’t they a bit nasally?
Wilson Benesh P 2.0
“They reproduce sonic impact with spontaneity and enthusiasm. The bass register is particularly eloquent. Its legibility and scale are quite exemplary. In addition, we can listen to high levels of sound without noticing the slightest feeling of auditory fatigue. The P3.0 is a master of rhythm, perfectly illustrated with the irresistible swing between the drums and the organ on “Muse 2 The Pharaoh” by Prince during which it is absolutely impossible not to tap the foot.” – Vumetre Issue #72, France
I don’t have that experience Nigel. To me they are very natural sounding, not emphasizing anything and especially “silky” (don’t know a better word in English :-))
Iver
I listened to and as per current status ruled out:
PMC fact.8, Dali Epicon 6, Paradigm Persona 3F, Kanta 3, Sopra 3.
Audio Physic Codex was better but ultimately not convincing (but I might still do a home demo in case I need to).
The finalists were the Sonus Faber Olympica Nova III (not heard the V but would be an option) and my favorite, the Sehring Audio S913; I will actually order them today. (18K)
The Sehring are very special. Website is only in German (but translates perfectly in Google Translate) but I will write more and post pictures in a few weeks. They are hand-built in Berlin (the factory is a short bike ride from my apartment as it turns out). They are modular and will be adapted by the designer to my particular room and ears (crossover and other things). Stefan Sehring, the designer, is a fabulous guy. He’s splitting his time on studio work and home hifi, and the home speakers carry much of the studio DNA, being very precise and with a very flat frequency response by design (but can be adjusted as mentioned).
They rely mostly on word of mouth but there’s a review of the S916 (slightly larger) and S903 (smaller) on the German Image Hifi website. They also got an award by the German Fairaudio site.
They will probably be ready in four weeks. Once they are with me, I will probably still invite my dealer to bring the Sonus Faber. I am more or less sure I prefer the Sehring, but the SF have a beautiful silky sound, though maybe a bit too pleasing for my taste, but I can certainly understand if someone preferred them. And it’s my regular dealer, so I’ll give them the chance if they want to. Sehring offers a four weeks return guarantee if not pleased, so in the worst case I could do that.
Some other speakers were ruled out beforehand because of looks (B&W), because I never liked any of them before (KEF), or because impossible to audition (most UK favorites like ATC and ProAc for instance).
Because of the Kudos’ rep on the forum I am still trying. It’s a 2 hours drive to a dealer who seems to have Titans, but when I called him up he had just had a water pipe burst in the shop, everything was under water and he was understandably a bit stressed and asked for patience. Maybe that still works out for an audition, will see
I drove mb2"s with a 300 no problem
