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It is an excellent DAC at its price and one should should definitely consider it if they are looking at the $2500 - $3000 bracket. However the sound was not to my liking and consequently I did not pay too much attention to the details and I moved on to the others. To be fair the other DAC's cost many multiples of the price of the Schiit.
Cheers,
Sid
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Over the past decade or so my preference of sound has changed significantly. About 7-8 years ago I was enamored with the musicality and warmth of the Harbeth SHL5 and speakers of its ilk, i.e. thin walled cabinets, sound signature that veered toward the warm side of the neutral etc. Though highly musical and utterly captivating this sound came with its own set of penalties, the main being minor loss of detail by slight veiling. In itself not a fatal flaw, indeed I enjoyed the Harbeth's thoroughly for 3-4 years. Then I chanced upon the Ascendo range via the Ascendo C6 which I was reviewing for soundstage.com. Suddenly if felt that the cliched blanket over the speakers were removed, I could hear a lot more detail without any clinicality or sterlity. I promptly bought a Ascendo C8R which was the biggest standmounter in the Ascendo range, the reason I preferred standmounters was the adverse effect of slight mid bass emphasis in the form of the dreaded boom in my small 14' x 12' room caused by some floorstanders. I really loved this speaker and love it till today. The rear ambient ribbon tweeter threw such a deep, wide and high soundstage, I doubt if I will ever be able to replicate that in my room, and combined with 18 watts of single ended goodness from the Lyric Ti100 MkII, the sound was so luscious it could move me to tears. During this time I heard the Focal Sopra no.2 and its superb midrange was mesmerizing, so that became an object of desire and consideration for an upgrade. All this while I secretly admired Wilson audio, not only for the solid science behind their approach to loudspeaker design but also based on their musicality. However 2 reasons held me back, 1 was the expense of-course and the size, secondly I never felt totally at ease listening to them with a feeling of slight coolness about the sound. Then they introduced the Sabrina. When I heard it a few times I was bowled over. The size was perfect more or less for my small room, and the sound was perfect. Only the price wasn't. However that became my upgrade target so recently when I had the finances in place I made my move and acquired a pair. I have 5 hours on the odometer and they have surpassed all my expectations in a spectacular manner so far. Absolutely no boom, superbly extended bass, lush midrange and smooth highs. Also these are significanly more resolving and again I am hearing the - cliched more details in familiar recording that were absent before. Also a shout out to Audire's Sharath Chandran and Sandeep Nair for another great purchase experience. They were highly professional, prompt and very supportive.
Cheers,
Sid
Cheers,
Sid
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M
mpw
Guest
Congratulations !
panditji
Well-Known Member
Wow, congratulations Sid.
Thanks Hyodrovac. Yes these are heavy speakers, perhaps the heaviest I have owned by far. Needed 2 people (excluding me) to get them out of the FedEx van and to unpack. However fine tuning of placement was quite easy as they slide easily on my carpet without the spikes. Of course after they are spiked they are impossible to move single handedly.
Cheers,
Sid
oracle1974
Well-Known Member
Hello Sidvee
That is a gorgeous looking set-up. Congrats!
Can you list out your entire set-up? I may have missed it if it was stated in the posts earlier.
That is a gorgeous looking set-up. Congrats!
Can you list out your entire set-up? I may have missed it if it was stated in the posts earlier.
Thanks Oracle, I will list my equipment from source onwards:
Aurender n100H
Bricasti M1se
Music First Audio Classic v2 passive or Lyric Audio Ti100mkII with pre out option
Symphonic line Kraft 250
Interconnects: Kimber select 1011
Speaker cables: Kimber select 3033
Power conditioner: Sine Gateway 2 & Vertex 3kva servo
Power Cables: Shunyata venom, Audio Art Power 1se
Usb cable: Lavri cable.
Acoustic treatment: GIK 244 panels - 6
GIK gridfusors - 8, Evolution Polyfusor - 2
Vicoustics wavewood - 4
Rack: Soundfoundations
Also have a second setup as described in my signature.
Cheers,
Sid
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When I started planning for my main system speaker upgrade these were the shortlisted ones in the order of preference:
Very Likely:
1. Wilson Sabrina
2. Focal Sopra no. 2
3. ATC SCM50 passive
4. YG Acoustics Carmel 2
5. Rockport Atria 2
6. Magico A3
Somewhat likely:
1. Blumenhofer Genuin FS3 mk2 or FS2
2. Verity Audio Parsifal
Long shot:
1. Harbeths, Grahams, Spendors
I have heard most of these or at-least have an idea of their sound signatures if I haven't heard the specific model.
Let's see where my tastes go in the future, I have perhaps at-most (if I am lucky) another 20 - 25 years of existence on this planet
Cheers,
Sid
Very Likely:
1. Wilson Sabrina
2. Focal Sopra no. 2
3. ATC SCM50 passive
4. YG Acoustics Carmel 2
5. Rockport Atria 2
6. Magico A3
Somewhat likely:
1. Blumenhofer Genuin FS3 mk2 or FS2
2. Verity Audio Parsifal
Long shot:
1. Harbeths, Grahams, Spendors
I have heard most of these or at-least have an idea of their sound signatures if I haven't heard the specific model.
Let's see where my tastes go in the future, I have perhaps at-most (if I am lucky) another 20 - 25 years of existence on this planet
Cheers,
Sid
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Thanks Arj,
No real method used. The tried as tested, place at the position where previous speakers sounded the best, then move inch by inch while listening to my reference tracks. I spent 5 hours last evening and night doing this without the spikes in place till I arrived at what to my ears sounded optimum. Then I attached the spikes which tightened up the bass. I have to spend some more time with 0.5inch increments which I plan to do so during the next few weeks while the speaker breaks in.
Cheers,
Sid
Rajeshh
Well-Known Member
what a great set-up! looks neatly set-up as well. Congratulations!
Could you tell us the differences in the sound from the Sopra 2 & the Wilson Sabrinas?
Could you tell us the differences in the sound from the Sopra 2 & the Wilson Sabrinas?
Thanks Rajesh. I haven't heard the Sopra 2 in my room, so I can't compare on that basis but what I heard in dealer setups and shows was that it has a sublime midrange quality that draws you into the music. However the Sabrina is a superb all-rounder, not just midrange, and bass extension is better. Also the treble is smoother and overall detail resolution of the Sabrina is better, so this made me place the Sabrina at the top of my list. Also I feel the Sopra 2 will need a bigger room to shine and could potentially overpower smaller rooms like mine.
Cheers,
Sid
square_wave
Well-Known Member
Ah.. so the Sabrina has finally come home Next time in Hyderabad, I am surely coming over for a listen. In the Wilson line-up taking into consideration what is on offer if one is willing to extract it, the Sabrina is considered to be extremely well priced! Happy to hear that they exceeded your expectations as well.
Did you put the kraft back in the system to drive these ?
Next time in Hyderabad, I am surely coming over for a listen. In the Wilson line-up taking into consideration what is on offer if one is willing to extract it, the Sabrina is considered to be extremely well priced! Happy to hear that they exceeded your expectations as well.Did you put the kraft back in the system to drive these ?
You are welcome anytime square. Yes in the Wilson line up these are well priced, but the bigger take away is that they will work in smaller rooms, which imo is a bigger limitation to buying a Wilson rather than just price. Of-course now they have the Tune Tots, which have been getting great press, but I think they will have limited bass extension and also the Duette series 2 stand mounters (which are priced higher than the Sabrina btw). Yes I had to put the Kraft back, as the Sabrinas dip to 2.5 ohms at 140 hz and the Kraft is rated to be stable into 1 ohm loads. Of-course I also feel that after 4 years of owning the kraft, it is finally getting to stretch its legs, and it is doing so in a spectacular fashion. That was also a main consideration - having a capable amp - before I decided on the Sabrina.Ah.. so the Sabrina has finally come home
Did you put the kraft back in the system to drive these ?
Cheers,
Sid
Prior to my purchase of the Wilson Audio Sabrina I had a lot of misgivings and doubts whether any floor standers will work in my small room (overloading the room with mid-bass for instance or poor driver integration where the bass is slower/detached from the rest of the spectrum) and indeed all the speakers in this room for the past decade (built the room in 2009) have only been stand-mounters albeit some large ones. So I reached out to Jerron Marchant of Wilson. He stated very confidently that the speaker will work in my room. So with his assurance under my belt I made the tenuous move of buying these. All the while waiting for the speakers - I was quite concerned as these did cost a bit of both money and effort (at-least for me), and so I reached out to Sandeep Nair of Audire for some hand holding. Even he reassured me that with these will definitely work and I should consider using the Wilson audio setup method mentioned in their manual. Well after a few nailbiting weeks, these have worked out spectacularly in my room. I am hearing bass extension and textures that I have never heard before. To-day listening to Tsuyoshi Yamamoto's Midnight Sugar DSD rip - which is an excellent album and one my references- on the last track - Sweet Georgia Blues there is a drum solo toward the end. Now I have heard this a thousand times, but today for the first time I could clearly delineate the deep kick drum beat against the beats of the snares, ride cymbals, crash cymbals, hi-hats etc. and even better I could tell the position of the kick drum which was slightly lower in space and to the left of the rest of the drum kit. Normally what I heard previously was the whole drum kit occupied a small space in the soundstage and though there was deep bass from the kick drum impact it was part of a whole, not separate. This is a first for me where not only did the textures/frequency of the various components of the drum kit stand out but also their position in space and leads me to conclude that these are the best speakers I have ever had the pleasure of listening in my room - period. Forgive me for sounding so gushing and giddy as a teenager who had his first smooch or a feel (who can forget that
), but in about 25 years of being a music/audio aficionado I haven't felt so excited. I think I may be in love with Sabrina
.
Cheers,
Sid
), but in about 25 years of being a music/audio aficionado I haven't felt so excited. I think I may be in love with Sabrina .Cheers,
Sid
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Forgive me for sounding so gushing and giddy as as a teenager who had his first smooch or a feel (who can forget that
Cheers,
Coming from you that made me laugh even harder!
Congratulations on an excellent speaker upgrade. For the Sabrinas to convincingly top the Ascendos that is really saying something. Granted the Ascendos you had were in a slightly different bracket than the Sabrinas but I wasn't expecting this! Really looking forward to the next listening session.
Regards.
.
Forgive me for sounding so gushing and giddy as a teenager who had his first smooch or a feel (who can forget that
Cheers,
Sid
..enjoy it !!! the excitement of love and then the long process of getting into a mature understanding of their abilities !! Check out our special offers on Stereo Package & Bundles for all budget types.
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