Dynaudio Contour 30i vs ProAc Response D48R vs Audiovector R3 Arrete vs Sonus Faber Olympica Nova II

[sunilsanketh]

I am looking for speakers for stereo setup with these features to pair with Luxman 505ux amplifier :

• Treble: smooth and detailed high-frequency response.
• Bass: Solid bass performance without requirement a subwoofer for balanced stereo listening.
• Vocal Clarity: Natural and accurate midrange.
• Soundstage: Wide and precise imaging.
• Room size: 12 x 10 x 9 ft

please suggest one from below:
Dynaudio Contour 30i vs ProAc Response D48R vs Audiovector R3 Arrete vs Sonus Faber Olympica Nova II
Also recommend dealers who give nice discounts.

 

[fLUX]

I am looking for speakers for stereo setup with these features to pair with Luxman 505ux amplifier :

• Treble: smooth and detailed high-frequency response.
• Bass: Solid bass performance without requirement a subwoofer for balanced stereo listening.
• Vocal Clarity: Natural and accurate midrange.
• Soundstage: Wide and precise imaging.
• Room size: 12 x 10 x 9 ft

please suggest one from below:
Dynaudio Contour 30i vs ProAc Response D48R vs Audiovector R3 Arrete vs Sonus Faber Olympica Nova II
Also recommend dealers who give nice discounts.

Will you be treating the room else the bass might overpower the room with floorstanders. I am in a 15 by 11 partially treated room & use SR1 Arette & R series is supposedly even better. Mighty pleased with the AV speakers personally

 

[sunilsanketh]

Will you be treating the room else the bass might overpower the room with floorstanders. I am in a 15 by 11 partially treated room & use SR1 Arette & R series is supposedly even better. Mighty pleased with the AV speakers personally

ofcourse I would be treating the room..

 

[rwnano]

ofcourse I would be treating the room..

Buy a two way diy SB acoustics drivers containing, transmission line speakers for excellence in bass.

 

[audiophileww]

I recently tested my Audiovector R3 Arreté in a room almost identical in size to yours - more square and slightly higher ceiling - with acoustical treatment on one end. There were some bass standing wave issues to be sure but it was truly fully range and thrilling - bass was absolutely booming (in the best sense) on pop tracks while still having terrific pitch and not messing up the upper frequencies at all. I think an R1 Aretté with a good sub could potentially rival and maybe even outperform in some aspects the R3 alone for less money, but it won’t have the same level of lower midrange/upper bass richness and dynamic impact of the R3. The vocals were mesmerizing and the AMT tweeter is about as sweet as it gets. I give it a strong vote of confidence based on your criteria. (I run an audio blog and may post the results of my test on my Instagram - right now it is just in the Audiovector owners Facebook group)

 

[audiophileww]

Some other thoughts:

- I hear on good authority that Luxman is a great match for Audiovector so you’re well set up there.

- I only heard the old Contour 20 years ago and it was not really in the same league as the previous Audiovector SR1. That said I do like Dynaudio and I hear the i series are improved.

- Have not heard the ProAc but there are a number of longtime ProAc owners in the Audiovector owners group and while this has extreme sample bias, none of them seem itching to go back

- Been a while since I’ve heard the Olympica but I’ve liked the direction Sonus Faber has gone the last several years - much more neutral and balanced while retaining many of the traditional SF virtues of musicality. The SF will be a little richer than Audiovector and likely more forgiving of source material - it will be a little easier to get nice lush vocals out of them. That said, I think you might need to move up to something like the Serafino (which is much bigger/$$$ of course) to get a level of refinement comparable to the R3. Audiovector is rather unique in my experience that they offer a much larger % of the refinement of their bigger $$$$ speakers all the way down the line. (I have owned the SR1 and currently have the R3 in one system and SR6 in another.)

- Hard to find dealer discounts on most of this stuff. You will obviously be better off searching the used market. If you want to leverage the dealer for auditions, I think it is worth it to pay them their markup. Brick and mortar shops have been dying for decades and we find value in them we should be willing to pay them their margins.