The ultimate shoot-out.

DaveyF · Nov 16, 2015

This weekend, I am looking forward to a major shoot out between some of the 'supposed' best speakers available. The occasion is hosted by a local a'phile who happens to own a pair of Acapella Excalibur Triolon V's and a pair of the new Marten Coltrane Supreme 2's. Against these we are going to be listening to 'the worlds best speaker' ( according to the manufacturer).... a pair of YG acoustic Sonja 1.3's. The shoot out should be interesting as the combined cost of these three speakers is well over $700K!
We may be also throwing into the mix the older Wilson Alex 2's....??? Nonetheless, the ancillary gear will also be first order.
The local dealer of the YG's is pretty confident that David ( the YG's) will slay all-comers....we shall see.

I will report back after the shoot-out with my thoughts....

Meantime, any one want to speculate on who the winner will be?

RBFC · Nov 16, 2015

The winner will be the bank account of the winning speaker's designer!

Sounds like a great time!

Lee

DaveyF · Nov 16, 2015

RBFC said:
The winner will be the bank account of the winning speaker's designer!

Sounds like a great time!

Lee

Indeed, although this a'phile club member already owns the Wilson's, the Acapella's and the Marten's. I guess if the YG's take the honor, they may well be added to the 'collection'.

dallasjustice · Nov 16, 2015

I'm glad it's at least a speaker shootout and not something lame; eg. DAC shootout, music server shootout or cable lifter shootout.

The YGs should win that one. Vivid G1 would make things more interesting. Maybe Phillip can drag his pair over to claim first prize. . .

bonzo75 · Nov 17, 2015

Anyone who wants to do a shootout between YG, Wilsons, Sonus Faber, MBL, Daniel Herz, Vivid, Focal, and such should visit Audioconcept in Stockholm. You can shootout in an SMT room with Spectral, Boulder, Pass, Reimyo, Nagra, Atmasphere, etc and such electronics.

Audiocrack · Nov 17, 2015

See the following link as regards the Acapella and Marten loudspeakers:

http://www.dagogo.com/second-visit-home-infamous-encinitas-jim/2

Why on earth should one speaker upfront 'beat' all the other loudspeakers? I really do not understand such comments made by people like Dallas justice who have likely not heard all mentioned speakers, let alone in the environment in which they apparently can be heard next weekend.

Rodney Gold · Nov 17, 2015

The one that costs the most and has the most drivers and is notoriously difficult to drive will undoubtedly win...

spiritofmusic · Nov 17, 2015

Rodney Gold said:
The one that costs the most and has the most drivers and is notoriously difficult to drive will undoubtedly win...

We audiofools certainly like complication

dallasjustice · Nov 17, 2015

The OP asked for opinions and I gave mine. I've heard all three brands. I owned the YG for almost 4 years. It's a better speaker than the other two. However, I think vivid does give YG a run for it. I just bought a new pair of speakers and ill post about it later on.

Audiocrack said:
See the following link as regards the Acapella and Marten loudspeakers:

http://www.dagogo.com/second-visit-home-infamous-encinitas-jim/2

Why on earth should one speaker upfront 'beat' all the other loudspeakers? I really do not understand such comments made by people like Dallas justice who have likely not heard all mentioned speakers, let alone in the environment in which they apparently can be heard next weekend.

Audiocrack · Nov 17, 2015

dallasjustice said:
The OP asked for opinions and I gave mine. I've heard all three brands. I owned the YG for almost 4 years. It's a better speaker than the other two. However, I think vivid does give YG a run for it. I just bought a new pair of speakers and ill post about it later on.

The quality of loudspeakers can vary greatly within one brand. Have you ever heard the Coltrane supreme 2 under controlled circumstances? This is Martens top of the bill loudspeaker that cannot be compared to its little brothers and sisters. And have you ever heard this specific Acapella loudspeaker?

Barry2013 · Nov 17, 2015

Look forward to hearing the outcome

dallasjustice · Nov 17, 2015

Audiocrack said:
The quality of loudspeakers can vary greatly within one brand.

I disagree. A designer's talent or competence is there or not there with every speaker they release. Speaker designers generally don't change their designs much over the years. They typically just release the same thing over and over in slightly different packages for marketing purposes. That's my opinion as to which will "win."

Rodney Gold · Nov 17, 2015

How do you do a meaningful speaker shootout.... its taken me 6 months to optimize mine in a dedicated and treated room...and thats just one pair

still-one · Nov 17, 2015

How long is this comparison going to take? You will be comparing 3 or 4 speakers that are going to have to be set up in their optimum position in the room. These are heavy speakers to move in and out and that takes a lot of time and our audio memory isn't that good.

wisnon · Nov 17, 2015

DaveyF said:
This weekend, I am looking forward to a major shoot out between some of the 'supposed' best speakers available. The occasion is hosted by a local a'phile who happens to own a pair of Acapella Excalibur Triolon V's and a pair of the new Marten Coltrane Supreme 2's. Against these we are going to be listening to 'the worlds best speaker' ( according to the manufacturer).... a pair of YG acoustic Sonja 1.3's. The shoot out should be interesting as the combined cost of these three speakers is well over $700K!
We may be also throwing into the mix the older Wilson Alex 2's....??? Nonetheless, the ancillary gear will also be first order.
The local dealer of the YG's is pretty confident that David ( the YG's) will slay all-comers....we shall see.

I will report back after the shoot-out with my thoughts....

Meantime, any one want to speculate on who the winner will be?

So where are the Tidal L'Assolutas, Goldmund Apologues, Vox Olympians, top AGuards, Perfect 8, Stenheim reference Statement, EA MM7,FM Acoustics, Cabasse La Sphere, Focal Utopia, Genesis, lansche, Franco Serblin, SFaber, Gauder, Gamut, Vienna , plus some nice Omnis like German Physics/Zeta Zero/MBL, etc? Shootout is missing some major "gunslingers".

wisnon · Nov 17, 2015

dallasjustice said:
I disagree. A designer's talent or competence is there or not there with every speaker they release. Speaker designers generally don't change their designs much over the years. They typically just release the same thing over and over in slightly different packages for marketing purposes. That's my opinion as to which will "win."

Where did you get THAT from. Often the tech is way different and even when not, the budget per speaker is quite different in scale.

Whereas what you say for Golmund wireless is true to a large extent, I would not say the same for say Vapor or Focal, for example.

Johnny Vinyl · Nov 17, 2015

Have fun Davey! Don't let the naysayers discourage you.

es347 · Nov 17, 2015

..comical that VSA seldom makes "best of" lists here. The VR11s would give any of the afore mentioned world beaters a run for their money...sheesh..

Al M. · Nov 17, 2015

Rodney Gold said:
How do you do a meaningful speaker shootout.... its taken me 6 months to optimize mine in a dedicated and treated room...and thats just one pair

Precisely.

The shoot-out will be pretty invalid, most likely.

microstrip · Nov 17, 2015

DaveyF said:
(...) Meantime, any one want to speculate on who the winner will be?

How do you want us to rank them? According to weight, height, volume, area of drivers or efficiency?

I hope you have a great time - I am waiting to read your opinions with lots of detail about the systems!

The ultimate shoot-out.

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