For
@tima,
@Tango, and all:
You guys asked for an executive summary - well I've been thinking much about my auditions in light of many of the comments here, discussions with audiophile friends, as well as reflecting on my audio goals. I started out seemingly wanting something simple - tone, dynamics, and soundstage with a lesser focus on coherency and bass. What I've discovered is that I'm a tube guy at heart and its very difficult for me to go in a different direction.
I can say the best audition I've had is the YG Sonja 2.2 on ARC/D'agostino in Alma Audio's incredible room. The issue is the Sonja just isn't a tube-friendly speaker and that gnaws at me. While I feel the combo I heard works very well - its one I don't value enough to spend on in this hobby. Also, hearing other YGs in different setups in the past few months I feel there are fewer paths for success. I had considered Lamm hybrids for example - but what if they don't work? Then I'm stuck auditioning high power SS monos - not my cup of tea- and at substantial cost. In fact, DarTZeel is my favorite SS amp and the 108 won't work here. So even at this league of gear, there are compromises. I'll also note that long term I have always returned to tubes. Therefore, while I really enjoy the YG sound I feel the risk is too high as is the potential $ investment.
The Rockports, Wilsons, and Stenheims were good but not actionable. I can see others liking each for various reasons- a Harbeth lover would go to Stenheim first, a transparency enthusiast might prefer a Rockport, and a guy who loves dynamics and big bass of course will go to the Wilson line. But none of these relaxed me in the way two speakers did - YG and Gamut, two very different designs but where I feel their superior coherency is the difference. I think the reason for this is that Zu and Devore have been in my stable for so long and I'm used to "flow" and lack of mechanical nature that
@bonzo75 refers to often. Perhaps I need to grab
@Ron Resnick and go hear the big Gamuts after all.
I also have an affinity for horns and while it took forever to hear a pair again - got good exposure at the Long Beach show and learned that horn bass may not be for me but that they do soundstage well and are known for tone and dynamics. Therefore, I decided to move forward with an Avantgarde session - whom I originally had passed up for Cessaro - and may ironically be the best for my listening habits. Bass quality has more importance to me now that it did when I started this journey.
And what if AG isn't the bees knees? I'll likely wait for John Devore's trickle down O Reference technology to catch up with his future designs. This may be disappointing for a forum journey where a "happily ever after" ending is enjoyed, but $50,000 is an enormous sum in this hobby and it has to be 100% right for me to jump. I'm not suffering with what I have currently - that I *can* confirm.
