Yvette vs Sabrina

[Echos]

Hi Folks,
1st time poster here who has enjoyed and learned from these forums.
I have been toying with this decision for a year and am no closer to making sense of my deranged mind.
I am considering either the yvettes or the Sabrina’s.
What I have struggled with is to rationalize the value difference between the Sabrina’s and The Yvette’s.
I know the Yvette’s do a lot better in the lower registers, have better bass and provide more space at the top end.
Question is, is that worth 10k more than the Sabrina’s?
The room hosting the Yvette’s or the Sabrina’s is about 15*15.
I would love to know your thoughts.

 

[GSOphile]

What kinds of music do you favor? Listening levels? For my classical orchestral/jazz, the Yvettes would be the easy choice. Also, for your room, I'd consider Rockport Atria IIs.

 

[Echos]

What kinds of music do you favor? Listening levels? For my classical orchestral/jazz, the Yvettes would be the easy choice. Also, for your room, I'd consider Rockport Atria IIs.

Pretty eclectic taste - Il listen to classical, rock, pop, jazz - so its all over the place. Thanks for pointing me towards the Rockport Atria II's as well.
Im in WA and realize that I dont have any dealers carrying the Rockports....

 

[mribob]

I had rigorous in home demo of both, as well as DAW Shasta’s. Ended up with Yvette’s....love them , about 85-90% of Sasha DAW in smaller, more wife friendly footprint.
Sabrina,s were a pleasant surprise, but they ‘strained’ to energize my room, a bit bigger than yours. Happy with my choice. They do need a good amp...I am running Dag Momentum stereo 250.

 

[Echos]

I had rigorous in home demo of both, as well as DAW Shasta’s. Ended up with Yvette’s....love them , about 85-90% of Sasha DAW in smaller, more wife friendly footprint.
Sabrina,s were a pleasant surprise, but they ‘strained’ to energize my room, a bit bigger than yours. Happy with my choice. They do need a good amp...I am running Dag Momentum stereo 250.

I had rigorous in home demo of both, as well as DAW Shasta’s. Ended up with Yvette’s....love them , about 85-90% of Sasha DAW in smaller, more wife friendly footprint.
Sabrina,s were a pleasant surprise, but they ‘strained’ to energize my room, a bit bigger than yours. Happy with my choice. They do need a good amp...I am running Dag Momentum stereo 250.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. Much appreciated. As much as i love your set up, its upwards of $70k and beyong my budget. TBH I was suspecting that the Yvettes would need a ton of power /great amp for it to truly sparkle. Not su.re what other cheaper amps i could get away with.
Im planning on taking a cheaper route - I picked up the Naim ND5 xs2....undecided about preamp/amp but rounding it off with the Spendor D9's.

 

[GSOphile]

Your speakers will be the biggest equipment decision you will make. IMO get that right first. A really good moderately priced power amp choice: Bryston 4B3. Excellent resale value helped by 20-year transferrable warranty if you decide to upgrade. A couple of excellent powerful integrateds: Pass Int-250 and Gryphon Diablo 300 (which I own and love).

 

[Bobvin]

I drove my Alexia v1 with an ARC Ref75 with KT150 tubes and it worked very, very well. Granted, my new REF160M’s do a better job, but I think you’d easily drive the Yvettes or Sabrinas, in your room, with the modest power of something like a Ref75 (shameless plug, I have one for sale). I have heard Sabrina many times, but thought, for example, the Mcinosh gear at Definitive in Seattle made them sound a little soft & slow. With Dag gear or ARC, they sounded much more like Wilson speakers, and I could live happily with them if assembling a less cost system (compared to my current rig). Used equipment will allow you to get the most from your budget, and also allow you to try different pieces to dial in your flavor. I know of one fellow up in Seattle who happily enjoyed Sabrina withall Dag Momentum level electronics, the Sabrina are terrific speakers, and cost differential will allow you to improve on your electronics. Something like the Pass integrated would me a good choice if not going the separates route.

 

[WeatherB]

I bought a pair of Wilson Sabrinas last December and use an ARC GS150 to drive them. I auditioned the combo at Alma Audio in San Diego (hi Alex!) about 18 months ago and was floored by their performance. I also heard the Alexia 2 in the same system. While the Alexia 2 was superior sounding, it wasn’t the huge difference I expected. I spent the next few months creating spreadsheets and flow charts in order to determine what amp and preamp I should buy. For me, it came down to Pass Labs or ARC. I ultimately chose Audio Research and am happy I did!

My room is 20’ by 24’ and I have no issues driving them. The combo is amazing, but you may prefer something else. Personally, I’m finding myself with a new set of priorities: get the speaker room interface right and then put the rest of your resources into the amp/preamp. These can be reference quality for many, many years. Front end components come afterwards, imho.

BTW, I found the Sabrinas really begin to sing after about 300 hours of use.

Good luck in your journey and keep us posted!

 

[asiufy]

Hi there

The ARC + Wilson combo is really special, and I'm glad to hear they're singing in your room!


cheers,
Alex

 

[Kodiak Special]

I’m going with Ayre 5 twenty series separates, including the QX-5 twenty, running Transparent Ultra speaker, interconnects, and XL power cords. Room size is 18’ x 35’, coffered ceilings. Thinking SabrinaX @$18k, would you recommend these or Yvettes? Or other?

 

[dan31]

If you can’t listen to both I would go with the Yvettes.

 

[Kodiak Special]

Thanks, will listen to the Yvettes.

 

[KeithR]

Little different opinion here, but I’d take the new SabrinaX (or used Sashas). The Yvettes lack the bigger Wilson’s adjustability but is angled so room placement is more difficult.