Buy used B6W 803d or new Sonus Faber Venere 2.5?

[bpuad]

Hi HiFi enthusiasts .

I'm about to buy a whole new setup as I haven’t had anything for ages (except the Boose 5.1 in my old apartment).

So I've been looking around quite a lot and listened to B&W 805di, 804di (crappy amp in the demo so didn't do them justice), Elac 407, HECO Celan GT-502, Sonus Faber Venere 2.5 and some more.

The one liked most of these where the Venere 2.5, really nice sounding speakers for its price range and I decided to set my limit to 3000-4000 for the speakers. But then of cause you have the second hand market also, I started looking at used B&W speakers and found a pair of 803d from 2006 for sale at 1800, hmmmm this is a bit tempting.

I've not yet had time to listen to them as I found the ad this morning. From what I've come to understand there are quite a big gap between the 804 and the 803 so I thought the 803 would be good.

I guess the B&W 803d will be quite a lot harder to drive and will demand stronger amp than the Venere 2.5. I was recommended the Hegel H80 for the Venere 2.5, a lot of amp for the money but I guess it will be way to weak for the 803d's.

It seems to me that the Venere 2.5 is great value but how would you say they compare to the 803d's?

I've also been looking at SALK a bit and the Tekton Pendragon (which seems like amazing value!). Tekton seems very nice in the BMW grey. The problem with the SALK speakers and the Tekton is that there is, what I know of at least, anywhere in Sweden where I can listened to them .

Hmmm a lot of text but it would be great the have your opinions about the Venere 2.5 vs 803d or the Pendragons :cheers:

 

[CnoEvil]

I won't tell you what to get, only to listen to as many speakers as you can, trying as many amp / speaker pairings as you can. With the budget you have, you have a lot of options. Remember, a lot of expensive speakers take a decent high current amp to control them, which is expensive.

Also, as the amp / speaker part of a system gets more expensive, it also gets more revealing of the source, so bear this in mind when putting the system together.

I don't know all the speaker brands you have access to, but I would suggest Kef R Series / Reference, Harbeth, Spendor, Vienna Acoustics, Opera, Audio Note and Proac.

 

[steve_1979]

+1 for Vienna Acoustics.

They make some of the best sounding mid/high end passive speakers around IMO. Certainly worth a listen at your price range.

 

[matt49]

I won't tell you what to get, only to listen to as many speakers as you can, trying as many amp / speaker pairings as you can. With the budget you have, you have a lot of options. Remember, a lot of expensive speakers take a decent high current amp to control them, which is expensive.

Also, as the amp / speaker part of a system gets more expensive, it also gets more revealing of the source, so bear this in mind when putting the system together.

I don't know all the speaker brands you have access to, but I would suggest Kef R Series / Reference, Harbeth, Spendor, Vienna Acoustics, Opera, Audio Note and Proac.

What he said.

I'd add that the B&W 800 series and SF Veneres are, if not exactly at opposite ends of the sonic spectrum, certainly a long way apart. The SFs have a dark and smooth tone; the B&Ws have a bright, even slightly gritty top end.

 

[bpuad]

Thanks for the answers.

I used to like the KEF q series many year ago and I have to listen to KEF Reference serie. I will also check out if there are any store that has the Vienna Acoustics.

I think I saw a pair of KEF Reference 207/2 for sale, quite expensive but probably awsome to .

The most important for me is that I get good value for the money, if that will end up beeing speakers for 5000 so be it. I started with a budget of 6000-7000 for the speakers, but I try to give all price ranges a chance and so far I like the Venere the most and I think they sound fantasic a that price point.

Yes the Faber Venere and the B&W 800-series sound very different, I like both of them but for the money the Venere is easily the best buy but that's why I wanted to give the 803d a try.

I would also like to give the more expensive Sonus speakers a try.

 

[CnoEvil]

As I mentioned before, make sure the amp is up to driving the speakers you go for.........eg. Kef Reference speakers require an amp stable into 3 Ohms, and sound well with amps like Electrocompaniet, Plinius, Bryston and Musical Fidelity AMS.

IMO. B&W work with Classe, and SF with Sugden and Audio Analogue.

 

[matt49]

I would also like to give the more expensive Sonus speakers a try.

The Cremona M range is about to be discontinued, and there are some good deals to be had. I think the standmount (Auditor) is better than the floorstander. The new Olympica series is excellent, but pricey: the Olympica II floorstander is a lovely speaker, but over £6K.

 

[Sir Lemon]

Where are you located in Sweden, can you travel around to audition gear?
The local market in Sweden is very well supplied, you have a wide array of quality gear from which to choose, don't rush the acquisition, audition as much stuff as you can.

Regarding the amp, the Hegel H80 is really nice (like all Hegel amps, for that matter), but be sure to audition with the speakers you've chosen, don't buy on recommendation alone.

 

[bpuad]

Absolutly, I will not by an amp that is to weak.... I'll try to match the amp with what ever speakers I choose in the end.

 

[bpuad]

Thanks, I'll check them out. I've seen a couple of Cremona M for sale.

 

[bpuad]

I live i Västerås and work in Stockholm.

I will have a hard time traveling to far but I'm thinking of checking out esoterisk-hifi i Uppsala out, they have a lot of used HiFi equipment.

I've listend to the Venere 2.5 and the H80 together and it sounded good, next time they will set up the H300 together with the Venere to here the difference.

It takes a lot of time but it's a dam fun process buying new HiFi, and I'm not the spontanius type when I buy I want it to be right

 

[Sir Lemon]

I see, then it shouldn't be a problem checking out Audio Concept in Stockholm, and, while I know it's very far, Akkelis Audio in Goteborg has a lot of interesting stuff as well.

Enjoy your search!

 

[bpuad]

Thanks, I'll do that.