My 861 is here to stay. The Wilson's will stay for as long as I stay in my house. A bigger house might warrant some different speakers, but not yet.
800 series v1.6 Meridian has been added to accompany the 861 - one of the best pre-amps out there - never mind prcessors...no upsampling from the 800 as it's only v1. Makes ease of use much better as well as the sound!
I have now bought Kubala Sosna Emotion cables (interconnect and speaker) which I can't properly use (still!) as I accidentally blew my tweeters! So the Sonus Fabers are back at the front for the time being.
I did A/B of KS versus Virtual Dynamics and *in my system* there was a clear winner - KS. Imaging is now some of the best I've heard. Not qutie the openess I heard with the VD Revelation cable, but I could not get it to image well at all. However in my dealers (halcro pre/power plus Acappella High Violins) system, the difference was much less clear cut - it depends on so many things - they are both good cables!
New cabinet has taken away the DIY feel to the system and new heavy curtains have done wonder for imaging and sound overall.
I am wondering if anyone else has thougbt of going my way - dynamic speakers, hybrid amp for the best of both worlds and high end multichannel preamp. This I feel gives me flexibility (like room correction) add digital / balanced / unbalanced as and how I choose and upgrade firmware as well as hardware easily.
I am yet undecided as to whether I will feed the system from a HTPC or the 861's sister, the 800 DVD player (or 808 CD player)
From what I have heard a good CD player such as Wadia / Levinson with superclocks might be the thing.
Anyway I digress - smooth preamp with flexibility, hybrid power and dynamic speakers - a mess or a very good balance?
You would have done better with a FPJ the likes of Sharp or Infocus. The Wilson speakers are nice but the Aerial 9 would have been a better deal. Good luck.
Two things - firstky I called this HT which it is, but I am solely doing this for sound. Don't give a stuff about picture - I have a component fed plasma for TV / DVD and that will do.
More importantly I have just agreed to buy a pair of Sophias - so expect some piccys when they have cleared customs!
I have ordered a cupboard for this kit and more kit to come in the future. This WAF is allowing me to spend on the system, so I'm not arguing!
I think I probably suffer from the same liveness / brighness / midrange interference as you and have just ordered a large fluffy rug for the wooden floors. I have also persuaded SWMBO that some padded sound absorbtion panels would be a good idea dotted around the walls as well as the paintings. (How lucky??!!)
