300DR on demo

So having been impressed at hearing what a 300DR could do driving some Sopra 2s at Infidelity recently, I arranged a home demo and the 300DR was installed last Thursday evening so I could try it over the weekend. The dealer also brought a pair of SL XLRs as I have a single SL XLR on my 250 and there’s no way I would now depart from a full SL loom. 

I resisted a serious listen until it had had a proper chance to warm up but from Friday onwards I’ve been running through lots of familiar CDs so as to assess it.

I had expected more oomph.  And indeed my Focal Electras needed repositioning as the 300DR allows them to go down even deeper but rather than more oomph I would say the 300DR is re-producing bass lines in a very much more articulate way.  However the 300DR is doing a great deal more than ‘merely’ improving the bass.  There’s lots more detail across the whole frequency range;  heavy, complex stuff is reproduced in a more relaxed way and has made me realise that my 250.2 could tend to some ‘thickness’ when pressed. But the other characteristic that I hadn’t really bargained for is the size of the soundstage which has just exploded in all three dimensions.  On my earlier thread about listening to Sopra 2s at Infidelity , I think it was Steve J who suggested that when trying to 300 I might find my speakers had grown by a couple of feet. I now know what he means!   

I know the 300DR is more than twice the price of the 250 but it feels a very big step up in quality and sophistication.

Mike