Advice on Speaker upgrade vs System Component Upgrade


Hi Audiogonners,

I'm getting a bit of an upgrade itch, and looking for some advice about which direction to go. My current system is in my profile - small room 11x11x8 but sounds pretty good. Dynaudio Heritage Specials with DIY Aleph 60s i just built (fun!) - nice warm mid range / bass which i've enjoyed (mostly speakers),  also have a Parasound JC5+ which is nice too. I'm tempted by some of the following speakers but not sure on room size being a challenge for full sized towers. 

I listen to a lot of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Bowie - classic vinyl, but mostly on the roon rather than my turntable as my vinyl collection is really small. I love the sound of both digital and vinyl - but my digital is pretty warm with the R2R and the 

Looking at stepping up to speakers in the 10-20k range new but buying second hand;

Wilson Audio Sabrina's - $10K ish on Audiogon

Sonos Faber Olympica Nova ii - $7K used at local dealer

Or would i get a better result upgrading something like the DAC or Streamer. I'm just a bit unsure. And yes I know that the two speakers are very different sound character with the Wilsons being super revealing and probably very hard to set up in my small room. I have Kef R11s in the living room with the JC5, which are much more neutral than the Dynaudios, but they also sound great. 

Anyway - just looking for some perspectives - I'd like to move up a level with detail / clarity while still keeping that musical mid range..

Thanks in advance

 

 

gmdodd

@gmdodd , In regards to room treatment there are really two issues, evening out bass response and helping the system produce the best image.

Bass traps are worthless. If you have a bad room for bass the only two options that really work are multiple subwoofers and digital room control. If you do not want to get involved with all this stuff the best solution is to move your listening position backwards or forwards until you find the bass acceptable by ear. You might only have to move it a foot or two.   

Improving your image and dampening out artifacts like sibilance requires muting first reflection points throughout the room. This can be done with expensive panels from various companies but also just as effective is really cheap 4" acoustic foam tile. You could probably treat the whole room for less than $100.00! That is what I use but in my case the speakers hide the tile.  As for whether or not the foam tile are aesthetically acceptable is a matter of personal taste.   

OP,

 

I find the Sonus Faber sound to be the most natural and musical of any I have heard. Hence, I am on my third pair. Congratulations. I think you are headed in a great direction. Tell us how it goes. 

 

You must give a chance to Wolf Von Langa Son speakers, they re really good!!!

From your post, you may be at a point of diminishing returns. You look to be adding some bass extension. Putting some Wilsons in the space would likely be over kill IMHO. You will be filling your room with bass traps I would imagine. Only you could tell. Anyway. I've recently picked up some Totem Tribe towers. Don't let those 4" drivers fool you. I'm getting a real 30Hz feq response (measured). The only crossover they have is a first order to the tweeters. I drive there 4 ohs with a S300 from PS Audio and if fill my open concept room. 20-30 foot depth and about 15 foot wide, while maintaining a surprising sound stage well past the ideal seating area. Like many bookshelves speakers they simply disappear in the room. Placement is not critical. I tend to use digital sources (CD / stream / NAS) through my NAD dac produces a gentle (not warm) sound. I think the class A analog cell in the S300 really helps.
Visit a dealer and see for yourself. You will be asking yourself... how...? They are not "WoW' speakers, but the more you listen to them the more you will think "WoW" female vocals are stunning. I demo'ed their Element Metal V2s and those are WoW speakers. But could be in the same situation as the Wilsons... too much of a good thing. I listen to lots of Floyd, Led, along with Jazz, Blues, Classical, Opera and the Totems do amazing on darn near everything. I may still be in the honeymoon stage with them, but I would take these over my old B&W everyday. I have a large dog and she can push the Tribes no their isolation feet as she tries to get to the window. A draw back in my mind, but these speaker defy the laws of physics, Definitely worth a listen. May suite you perfectly.