If you can find a used pair of VMPS 626R speakers ($1200 or less depending on the upgrades), you'd be impressed. The guy I sold a pair to about 4 years ago loves them. He had to buy them after hearing them at my house--just made me an offer on the spot. They have excellent clarity without etching, are dynamic, have good defined bass down to 37 hz in room. The guy and his professional bass playing son sat there listening for 5 hours straight prior to the offer. He uses them with a typical home theater receiver and says they sound fantastic. I sold them because I had a chance to buy a pair of VMPS RM40 speakers used. I used to have Von Schweikert VR-4 speakers and the jump in performance to the VMPS 626R's was way more than I expected.
Back to it - Practical speaker upgrade
I am looking to upgrade my family room system. I have a mid-fi setup that includes a Rega Mira amp and decent digital sources, cables, etc.. that I use for both TV and 2 channel audio. This is in the family room and the amp must do double duty and be reliable. I have older Infinity Beta 40 speakers (which surprisingly sound ok) but I have been looking to upgrade (and not getting around to it). I demoed Rega RS5 recently, and while it was nice, it didn’t strike me as a significant enough upgrade. I listen to jazz, acoustic music, some rock, some classical. I value timbre and timing, and I don’t need a ton of bass. I don’t like analytical sound or fake hi-fi “detail”.
My room is an open concept 14’ x 25’, with 8.5’ ceilings and approximately 10’ listening distance. There is a half wall that opens up to a 20’ x 14’ kitchen area.
I also have a 14.5’ x 18.5’ living room/library where I could potentially add a second system.
Here are the options I am considering:
1. Upgrade my speakers in the family room and spend $3-5k. I’m open to upgrading the Rega as well but would need something with enough inputs to accommodate other sources (TV, DVD, etc…)
2. Take the same money and set up a second system in the 14.5’ x 18.5’ living room/library with another amp and speakers — For example, a tube or hybrid integrated and nice bookshelf speakers, for example.
Any thoughts on which direction you would go? And, any tower speaker recommendations for 5k and under with good WAF that would work well with the Rega? The new Focal Aria line looks nice but I haven’t heard them.
Thanks.
My room is an open concept 14’ x 25’, with 8.5’ ceilings and approximately 10’ listening distance. There is a half wall that opens up to a 20’ x 14’ kitchen area.
I also have a 14.5’ x 18.5’ living room/library where I could potentially add a second system.
Here are the options I am considering:
1. Upgrade my speakers in the family room and spend $3-5k. I’m open to upgrading the Rega as well but would need something with enough inputs to accommodate other sources (TV, DVD, etc…)
2. Take the same money and set up a second system in the 14.5’ x 18.5’ living room/library with another amp and speakers — For example, a tube or hybrid integrated and nice bookshelf speakers, for example.
Any thoughts on which direction you would go? And, any tower speaker recommendations for 5k and under with good WAF that would work well with the Rega? The new Focal Aria line looks nice but I haven’t heard them.
Thanks.