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First Trip outside of Best Buy, a real newbie.

I am a commoner; I have never been to a real stereo store until this weekend. The big box of Best Buy was all I ever knew.

I went out with my wife, Music Librarian with a Phd in Music who has been happy with her 1980’s Denon but the CD recently player broke on our system. I talked to a friend who loves audio and wanted something I have never heard of called. . . Magnaplaners?

Me I love beauty and things that last, I brought my Claudio Arrau Beethoven Emperor movement 3 DDD disk to test some stuff with and Clara Nunes a great Brazilian singer.

First we hit a place that had some “Maggies” to see and hear for the first time. We walked in, I told them I have a big bonus check and I want to hear the Magnaplaners against the best other speakers you got. The lined up these huge 6 foot panels against some giant B&W box type speaker and plugged these Mark Levinson power blocks. I stuffed in the Beethoven into a Classes CD player that would probably kill my whole bonus.

The Maggies took up this awesome Piano piece and the speakers just disappeared. It was an airy and transparent sound that was not really powerful but beautiful. We compared the B&W and it sounded boxy in immediate comparison. We played a bunch of stuff, but at the first place I was impressed by the Magnaplaners.

Then we went to another shop that had Kef and Spendor. My wife immediately liked the Spendor S9. It was pretty nice, It had a punchy quality but did not have the clarity of the maggies, but good all around power. Then we heard some Kef 207 / 2. The owner cranked up the volume so I am not sure it was fair, but Beethoven was totally epic with some soaring highs. I told the Kef guy that I also listened to the Maggies. He said the Maggies were too specialized and would not work as an all around solution.

I am going to spend another 2-4 weeks working this out and then spend my bonus on a new system. I think I want a good 2 channel system that I can use with my TV. From the thread it sounds like 5 of 7 channel is not worth it.

So what to get? Where to go from here? What will fit in my space well?

My home is open, modern with lots of glass, but small. Where I will put the new system will be in a long thin room. About 12 feet wide and 30 feet long. It is open to other areas of the house and is both a living room and dining room.

I want something beautiful that will last a long time. I loved the Maggies for being invisible, but I also loved the Spendor and Kefs for being powerful.

My house is small and I plan to use the new system as a stereo and 2 channel home theatre.

Thanks for whatever advice you want to give me,
Scott
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Showing 5 responses by scottlanterman

scottlanterman's avatar
scottlanterman OP
24 posts
 
Wow. I was hoping to do a better job by consulting folks who have been into audio. Thanks for the generous feedback one and all. This is all started with the CD player breaking and going to Best Buy and seeing Blueray and then having some reward myself money.

I am taking the advice and slowing down.

We also have a Denon AV355 which is from the 80's. Can I get great sound from this? Could I hook a DAC into this as we have a huge collection and all of Stanford Music library is at my fingertips.

In all the feedback I got, the Apogees sounded really interesting if they have the clarity of the Maggies and the deeper base response would give them a well rounded great feel. In my small 12 x 30 living room could these be worth searching out? I am happy to buy used speakers and keep what I have.

The place where I heard the KEF 207's had them powered by Chord 50,000 dollar amps. I just looked them up. OMG!!! I want to think about the music, hear the music, just enjoy it, and blind fold myself to the supercharged world of power and electronics.

I dislike wasting good things. I am thinking of buying a good CD player and plugging in some speakers that really fit my space into the old Denon and seeing what happens.

Scott
scottlanterman's avatar
scottlanterman OP
24 posts
 
Since the CD player is busted I plugged my iPod directly into the humble Denon AV355 with a Monster cable my brother in law gave me tonight. I got a little set of Mirage book shelf speakers. It's the cheapest oldest system around, but the Debussy is still great.

No TV tonight, just chatting with my wife and listening to Ethiojazz and Debussy Arabesques in my funny shaped little room.

I have been doing the virtual helicopter thing called the WEB, checked Green Mountain. I dig the physics approach. There is so much passion in this world of audio.

On the budget system page I am impressed by the old new system with tubes and home made speaker and the enthusiasm for the system. I like the zen minimalism, and I am drawn to the tube amp. I like it, but I don't why. I guess I am impressed by the desire to keep something that should have died alive and they just look individualistic. Do tubes really create a warm sound? Is it a total pain in the but to maintain?

How about a 2 channel system that runs off of our Macintosh laptop, No CD Player, but somehow going into a classic tube amp and then hitting the right speakers for our little space. Any recommendations on a DAC and a Tube amp that could integrate into a simple old and new approach. I was thinking it would be cool to have my Mac laptop plugged into a McIntosh 275.

Thanks guys.
Scott
scottlanterman's avatar
scottlanterman OP
24 posts
 
That is good advice on the Peachtree. I am looking to keep it simple and focus on quality. We have a nice iTunes collection that I enjoy now but I am missing a lot.

Best speakers for my small space with this system?
I think there is a new Decco coming out that connects to video. This could keep the whole thing really simple.
scottlanterman's avatar
scottlanterman OP
24 posts
 
Well I did it.

I got the Spendor S8e here at Audiogon. My wife and I really liked these at our local high end audio palace, the Maggies did not make it. Maybe down the road.

So thinking down the road. I am considering trying build something similar to mjcmt, the Old Tech and New Tech system. How simple can you do a nice digital music to old school analog tube on a mid range budget?

I would like to get the MC275 amp. I love the look, the sound reviews are high, it's a classic that has been around and improved for 60 years. I admire that being in Silicon Valley and being part of building amazing things, but things that don't last.

So I am thinking of getting a MC275 and then an integrated DAC-preamp. Would something like the DAC1 Pre be a good choice? I want to connect my TV through the DAC, MC275 out to the Spendors for everyday use. Is the MC275 stable enough and robust enough to be used like this?
scottlanterman's avatar
scottlanterman OP
24 posts
 
At the moment I am seriously considering getting the Peachtree Nova. The Decco had great reviews, and the new Nova takes it to 80 watts per channel. This should play the digital collection, and if I can learn to tell the difference I can go with un-compressed digital through the Nova, which is supposed to have a good DAC.

I am not sure about the speakers that would go with this really simple set up. I am looking to do quality 2 channel, and forget about home theatre 5 or 7 channel. Too much hassle with little benefit. I am not into bomb blasting type movies anyway and good two channel will be more enjoyable for everyday. My wife the Musician grew up in classical and helps run Stanford's music program, but she likes rock and likes to dance around the house. I like doing that too, but most of the time I have been listening to quiet classical piano pieces to mellow out after work.

Speakers.

I am interested in Maggie 1.6. My wife is not.

I am interested in the Spendor S8 or S9. It is pricey. My wife likes these, and they look good. She thought the Spendor sounded great.

I will have to check out the Paradigm. My budget is about 2-3k for speakers. Maybe they are out of league.

I wonder if the 80 watt Nova could work with the Maggie 1.6? Does a sub-woofer really help the Maggies? Which one should I look at? This would be an uphill battle which I will probably lose, but what I do know is that we both are tired and losing interest in music just listening to an iPod in a weak set up that sounds muddy.
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