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Help building new system: devore, verity or Sonus?

I'm getting a dedicated room for my gear, but the room is tiny, at 11.5' by 11.5' with about 9.5' ceiling.

I've been listening and reading up on a lot of speakers and the one's I'm most curious about are Devore Fidelity's The Nines or Super 8s, Verity Audio Finn (possibly Rienzi) and the Sonus Faber Liuto.

My current system is a McIntosh MA6600 with Dali MS4 Euphonia's, Clearaudio Turntable, and MHDT DAC with Mac Mini and Denon 3910, and Harmonic Tech. cables. I listen to folk, singer-songwriter, jazz, classical, female vocals, classic and indie rock, as well as solo guitar work. I Prefer smaller scale groups and intimate recordings.

My previous experience with the Dali's in a small room makes me feel they will be too much. I will treat the room as best I can, but WAF is a big issue.

I want to build my system around my speakers, and am in the NYC area, so can demo a lot. I'd prefer to buy from a dealer probably. I am looking to build a system that is very natural sounding and has some life and emotion to it, with no listener fatigue. I like: nice, taut, round bass that isn't boomy, muddy, or over-pronounced; sweet highs that are neither syrupy nor hyper-detailed and analytical; lush but not over-romantic mids.

I'd like to spend under $7,000 on the speakers. What do you guys think about the McIntosh with the speakers I listed? I am happy with the McIntosh, but would consider changing to something else if I found it didn't pair best. It's a small room so don't want anything that runs super hot.

Any other speakers I should try out? Any particular speaker/integrated amp combos you guys love?

Sorry this is so long, and thanks in advance for the help!
brookjoo
brookjoo OP
26 posts
 
I heard the Leben CS600, and the Luxman 590A II. I preferred the Luxman, but it kicked out too much heat for the size of my new room, which is a bummer. It was also more than I can afford, which is the real bummer!

I've heard the Nines at both in living stereo and Sound by Singer. I didn't hear them with the Pathos, but imagine that's a great combination. I've heard the Logos and loved it. I'm a ways off from pulling the trigger because I'm not even in the new space yet, and actually really like my McIntosh, so I may end up having to bring it into the dealer I end up buying from to see how they mate, although I'm more interested in keeping whichever speakers I get long term than my amp. I'm lucky to have two great Devore dealers near me, because I had to drive out into Jersey to get my last set of speakers from the dealer, because they didn't have an NY dealer.
keithr
1,306 posts
 
i think you should spend money on your difficult room first---small rooms are more treatable than some think.

otherwise, nothing is going to sound real good.
scottmac62's avatar
scottmac62
107 posts
 
Brookjoo, I have the Super 8's and we have similar
tastes in music. The 8's do very well in small to
medium sized rooms and they only need to be about
two feet from the rear wall. These speakers look
small but they have a lot of musical weight.
They sound great with both tubes and ss gear.

I like to mess around with different integrated
amps. They sound great with my 15 watt Cary 300b SEI
and awfully good with my Naim gear.

With your musical tastes I think you would really love
the Naim gear with the 8's. I have the Naim XS with
the Teddycap. The Teddycap and Naim 12 feet speaker
wire are a must. Combine this with Synergistic Research
Tesla T3 power and other SR products and you can achieve
unbelievable musicality that is rich, detailed and
holographic. Its this musicality that grabs you and
pulls you into the music. You will find yourself listening
to entire albums and not just skipping from song to song.
saki70
907 posts
 
I'm in a 10'X10' room and enjoying my Ref. 3a Dicapo i's . They are rear ported monitors but only @ 20" from the wall behind them . Also , I have them setup on the diagonal as mentioned above . Be aware , they don't have to be exactly on a diagonal plane . Some say that being off to one side more than the other is better , some don't . I do have some room treatments added , just corner and seam cushions from a company called 8th Nerve . These are not very big and obtrusive and can be colored to match your walls .

There is thread here which addresses speaker characteristics to look for . It was visited by a speaker designer whom contributed some very useful knowledge .
It is titled "How do you choose speakers based on room size" . It was initiated on 1-12-10 .

Good luck .
edo_musica
113 posts
 
Brookjoo,

We need an update. Did you go Devore, verity, or another route? Or did you find Silverbacks at a garage sale and cram them in your room?

I just picked up a pair of second hand Nines for my 13 x 18 x 8ft LR and it fills that with sound with ease. But with the rear ports, I found they need to be 3 feet from the wall. So I wonder how you would do with those in your 10 x 10? I still have my Super 8s but have yet to compare them back to back...too busy listening to music! The difference is easily apparent in my room with the bass heft and body. I occasionally ran my Super 8s with a Martin Logan Abyss sub (12" driver) and there is no match--the Nines trump it for overall cohesiveness and balance. Though, the nines are just at the edge of being too much for my room size.

FWIW: Music is everything from Nick Drake to RL Burnside to Massive Attack. Fed by: Red Wine 30.2 amp + Modwright pre + Brick DAC

So let us know Brookjoo: speakers, amp, etc.....
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