I need to buy a complete system.
The reason I suggested the Harbeth M40.2 and not my personal favourites the Quad electrostats is that by the description this is for a very large room where the Quads would struggle. For a review of the M40.2: http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/harbeth-monitor-402-loudspeaker/ A lot of amplifier power would be a good idea in this case. Alan Shaw, Harbeth’s designer, recently demonstrated the M40.1 in the Netherlands and the power meters on the demo amp indicated more than 500 watt per channel. Fortunately watts do not have to cost much if you use pro audio amps rather than fancy overpriced high end hifi. A good example would be the Yamaha pxx00 series. See here for a test of the 2x350 watt rms P3500s that until recently sold for about $500 and performed better than some boutique amps costing ten times as much: http://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum/amplificateurs-de-puissance-haute-fidelite/mesures-ampli-yamaha-p... I bought the 2x250 watt P2500s for my son and the sound quality is perfect. Alan Shaw has long argued that Harbeth speakers will perform perfectly with any properly designed amplifier. He has also argued repeatedly that you do not need fancy expensive cables. If you think you need them, your system has a problem. |
re room treatment. I sympathise: we live in a modernist house that was designed for us, with enormous glass windows, a pretty minimalist interior and hard floors. If your situation is only a bit comparable, you will need to do something to dampen the reflections in the mid and high frequency range if you want to avoid listening fatigue. Fortunately, elegant and clean modern technical solutions do exist, perhaps to be combined with a large rug. If you don't need the video you obviously save some money that you could use to get e.g a beefy Bryston power amplifier. |
I agree that the Audiokinesis Swarm system is a very interesting option. If I were living in the US I would certainly give it a very hard look, as it addresses precisely the biggest issue with the reproduction of low frequencies. However, I am sure digital room equalization such as by the DSpeaker Antimode 8033 or their forthcoming X4 could add additional benefits. As for room treatments, I think it is important to distinguish between two fundamentally different kinds. The first is to deal with room modes below the Schroeder frequency, and involves big and inelegant bass traps. The second is to deal with chaotic reflections above the Schroeder frequency and involves damping material of various kinds, rugs, book cases etc. The Swarm system addresses the first kind, below the Schroeder frequency, but not the second. Given the hard floor of the OP's house, he may still have to do something about that. |
