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If you listen to anything other than Classic Jazz, don't read this.

:)  I'm a Jazz only intermediate audiophile looking to improve my system. i ONLY listen to jazz, and i think that matters. If you are of the opinion that great speakers make all music sound good then move on to the next post, because the premise here is that speakers for Acoustic Jazz ( Big Band to Post Bop) have different requirements. My jazz audiophile buddies and i hav A/B'd lots of different speaker/amp/turntable/cartridge combinations as a fun hobby for the last 3 years. i've gone through at least 3 whole systems to get where i am now:
All Rega System - Rega Exex-R, Rega P3, with upgrades, Rega MC Phono Pre,  Rega Apheta 2 Cartridge, Rega RX5 Speakers. 

It sounds really great, but want to get to amazing if possible, and have recently done some speaker comparisons with some Paradigms and Harbeths that show the RX5's could have a tighter, deeper bass and bit more high frequency... 

The challenge is threefold -
1 )information out there is hard to come by, often confusing and  i haven't found much information specifically on what speakers jazz heads prefer.
2) I want to be able to put them up against my current system in my room, which seems a difficult task
3) They have to look good. Aesthetics matter to me. Tektons and Magnapans are cool But Ugly AF, and not going to work for me.

i want someone to tell me this is the best my system is going to get and just enjoy it (which i do 82.5% of the time), or recommend a few things to try, hopefully with recommendation for speakers to try, but i'm open to other suggestions.

I look forward to your comments :)

sincerely,
Eric the Jazz Snob
128x128ericmbass
54 responses Add your response
br3098
994 posts
 
@baranyi Yes, that is true. It's especially challenging in that the boss asked me to reduce the amount of audio gear visible in the living room. She might as well have asked me to remove a leg. I can do it, but why???

Anyway, I found a great deal on a used BAT VK-300x hybrid integrated amp. 6922-driven preamp and SS amp. Sounds good, so far. The other option is to use a tube preamp to drive SS monoblocks via balanced output. I just need to hide the mono blocks behind the Obs and use some strategically placed houseplants.

Sorry, back to your regularly scheduled programming...

mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
Sorry for the delay in answering this Eric, I have Waltz for Debbie and Sunday at the Village Vanguard. I can only find that set on CD. Thinking about it. So you have two recs for Sound Labs speakers. Look at the Ultimate 545's. If you can afford them you will never get better reproduction of an acoustic bass. The only speaker that could match them is the old Apogee Diva. Because there is no cross over the bass is in perfect phase with itself. It sounds like one instrument. When you compare it to other loudspeakers you realize that acoustic bass is fractured for lack of a better term. The size of the instrument is right. Other speakers with a few exceptions make the instrument small. Pianos have a similar problem if they are recorded correctly. As one Scott LaFaro fan to another, trust me on this one. You will think you died and made it to heaven.

Mike
wolf_garcia
6,695 posts
 
I have the classic Bill Evans early Scott LaFaro stuff on vinyl (and some on CD) and am a huge LaFaro fan...the vinyl is the re-issued Fantasy stuff (stereo versions) so nothing special there (except great sound), and LaFaro sounds fine on my Klipsch Heresy IIIs and 2 REL subs with tubes driving ’em. I worked with Peter Washington (one most respected of the current first call NYC jazz bassists...a great musician) mixing live shows a few times in different settings and he’s an audio geek with Tannoy speakers, a Cary SLP 98 tube preamp, and some esoteric Brooklyn made tube power amps the names of which I can’t remember...All recordings sound different of course, but acoustic jazz is mostly what I listen to these days and I cherish great sounding stuff...a current fave is the Bill Stewart "Band Menu" trio CD with Bill on drums, Larry Grenadier on bass, and Walter Smith III on tenor sax...just a beautiful clear and superbly performed recording.
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glissando
35 posts
 
ericmbass I do listen to all types of music but I share the appreciation you have for classic jazz.

Rega makes fine turntables and in recent years they've made some very fine integrated amplifiers. Speakers not so much. One respected British audio reviewer panned the RX5 as "Not a particularly exciting or entertaining listen."

I currently have Revel, Paradigm Signature and Apogee speakers at home. I swap out some of the best tube and solid state amps, use a tube/mosfet hybrid as well as they suit me that week, day or for just for a particular album. Changing things up is half the fun. 

But in the several decades that I've owned mid to hi-fi systems, listening to Jazz the speakers I enjoyed the most were Vandersteen Signature 3As.

The Vandersteen 2CE Signature II is a Stereophile recommended speaker, comparable in size to your Regas, that I'd highly suggest you listen to. An updated Signature III has just been introduced so the Signature II can be found for really good prices.





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