Looking for Speaker Input
Really hard to provide any meaningful advice based on the info you have provided other than you seem to have a case of audiophile merry go round syndrome. Other guesses I can venture based on nothing but seeing and reading comments in places like this; speakers are too big for the room, speakers are not positioned properly, cannot breathe, too close to walls etc. System is set up on wrong wall/not the long wall, room is acoustically challenged and nothing has been done to mitigate. There is no reason that system is not creating beautiful sound other than above. |
I think you are correct. My last jump was from a ~$12K speaker to ~$32K. The difference was substantial. I had verified I wanted the sound of Sonus Faber about ten years earlier by getting a used set of Cremona.. and within a week decided this was the right brand for me. So I ordered a set of SF Olympica 3 (trading in the Cremona), which I really enjoyed for six or seven years and then upgraded to the SF Amati Traditional. These sonically fit my room (25’ bye 36’). and musical tastes well Additionally they are the most beautiful speakers I have seen. Click in my user ID to see the system. While my system is detailed it is overwhelmingly musical and performs very well across all musical types. But you must like the house sound of the speaker company you choose. Given your equipment, if you play rock most of the time look at B&W. For great imaging high end speakers look at Wilson. Very highly detailed Magico. Given your systemI would stick with established high end companies. |
Having worked in the electronics business in China and Japan for a couple decades I can say that in general Japanese goods far exceed the quality of Chinese. There are exceptions of course where, for instance an American company tightly controls every aspect of the manufacturing processes (think Apple). But, in general, Japan, the culture and companies are dedicated to high quality and endless iterative improvements. They are absolutely dedicated to doing a good job. China is very different, culturally and from a manufacturing perspective all over the map. So, no question you can get a good piece of equipment from China, but lots of research and knowledge is required to be guaranteed good tech and quality construction. |
What’s your budget ? The A5 Magico , a great speaker with discount around $21 k Wilson Sabrina x MBL 120, or 116 the bigger the budget the more choices , your dac is the front end and For sure a weak link vs stand alone dacs , the Bricasti there are a lot of great dacs Bricasti,Aqua , and a bunch of others , a dedicated dac is forsure better then a multi purpose,dac ,CD player , most of the digital technologies in spent elsewhere ,a dedicated dac is always better . |
as audioman has stated, the weak link is you front end - the DAC not the speakers. In our demonstration room we have been playing with DACs for the past month. Recently hooked-up the Sonus Faber Stradivari Homage speakers. Sounded excellent but even better when the DAC was upgraded. Big improvement over the preamp and Class A mono blocks. |
Let me throw an alternative into the discussion. I was shocked but I found really good anti vibration feet an anything can make a huge difference. They worked under every piece of electronics I put them especially under my CD drive(it was a brand new machine). They add clarity, detail, transparency and detail. Plus I haven't done it yet but I've heard the same thing under speakers. Good ones aren't cheap but they're far less costly than new speakers. |
If you like a punchy bass and sweet midrange and the capacity to increase treble via increasing upper frequency db , look at German Physik Borderland 4 … it’s an Omni but not like you’ve heard .. great soundstage but with very good imaging. previously I’ve had Martin Logan’s and before that Linn Isobariks and quads |
It’s best to build your own speakers for most companies over charge for their crap products very few honest companies in this current economy. I purchased some Cerwin Vega xls-215 along with a klipsch 250c with another Cerwin Vega cvx-21s and a Cerwin Vega el36dp with some Bose 301 v5 acting as surround sound. My next set of speakers will either be jbl or custom made and maybe with all jbl drivers. If you listen to mostly music jbl and Cerwin Vega are great just not sure in this current climate for most manufacturing practices are falling way off the cliff and products are being made worse than ever before. So in essence if you want the best you have to child your own and pick exactly what you want and how you want it to sound. |
Earlier this year I had the opportunity to demo many amps connected to an Aurender Streamer and many different speaker combinations. I heard amps from Boulder, McIntosh, Luxman, Pass to name a few. Speakers heard were Focal various models, Magico A series and S series, Martin Logan Esl Series and Monoliths, Wilson Sasha Daw and Alexia II’s. I do not recall the exact cabling but it was Audioquest branded. From my perspective the best sounding combination for the Luxman M900u was one amp played in stereo setting combined with the Wilson Alexia II’s, followed up by the Martin Logan’s. The Magico’s sounded very hollow and the Focals way too bright. This was my personal experience. Hope this helps and good luck. Woots |
| Post removed |
Hello, I think your gear is great. I don’t know if you are running subs then add a JL Audio CR1 crossover. This lets you pick the crossover point of your speakers. I know your speakers are awesome and go all the way down. It doesn’t mean you should let them. Sometimes you can over excite the room. If you don’t have subs you should get some. Last but not least and maybe should be first. IsoAcoustic footers or Townshend platforms. You have great equipment but you need to get better control over your speakers. One more thing. If you can use one amp for the high side and one for the lows. I have heard this can help because of how hard the amp has to work. I have tested these theories. I own the crossover and two JL Audio F110 subs. It sounds great even when the volume is on 1. That’s only 2.5% of the total volume. You will not believe the definition you get out of your system. This store in the Chicagoland area is an IsoAcoustic and JL Audio dealer. https://holmaudio.com/ They let you try before you buy in your home. Once you do this you will never change your gear. |
Focal Sopras: twin 8 inch woofers; I'm guessing deep bass performance is your issue, as this speaker I'm guessing plays flat down to the low to mid 40-ish hz range or so. It might play deeper but at -3 dB or more; that's probably adequate for most music but it sounds like you want to bump it, and jam to some beats. If you want some "jump" to your system, get a fast sub. I'm guessing a 12 inch REL or Sonus Faber Sub would do nicely. A X-over with a sharp 18 dB roll-off would probably work well. You don't mention your room size; if your room is small, no dice mi amigo; you'll need a bigger room, but if you have a big room, then a sub will work out, I'm guessing. Good luck. |
Strange no one mentioned the weak link is ALWAYS the room. Next is always the transducers, front end (phono cartridge) and back end (speakers/headphones). Electronics can make a good system great but i offers far less change than transducers. A crap DAC can ruin everything but you don’t have a crap DAC. So......back to transducers. I would take those Focals outside which is as close to an anechoic chamber you can get at home. Its boundary free almost (ground/driveway is a boundary) so see if you love them outside. If you don’t, buy new speakers. If you do, work on your room to get them close to that outside sound as possible.. Brad Lone Mountain |
OP, nothing wrong with your kit. The room has been mentioned as possible cause.If your room has not been treated which I must assume is the case because you haven't provided any info to the contrary, then that aspect should be addressed before any major component swapping. Changing anything whilst ignoring the acoustics will lead to waste of money, confusion, frustration and possible further lockdowns 😲 Changing cables or adding vibration damping etc. is all helpful but unless the room complies to a known target response you are short-changing yourself. A properly treated room will blow your socks off and you may/probably find your existing speakers are amazing. |
