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Looking for thoughts; starting out system...

I have a pair of Audioengine A5's fed by my Apogee Duet and assisted by a Sunfire TS Junior 8. I've enjoyed the sound, but I want to upgrade. I was recently given a Luxman TP-114 pre-amp and Sherwood AM-7040 200wpc solid state amp, and decided to try upgrading my speakers... Am now overwhelmed!

I'm currently 'auditioning' broken in Dali Helicon 300mkii in my 13'x18' room with some $200 in new cables. I listen to lots of different music, from modern electronic music to high-res 24/96 classical and everything in between. I feel the sound I'm currently getting is too forward and bright, and is tiresome to my ears. Not to say that it isn't phenomenal in many respects (great staging, dynamics and weight). I'm hearing lesser recordings sound, well, much lesser, and only the best recordings shine. Part of me feels that these well-ish reviewed speakers are being improperly driven by my vintage solid state equipment. I also think that the sound they're putting out is at the threshold for my size room. They sound both better and worse than the A5s I have been used to.

Ultimately I want a pair of speakers that will be as enjoyable and 'musical' as possible given my current equipment, that are perhaps more laid-back and forgiving until I can afford better components that will make such speakers sound more exceptional. I will spend up to $2k and am open to floorstanding speakers and stand-mount both. Could the Helicons be the ticket? I'm not sure. I have a truly great standing deal on them, so I'm not opposed to this route. But I'm also considering a pair of Vandersteen 1Cs which for some reason hold un-heard appeal. I am interested in Nola Boxers (though nobody has them here in Los Angeles). I listened to PMC and they sounded like a studio monitor. My friend has B&W 80something and they sound OK, more well rounded I suppose and more expensive (though he brought his small $1k B&W that he uses as rear channels over and the price/performance ratio of the Helicon really showed up clearly, ie they're at least 4 times better...)

Usher Be-718?
Speaker Art Super Clef?
Would I be trading apples for oranges? I think i want to trade apples for stewed apples... Easier to digest.

Am I wasting my time with the Luxman and Sherwood?

At any rate, I'm having a ton of fun with the whole process! Thanks in advance for the comments!
downstrung

Showing 1 response by shiitaki

shiitaki
7 posts
 
I think you are simply combining components that are all biased to be very technical, detailed, forward, to use a few terms used in reviews. You will have to decide what to swap with a laid back component to bring the system back toward being balanced. I don't know how loud you like it, but the louder you want to play, the physically larger the speaker will need to be, in general, to avoid pushing the speaker out of it's sweet spot.

A couple of brands that are 'laid back' but still sound good are PSB and the bipolar towers by Definitive Technologies. Both are pleasant, good detail, but without that etching high range so many speakers have.
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