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My speaker upgrade journey - and a few questions

So I have been running Linn Majik 140 speakers since 2015.  Started with a Rotel integrated, then Hegel 160 and currently the Hegel 390.  I like the Linn speakers as they have great presence and clarity, but (like most of us) wondered if I could find new speakers that provide a significant upgrade in sound.  Over the last three years I have listened to many, many speakers - Spendor, Vandersteen, Boenicke, Wilson, Sonus Faber, Focal, B&W, Borresen, Klipsch, Golden Ear, etc.  Just for fun I listened to some that are well over six figures.  Most were very good, but I just did not notice enough of an improvement over my current speakers.  I even found a dealer with my Linns on the floor, so I was able to do a direct A/B comparison.  Again, nothing justified an upgrade.  Last year I took a shot on some Tekton Double Impact speakers I had never heard as many on these forums love them.  I cancelled my order after about 2 months and no communication or speakers from Tekton. 

I figured I would never upgrade and perhaps my hearing is just not that good - why don't $100k Wilson speakers sound dramatically better than my $4k Linn speakers??

Until today.  I was sitting with John Rutan at Audio Connection listening to the Vandersteen Quatros and again had the same feeling - nice, but not worth it.  Then John sat me down in front of a pair of ATC SCM40A (the active version) and I was stunned.  These speakers are so much better in almost every way than everything I had heard before!  And since they don't need an external amp, the sale price of my Hegel 390 will just about cover the difference between the active and passive versions.  I hope they sound as good in my home as they do in the store.

Finally, here is my question.  To keep things as simple as possible, I would like to use my Yamaha RX-A6A (AVR) as the preamp for these speakers and connect the speakers via XLR cables to the pre-outs on the AVR.  Both the AVR and speakers have XLR terminals.  This means using the pre-amp section and DAC of the Yamaha.  The DAC in the Yamaha is the ESS SABRE ES9026PRO Ultra.  Would I be compromising these awesome speakers with the Yamaha electronics?  Thanks for your input. 

 

jcs01
roadcykler
91 posts
 

If I read your post correctly, you cancelled an order for speakers because not many people here "love them" which is as much of a mistake as believing someone when they tell you your Yamaha would be an "insult" to your system. I'm no Tekton shill but the one's I heard were pretty good and since you listened to many other speakers but didn't find them that much better than your Linn's, you may have missed some great speakers by not hearing the Tektons.

Good luck with your search but try not to be too influenced by the people who recommend something too excitedly or the people who say your Yamaha "isn't good enough." Absolutes rarely are. 

jcs01 OP
20 posts
 

If I read your post correctly, you cancelled an order for speakers because not many people here "love them"

Sorry, but I was not clear about this. I cancelled them because I waited for two months and heard nothing from them.

jcs01 OP
20 posts
 

So I did go down to Audio Connection today with my Yamaha AVR. I spent about three hours with John trying different options to find the best sound. I guess it is no surprise that the best option is an external DAC and a preamp with HT bypass. Would also need an external streamer. This adds about $5k to the price! Plus I would need to run about 30’ of XLR cables (two) from the preamp to the speakers and this appears to be about another $1k for each - assuming Audioquest.

I love this hobby, but I don’t think the active ACTs are worth all this extra cost. I think I will go with the passive version of the speakers and continue to use my Hegel H390 to drive them. I will also get the center channel speaker. I think the ACTs will be a nice upgrade from my Linns.

And I wanted to mention that we thought Spotify was just about as good as Tidal when we had the best equipment in use.  I was surprised.

audioman58's avatar
audioman58
3,900 posts
 

Here is a great speaker builder and fantastic value at $3k no competition 

 

curiousjim's avatar
curiousjim
4,218 posts
 

@jcs01 

As long as you’re lugging amps around, bring the H390 next and hook it up to the ATC’s W/O the built in amps. You know it will easily power them and it has an okay DAC in it.  I have had a H390 for two years now and for the money, I am very happy with it. Later when you have had time with everything and you are used to the sound, then consider an external DAC.

All the best.

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