2. speakers
  3. 179644-177044

Recommendations for HiFi Listening Room

Newbie here.  Wife and I are looking to turn our Great Room into a listening room.  It’s roughly 21’X’19 and has a cathedral ceiling that is 11’ tall at the wall and 20’ tall at the apex.  Spoke to a good hifi dealer in the area who made the following recommendations/proposal and I’m curious if this group may have any input for getting maximum bang for my buck.  Basically, with a budget around 35k (or thereabouts) would you buy something similar or are there any components you’d add or swap out?

Paradigm Persona 3F

McIntosh MA8950

Pro-Ject Xtension 9 w/ Ortofon Black Cartridge 

Sony ES DSD Music Server (this one concerns me a touch in that it appears to be an 8 yr old product line).

Thanks so much in advance for your collective expertise.  My wife isn’t going to let me drop money into this for another 15 years so I need to get it right the first time. 

If it matters, our musical taste is quite varied: classical, jazz, classic rock, alternative, hip hop.  My mother complained in my youth that if i had 10 bucks I would just buy a CD with it.  She is still right. 

128x128brewerslaw

Showing 3 responses by terry9

terry9
2,251 posts
 

If you’re locked in for 15 years, you are very wise to get advice first.

I say: audition, audition, and audition. As others have mentioned, planar speakers are qualitatively different. I am a devoted planar man: dedicated sound room uses 4 Quad ESL’s and 2 Magneplanar woofer panels, home theatre uses 1 Quad ESL (centre) and 8 Magneplanar panels.

Both Quads and Magneplanars sing with Bryston amplification..With their 20 year (sic) warrantee, the used ones command a good price, but they are available and you could save money there. I would hold out for the SST series or newer.

Another place to save money is cables. I would buy cables for a maximum of $50 a pair to start with. Then, if you feel like upgrading cables, make any upgrade prove itself in your system before you commit to buy. Cables are by far the least bang for buck. IMO.

+1 for a dedicated power circuit or two.

Good luck !!!!

terry9
2,251 posts
 

@kennyc TAS 50 Greatest Bargains in High-End Audio

Hadn’t looked in ages - interesting though, that Magnepan speakers come up in 4 of 5 categories. Got to say that a pair of Magnepan DWM (woofer) panels really improved my system.

 

terry9
2,251 posts
 

Yes, my driver never quite gets it right.

More to discover