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. 

brewerslaw

Showing 2 responses by twoleftears

You can do a lot better than what the dealer suggested.

As per others, the first thing to do is to find two or three brands of speakers that you really like, which may require a bit of travel, but it will be worth it.

Once the speakers are set, you work back from there.

 

Among brands that are more commonly found out there in stores, definitely try to listen to Vandersteen and Sonus Faber.  But just because a brand is stocked by a bunch of stores (B&W, Focal, Paradigm, etc.) don't assume that it's best bang for the buck, or the best-sounded speaker for your application.