Recommendations for HiFi Listening Room

I thought you were going to ask about room treatment. 

my room is a similar size and shape. The walls are covered with 5.5” and the ceiling with 15.5” of rockwool, which is then covered with fire resistant burlap. 

The rest of my system, seen at the bottom of this link, was built for about $21,000 over a forty year period. It is now set in stone. I will be commenting on that later in a separate post. 

https://www.theaudioatticvinylsundays.com/about

First, audition as many speakers as you can in and near you and Milwaukee. Make appointments with dealers and spend a whole day (or two) listening down here in Chicago......first component I would buy are speakers.

You have already started with the room acoustics by contacting GIK

Defiinitely upgrade your power,  it will work no matter what components you choose. At least 1 and better yet 2 dedicated 20AMP circuiits with audtiophile power outlets. Very nice power cables.....upgrading my power was an eye opener, and better performance from some other choices

Rockport speakers would do well in your room. Would be worth adding to your audition list. Good luck and have fun!

Some have mentioned that the room acoustics are important, in fact treatment is paramount. I know a few who believe that if amps and speakers are properly designed they will work in any room, well sure they will 'work' but not in a satisfying way.

The type of treatment depends on the size of the room and your room, domestically speaking, is large and needs a mixture of diffusion and absorption. GIK can supply the panels etc. but a word of caution.

Some have complained of being over-damped with the sound being a little lifeless. You can if you are handy make your own bass traps, absorption panels and diffusers. It's not difficult and there is plenty info online to help. Also the forum gearslutz has a dedicated section on acoustics including how to measure your existing room. This you can do for the cost of a microphone and free download of REW. Strongly recommended.

Some good ideas for speakers, I suggest the Volti Razz. It has an unusually high sensitivity which is a good thing and permits the use of lower powered amps including tubes. This type of speaker is able to fill a large room with ease. Their next model up is also worth consideration.

Best not to rush into buying something and heed the advice here, audition,audition,audition.

What has not been discussed is how multi-subwoofers help with room acoustics. The idea here is not to produce thunderous bass, which they can, but to smooth out all the peaks and nulls which ruins the sound. You have the space 😎  Plenty of info online, try looking up Audiokinesis and SWARM or DEBRA. The multi-subs will smooth the response but without some acoustic absorption the sound will still take too long to decay. This all may seem a little daunting at first but once you start it will all make sense.  Combining room treatment with multi-subs is optimal and even a modest system will provide immense satisfaction, outperforming something much more expensive which is simply just placed in the room without taking cognisance of the rooms effect.  Have fun.

Lastly, as a self-proclaimed Newbie, perhaps instead of considering analogue and digital just initially go digital. Streaming opens up a new world of almost unlimited music and you will find many enthusiasts claiming they haven't used their turntables for years or sold off all their vinyl. Digital has come of age and unless you own a huge collection of records, why bother? Vinyl has for a long time been considered superior, not so much anymore. 

Thanks for the many responses, I’ve been hard at work researching the many options you have all provided. I’ve had an opportunity to audition MartinLogan, KEF, Vandersteen, and B&W.  I’m lined up this weekend to listen to the Personas again as well as an A/B trial of Vandersteen Treo, Quatro and Sonus Faber Olympica Nova 3 (and possibly the Vs if they also have them in stock).  Then we’ll see what next weekend brings :)

One follow-up question: I have twenty years worth of iTunes purchases and an Apple Music subscription composing a library around 16,000 tracks. I recognize it’’s not Tidal, Quboz etc.. but they have a growing collection of hi res lossless.  I’m looking to maintain my ability to use Apple Music for the time-being/ maybe forever.  Rather than auditioning 50 music streamers/ servers, can I initially get a good sound by a direct USB-C to USB-B connection from my iPad Air to a high quality amp with built-in DAC like, for instance, Anthem STR?  If so, i can probably dump more money into the speakers and take my time to get the streaming right.

Sorry, no.

Think of your investment in tracks as a sunk cost.

Qobuz will give you access to probably every tune you bought and millions more… for $14.99 a month.

You can assess through an air… I did for years… sounded terrible… ok, not High Fi

My experience with streamers says you can close your eyes and buy the Aurender that is in your price range and be satisfied it has a really really high probability of being the best possible choice… and will be better than any PC or MAC.

Hmm, Anthem doesn’t sound like it is likely a audiophile DAC… but a good place to start. I would think the Qobuz / Aurender would be so eye opening that the DAC upgrade would then be obvious and net you a really significant improvement.

I would recommend giving up on Apple except for your EarPods and flying around with your Bose Quality Comfort headphones. High quality sound will come by a switch to Qobuz / Aurender (there are others, no doubt… but then you are on the auditioning route). I think the step up would likely take care of any issues with the past (allow you to let go).

Thanks for response ghdprentice. I’m not very familiar with the various music streaming services.  I believe Qobuz and Apple’s hi res lossless are both 24-bit/192 kHz.  Is there something else that makes Quboz so much more desirable amongst the knowledgeable audiophiles?

@brewerslaw

suggestions:

get recommendations from 2-3 other decent high end hifi dealers for equipment - be sure to get them to come see your room, and suggest treatments if needed - equipment proposals should reflect the room in which they will be used, and the best dealers don’t just sell components, they deliver superb sound in the customer’s room

the equipment suggestions made by the one dealer is suspect imho... sony server, mac ss amp with autoformer, paradigm speakers... none would be in my top 8-10 candidates for great all around sound in a reasonable room for your stated budget

hear as many speakers as you can, get a sense of what type of sound you like (sharply detailed crystal clear ... or warmer less detailed more natural ... snappy with rhythmic bass, and so on)

of the brands mentioned, i personally would lean towards vandersteen, sonus faber, magnepan (understand the special placement demands of this special speaker), potentially harbeths devores proacs in your price range ... i personally favor sound that is not hyper detailed, with some warmth and body, especially in presenting vocals, solid but unobtrusive bass - this to me is much more listenable over long stretches, sounds great with many kinds of music, sounds more like real (acoustic) musical performance

then electronics follow from speaker chosen

@brewerslaw

Quboz and Tidal are the top hi-rez streaming services.

Check Roon software interface.  Try to demo at a high-end audio dealership as it's  often available.  View an online promotional video.

Seek information and guidance from multiple audio dealers, separating truth from marketing bs including pandering fear of missing out on a limited timed deal (real meaningful bargains excluded).

Google: TAS 50 Greatest Bargains in High-End Audio to give you a good price/performance baseline to start your research.   

The very best bang for buck is to buy used.  This is what I did to maximize price/performance.  However, since this is a one-shot-deal perhaps buying your complete audio chain from a dealership may be a better option.  It's better to have a audio chain with complimentary components and MUCH better to demo before you buy. 

I'm not in any way associated with the dealer @audiotroy , but his posts are sound and his products compete with the best at their price points.  With your 35k budget, I'm confident that @audiotroy can assemble a fantastic sounding system.  

Also, budget for some room treatment. I popular resource for info, advice, and products at reasonable prices check out "gikacoustics.com" (when I try to copy/paste a link it gets imbedded in a very large box)

Take your time. Do not rush into any of the purchases until you really understand the sound of various speakers and what matches well with them in terms of a preamplifier and amplifier. When you audition speakers try to do the auditioning in a room of similar size. You will not be able to find a room with that ceiling height but certainly the other dimensions should be close. You need to hear how the speakers can load the room. Realize that windows and a fireplace are not going to add positively to the room. Windows can have window treatments that will reduce their negative aspect, harsh reflections. The fireplace needs to be examined closely. Setting your speakers up on either side of it will have a negative effect so if this is how you thought you would be placing the speakers then maybe you need to think about how you can shield the sound from not being swallowed by the fire box and chimney. You should eliminate any stand mounted speakers from your list due to the size of your room.

@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.

if you have symmetrical corners facing the sectional get these (below).   they will fill the room, and your whole house actually, with beautiful sound.   they're big but would be out of the way in the corners.   these guys on here are mostly old and while many have lots of experience they tend to get a narrow focus and ignore what you actually asked which is about a system for your family room.  nobody in there right mind would put gik all over the walls and ceiling of a public family room.   if your wife agreed to that id be very surprised.  moreover, if you want that id be very surprised.   

this:

OP,

Qobuz and Tidal are universally regarded as the best sounding services regardless of their resolution. Then between the two Qobuz sounds slightly better… but more importantly Qobuz has over one half million high resolution albums… as of late last year Tidal had a tenth of that.

My audio guy bugged me for a year before I finally started a trial with Qobuz. The trial did not last a month… but only a day. I immediately cancelled my Tidal subscription and never thought about it again.

After selecting your components setting up your room is the key. You should start by positioning your speakers properly and then treat your room. I really like the room kits they offer at Sonitus, Anthony Grimani's company:

BTW, if you haven't purchased speakers yet you may want to look at active speakers such as the Kef LS60 which is an entire system. They have reviews of many of these type of system/speakers at soundstage:

https://www.soundstagesimplifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews

List of speakers I’ve had in my listening room for at least 6 months. Revel salon 1, salon 2, usher be20dmd, persona 7f, meridian dsp 8000se, Kef blade, vienna acoustics strauss and kef r107/2&r105/3. 
 

for a bright room I would recommend the usher, vienna acoustics and mostly meridian dsp8k. The salon2 and kef blade will be better with carpet and space, even more so for the persona’s. 
 

I found the persona’s to be the most amplifier sensitive, the salon 2 the most power hungry and the blades are my current passive favorite. Used prices on meridian make them a great bargain but service is limited to a single shop in Georgia. Legacy aeris look the goods for a large room.

I don’t know where you are in the process but I am completely lost about the suggestion of buying speakers first. You should buy the amp first, I think, it will be the spirit of your system.

@brewerslaw Just because you bought tons from iTunes doesn't mean you're stuck with Apple Music forever. When you stream it, they don't even play the best version of the files. They shrink to save bandwidth. Your best bet is to store you Apple purchased files in AIFF on a NAS or USB drive. Then you can play those with any decent software on a streamer even if you don't have a service subscription to Qobuz etc. Roon would make for better metadata. One super annoying thing about Apple is they don't by default place album art .jpgs in your folders. You can easily fix this some cheap or maybe even free software. But that's a whole 'nuther conversation. 

@grislybutter buying an amp before choosing what speakers you'll use them with is like buying your favorite tires because they'll be the "spirit of your ride" then looking at what vehicles fit those tires. Speakers vary far more widely in design and each needs an appropriate amp. The delta between appropriate amps will be significant, but nowhere near as wide ranging in possibilities vs. the myriads of speaker options. You wouldn't want to buy monster truck tires and then decide you'd like to drive a Miata. Cheers,

Spencer   

@sbank

I started with the speakers and then, at the end, had to replace the amp. If I had started with the amp, I would have had a much better way to tell which speaker worked best for me. The range of the amp-with-speaker choices is wider than either the speaker or amp range, besides the fact there is no such thing as speaker or amp sound "alone". 

When I switched amps, the change in speaker sound was just as varied as when I switched speakers (in similar price range) with the same amp. That's what my ears told me.

I was thinking of metaphores before my original post, and they were all flawed, just like yours. tires as the amp? Seriously? Don't you see how ridiculous it is.

At the end, there are arguments for either approach. The bottom line is, you can't test speakers without a decent amplifier and one that matches your needs. It will be a flawed experience. 

@grislybutter Totally agree with you about pros/cons of either approach and no demo is going to be worthwhile w/o appropriately matched amp & speakers. However, my analogy was to try to help point the less experienced OP down a path of more likely success. Of course, it's just an opinion.
As an example, I'd encourage any newbie looking to make a sizable investment to try to demo planars, horns and a number of dynamic speakers. If they fall in love with one type, then learn what amps might be good fits. Most newbies IMHO would be less inclined to fall in love with one type of amp topology definitely and then consider all the speakers that might fit. 
Room size and environmental factors are an important criteria in the big picture and matching the speaker size to the room size seems far more intuitive to me. YMMV. Cheers,

Spencer

@sbank yes, of course i was talking from a low budget perspective where I started. I always thought I had to spend 60% of my money on speakers. (=I would have agreed with you 110% for most of my shopping journey)
I only learned that it wasn't the be-all-end-all component when my phono stage sounded bad, my old amp started to fade, it felt underpowered with most music (but I eagerly fell in love with my speakers with a few select tracks), all that... All I mean is, if you can't drive those beautiful speakers, you'll be grumpy, and unhappy with them. 

I also think - and I have no proof - that with a great amp, even mediocre speakers sound better.

Overall, I think starting with listening to the speakers at dealers may work just as well with the OPs massive budget. I was arguing from my modest budget point of view, when every purchase was just barely cutting it.  

@brewerslaw

For both your analog and digital audio chains, you'll need:

• turntable
• tonearm
• cartridge
• phono preamp (stage)
• preamp
• amp
• server/streamer
• DAC 
• cabling
• shelf/rack
• room treatments
• streaming subscription service

The best bang/buck is to purchase an integrated amplifier which combines the preamp with an amp.  This saves costs in casework and cables.  Additional savings can be had if the integrated has an internal phono preamp and/or an internal DAC, however, the performance of many of these internal components are often sonically lacking.  Hegel has a great integrated with a great sounding DAC but may be too below your budget. 

The Aesthetix Mimas Integrated Amplifier may be an ideal fit as it has great optional phono preamp and DAC cards - excellent online reviews for the Mimas and it's cards.  Seems to fit your budget and offers excellent price/performance.

Turntable + tonearm and sometimes a cartridge combo packages can save time and $.  The $3k "Mofi Ultradeck + Mastertracker Cartridge" is a sonic bargain and a good place to start - lots of very favorable reviews.  

Server/streamer - get a decent audiophile component, it'll make a sonic difference.  Innuos may be a good place to start as they consistently offer great/satisfying performance at their price points.  

Speakers: for your $35k budget, without any other info my rough guesstimate speaker cost is $10k-$25k   - way too wide of a range for us to give meaningful speaker suggestions.  After you get your component budget sorted out, then it may reveal a useful narrow range for the speakers budget.

As far as your OP dealer suggested components, the Paradigm Persona 3F is a fine modern sonic choice, the Project is okay at its' price point, and you can do much better than those McIntosh and Sony models.

This is an enormously fun thread to read! This forum offers unrivaled experience and knowledge, and most of the suggestions here are "sound." (Listen to lots of gear, take your time, work with your room, don't underestimate the importance of your sources including a high-end streamer/qobuz, etc.) 

As a self-described "newbie" out here, you might also keep in mind that for many 'Goners this isn't a hobby but a way of life. They (we, I suppose) have spent decades trying different equipment, different sounds, different rooms, different music, different cables, different audiophile philosophies. You're trying to do something very difficult: spend a considerable amount of money to get it "right" the first time. I'd be curious to hear if anyone on this forum, even with that kind of budget, managed that trick. (In fact, no one can know if they got it right without ... trying different equipment in their system.) And part of the problem is that for many there is no "right." There can be great pleasure in tweaking and re-imagining a system, but it can also be a long-term and even life-long project.

So in addition to considering your budget, your room, and your music, I'd encourage you to consider your psychological well-being! Keep it FUN, whether that means two years of research or just handing over your credit card to the nicest salesman. In fact, there's something to be said for working with a high-end audio store, especially as @jjss49 said, if they'll come to your room and later help you set it up. For that budget, they should. (For what it's worth, I'm also skeptical of some of the first dealer's suggestions, though he has spent more time with you than any of us.) For years I worked with the owner of a high-end store in my area and thoroughly enjoyed his support and his company. I'll add, though, that I don't remember him ever suggesting a specific brand to me; he only encouraged me to listen and listen and listen. 

Have fun and enjoy the ride!

+1 on working with a local dealer, you can go over to the store, listen, get help if you need to bring something back. 

I think a good system, with no shortcuts, can be put together for 12-15K (I wouldn't know, my budget was way lower), What the OP can do for his generous budget is go for the aesthetics and high-end models of the mid-range boutique brands. With a car metaphor: not a Porsche but a Golf R, or if you like Italian better, not a Ferrari but Alfa Quadrifoglio.

"We all know" what a pain it is to park Ferraris :)

Yes, my driver never quite gets it right.

fwiw i personally agree with @spenav over ​​​​​@grislybutter regarding speaker selection should be done first

op’s budget as stated is 35k ... not putting together a budget system

done well the op doesn't need to choose 1 between a great set of speakers vs a great amp... both well within reach

@jjss49 every situation is different. I watched the last 20 or so Darko podcasts on speakers, he said and explained it several times in great detail: DON'T buy the speakers first.

Thanks for all the responses, I’ve read reviews and discussion threads for everything that was recommended.  Samples from GIK arrive tomorrow so we can choose colors for the room treatment. They’ve been great.

My wife and I have been able to audition a bunch of speakers: KEF, Martin Logan, B&W, Vandersteen, Sonus Faber, Paradigm, Legacy, Klipsch, McIntosh, and a random couple others.  We’ve narrowed down to the Olympica Nova III and the original Persona 3Fs that we liked.  Wife is adamant that the Personas sound best. I have a follow-up question for anyone familiar with the Personas: Amp recommendations under 10k?  I’ve heard the speakers with both the Anthem STR and MA8900 but not sure if anyone has found the “ideal” pairing. 

@stevedbrewer I just read this  - PrimaLuna’s EVO 300 Hybrid :

I have both a preamp and an amp with Anthem ARC room correction paired with Paradigm speakers, in a treated room it REALLY will make your system perform in a very satisfying manner. No matter how much you spend on amp or room treatments, with room correction included it makes a big difference.

@northman Working with a good audio dealer is excellent advice. My local dealer is really good and that matters if you have questions, problems or upgrade or down grade

@brewerslaw - marginally more than a newb myself, so take the following with the appropriate dose of salt. 
 

 You’ve rec’d a ton of great advice already - lots to consider there. I would also endorse the Harley and Smith books mentioned, if you’re so inclined.
 

I have a similarly sized room, but with flat 18’ ceilings. You may not want to hear it, but one thing that I found hugely beneficial for a similarly-sized room - 2 subwoofers. I bought a couple of nice Rels, used. I have not heard other brands in my room and have no doubt other brands would work well.
 

The addition of the subs did wonders. I don’t think you mentioned your typical listening level, but I listen to similar music, typically no higher than 85 db. The subs were hugely additive, even (and maybe especially) at lower levels. 

If you’re interested in shopping local, check out Hifi Heaven and/or SOTA turntables. I bought a turntable (not SOTA) and cart through Hifi Heaven online and had a great experience. No experience with SOTA, but have heard great things. 
 

If you and/or your wife like the sound of the Paradigms, and are interested in mating with an amp that might counter the perceived (I’ve never heard them) brightness, maybe think about a tube integrated or preamp. On the other hand,if it’s the relative pop that you like, demo with some SS or class D amps too. 

FWIW, I have a Hegel 390 integrated w/ Sonus Faber Sonetto 3’s and the pair of Rel s810’s. Streaming is Qobuz via Blusound Node 2i, into the Hegel integrated DAC. Phono is Technics 1210GAE via Modwright 9.0x. The Rels, the Modwright and Technics are keepers, planning to upgrade the other components - not because I’m at all unhappy with their performance, but because I’ve realized I want to spend more discretionary cash on this passion than when I started! 
 

@jjss49 ​​​​@ghdprentice have been very helpful to me and I’d particularly echo their comments. Good luck!

We have a lot in common, except I'm not a newbie. I'm a long time Paradigm owner, and have been an audiophile since the age of 12, back in the late 70s.  Spoiled by my older brother's system he brought home from the Navy.  Been round and round the audio shows, and owned or roomied with a lot of hi quality systems my entire life.  Every speaker I've personally owned has been the entire lineage which lead to the Persona series.  I started with the Paradigm Studio 100 v.2, and complete surround complement.  I moved on to the Paradigm Signature S8 V.3, which introduced the Beryllium Tweeters and blew the socks off the audio review experts, and I now own the Paradigm Tributes.  The Tributes were a limited edition (600 worldwide) Paradigm which they tested all of their new tech developments through.  Everything in the Tribute went directly into the Persona line, with a few items further upgraded and refined for Persona.  The 3f is the exact direct improved duplication of the Tribute.  Both weigh in at 95 lbs, with 5 drivers, a pure beryllium tweeter with wave guide, and 3 x 7" woofers with corrugated surrounds. Whereas the Tributes used an aluminum 7" midrange, the 3f ofcourse went to beryllium.  They both have the same frequency range down to 44hz at +/- 2 db, with a sub extension down to 23hz.  We even have very similar preferences in music. 

While you can go round and round on similarly priced floor standing speakers to the 3f, with a million opinions from respondents here on competitors from Revel, Wilson Audio, Magnepan, Legacy, etc, it comes down to this:  iff you enjoy the sound you're hearing from the Personas, you can't go wrong with them, with perhaps the exception of putting them in too small a room without room EQ.  You however, have a HUGE room.  While the Persona line has tremendous air and soundstage, the 3f may leave you wanting for bass in your Great Room.  Don't get me wrong, the 3f will absolutely give that room what it needs when you turn it up a little,,,but for casual comfort listening volumes, you may be left wanting with the 3f, and quite frankly most any speaker in its price range, in your Great Room.  My room is 14x20, and the Tributes are just right.  Anything larger, and I'd want/need more bass, or to play at louder volumes then I prefer for casual relaxing listening.  Bearing in mind I'm not a 'bass freak' of any kind, but am all about balance and the true sound of a live band on stage in a small venue.  For most any speaker, including the 3f, you're probably going to need to budget for a quality subwoofer, or, per one other respondents suggestion, check out the Paradigm Founder 120H at $9,000. Nothing under $20k is going to compete with its bass, and the rest of its sound is very well balanced and pure.  Personally I'd stick with the 3f, live with it for a few months, and then if needed add a quality cost effective subwoofer, such as an SVS, or other.

That point, along with the dealers recommendation of the McIntosh, leaves me not a fan of the dealer you're speaking too, on face value.  The Mac is just not a good choice.  Way better options are out there.  Also, I noticed a respondent here recommending the Krell.  I've heard Krell through my Tributes when I was shopping them.  Either the Krell is also lacking, or it just doesn't pair well with the Paradigms.  I've run a number of different amps through my paradigms of the past 15 years:  EAD PowerMaster 1000, Parasound JC-1, and now, my perfect match, which I highly recommend for the Personas, the Bob Carver Crimson/Raven 350 Tube MonoBlocks.  It just mates so well with the sound characteristics of the Paradigms, and really brings out the Paradigms true potential from its tweeters and midranges.  It takes any slight perception which some people may have of 'bright' out of the equation, while enhancing the Paradigm's strengths of air, soundstage, detail, depth, on and on.  They just work beautifully together.  Keep in mind, these Tubes replaced my Parasound JC-1 monoblocks, which I already found superior to the McIntosh or Krells in the sub-$15k range.

Ofcourse this will leave you needing a pre-amp.  Since you're speaking exclusively about a 2 channel system or 2.1 channel system, I'd go with something that is more of a direct switch than an actual processor/pre-amp.  Parasound has well regarded options in that arena.  But there are many great options.  Personally, I picked up a 4 year old used Classe Audio SSP-800 (7 channel) for $2500, and can definitely recommend you look at Classe Audio's 2 channel processor/pre-amps. 

Finally, you have to leave $ for interconnects and speaker wires.  Do NOT buy Monster Cable.  lol.  You're in the hi end audio now, which will reveal system weaknesses or shortcomings.  Hi quality speaker wires and interconnect cables matter a great deal.  Spend too little, and you will limit what your Personas can do.  I've been through a lot of cable types with my systems over the years.  MIT works well, though, if you go with the Carver Amps, that may be adding too much 'warmth' to the sound.  MIT has a leaning towards 'warm' in its sound characteristics.  On the low end of expense, good cables from Wire World or Blue Jeans Cable, should be okay ... at least to start.  Personally I run Audio Magic Liquid Air speaker wires.  They are a liquid cable with a solid silver core conducter.  They extend the highs so smoothly on my Be tweeters, and bring an absolute beauty to voices and the twangs of instrument.  For interconnects I've become a big fan of Silnote Audio.  Tremendous sound quality for a reasonably low price (factory direct...no middle men price hikes,,,retailer price hikes, or high marketing expense).  They are very transparent and FAST.  They muddle nothing, and let it all through.  Ultimately though, which interconnects you should go with depends on which amp you pair to the Personas. 

Finally, one last comment.  If you are going to stray from the Paradigm line to consider other speaker systems, I highly recommend you consider the Tekton Encore.  It's possible you or your wife may deem them to be ugly.  Outside of that, at $6,000 they rival anything under 30k, and you'll have absolutely NO bass shortage.  The money you save there will enable you to go into room EQ, quality pre-amp and quality cables, with plenty of $ left over.

Just my two cents.  Hope you find some of it helpful.  Best wishes in your first system build!

On different speakers you plan to audition, which you asked for input on:

KEF - Ofcourse they're voiced somewhat different than Paradigm, but they are the same market target...  fast, detailed, good air, great soundstage.  I haven't auditioned KEF and plan too, but in direct comparison reviews (which are hard to find these days - pro reviewers are commonly sold out to advertisers to not diss one over the other) I've seen, the pro reviewers have stated the Personas do it better.

Golden Ear - IMO, way over hyped because the 3 founders of Golden Ear are reveared Engineers from across the industry, whose booty the magazines kiss.  Yes, they have great air, but I auditioned their top of the line when shopping my Tributes.  They lack solid soundstage, I could distinctly hear the crossover point between the mids and the Air Motion/folded Ribbon Tweeter, and they just didn't possess the resolution of most of the other gear being discussed here.

Focal - No personal experience

Legacy Audio - They'd be amongst the bests choices for classical and jazz, but it ends there in my listening experience.  I've heard their mid range and lower end stuff...sub $15k.  Just not impressed.  There's too many competitors that do a number of things better for the same money.  Those huge woofers just move too slow, and didn't bring the snap to produce the tones I look for in Bass guitar and other notes below the 60 hz range, in my observation.

Sonus Faber - Direct competitor to Paradigm for many years.  People either prefer the sound of one or the other.  Sonus adds a house "color" to the sound that make them pleasing to many.  Paradigm, despite some complaints about "brightness" (mostly small rooms without room correction, and paired equipment, quite frankly), are more purist than Sonus.  But again, you may love the Sonus sound for your listening preference, and that's all that matters.  You're the one living with them, and flipping the big bucks on 'em.

Horns - I'm just not a fan, though I've only listened to middle of the line Klipsch horns.  The Personas Be is often referred by pro-reviewers as having all the strengths of the horns, without the odd order distortions and other associated issues.

Monitor Audio - This is a totally different approach to sound.  Much more laid back.  They do that great, but don't bring the live impact and actual way a band sounds when its right in front of you.  Again though, its about how you prefer to hear your music.  But if you like Monitor Audio, then you have to look at Dynaudio.

Best Regards!

New Update 

A bunch of decisions have been made, hopefully you all don’t collectively rag on me too bad for our choices:

Gik Panels are ordered, they are a combination of Tri-Traps, 244s, and Impression Series panels

Persona 3F speakers and the Persona Sub (i also loved the Olympica Nova 3 but wife insisted the 3F sounded better)

Anthem STR

Turntable, cables etc….

Here’s my follow-up question:

Once we have some time to play with the equipment for a while I’ll be in the market for a streamer and DAC.  I’m leaning towards the Aurender N200 but open to suggestions.  If the N200 is a good choice, does anyone have a suggestion for a good standalone DAC, preferably sub 8K, that would pair well with the above listed equipment?

Congratulations! I think you will really get a great result between the room treatments, your components, and the ARC room correction from your Anthem Pre. As for a streamer/dac combo I recommend you strongly consider looking at the OS of your streamer to make sure you like it. Some people want Roon, some want whole house audio, some want a particular music service. Can you use the dac in your preamp and save some scratch?

@brewerslaw

Congratulations.

I think the N200 is a perfect choice given the rest of your system.

As far as a DAC. That is a price range I am just not familiar enough with. I really love Audio Research and Berkeley Alpha 3. A bit more expensive. Also the Schiit Yggdrasil… too inexpensive.My rule of thumb is the carefully chosen components in roughly the same price range are about optimal for the best sound for the price. So, roughly TT = Phonostage = Streamer = DAC = preamp = amp. My streamer and amp are about 20% above the rest in my system.

@brewerslaw I’m both an Aurender and T+A dealer, and my favorite combination in your price range is the Aurender N200 and T+A DAC 200. I’ve written about this pairing a few times on this forum but posted a pic of the two together here:

Take a look at/read the reviews and comparison on, the PS Audio Direct Stream DAC, at $6k.  https://www.psaudio.com/products/directstream-dac/

Congrats on your new system!

~Rich

I agree the Aurender is a good choice and I’m sure @blisshifi recommendation for the T+A DAC is solid. As alternatives the new Innuos Pulsar looks very good, and their newest version of their free Sense software is getting high praise. Another DAC to consider would be the Denafrips Terminator. Last, you might also want to look into a digital-to-digital converter (DDC) like the Denafrips Hermes, etc. that will allow you to use an i2S connection into your DAC that many feel is the best way to feed a DAC. Anyway, hope this helps, and congrats on the new system!

I have the paradigm persona 3F and really like them. They are combined with a Lyngdorf TDAI 3400, Linn LP12 and Primare R35. My room is 6x6 meters. The wall behind the speakers is partly covered with acoustic panels. I also have small panel behind the listening position. I am using the Roomperfect option of the Lyngdorf. For streaming I am using Roon.