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Room setting: new amp or new speakers?

hello gys,

My Hi-Fi journey is rolling on, and over the past few weeks, I’ve had the chance to dive into some amazing gear—like tube amps and high-efficiency speakers. It’s been super fun, but now I’ve hit a bit of a dilemma.

Here’s my current setup:

  • Amp: Yamaha AX-396, pretty old, low value

  • Speakers: Sonus Faber Venere 1.5 bookshelf speakers, definitely ’better’ than the amp

  • Streamer: Bluesound Node N130

I’m planning a big overhaul of my system, but I can’t decide what to upgrade first

A little more info:

  • Room size: 55m² (so, pretty spacious).

  • Current speaker placement: Sitting on a bookshelf, positioned to the side of the sofa (definitely not ideal) - see pic

  • Ideal setup: Properly placed speakers facing the sofa for proper sound.

My thoughts:

  • If I upgrade the amp first, I might squeeze more out of my current speakers - which are not as bad —but will their awkward placement limit the improvement?

  • Upgrading the speakers with floorstanding will come with new position + higher quality (2x the ROI?) AFAIK they account for big big part of the final sound. then will do the amp.

I’d love to hear what you think! Have you been in a similar spot? Which upgrade made the biggest difference for you?

Let me know your thoughts! thank you so much

albymana

Showing 1 response by grislybutter

grislybutter
3,555 posts
 

Both, really.

I had the Venere 1.5s in my home for a week, my local dealer let me try them. I don’t know why but they were very forgettable, to put it politely - completely lifeless.

I have the same feeling for your Yamaha model, far from the potential to provide you with a lot of joy. (If it were Denon from the late 90s, I’d be excited)

You could get some money for the speakers and that would let you buy an integrated amp too. NAD, Cambridge Audio, Quad, Rotel have decent, quality models in the $800 range. (Although you may not be in the US but the prices must be comparable)

For speakers, Audio Notes is one of the most the highly regarded brands for sure - and easy to drive. If you want to be overwhelmed: https://speakerchoices.com/

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