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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 hickamore

hickamore
706 posts
 

You are getting contradictory information from different sources approaching the problem from different angles.

Start with speakers and their placement. You have a lifetime thereafter to audition various streamers, DACs, preamps, amps, and cables/ICs. Your question is like an equation requiring a constant. Let the speakers and their placement be the constant. Every component prior in the chain is a variable which you can spend forever tweaking to your preference. Or think of it as building a house. Speakers & their placement are the foundation; finish carpentry might be DAC X vs DAC Y vs. DAC Z, which is where I have landed after 10 years.

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