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Shifting center image and recommendations on an approach

I am a relatively new member of Audiogon and this is my first post. I apologize for the length of this. I’ll get better in the future. I’ve had the same system for many years and recently upgraded old Dynaudio speakers to Focal Aria 936. I’ve had them for two months and have struggled mightily with placement. For context, I have a Rotel pre-amp and amp (both older) and a Bluesound streamer. I also have an off-brand integrated tube amp (Yaqin).

 

I continually experience a shifting center image. It is primarily skewed more to the right. I’ve used the usual test songs such as Ballad of a Runaway Horse (as well as others, including 3 people Describing Position On Sound Stage in Stereo). The strange thing is that I hear the center image shift over to different positions across different listening sessions. I’ll adjust the speakers slightly to regain a center image, come back and it will be back to right or left. I eliminated the speakers as the problem by hooking up my old Dynaudio’s and experienced the same condition. I switched outputs on the pre-amp, also resulting in the same condition.

 

Well, today, I hooked up my integrated tube amp and I no longer experience the problem. Image is center and overall soundstage is good. So, it would seem to be a problem with my old Rotel pre-amp. Apparently, I must have been dealing with this for a long time and only became aware of it once purchasing new speakers and being more intentional about the soundstage. Ironically, I don’t hear a significant difference between my Dynaudio and Focals – I’m comparing each at this point.

 

Here’s my question (sorry!). Have others experienced a similar situation and how did you resolve it? And, I’m interested in opinions regarding returning the Focals (I’m within the period to do so) and getting a better integrated amp OR keep the Focals, knowing down the road, I’ll upgrade the integrated amp, thereby (hopefully) realizing the greater potential of the Focals?

 

Thanks very much in advance

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Showing 2 responses by ghdprentice

ghdprentice
6,471 posts
 

Sounds like the Rotel is the likely offender. So, I won’t comment on that.

 

On the speakers. If you are not hearing a big difference… well, that is a problem. Dynaudio are very good speakers. So what is the difference in cost? Need more info here. 

I always try to make sure every change is an upgrade. That usually means spending a minimum of 2x. But on speakers you also want to be drawn to the sound. You might consider returning them and backing off and review speaker companies. They tend to have house sounds… so if you are emotionally attracted to one set of speakers moving up or down their lines brings you better or not as good a sound of the same character. If the Focals are 2x and you don’t hear a real sound improvement, move on.

Sounds like you need to replace your amp. Given the high quality brand you have, maybe this should be the first step. Typically it is speakers first… but it sounds like a better preamp / amp might be a better first step for you.

These are wild guesses. It would be helpful to us if you could put some photos of your system and venue under your ID… virtual system. There are so many variables… it is tremendously helpful to see the actual system.

 

 

ghdprentice
6,471 posts
 

Thanks. I love your room / system. Looks great… nice place to listen. While @kota1 brings up good observations that improvements in the venue could really improve the sound. Typically, I would do that after you have all the components you want to live with.

 

If you are not hearing a real improvement in sound quality… regardless of how good or not the rest of your system, i’m not sure it is justifiable to keep the speakers. 

 

So, more questions. Typically, a system might cost / value 30 - 35% speakers, 20%  streamer, 20% preamp, 20% amp. So, are you intending to just swap one thing (speakers) or upgrade your whole system? 
 

If you want to upgrade your system… you might want to take time and audition different speakers until you find some you love. Also, audition integrated amps. I recently did so with three,., that are all well respected contemporary integrated amps with vastly different character: Luxman, Pass, and Audio Research. Luxman is really detailed (not very musical), the Pass is powerful. Detailed and musical, the Audio Research incredibly musical (I just fall into the music). Audition these and you will get an idea what high quality components can do. Coupled with speakers that speak to you and you will have a system far beyond your current system… likely to take you the next twenty years… well, we will have to get you a better streamer and DAC… but that comes later.

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