Speaker upgrade

Romney80, I have a question about something you wrote:

" I have already done all room acoustics. "

I hope you don’t mind me asking for some clarification...

Are you primarily using absorption to treat your room, or are you using diffusion either primarily or in addition to absorption? Are you doing the same thing(s) throughout the room, or are you treating the first reflection zones differently from other areas? What is the wall behind the speakers like?

The reason I ask is, imo amp + speaker + room = a "system within a system", and in particular the interaction of speaker and room can play a significant role in soundstage and timbre. So according to this line of thinking, the room is a significant part of the equation when narrowing down speaker choices.

And depending on the specifics of how your room is treated, I may have a suggestion from among the speakers you mentioned.  

Duke

Romney80, thank you for the additional information about your room treatments.   

One of the reasons I was asking is that one of the speakers on your list, the Von Schweikert VR55, uses a rear-firing driver.  (So do the Boenickes, and obviously dipoles like Maggies and SoundLabs radiate energy to the rear).  If that rear-firing energy is absorbed, it cannot make the beneficial contribution the designer intended.  If it is reflected or diffused, then it can.  

A rear-firing driver can improve the timbre and sense of envelopment and immersion in the soundscape on the recording (assuming good setup and a good recording, and provided the room isn't overly damped).  I can explain if you'd like.  

So my inclination is to recommend the Von Schweikerts, assuming your room acoustics are appropriate, or assuming you would be willing to re-arrange them a bit if needed.  

Duke  
loudspeaker designer

Romney80 wrote: " audiokinesis you have very good understanding on room acoustics... Will certainly be in touch with you when I have to do some more changes, which will be done after my speaker purchase."

Thank you for the vote of confidence, romney80. And speaking of votes, you got mine in 2012 (assuming you’re THAT Romney).

However my area of expertise is not room acoustics; I’m a loudspeaker designer. I would defer to a professional acoustician, or to the dealer you buy your speakers from, regarding treatment of YOUR room for YOUR speakers.

My thoughts about loudspeaker/room interaction are informed by the work of concert hall acoustician David Griesinger, and here are a few relevant quotes:

“The earlier a reflection arrives the more it contributes to masking the direct sound.”

“When presence is lacking the earliest reflections are the most responsible.”

“Envelopment is the holy grail of concert hall design. When reproducing sound in small spaces [home listening rooms], envelopment is often absent.”

“Envelopment is perceived when the ear and brain can detect TWO separate streams: A foreground stream of direct sound, and a background stream of reverberation. Both streams must be present if sound is perceived as enveloping.”

So the implication is that IF we want clarity and presence and envelopment, THEN we should minimize the energy in early reflections but still have plenty of energy in later reflections. And there should be a time gap in between the first-arrival sound and the strong onset of reflections. With polydirectional loudspeakers like the von Schweikerts and the Boenickes I see the opportunity for a setup with these attributes.

Of course these are not the only things that matter, but they are often overlooked, and imo are worth the effort.

I happen to be a longtime dealer for the SoundLabs that gallassero mentions. They are even bigger than Maggies and therefore presumably not remotely feasible in this situation, BUT when set up correctly (which is not complicated) they do an excellent job of delivering the "TWO streams" Griesinger talks about.

Duke