Bottom line always ends up with your speakers. Where is your new, quality source material going to go? Into a less than integrated, then onto less than speakers. I'm not a Polk fan. Never met a Polk that I was crazy about.
Bookself speakers? I'd start with a pair of Revel M20s, or of that ilk, and go from their. Now we're talking. What you have, now, will not do a source upgrade justice. Like I said, we all have our own way, even though mine is better. lol peace, warren |
"worth the bother?" That all depends on your tympanics. I would upgrade your system, firstly, by ditching other things, rather than your Rotel. If you think your Rotel is the end all in source material, you gots some serious listening to do. peace, warren |
Ohala, thanks for the clarification. I misread his post. I'm sure the Cary would sound lovely in my system, but the Audio Aero Prima is the best kept secret in audiodom. Talk about value? The Prima is listed at about $2.5K and sounds, to my ears, better than, or equal to, players costing more than twice the price. If you like the Cary, you'll love the Prima. It's 90% of its' big bother, and that's a $8k plus cdp. peace, warren |
Ohlala corrected me about your Rotel comments. Knowing that, I , wouldn't do a darn thing. Once you seriously upgrade any one of your components, that will begin the audiophoolish world of total system change over. We all suffer from this disorder. I started with an Audio Magic power conditioner. That lead to a complete change of everything (down to ICs and power cords, as well) in my system, and even came full circle to replacing my AM Stealth with an AM Eclipse. Go figure. Enjoy your tunes. A serious upgrade in a cdp will leave you disappointed, unless you're ready to go the whole 9. just a little fwiw....peace, warren |
Everybody has their own way. I believe that if you make a serious upgrade of any component it will just show up, as a rule, the inherent weaknesses of your other components. That has been my experience. I don't have a clue to your budget. That is, certainly, a major factor. That being said, I usually start with the speakers and go from their. Starting with the source is probably sounder advice, but I have never gone that way. |
If you take your present system and added a $10k plus cdp, the sound would not be even close (if you canned the Polks) to what the addition of a $3K (maybe less) pair of monitors or floorstanders would do. Speaker upgrade will give you the biggest bang for the buck. |
I am not saying that Polks are poor speakers. I'm saying that they are not my cup of tea. No big deal. Those Polks are nice little speakers. Product of the year? Great. They are no Revel M20s, Nautilus 805, Jmlab Utopia Be, Harmonic Precision Caravelles and oodles more. Anyone of these speakers added to his system, will do more for the system than adding an Audio Aero Capitole. His amp wouldn't know what to do with an AA signal. That being said, after the speakers, a better source etc. etc. etc. down to ICs and power cords will sing through those speakers.
P.S. I know a Polk from a Circuit City Polk. My post, still, stands.... |
I have the perfect monitor, BTW. To me, at least...and I've done a lot of listening....peace, warren |
WOW! Tom, you are the first for that musical review of the Revels: "no way a musical transducer?" Man, we must have been listening to different Revels. Never met a Revel I didn't like/love. Live and learn... |
Ffontan, you're right on that: You're "nuts." Hey, you said it yourself. The Polks are a nice little speaker, for sure. Hook-up your electronics to Revel M20s, JmlabMicro BEs, Nautilus 805s, or the Caravelles (the Caravelles are the only monitor, here, that do not require a sub)--then talk to me about tympanic happiness. You have no idea. You may find out that your system is capable of a lot more with different speakers. I have no doubt. fwiw, warren |
It does defy all mini monitor standards. I, do, however, use my subwoofer that I had with my Revel M20s. I have it crossed over at 40 Hz, but ran the speakers for months without it and was very content. I, still, prefer to use the sub woofer, though rarely required, for those recordings that can push the limits of any monitor or floorstander, for that fact. I would be will to bet that many audiophools wouldn't require a sub. If I didn't own one, already, I would probably, still, be listening to my Caravelles without a sub. My Caravelles with their stands are absolutely ridiculous. Every day I listen I'm still amazed what comes out of these babies. It's all in the crossover. Fabulous, Phase coherence like nothing I've ever heard. Rember I said "that I ever heard." The Jmlab Utopia Bes were the best darn monitor, by far, I'd ever listened to, until the Caravelles. Want to know more about the speaker? Go to audiopoints.com/ Starsound Technologies website.
peace, warren |
Look, I'm not knocking your LSi's. I know you love them and they obviously do the job for you. . I'm just saying, from my listening experiences, there are much better choices, as far as monitors go, that I would pursue. True, I've never heard your monitors, but I have heard much more expensive Polks, that couldn't go tete at tete with any of the monitors I mentioned. Great source,amp, cables, ICs the like? All that "great" stuff needs a great forum--....and dat be the speakers. I've beaten this to death...happy listening warren |
You state that they are "technologically impressive." Would you care to elaborate? You, also, said they "have many virtures". The operative words are many and virtues. Care to elaborate? I'm just wondering where you get the "clinical" from? I'm wondering a lot from this thread. You are right about preference, not which is better. The Revels are very unforgiving, because they are that good. Great speakers, I find, are not forgiving, and will show up the inherent weaknesses in one's system. Hey, we all have different ears. MY ears, for two, like I said, haven't heard a Polk that tittilates my tympanies. No big deal. Just thoughts from a resident audiophool. Trust your ears and go with whatca love. I do. peace,warren |
you're on your way. enjoy..peace, warren |
