For the part of the thread that concens tube amps, I am driving my VR4JR's with the SQ-88 integrated tube amp, with KT-88 tubes at 55 wpc. This makes for a very musical combination,it sounds great at moderately high levels and low levels as well. Very interested in all the comments on room treatments, as my system will be moving to my converted basement in a 13X14 or so size room. Haapy listening and happy New Year to all.
Von Schweikert VR4JR & Tube Amp???
So...without boring you with too much details, I've been FORCED to move my rig into a small dedicated room in my basement. I currently have the above speakers, Marantz SA8260 SACD/CD, Marantz PM7200 (95wpc), Kimber Silver Streak, Audioquest Montblanc & CV-6. My room is only about 12x10 and it's in a corner of my finished basement so, I have two walls that are poured concrete behind the paneling. Obviously, the sound sucks. Since the room is fully enclosed and mine alone, I literally had to surround the room with R-15 Insulation covered with heavy felt moving-blankets and built some baffling in the corners. Ceiling is typical foam drop-ceiling tiles. Floor is carpeted. After some experimentation with speaker placement, I have ACCEPTABLE sound accross most frequencies except the bass (too boomy). Now here's the question: I'm hoping to make the following hardware changes as final adjustments since I might be here for awhile: Replace the PM7200 with a Primaluna Prologue 2 or Manley Stringray and the Audioquest cables with Kimber 8TC. I don't have the experience with or the ability to audition the considered new gear but, what do you wise and insightful folks think???