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Would the dynaudio special 40's be a noticeable upgrade over the ELAC UF5?

Hello

I've been running the Elac Unifi UF5 (towers) on a yamaha A-S801 integrated for a year now and have been mostly happy with the sound but recently I've been looking into upgrading my speakers just to see what is out there, how much better does it get, or what am I going to hear that I'm not hearing now?

I found a good deal on a pair of mint Dynaudio Special 40's for 2K and have been considering getting them, but wondering whether is it going to be a noticeable upgrade or am I better saving longer for a bigger jump like the KEF Reference 1?

My source is Amazon music HDl being streamed from a bluesound node 2i, connected via optical to one of the two integrated that I have home right now
   The Yamaha A-S801
   A McIntosh MA8900 (loaner till next year only)

My Room is an 18x26 open floor plan that opens up to other rooms in the house. The ELAC's are currently places 2ft away from rear wall and 4.5 ft from the sidewalls and my listening position is ~8ft measured from the from the speakers.

As for the McIntosh, I borrowed it from a friend that was not using it since he sold his speakers and will take a few months to get his new set; I connected the ELAC's to it and I had the impression that it sounded nicer, but honestly couldn't pin point and after 2 weeks of listening I went back to the Yamaha and didn't feel I was missing much. When I mentioned that to my friend his answer was: "You need better speakers". So here I am. :)
asilvr

Showing 2 responses by asilvr

asilvr OP
7 posts
 
@hilde45 thanks; I wouldn't not limit the speaker purchase solely on the need to upgrade the amp. While Yamaha may or may not be the best I can also upgrade it later and I can still use the McIntosh MA8900 for a few more months; So when I return the mcIntosh and go back to the Yamaha I find it not to be enough, I can get a new amp to go with it.
If focusing on speakers alone; My question is whether the Special 40's are a noticeable enough of an upgrade over the UF5's making it a worth purchase or if I'm better off waiting and upgrading speakers later to a tier above.
asilvr OP
7 posts
 
Thank you all for the great responses; I've decided to skip on the special 40's for now mainly due to the size of the room. I really don't want to deal with adding separated subwoofers.
I will look for new floor standers instead. Thank you all again.
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