Try for home demo. Check out ESLs and ribbons.
Additionally once you hear 2 to 4 subs in that big room...
New Speaker advice
I'm torn on new speakers...thoguht I would canvass this forum, which I have much respect for. I have done extensive auditioning at hi-fi stores, and am still torn! I do however have it narrowed down to the following:
1. Revel f206
2. Revel f36
3. Focal Aria 936
4. MoFi Sourcepoint 10
Initially, I was all in on the Revels because of how well the measure, particularly off axis, since I have an open concept living room kitchen that is wide. So the majority of my in store demos focused on them exclusively. To my surprise, I actually preferred the cheaper f36 models to the f206, perhaps due to the 1.8kHz crossover between the tweeter and the top woofer, which is quite low...or perhaps it's due to the slightly higher sensitivity...or maybe it was just paired with a better amp. But regardless, to my ears, the f36 was just a more fun and exciting listen than the f206 which felt a bit bland and boxed in by comparison, despite being the better 'measuring' speaker.
Being confused by the Revels in this way, I started exploring the Focal Aria line, and really enjoyed the Aria 936. Compared to the Revels, it sounded more 'exciting' to my ears...more forward without being fatiguing, big open soundstage and really nice texture.
Recently, I auditioned the Mofi Sourcepoint 10 because, like many, I wanted to see/hear what all the hype was about. I was suspicious, even with Andrew Jones as the designer, with it being Mofi's first foray into speaker design...but I was honestly kind of blown away by them.
At the moment, I am tempted by the Sourcepoints, but they are pushing my budget at over 3,500K with stands. To that end, the Aria 936 can be found in great used condition for around $2,500 and the Revel f36 for even less still.
Just curious if anyone has heard all of these speakers and has any feedback / insight? Or recommend anything at a similar price point. Attributes I'm looking for are: Open, airy sound but not too bright, great midrange (priority), and good off axis response (horizontal).
Current set up for context:
Vandersteen 3A, powered by Audio Research D-300, Denon 4700 as preamp, Topping D90 DAC, Sota Comet TT with Rega Exact cart and Parasound JC3 Jr phono pre.
Thanks
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Goodonya for taking the time to go out and seriously listen and, most importantly, having the guts to trust your own ears! Unfortunately I can’t help with the speakers, but I would very highly suggest you consider inserting a good stereo preamp into your system at some point instead of using the preamp section of the Denon AVR — your nice amp will thank and greatly reward you for it. Trust me, the Denon’s pre section is a huge bottleneck to getting much better sound out of your system as a preamp is an absolutely critical component. Just my $0.02 FWIW, and best of luck with the speakers. |
Thank you Soix...I have often considered the same thing re: the addition of a high quality preamp. One of the reasons I went with the Denon AVR is because I needed HT functionality for movies and tv...but that Denon AVR line has a 'pure direct' mode where it supposedly shuts off the internal amps completely and sends a 'pure' signal from amps to speakers...so that's what I use in 2 channel listening...but I am suspicious of it still bottlenecking as you describe, so I appreciate hearing it from you as well...confirms my suspicion(s). cheers.
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Thanks Lanx0003. I should have mentioned in the system profile above that I am running a pair of SVS SB2000's, as well as an SVS ultra center speaker. I don't really use them with the Vandersteens during 2 channel listening, but do engage them when watching movies. I assumed that with both Revels, and the Sourcepoints, I would likely use the subs with music. |
@mattsaunders2000 On the AVR point, what you can do is find a dedicated pre-amp that has a HT pass through. That's what I did when I added my Pass Labs XP22 preamp which I pass through the Arcam AVR through. |
- 61 posts total