My speaker upgrade journey - and a few questions


So I have been running Linn Majik 140 speakers since 2015.  Started with a Rotel integrated, then Hegel 160 and currently the Hegel 390.  I like the Linn speakers as they have great presence and clarity, but (like most of us) wondered if I could find new speakers that provide a significant upgrade in sound.  Over the last three years I have listened to many, many speakers - Spendor, Vandersteen, Boenicke, Wilson, Sonus Faber, Focal, B&W, Borresen, Klipsch, Golden Ear, etc.  Just for fun I listened to some that are well over six figures.  Most were very good, but I just did not notice enough of an improvement over my current speakers.  I even found a dealer with my Linns on the floor, so I was able to do a direct A/B comparison.  Again, nothing justified an upgrade.  Last year I took a shot on some Tekton Double Impact speakers I had never heard as many on these forums love them.  I cancelled my order after about 2 months and no communication or speakers from Tekton. 

I figured I would never upgrade and perhaps my hearing is just not that good - why don't $100k Wilson speakers sound dramatically better than my $4k Linn speakers??

Until today.  I was sitting with John Rutan at Audio Connection listening to the Vandersteen Quatros and again had the same feeling - nice, but not worth it.  Then John sat me down in front of a pair of ATC SCM40A (the active version) and I was stunned.  These speakers are so much better in almost every way than everything I had heard before!  And since they don't need an external amp, the sale price of my Hegel 390 will just about cover the difference between the active and passive versions.  I hope they sound as good in my home as they do in the store.

Finally, here is my question.  To keep things as simple as possible, I would like to use my Yamaha RX-A6A (AVR) as the preamp for these speakers and connect the speakers via XLR cables to the pre-outs on the AVR.  Both the AVR and speakers have XLR terminals.  This means using the pre-amp section and DAC of the Yamaha.  The DAC in the Yamaha is the ESS SABRE ES9026PRO Ultra.  Would I be compromising these awesome speakers with the Yamaha electronics?  Thanks for your input. 

 

jcs01

I guessed the response to my proposed use of the Yamaha would be negative.  What about an external streamer with a high quality DAC into the Yamaha (as pre-amp only) and then out via the pre-out XLRs to the speakers?  I would really like to keep the speakers hooked to the Yamaha so I can use them as the fronts for home theater or for two channel listening.

Never mind my question. After more research, I see that my solution is to get a high quality preamp with HT bypass.

I’ve heard those active speakers too, and they sound really good, especially with the rels with them. Anyway did John show you the Maggie’s with the belles amp? He also had that50 watt AR tube amp. He ran that for me with the magnepan 20s. Way out of my league tho.

I heard the Maggies a year or two ago as part of my quest, but did not love them.  I don't think the ATCs need any subs.  

Since your Yamaha AVR is both preamp and DAC why don’t you bring it with you and have John hook it up to the ATCs?  Then you would have a much better idea of what the combination sounds like.  That’s what I would do.