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Help - new house - new setup?

I have just moved house and the new room is about 20x18 with 28 foot ceilings and glass/openings on 2 of the walls.

My system was CAT SL1 with spectron musician amp playing through VS VR4jrs. Front end Michell Orbe and Oppo 105.

I went all HT and got Halo A51 and JC1 monos with a Marantz 8802.

I was expecting a big improvement but the sound is lost in this room and sounds poor.

Someone suggested JL audio fathom to take the weight off the VR4rs so I got a 212 which has improved bass substantially but SPLs are still weak.

I feel I need to upgrade the JR4s and would like to spend up to 10k on some new speakers or Albert is advocating 5k to upgrade the JR4s.

Any suggestions would be most welcome as I live in the sticks and my nearest decent dealer is 250 miles away.

I am considering ML Montis/Summit, Revel Salon, Wilson Sophia 3, Thiel cs 3.7 and Legacy Whispers among others.

My main concern is having a speaker that will give the SPL level necessary for this room.
musicalal
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 
06-04-15: Onhwy61
Almarg makes a point about reflected sound possibly not being a problem, but I think a controlled directivity loudspeaker would lessen the problem even further.
To be sure it's clear, my point about reflected sound possibly not being a problem pertained ONLY to reflections from the ceiling.

Best regards,
-- Al
musicalal OP
18 posts
 
MY OP may have misled you all.

I actually prefer to listen to music at low levels but that projects clearly and transparently in 2 channel with power and dynamics when it is called for in the music not just by turning the wick up..

However for movies I do like to step it up a bit but do not count that as audiophile sound just good effects.

MY main issue is the 2 channel does not come across at all like I have been used to with what was considered inferior electronics so either the space and layout are too much for the VR4s or I need serious room treatment.

Probably both. But one of my questions is would I be better getting the VR4jr upgrade for 5k which Albert says makes them compete with 20k speakers or am I better getting some used top line speakers which are capable of higher SPL.

I know what I like in a speaker but am not that good at room acoustics or speaker specs.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
There is one thing you can do that will help you figure this all out. Set your system up in a different room that's more like the one you used to have it in. You should be able to tell almost immediately how much of an impact the new room is having. I know I sound like a broken record, but I still think removing your CAT preamp had a larger impact on SQ than you may think.
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
Zd you're right; I was thinking he was using two stereo amps. Tough to biamp with a pair of monos!
jdoris
972 posts
 
Don't think of your room as a problem, think of it as an opportunity to try some stupid big speakers. :)

I like a couple of Douglas' suggestions: the Montanas and the Legacy Whispers.

If I had a huge space, I might very well do Montanas. There's a lovely pair of XPSs here for 8k (no connection); those and good subs would make some some big music. (I'm pretty sure Peter designed the XPS with HT in mind, btw.)

John
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