@mapman In case of bookshelf or stand-mounted speakers, do you place the whole stand on the sub-dude platform? Or do you place the sub-dude between the top of the stand and the speaker?
How to upgrade in pieces - or - tell me about your journey!
Hello
I am getting started on my journey into Hifi here and I would be willing to spend about 10k over the course of a couple of years to get my system from where it is today to something a step or two above. I intend for my system to always be a stereo system at heart and also for it to stay all digital (no intention of tape, tuner or vinyl - or eveb a CD player).
My current systems is a Sonos playing Tidal or lossless FLAC files from a NAS drive. The audio outputs of the Sonos get connected to a Jolida JD-202A which is a 40W class AB tube integrated. The speakers are Energy floorstanders.
I am happy for how the system sounds with a limited number of things - such as vocal heavy folk or classic rock (pre-70s) recorded in mono. It sounds integrated across the drivers with no one element of the speaker standing out. The soundstage is narrow, but the imaging is not bad.
Unfortunately, a vast majority of the music I listen to includes
So based on wanting to hear the clarity I hear in my headphones (HD650 with a headphone amp) with a similar amount of articulate bass, I want to upgrade my main stereo system in pieces. I want to go about it in the following fashion, knowing that there will be times in the middle of the process where the system will be less than ideal.
So my final system would likely look like
Aurelic Aeries (Mini) -> Ayre Codex DAC -> (Ayre Pre-amp) -> Bryston/Parasound/Plinius/Benchmark/Mcintosh amp -> Revel Performa 3 F208.
I expect this whole process to last me about a couple of years.
Does this sound like a journey worth embarking upon? Anything there that sounds to like it would be a really dumb idea?
I am getting started on my journey into Hifi here and I would be willing to spend about 10k over the course of a couple of years to get my system from where it is today to something a step or two above. I intend for my system to always be a stereo system at heart and also for it to stay all digital (no intention of tape, tuner or vinyl - or eveb a CD player).
My current systems is a Sonos playing Tidal or lossless FLAC files from a NAS drive. The audio outputs of the Sonos get connected to a Jolida JD-202A which is a 40W class AB tube integrated. The speakers are Energy floorstanders.
I am happy for how the system sounds with a limited number of things - such as vocal heavy folk or classic rock (pre-70s) recorded in mono. It sounds integrated across the drivers with no one element of the speaker standing out. The soundstage is narrow, but the imaging is not bad.
Unfortunately, a vast majority of the music I listen to includes
- A lot of baroque music. So the orchestra sizes are relatively small, but the vocals and melody lines are very nimble and need to be easy to follow for the counterpoint to show.
- modern electronic music - not dance floor fillers - but more experimental stuff ranging from IDM (Autechre, Chris Clark, Squarepusher) to ambient (Brian Eno, Max Richter)
- A good bit of classic jazz from the Miles Davis, Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Herbie Hancock school.
- Lots of modern pop & rock - including bands like Wilco, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Sufjan Stevens, The National, Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead who include pretty much whatever the hell they want in their music.
So based on wanting to hear the clarity I hear in my headphones (HD650 with a headphone amp) with a similar amount of articulate bass, I want to upgrade my main stereo system in pieces. I want to go about it in the following fashion, knowing that there will be times in the middle of the process where the system will be less than ideal.
- First, purchase a DAC (looking at the Ayre Codex) & start feeding the Sonos output through that into the amplifier.
- Second, upgrade the speakers. I am looking to eventually end up with fairly high power solid state, so I am considering the Revel F206 or F208 speakers. I know they will fail to deliver much with my amp and be on the quiet side, but I hope that once I swap out the amp, they will start to sing.
- Third, find a power amp that can do at least 200W into 8 ohms. Perhaps the Bryston 4BSST2, Plinius, Parasound A21 or Benchmark power amp. Or maybe even a Mcintosh 402. Connect the DAC-pre directly into it via XLR to drive the speakers.
- Fourth, replace the sonos with a Aurelic Aeries Mini and use the USB out of that device into the Ayre Codex as I hear that it makes a much better sound.
- Lastly, consider putting a pre-amplifier into the path if necessary and I need expansion options (or if the sound quality of the dac suffers badly due to chopped off bits at low volumes)
So my final system would likely look like
Aurelic Aeries (Mini) -> Ayre Codex DAC -> (Ayre Pre-amp) -> Bryston/Parasound/Plinius/Benchmark/Mcintosh amp -> Revel Performa 3 F208.
I expect this whole process to last me about a couple of years.
Does this sound like a journey worth embarking upon? Anything there that sounds to like it would be a really dumb idea?
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- 49 posts total
I do neither. I use Subdude platform for floorstanders and Isoacoustics brand stands for monitors. In addition to providing similar isolation, the stands get the monitors off the floor and provide optional upward tilt as needed. There may be other good isolation products that might provide other options if needed but these are the two I have used and find to both to deliver similarly better results in each case. http://www.amazon.com/IsoAcoustics-1004209-ISO-L8R155-Medium-Pair/dp/B008GOP79G You have to make sure to get the right size Isoacoustics stands to fit specific monitors best. Also note that Isoacoustics are short stands often used on desks, but having tried various monitors on higher, heavy, high quality spiked stands in my problematic room, I find use of Isoacoustics on the floor with upward tilt as needed to provide the best results. There may be other stands available that focus mainly on isolating speakers from floor interactions. Spiked stands alone though solid are also often quite rigid and still transmit vibrations and may not do the job with very lively flooring I have found. Products that isolate well (as opposed to coupling to the floor, which is the opposite of isolating) tend to have some give that absorbs vibrations before they reach the floor. Coupling is a good approach in some cases where floor interactions are not obtrusive, like in my basement with carpeted solid concrete foundation for the floor.. When floors are lively or built to have some give (the normal case with modern construction to better withstand earthquakes, etc.), isolation rather than coupling is the key. |
I'm new to a lot of this and most everyone I read here seems to know more than I do so take what I say with that qualification....but you are like me in that we both like the same kind of music, varied and diverse. Sometimes you like to listen to acoustical music at lower volumes where you really need a system to reproduce that great mid range. Other times you want to crank it up a bit when you listen to other types of music where you want that bass to come through. I would suggest to you that rather then achieve what you want with a single system you should consider moving to two separate amp/speaker combos driven by a common preamp and source(s). I believe it is more economical this way than trying to get a single system that plays all types of music perfectly. If you are happy with your tube amp I would keep that and find great mid range / full range efficient speakers for that. (For your acoustical / voice music you want to keep that tube amp sound.) For the heavy bass and volume get a good SS amp and "rock" speakers. You don't need a lot of power with the room size you have. Plenty of preamps, amps and speakers out there that are preowned and in great shape. You don't need to spend anywhere near Ten Grand to get where you want to go given your room size and if you are willing to buy preowned. And I can confirm that when I put just a simple Emotiva Stealth DAC connected to my Sonos the sound improvement was very noticeable and the Stealth is not even a high-end DAC. |
@badri Genelec and Geithain are two other pro-audio companies (in addition to ATC and ADAM) that have a line of active speakers designed for the home. All four of those manufacturers have great reputations among pros. Again, the "home" part is mainly relevant only if you care about appearance. There are lots of other manufacturers worth considering. You might check out the monster "high end nearfield test" thread over on that other forum I mentioned. |
@1extreme I do intend to keep my tube amp. But I don't have the space to stash the set of speakers in my average sized San Francisco apartment. So I might have to make some compromises there despite how attractive two systems sound. :) Thanks once again for confirming that the output of the Sonos improves with a DAC. Did you get your Sonos modded by Wyred4Sound? What output are you using to connect your DAC to your Sonos? What is the improvement that you notice? |
- 49 posts total