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Speaker upgrade for classical music

Hi, I need recommendations for a speaker upgrade. I’m a classical violinist and listen almost exclusively to classical, opera and jazz. No movies, Atmos, etc.  I have a 17x14 listening room (doubles as practice room) with acoustical treatments (phase coherent diffusers at main reflection points and regular ones elsewhere).
Half my listening is in stereo and half in multi-channel (4.0 and 5.1).   All my recordings are either CDs or high-res—DSD and FLAC—audio files. I don’t have a turntable. 

My current system: Marantz SR 8012 amp, Yamaha S1000 CD transport, Exasound e38 DAC and Sigma streamer (connected to the Marantz with analog 5.0 inputs). Speakers: Polk Rti A7 stereo, CSi A6 center, Rti A3 surround, and dual REL T/7i subs. 
What I want: speakers with improved musical detail and clarity that really reproduces the expansiveness of the symphony hall or church. I like a warmer sound than a drier one.  What’s most important to me is to hear what the recording engineer heard. Budget: say 8k or less.

Recommendations?  One other thing: Can I try them out?  And how?  I’m in Santa Fe, not a huge metropolis with lots of audiophile shops. 
Thanks very much. 
ssmaudio
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islandmandan
1,260 posts
 
Actually, I had a break in my Tannoy journey after a bad divorce left me without them. After that, I'd been using some B&W's for mains, and bought some KEF's for center and surrounds at a very good price.

After that came a nice pair of Dynaudio's, but after a few years, the itch to get back to Tannoys started to get to me, so when my new Tannoys came on line, I still had my KEF center and surrounds. They have now been upgraded with a new KEF center, and some very good Pioneer Andrew Jones designed speakers for surrounds. Both are a fine upgrade, and they have added to my enjoyment of multi-channel music.

As I mentioned before, both the Tannoy and KEF are Dual Concentric (tweeter in the center of the woofer). I wish I could have you listen to my system. I live in the Pacific Nor'west in Puget Sound on Whidbey Island. That's a long way from Maine, but maybe you'll come this way for one reason or another some day. You'd be welcomed.

Regards,
Dan 
audiokinesis
2,753 posts
 
Hiphiphan wrote: "I have the Raidho D3.1 (I purchased them used; I’m not wealthy). Is the SuperStand, which contains the back-firing driver, compatible with a floor-standing speaker such as this?"

Duke replies: Very nice speakers!!

I have not tried adding extra rear-firing energy to a wide-pattern speaker like your Raidho’s. So at this point I’d have to say, I don’t know yet. I can think of arguments both ways, but such arguments pale into insignificance compared with the certainty of actually trying it. I hope to find out some day.

(The Sonus Faber Aida, their current top-of-the-line model, uses what looks like a rear-firing mini-monitor. The Sonus Faber loudspeaker [a previous top model introduced in 2009] also used a rear-firing mini-monitor. So it MIGHT work well with your Raidho, but I’m not sure... to a certain extent it depends on the "voicing" of the Raidho.)

Hiphiphan: "And how does The Swarm Subwoofer system fit in (or is it not compatible with the SuperStand)?"

Each SuperStand incorporates a passive subwoofer, in the top half of the "notch", so a pair of them are essentially one-half of a Swarm.

Duke
hiphiphan's avatar
hiphiphan
72 posts
 
Thanks again Duke. When I get the itch to change the system, I'll keep this discussion in mind.
ssmaudio OP
71 posts
 
Question about monitors like the Graham Audio LS5/8 vs Ls9/f floor standing speakers. What are the pros and cons of the monitor?  Do I need to add a separate subwoofer?  For classical music maybe not?  But for jazz maybe yes?  
ihcho's avatar
ihcho
612 posts
 
For string chamber music, Hartbeth Compact 7ES3 would be pretty good. Recently I bought Jungson power/pre amp, and they sound pretty good for the price. You can try their integrated amp Jungson JA-88D.
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