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Dali Helicon 300 with Sansui 9090DB = disaster??

Hi,
I am a total newbie and started buying for the first time in my life (I am 40) decent audio gear (because finally I can, I am a photographer, so it took me a while...), but with very little guidance. All I did was reading tons of threads and bought used from ebay and this site on a whim.
Someone with much more knowledge pointed out to me yesterday that the Dali speakers I just bought are 4 ohm speakers and won't be a good match for my Sansui 9090DB, which I bought to a large extend simply because I loved the retro look of it and people had good things to say about it. I have not even received the speakers yet, but after reading more threads there are conflicting opinions out there, ranging from "everything will be fine" to "I am going to blow my Sansui if listening to music loudly" (which is my full intention!).
Any expert advice? Obviously the speakers were the bigger commitment financially, so I would consider getting a more modern receiver if I needed to.

One more thing to consider is, that if I had to buy another receiver, I would like it to have at least an optical audio input, if not HDMI input, so that I could use it for my projector as well as for stereo listening of music. I am not that interested in surround sound, all I see myself doing is adding a subwoofer, for HT as well as music.

Thanks for any input and helping out a novice!
Nick
sx70nk
sx70nk OP
4 posts
 
Thanks again Dave, Lapierre and Jond!
Lapierre, what cable should I get?
Jond, I am pretty open and not intimidated by tubes, but of course I don't know anything about tubes. If you throw a couple specific models (i.e. what Bryston?) at me that are good values (under 1 K sounds good), i will gladly spend even more time on researching audio gear than the 5 hours I am putting in every evening for the last few weeks. Seriously!
sx70nk OP
4 posts
 
Jond, also, what is a push pull amp? At the Jolida website I see two categories, hybrids and tubes.
lapierre
547 posts
 
Depending on your budget you can find great cables without spending a ton of money. Browse the "goN" for great deals on used cables. Looking for performance/price look at list below which has entry level to very high end to meet your budget. As always you need to listen first.

AntiCable http://www.zeroimpedance.com
DH Labs Q10 http://www.silversonic.com
Analysis Plus http://www.analysis-plus.com
AudioQuest http://www.audioquest.com
Acoustic Zen http://www.acousticzen.com

Pierre
steidlguitars
90 posts
 
Welcome to the madness (and the fun).

I have found the Helicon series to be remarkably revealing of changes in downstream gear (amps, cables, tubes, you name it) more than any other speakers I have ever owned.

For me, the magic happened when I changed from a high power SS amp (Musical Fidelity A5, 250 wpc) to a medium powered tube amp (Rogue Tempest, 90 wpc). As Dave mentioned above, high power always provides better control of the woofers, however tubes add a life to the music that I've never heard from any SS amp that a mere mortal like me might own.

So hopefully you'll love the synergy with your receiver; but know that the Dalis will reflect most any improvement you throw their way.

Enjoy!
sx70nk OP
4 posts
 
I want to thank all the good advice from everybody. Today, finally, my Dali's arrived. So I can finally begin to set up my system. So based on Steidlguitars own observations, I will start off changing (and comparing) my generic Radio Shack speaker cables to better ones, getting something from Pierre's list. I am very curious about this, as there are endless comments on the myth vs reality of improved sound through better cables.
if there is interest, I will post my observations. Next round will be the amp, but that might have to wait a little.
Nick
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