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$600 +/- Bookshelfs w/ Holographic Soundstage

Hello all,

Thank you all for your time & dedication to Audio :-)
This site has been a wonderful find for me (and a constant source of amusement for my wife watching me! LOL!)

I have been reading a bunch of the articles - trying not to clog up the forum with yet another speaker advice column - but have learned that it is the specifics of each individual situation that makes this such an exciting topic. So ...

I am looking to upgrade my bookshelf speakers - and would love input on my situation:

Right now I have a pair of B&W DM.601 s1 - that I am enjoying, but I feel their holographic soundstage is a bit limited.

This is my #1 priority - I love 'seeing' the music. My pinnacle moment came when listening to Rimsky-Korsakov, Sherezade on Primare driven ProAc Response D28s - when, with my eyes closed, I could tell you exactly where each member of the orchestra was sitting! That was when all of this began!!

Budget is self set at $600 +/-
Used / New all-ok
I'm partial to bookshelfs due to the size of my room (12'x10') in an NYC Apartment.

My current system:
Rotel RX-1052 Receiver (my upgrade dream right now is the Primare I30)
Rotel RCD-1072 CD
Technics SL-1200MK2 (w/ Shure M97xE)
B&W DM.601 S1 on Stands
Decent Wiring (Monster M850 Interconnects, Kimber Kwik 12 Speaker, I'm working on power cabling next)

What I've listened to in the last 48 Hours:
Art Farmer - Modern Art - CD
David Byrne - Grown Backwards - CD
Pink Floyd (bootlegs circa 1968-1974) - FLAC burned to CD
Thin Lizzy - In Sunshine or Shadow - LP
Radiohead - OK Computer - Audiophile LP
Miucha & Antonio Carlos Jobim - LP
Jorge Ben - BEN - LP Digitized to CD
Amadou & Mariam - Dimache & Bamako - CD
Pepe & Cheich - CD
Franz Liszt - A Faust Symphony - CD
Schuman - Frauenliebe und Leben - CD
Bach - Sonatas & Partitas - CD

Ok - I think this is probably more then enough info!

Thank you all so much & Happy Holidays
Ethan
128x128septemous
aggielaw
267 posts
 
If you can go up a couple hundred dollars there is a pair of used Taylor Audio Taylo Reference monitors that would give you what you're looking for. Phenomenal value, and they disappear like nothing else I've ever heard.
soix
9,530 posts
 
I think you're on the right track. Sure you can put better electronics in front of them and the B&Ws will probably throw a better image than they do currently, but they will never image as well as the Proacs you heard.

I had a similar watershed moment in terms of holographic imaging when I heard Thiels driven by a Pass Aleph 3 and Bryston preamp over 10 years ago. I have found time/phase coherent speakers excel in this regard, including Thiel, Vandersteen, Green Mountain Audio, etc. But there are many others that do very well in this area as well such as Joseph Audio, Silverline, Totem, and Audio Physics among others.

In your price range new I'd look at the Silverline Minuets, Ascend Acoustics Sierra 1, and the Epos M5. If you go used it opens up virtually all the manufacturers listed above and more. I'd bet any of them installed in your current system would improve sonic holography a good bit and will blow the B&Ws out of the water with better electronics as funds allow.

An important point is that even speakers that have the ability to cast a believable 3D image will be limited if not given the necessary space to breathe. You've probably already addressed this, but unless you pull the speakers at least a few feet out from the back wall (and preferably more) the imaging won't physically appear as convincingly. Many cables/interconnects (especially interconnects) will also limit the holographic imaging ability, and I would doubt the Monsters are doing you any favors in this regard. I've found Stereovox interconnects do very well with sorting out a believably dimensional image as I'm sure some of the others mentioned do too.

Hope this at least gave you some ideas, and best of luck.
mekong56
137 posts
 
Paradigm Studio 20 V4. Should be able to get them used for your price range. Very good speaker for the money.
septemous's avatar
septemous OP
26 posts
 
Thank you all very much! I'll start working through this and start listening and experimenting.

My one real confusion is where people recommend the DAC addition? When I purchased the 1072 - I did that thinking that it was the onboard DACs that made it such a good unit. If I were to port out to a new DAC, wouldn't that bypass the good parts of the 1072 (the Brown-Burr 24bit DACs?)

Thanks for the suggestions - I need to get myself out and listening, experimenting. Even upgrading to these 850 Monster interconnects was a HUGE improvement - so I'll check out that route as well.

Any other suggestions / input is greatly appreciated. Thank you all & Happy Holidays!

Ethan
robr45's avatar
robr45
319 posts
 
Quad 11 or 12l. Tube amp would do it as well.
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