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Narrowed speaker selection down to 5 choices

I like all kinds of music. My new room is 13.5x21x9. My amp is Spectron Mus. III SE MK2 w/ all MIT cabling. Speakers are: PBN EPX, Thiel 3.7, Revel studio 2, Dynaudio Contour S5.4, and Focal 1037BE. Speaker will be on short(13.5") wall. Speaker must excell in imaging,resolution,midrange presence,dynamics,tight articulate bass(no muddy midrange,or bloat),and full freq. range. I now have Dali Helicon 400 MK 2. I love the Dali's imaging but, I can't get past a little midrange glare. Tried speaker cables,amps,room postioning,etc. Nothing seems to tame this speakers voicing in this room. Now my old room was 23x28x14 and the Dalis sang in that room. I had more weight and and bass in the larger older room. I would have never guessed that the Dali's would be leaner in the newer smaller room. Help, Opiions needed. If you can think of other speakers in the 5K to 8K range that may work for me then let me have it.
philefreak
lapierre
547 posts
 
Not sure it's the Helicon 400 MK2.

If your listening to that much difference in dynamics and mid range then look into room treatments.
mmike84
309 posts
 
If you like the Dali soundstage I suspect some of the choices on your list may be a small step down in that department. I would suggest you add Avalon Ascendants to your list. The soundstage is to die for and the midrange and treble equally so. Sophias are nice too. Once your list gets short enough you need to go listen to them.
taters
1,149 posts
 
I have heard Dali speakers many times. IMHO they have only sounded good with tube gear. In fact the best sound I have ever heard was a pair of Ms-4's going through a Wavelength amp and pre-amp. I am currently a Dynaudio user but I would have no problem owning a pair of Dali's.

Out of all the speakers you mentioned I have only heard the 5.4's. I think they are a really great speaker but I would still stick with what you have and work around it. Try to borrow a tube amp and some different cables. That would be my first choice before buying other speakers.
rhljazz
1,250 posts
 
Have you tried any room acoustic treaments? You claim the speakers sang in your old room. What guarantee is there that any of the other five contenders will sing any better in this room than the Dali speakers you already know can satisfy you when they were in a different room.

Is the glare a function of brightness caused by reflections in the room, or perhaps a bass cancelation? You do mention the speakers sound leaner in the new room. Most likely you have a bass problem that makes a frequency stand out as a glare. Check out GIK acoustics for some afforable bass traps and corner traps. It does require a significant amount of experimentation to obtain the right mix.
missioncoonery
1,206 posts
 
Philefreak...PBN has no large following(if any),too hard to sell when the time comes.They may sound great but not for me because I consider resale when I buy gear.The Sophia 2 is well worth the extra money if you are seriously considering the model 1 .Im guessing in a few months 9 grand or less will buy a nice pair.If you like Dynaudio the confidence line C2/C4 is worth hunting out(6-8 grand will do it)..Focal and Revel are also winners..and as always this is just my opinion
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