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Yet Another Speaker Choice Question

Greetings fellow A'goners,hope your having a great weekend.A tragic collision early yesterday,during the unauthorized incursion into my sacred music chamber by my girlfriends rowdy 6 year old son & her equally rowdy 3 year old german shephard,has left 1 of my Dynaudio Audience 52 SE's unable to sing without surgical repair from the Danes that gave her life.Realizing that since this is a discontinued model,donar organs(spare parts) may not be available,it may be time for a new mistress.I REALLY like MOST of what the Dyn's brought to the table except for an occasional hardness in the treble(at louder levels)and wouldn't mind a little more warmth in the midrange,although I realize the Dyn's are probably being close to truthfull in this area(what can I say).After spending hours researching possible choices I have pretty much narrowed it down to a pair of Dynaudio Excite X16's or the Sonus Faber Concerto Domus that are currently on sale here on A'gon.Front end is a VTL IT-85(& yes I tried tube rolling the slight treble hardness out with no luck),room size is currently 12'x16',although that may be downsized in the future.Musical taste varies from classical/chamber,reggae,acoustic/electric blues & classic rock with a smattering of metal(Metallica,etc..) thrown in when I really need to vent.So what do you think guys,which way would YOU go & why?Thanks for your input,take care.
freediver
afranta
180 posts
 
I have Dynaudio x12s and love them. No hardness on top, and I'd describe the midrange as on the warm side of neutral. (What HiFi rated the x12s more highly than the x16s; you might want to look at the reviews, but my sense was that it had to do with competition in the different price ranges. Although I suppose that since the x16s go lower, they might not be as well-integrated as the x12s--one of the x12s strengths, IME.) I've never heard the SF Concerto Domus, but have heard good things about them.
steveaudio
331 posts
 
I had a VTL ST-85 power amp for a few years, & used it in roughly a 10x10 office room with fairly efficient speakers. It only had so much power, & pretty much "crapped out" in a larger room, or with less efficient speakers, but it had it's tube-y charms.

As far as: "an occasional hardness in the treble(at louder levels)and wouldn't mind a little more warmth in the midrange", if VTL gear isn't giving you enough warmth (!?), I'd look for a diff. brand of speakers, like Merlins perhaps.

Or go to a SS amp, & stick w/Dynaudio's.....just my 2cents.
buconero117
2,311 posts
 
The first choice should be to dump the girl friend. The 'trio', her, son and dog have proven you must give up music. The Trio will not give you any other choice. Hey, it happens. Sad.
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knownothing
1,584 posts
 
Agree with Steveaudio. The Dyns will crave Solid State, so if keeping the amp, I would look elsewhere for speakers. The Sonus Fabers are a COMPLETELY different direction - warm to a fault perhaps, boardring on rolled-off. Their Classic series is spectacular, while I find the Domus to be just "nice". I might suggest Harbeth P3ESR or Avalon NP Evolution Series, or somthing French and very efficient (Focal, Triangle, JMR, etc.).
afranta
180 posts
 
I missed that you have a tube amp and agree with the comments above about Dynaudio and solid state. You'd probably do better with more efficient speakers. Knownothing made some great suggestions. If you want to try a tiny and affordable option, I drove Silverline Minuets with a 12 wpc tripath amp with excellent results, and the reviews suggest that they're great with tubes.
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