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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
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knownothing
1,578 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.
krell_man
827 posts
 
You probably know this already and have accepted it, but Buconero117 brings up something to consider in your speaker choice.

First, you are going to be moving your system into a smaller room. If it's because of your relationship, is that okay from your perspective?

You've only got so much money, so who is going to pay for a six year old or dog breaking your things? After you replace these, what about the next time, and then the time after that? You could be pouring a lot of money that doesn't have to be spent into replacing your system, not upgrading it if you want.

Why would a six year old, who's old enough to be given boundaries on what's acceptable and what's not, be allowed to break your things? How's the rules and discipline situation?

As Buconero117 hinted, your girlfreind may be telling you through actions that your stereo has no place in her eyes. If that's the case, how do you feel about that?

And if that's the case and you accept that, maybe you should sell it and use the money for what she wants.

My first wife could never understand or get past the fact that I had my stereo to help unwind. It wasn't that I loved my stereo more than her, it's that I loved me as much as I loved her, and the stereo was a part of me. I've played music as well as listened to it all of my life.
steveaudio
331 posts
 
I'm chuckling a bit after reading Buconero117's & Krell_man's comments. I lived thru (barely) a similar situation with a g/f & & psycho, peeing, very mean cat. (And I'm a cat lover, I have one sitting on my lap right now, purring). I felt like my house, & "stuff" were under assault.

Besides all the cat damage, Quickly it got to the point where I couldn't even listen to music, on either of my 2 systems, w/o getting grief for it.

I'm leaving out all the worst details, but what Krell_man said: "Why would a six year old, who's old enough to be given boundaries on what's acceptable and what's not, be allowed to break your things? How's the rules and discipline situation?", I think nails it. Any normal rules, behavior, were out the window, as long as I put up with it.

Here's the kicker: guess who's the bad person in that situation? It's the one who doesn't want their house & stuff destroyed, or constant chaos. You can watch one of those dog training programs to get an idea. There's always one adult who insists on enabling the destructive behavior....
nolitan
865 posts
 
Personally Dyns are best with strong, powerful s/s amp.
That hardness is due to the amp loosing steam at higher volume levels be it solid state or tube, it can have that character.
If you like the dyns sound, you might want to look at a more powerful amp.
If you like to use your VTLs, you might investigate other speakers like the harbeths or sonus fabers.
Good luck
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