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A little help please

My room is 13' x 21' x 8.5' ceiling. Speakers are located along the short wall about 12-18" off the wall. They can't come out as they'll block an entrance way.  They are about 4' from the side walls. 

Currently I have a Prima Luna Classic Integrated with their standard tubes. Source is Rega Apollo R, MMF-5/Clear Audio Nano V2, or Proton DAC. Speakers are Totem Arro (no mass laoding).

I realize that my placement isn't ideal and my wife's need for decorating balance with furnishings,etc require some trade-offs but I just don't think these speakers are up for the job in some cases. Some songs, like acoustic blues, female vocals, even piano sound great but I'm sometimes finding other recordings seem to sound muddy and there's no real pop and umf on some drums; like I'm hearing music but not feeling it some times.

The totems are not mass loaded. I have heard that mass loading them will tighten up the bass. I could also try some different tubes, but overall I'm not sure either or both will make that big a difference. Which leads me to a discussion of a sub or some new speakers.

I lean towards new speakers.

Possibilities (depending on what I can get my wife to agree to in price and size) are:

PSB Imagine T2, Quad 25L, Revel F206 - As noted above there are decorating issues. A sofa is located about 2.5 feet in front of the right side. As it is now imaging is good, my concern with these is they all have some low driver positions that will be an issue unless I can relocate. Relocating to the long wall is an issue because I'd have to straddle a working fireplace as well as other considerations. 

A larger Totem Forest - leaves me wondering if I'll have similar issues with bass.

Audio Physic Tempo 25 (NOT the plus version) - demo from my local store.

Vandersteen 3A - Signature - also demo from my local store. These are likely too big for my wife's taste; and quite possibly my amp.

  One thing I didn't note so far was the possibility of a sub-woofer.  I'm not thrilled with the idea but I haven't given it an ear so I can't say.

Thoughts anyone?

Thanks for reading and taking the time to respond, Jetson.
jetson
akg_ca's avatar
akg_ca
2,281 posts
 
IMO .... Consider new speakers as a better match to the gear upstream 

my first round of  contenders .... REGA RS5 or R5 , or even to the "7.s" if space and budget permits. A whole lot less fussy about cables, speaker positioning, great tight bass, industry leading mid-range performance ( they design AND make there own drivers in the UK instead of plunking chi-fi drivers in a box like most others)  and IMHO theyvare a whole step up from the ARROS or STAFFs blah blah.

highly recommended .

The brand new RX speaker series I have not heard, they were revised as one of the hits of the Bristol show, but they are a LOT more money .... Stick with the R or RS legacy series.
akg_ca's avatar
akg_ca
2,281 posts
 
Ps

the Totems are a tough speaker to tweak to max performance . Up here in Canada they represent about the highest volume of brand turnover on the used market as people get fatigued with them . They can sound nice but the upstream gear synergy is a critical step.
if you are married to the Totems then I would suggest SIMAUDIO, AYRE or PLINIUS as best if breed . Totems own AMBER integrated amp (discontinued) was a joint venture with SIMAUDIO based on the SIM platform. The first three are frequently paired with Totems at the AUDIO paloozas 

I sold my ARROS and FORESTS and never looked back.

here us  a wild card speaker choice with any existing tube gear: a French speaker line that are very efficient and with tube equipment thet  blow away the majority of contenders and pretenders . They have many models. 

JMR ....Jean Marie Reynaud

Google Amherst Audio in Massaxhusetts and Google  the reviews 

they are not well known in the US yet but they are top-shelf kit in the Euro Zone. I heard them with Audiomat gear .... In a word .... "Yup!..."
full stop

FWIW
akg_ca's avatar
akg_ca
2,281 posts
 
PPS

with REGA or NEAT or JMR or whatever you ponder, your Kimber speaker cables will likely be a better fit also = cash saving there also .
freediver
1,219 posts
 
IMO the amp you have is capable of making MAGIC!You just need the right speaker.Gently used Sonus Faber Concertino/Concerto Home(both front ported) or better yet the Toy Towers(with bass port plugged)would sing with that amp & look good enough to satisfy wifey.
jetson OP
140 posts
 
Thanks, that's interesting. I was leaning toward improving my amp - thinking that I'll get the most out of the existing Arro speakers and have more choice of speakers in the future; be that keeping the Arro with the addition of a sub, or new speakers altogether.

 Right now I have about $5-6k to spend. I expect to have another $6k or so in about 8 months. 

So if I go speakers now - you mentioned the Rega's, freediver the Sonus Fabers;  how do I go about evaluating other speakers as well?   It's got to be more than look for an 8 Ohm impedance? How do I find candidates other than by price before auditioning.

I'm not discounting your suggestion on the speaker and not the amp (especially since you owned the ARRO and FOREST - properly mated I'm sure) but is there a good integrated or comibination within budget?  Same question on evaluation of the amp -  how do I know for the speakers or pair it.

For example, for less than $6k I can get a new Cary CAD 300 SEI integrated.

Right at $6k I could go with a Mystere CA21 + Cary CAD-120S MKII (open box).

The Cary integrated has 15W output, the CA-21 and CAD-120S MKII both have great reviews and is a hell of a lot more powerful.

So how do I evaluate amps to drive the Arros if I decided to go that route. 
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