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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
jetson OP
140 posts
 
Not a bad idea.

The Arro's sounded pretty darn good at his place. He used a PrimaLuna Integrated - the Dialog, I think. 

That's what pisses me off the most - that he should have realized he was giving me a bad match. I bought most everything from him.

The dealer I worked with sells Vandersteen but I spoke with a different dealer to see about auditioning them.  I'll look into the others you mentioned. Many speakers I've looked at aren't that easy to pair on the charts. So far I have the Vandersteen 3a Sig, Acoustic Zen Adagio and the Paradigm S6 on the list for further consideration.

Thanks for your help freediver. 
(BTW I take it you freedive. I scuba and I always love it when a friend taps my shoulder with no gear. Those long fins are so graceful too!)

freediver
1,219 posts
 
Yea the Dialog would have no trouble with the Arro’s.If you could trade up to that amp you would NEVER need another & speaker choices would be wide open INCLUDING Magnapans!The Paradigms require a well treated room to shine.Never heard the Acoustic Zen but ALL my cables are by them!I am actually a Retired U.S.Army Deep Sea Diver.Born & raised in Central Fl.I’ve been breath hold diving since I was 3 years old!52 + years however has taken it’s toll on my back so SCUBA is out & I don’t care for surface supplied any more so FreeDiving it is.I try to stay above 60’ unless I’m chasing BIG fish.Be sure to keep us updated,nothing worse than OP’s leaving us wondering how everything turned out.Good luck...
milpai's avatar
milpai
2,407 posts
 
akg_ca Most of the JMR speakers are also 4 Ohm impedance but sensitivity is closer to 91 dB. Wouldn't I have the same problem on those as the Totem?
This is something that Almarg (and a few others on this forum) have the knowledge to respond.
jetson OP
140 posts
 
freediver: Very cool. And deep diving "back in the day" (I'm 53) was even more dangerous than now. Thanks much for your service. 

" Yea the Dialog would have no trouble with the Arro’s.If you could trade up to that amp you would NEVER need another  & speaker choices would be wide open " 

That's why I was thinking of upgrading the amp first - although I hadn't decided on a new PL vs other. I think that I'll talk to him about that and ask to borrow his Dialogue to audition it at home with my speakers.

On the bright side, then I'll know for sure if I can live with the ARROs for a while, at least. 

If I go with the PL Dialogue, I can cancel a phono preamp I have on order from him and get the phono board in the Dialogue HP, which saves a few bucks and probably sounds better.

Decisions, decisions.
jond's avatar
jond
5,856 posts
 
So your amp can use both EL-34's and KT-88's and you said your using stock tubes. Which output tube are you using? Since you already own the amp perhaps a bit of tweaking it might get you somewhere? Unless you just really want to upgrade?
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