Badri, I'm pretty sure they can only help. We'll see. They look nice under the speakers in any case. If not, easily returnable to Amazon so nothing to loose really. Plus if it works it will save you a lot of money down the road by helping hear what you buy better as opposed to the room and floors.
How to upgrade in pieces - or - tell me about your journey!
Hello
I am getting started on my journey into Hifi here and I would be willing to spend about 10k over the course of a couple of years to get my system from where it is today to something a step or two above. I intend for my system to always be a stereo system at heart and also for it to stay all digital (no intention of tape, tuner or vinyl - or eveb a CD player).
My current systems is a Sonos playing Tidal or lossless FLAC files from a NAS drive. The audio outputs of the Sonos get connected to a Jolida JD-202A which is a 40W class AB tube integrated. The speakers are Energy floorstanders.
I am happy for how the system sounds with a limited number of things - such as vocal heavy folk or classic rock (pre-70s) recorded in mono. It sounds integrated across the drivers with no one element of the speaker standing out. The soundstage is narrow, but the imaging is not bad.
Unfortunately, a vast majority of the music I listen to includes
So based on wanting to hear the clarity I hear in my headphones (HD650 with a headphone amp) with a similar amount of articulate bass, I want to upgrade my main stereo system in pieces. I want to go about it in the following fashion, knowing that there will be times in the middle of the process where the system will be less than ideal.
So my final system would likely look like
Aurelic Aeries (Mini) -> Ayre Codex DAC -> (Ayre Pre-amp) -> Bryston/Parasound/Plinius/Benchmark/Mcintosh amp -> Revel Performa 3 F208.
I expect this whole process to last me about a couple of years.
Does this sound like a journey worth embarking upon? Anything there that sounds to like it would be a really dumb idea?
I am getting started on my journey into Hifi here and I would be willing to spend about 10k over the course of a couple of years to get my system from where it is today to something a step or two above. I intend for my system to always be a stereo system at heart and also for it to stay all digital (no intention of tape, tuner or vinyl - or eveb a CD player).
My current systems is a Sonos playing Tidal or lossless FLAC files from a NAS drive. The audio outputs of the Sonos get connected to a Jolida JD-202A which is a 40W class AB tube integrated. The speakers are Energy floorstanders.
I am happy for how the system sounds with a limited number of things - such as vocal heavy folk or classic rock (pre-70s) recorded in mono. It sounds integrated across the drivers with no one element of the speaker standing out. The soundstage is narrow, but the imaging is not bad.
Unfortunately, a vast majority of the music I listen to includes
- A lot of baroque music. So the orchestra sizes are relatively small, but the vocals and melody lines are very nimble and need to be easy to follow for the counterpoint to show.
- modern electronic music - not dance floor fillers - but more experimental stuff ranging from IDM (Autechre, Chris Clark, Squarepusher) to ambient (Brian Eno, Max Richter)
- A good bit of classic jazz from the Miles Davis, Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Herbie Hancock school.
- Lots of modern pop & rock - including bands like Wilco, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Sufjan Stevens, The National, Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead who include pretty much whatever the hell they want in their music.
So based on wanting to hear the clarity I hear in my headphones (HD650 with a headphone amp) with a similar amount of articulate bass, I want to upgrade my main stereo system in pieces. I want to go about it in the following fashion, knowing that there will be times in the middle of the process where the system will be less than ideal.
- First, purchase a DAC (looking at the Ayre Codex) & start feeding the Sonos output through that into the amplifier.
- Second, upgrade the speakers. I am looking to eventually end up with fairly high power solid state, so I am considering the Revel F206 or F208 speakers. I know they will fail to deliver much with my amp and be on the quiet side, but I hope that once I swap out the amp, they will start to sing.
- Third, find a power amp that can do at least 200W into 8 ohms. Perhaps the Bryston 4BSST2, Plinius, Parasound A21 or Benchmark power amp. Or maybe even a Mcintosh 402. Connect the DAC-pre directly into it via XLR to drive the speakers.
- Fourth, replace the sonos with a Aurelic Aeries Mini and use the USB out of that device into the Ayre Codex as I hear that it makes a much better sound.
- Lastly, consider putting a pre-amplifier into the path if necessary and I need expansion options (or if the sound quality of the dac suffers badly due to chopped off bits at low volumes)
So my final system would likely look like
Aurelic Aeries (Mini) -> Ayre Codex DAC -> (Ayre Pre-amp) -> Bryston/Parasound/Plinius/Benchmark/Mcintosh amp -> Revel Performa 3 F208.
I expect this whole process to last me about a couple of years.
Does this sound like a journey worth embarking upon? Anything there that sounds to like it would be a really dumb idea?
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- 49 posts total
EBM, if you have suspended plywood wood floors, you should try these under your Magico floorstanders as well. Unless the bass sounds perfect already of course. Magicos may have effective isolation from floors built in already. Dunno. If not whats another $100 for something nice looking to put them on. |
Someone above mentioned monitors in a small room which is normally a perfect fit. Even those on many stands will still interact with floors and can be improved. I use Isoacoustics stands under my Triangle Titus XS monitors in a 12X12 room. Could never get the bass right in there prior. Always either too much or too little and not defined or articulate. Floor interactions are the enemy. In my basement, with thin carpet and pad on concrete foundation, no additional isolation is needed with the same speakers because the floor/foundation the speakers sit on is rock solid (literally) to start with. Isolating speakers from floors provides similar results when needed, I find. |
I do neither. I use Subdude platform for floorstanders and Isoacoustics brand stands for monitors. In addition to providing similar isolation, the stands get the monitors off the floor and provide optional upward tilt as needed. There may be other good isolation products that might provide other options if needed but these are the two I have used and find to both to deliver similarly better results in each case. http://www.amazon.com/IsoAcoustics-1004209-ISO-L8R155-Medium-Pair/dp/B008GOP79G You have to make sure to get the right size Isoacoustics stands to fit specific monitors best. Also note that Isoacoustics are short stands often used on desks, but having tried various monitors on higher, heavy, high quality spiked stands in my problematic room, I find use of Isoacoustics on the floor with upward tilt as needed to provide the best results. There may be other stands available that focus mainly on isolating speakers from floor interactions. Spiked stands alone though solid are also often quite rigid and still transmit vibrations and may not do the job with very lively flooring I have found. Products that isolate well (as opposed to coupling to the floor, which is the opposite of isolating) tend to have some give that absorbs vibrations before they reach the floor. Coupling is a good approach in some cases where floor interactions are not obtrusive, like in my basement with carpeted solid concrete foundation for the floor.. When floors are lively or built to have some give (the normal case with modern construction to better withstand earthquakes, etc.), isolation rather than coupling is the key. |
- 49 posts total