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Back to it - Practical speaker upgrade

I am looking to upgrade my family room system. I have a mid-fi setup that includes a Rega Mira amp and decent digital sources, cables, etc.. that I use for both TV and 2 channel audio. This is in the family room and the amp must do double duty and be reliable. I have older Infinity Beta 40 speakers (which surprisingly sound ok) but I have been looking to upgrade (and not getting around to it). I demoed Rega RS5 recently, and while it was nice, it didn’t strike me as a significant enough upgrade. I listen to jazz, acoustic music, some rock, some classical. I value timbre and timing, and I don’t need a ton of bass. I don’t like analytical sound or fake hi-fi “detail”.

My room is an open concept 14’ x 25’, with 8.5’ ceilings and approximately 10’ listening distance. There is a half wall that opens up to a 20’ x 14’ kitchen area.

I also have a 14.5’ x 18.5’ living room/library where I could potentially add a second system.

Here are the options I am considering:

1. Upgrade my speakers in the family room and spend $3-5k. I’m open to upgrading the Rega as well but would need something with enough inputs to accommodate other sources (TV, DVD, etc…)

2. Take the same money and set up a second system in the 14.5’ x 18.5’ living room/library with another amp and speakers — For example, a tube or hybrid integrated and nice bookshelf speakers, for example.

Any thoughts on which direction you would go? And, any tower speaker recommendations for 5k and under with good WAF that would work well with the Rega? The new Focal Aria line looks nice but I haven’t heard them.

Thanks.

braudio7
ccolby
16 posts
 
If you decide to go with a unified system, consider the following approach.

Sell:
  • Riga Mira amp
  • Cambridge 640C CD player
  • whatever DVD/Blu-ray player you have
  • Musical Fidelity DAC
  • Infinity Beta 40 speakers
Keep:
  • Squeezebox
  • TV
Buy:
  • Oppo BDP-105D ($1300)
  • A pair of active speakers (the majority of your budget)
The Oppo serves as a CD player, a blu-ray player, a DAC, and a preamp (sources: HDMI, digital, disc). As long as you have no more than one HDMI source (e.g., cable box), you are set.

I've owned many passive speakers, and I would not go back to them. With your budget, you can get a killer system.
dorkwad
548 posts
 
If you can find a used pair of VMPS 626R speakers ($1200 or less depending on the upgrades), you'd be impressed.  The guy I sold a pair to about 4 years ago loves them.  He had to buy them after hearing them at my house--just made me an offer on the spot.  They have excellent clarity without etching, are dynamic, have good defined bass down to 37 hz in room.   The guy and his professional bass playing son sat there listening for 5 hours straight prior to the offer.  He uses them with a typical home theater receiver and says they sound fantastic.  I sold them because I had a chance to buy a pair of VMPS RM40 speakers used.  I used to have Von Schweikert VR-4 speakers and the jump in performance to the VMPS 626R's was way more than I expected.
soix
9,784 posts
 
For timing and timbre a couple of my faves are Linn and ATC.  If you can find a pair the Linn 5140 are beautiful looking floorstanders.  In either case you'd likely need to upgrade your amp unless you buy active version of the speakers, which might be a great idea.  Best of luck. 

samac's avatar
samac
499 posts
 
braudio7, you have some great equipment in your family room. Speakers I would suggest for either situation would be the Monitor Audio Silver 8 and the Bowers and Wilkms 683 S2.

if you go the route of setting up another system I
 can highly recommend the Arcam FMJ A19. Good luck with your decision.

Cheers,,

Scott
terry9
2,354 posts
 
I think you should make a point of listening to Magnepan speakers before you make your decision. Planar speakers like Magnepans and electrostatics sound different. Some people can't stand them - but I won't live without them.

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