Looking at your setup. It’s very similar to my original setup, except I had my CM2 driving a pair of Harbeths. Let me ask you this...when you say “better”, what are you looking to improve? Do you feel it missing bass, details, clarity, soundstage? I think if you provide the forum with more details and insight, we will be able give you more and maybe better suggestions. Also, I would also go back to JohnnyR and get his take. He understands great sound. He helped me build my new system and I’m very happy.
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While Rogue may be a "value brand", as I and many other contented owners have discovered, it offers not only bang for the buck but also very good sound in absolute terms. My CMII is driving PMC twenty.24's. My point is that if you were to buy $7K speakers, and even more so some gently used ones at that price, the CMII would still be no slouch at driving them. That's the conundrum. Does an Audio Research tube integrated driving 2ce's sound better than a CMII driving Treo CT's? |
@tomstruck I looking for better transparency better bass control and little more powerIf you get new speakers, they will be the key to how much power you need. The best amps I've had were 45wpc and now 35wpc. I've had 200wpc & 250wpc. Neither sounded as good with the speakers I have as the 35wpc VTA ST-70 amp I now have. If you go with or keep the Vandies, you will need a high current amp since they are not very efficient (86db). IIUC, that is not the same as high wattage though there tends to be a linkage between the two. My main point is that high power amps does not necessarily equate to better sound. My speakers are rated at 93.5db efficiency. So 35wpc amp is good for me. I recently listened to Watkins Gen 4 speakers and was stunned at the sound coming from a monitor/bookshelf speaker. I hadn't considered them because my room is quite large and I didn't think a monitor would be adequate. However he shows them in a 14x28x10 room which is similar to my main room. Bass is unheard of.from speakers that size. Imaging is great. Dynamics is off the charts as is the attack. $2k gets them with 30 day return policy. Depending on room size you might still need a sub. I would in my room. But the Gen 4 goes down to 41hz. BTW they received the golden ear award from TAS. Dick Olsher is the reviewer. I have the article but can't find the link now for some reason http://www.watkinsstereo.com/ FTR, I am not affiliated with this company . However I do know both father and son Watkins and have bought equipment from them. I heard the speakers in their showroom. Sorry I can't find TAS article because I agree with what he wrote. As for an amp, Bob Latino of VTA sells very good amps IMO. Again it depends upon your speakers sensitivity. He has 35-125 wpc amps which you can build or he will build for you. My ST-70 from him replaced an amp which retailed for 3 times the price. Roy Mottran has a killer preamp at the same site. http://www.tubes4hifi.com/bob.htm I'm not affiliated with this company either except I have one of Bobs amps. FWIW, your $7k budget allows you to get all three of the pieces I listed (excluding maybe the mono-blocs) IMO you would have a very good base to build from |
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