2. speakers
  3. 150920-131986

2ch Upgrade for Unfocused Listening

I'm not much of a talker on this forum so forgive me for my rash introduction. I'm a father of two young boys, loves music and has little time to really focus on listening. That said, I am toying with the idea of upgrading my system to something a little more grown up. Current setup is a super modest, running a NAD D3020, pair of B&W bookshelves (10 years old), and a small Martin Logan sub. This system sits in the living room and is predominantly used for background listening though the occasional "sit back and relax" kind of listening does happen from time to time. If I'm not listening here, I'm at my desk working and listening to a pair of KEF x300a's. 

My big thought is to do a full upgrade, albeit a slow one, to something a little more special. Currently I have my sights on the Naim Uniti Atom and a pair of floorstanders (CM10 S2 really catch my ear), taking away the need for the ML sub. The big question is this however, will an upgrade like this where music is played more often than not when I am running around with the kids be something I notice? We all like to listen to music, but if we arent planted in the sweet spot am I wasting my time thinking we can achieve great sound throughout the space, making for a worthy investment at this current life stage. 

I welcome your input. And thank you greatly in advance. 
128x128bgrimes
bgrimes's avatar
bgrimes OP
8 posts
 
Thanks for the feedback, clearly lots to think about. I have been curious about the Ohm Walsh speakers in the past and they continue to look appealing, but I dont like the idea of having whatever speakers I end up with pulled away from the wall. Right now, the kids get first priority when it comes to this space and the less intrusive this system can be the better. I also want to do my best to protect the investment, ie keep this stuff out of the kids' way.

Room size is a tricky one, what I would call the living room is 15.5' square, but it floods into the kitchen and had a vaulted ceiling. Below is an image link so you can see the space. (It's a mess, try to look past that. I've been on dad duty this week). 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/drtc9bcwh174hcb/img_2460.jpg?dl=0
bgrimes's avatar
bgrimes OP
8 posts
 
One other item of note. We live in the sticks, literally 4hrs from a major metropolitan area (Denver), making demoing/listening not exactly practical. 

Other speakers I've only read about that I would consider are the following:
Tekton Lore
Buchardt S400 (used to be more excited about this one)
Devore Fidelity Gibbon X (or similar if I can get my hands on a used pair)

I would love to keep the speaker side of the purchase under $2k.

rocray's avatar
rocray
1,448 posts
 
                Is there something about your current system that you don't like,or is it that itch that we all get?
rego
378 posts
 
Ah ... you are in the neighborhood ... Metropolitan Denver!
The Living / Kitchen / Listening Space is great!
Set up the B&W's opposite from the kitchen Area Space.
This should allow for some well deserved casual ... um ... critical listening.
Wall to Wall Boundry to Boundry.
You may have to move the mains out into the space a bit for the proper effect.
Experiment with spacing between the speakers as well.
The Sound just depends on how the loudspeaker integrates. 
Even without treatment you should be able to have a good idea of what the sound can be.
Lots of possibilities for brand set of Loudspeakers.
Don't look now ... but TMR Audio is listing a Clearwave Symphonia 1
used but Not ... for a bit more than $2K.
Do look!

audiokinesis
2,737 posts
 
You might consider Morrison Audio.  Extremely well thought-out design.
Duke
More to discover