Replacements for Dynaudio Floorstanders


Hi there.

My current system is made up of the following: Dynaudio Contour 1.8 Mk IIs, Krell 300il, Benchmark USB DAC, and a laptop with lossless music.

I'm looking to introduce a little warmth in my system, seeing as the Dyn/Krell/DAC combo has miles of resolution, but doesn't offer much in the way of engagement. I'm considering selling my Dynaudios for a warmer pair of speakers that I hope to find on Audiogon. $4k is my limit. My thinking is a used pair of B&W Nautilus 802s or 803s. What other suggestions would folks have, in terms of speakers that have similar resolution to Dynaudio's stuff, but offers more warmth and darkness? One outside consideration of mine is a pair of Mirage OMD-28s. Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.
velociti
I agree. Revealing speakers, Krell amp and a Benchmark Dac, with AQ cables and stock power cords.. sounds bright just sitting there...If it was me, well not the geared I'd have put together, but if it was me I'd replace the Dac with a W4S, or Lavry, replace the AQ wires with Cardas, and replace the stock power cords with the Shunyata Venom 3..
What seems clear through the thread is that few think changing the from the Dynaudio is the right first step,
I used to have Dynaudio 1.8's going through a Krell amp and a Audio research pre-amp. The sound was tight, smooth and never harsh. The difference is I was running a full blown analog set-up. When I ran digital it was another story. I'm currently running all ARC gear through Dynaudio 3.4's. and the sound is very full and a bit on the warm side but not overly warm. I'm running all Audience cables and power cords.
Overall it's a very nice relaxed sound.
Thank you all so much for the advice. I never expected to get such a response from folks on here.

I appreciate each opinion, but the overall message seems clear: my issue is not with my speakers. As to the previous poster, my brother has an all Audio Research setup, and when we used his amp and the pre part of my integrated, we got pretty close to my ideal sound. As I said previously, my ideal piece of gear to go behind the Dynaudios is a Levinson 383 Integrated. I LOVE the sound of that thing. I could probably find one used on here if I wait long enough. My only concern is...at 100 wpc, and a bit more into 4 ohms, which the Dyns are...is that enough power to push my 86db speakers to loud volumes?

For the person who mentioned tube stuff, and the distinction between bloom and warmth, that's a fair point. I've listened to some good tube stuff...Conrad Johnson, Audio Research, Musical Fidelity and California Audio Labs. Right off the bat, none of the them appealed to me. Label it whatever you'd like, but I just prefer the solid state sound. I've just come to the realization that, while I love the huge amount of resolution I'm getting out of my system, its presentation is just a bit dry, a little thin, and a little bright. I'm not looking to transform the sound in my system, just to push it more towards a Levinson/Audio Research type of sound.

As for my Benchmark DAC, I'm going to stick with it for the immediate future because it's my newest component at less than two years old. It DRAMATICALLY improved the resolution in my system, though I'll admit it left my sound a bit thin and definitely trending on the bright side. Once I get into a position where I have disposable income, I'll be refining my system one component at a time.

As for my speakers, if or when I replace my Dynaudios, it's going to be with something (more) full-range. I might be willing to sacrifice a little in the way of resolution in order to get that.

Thanks again for everything!