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Looking for more detail in a speaker

Kind of a long first post but needed the space to set up my situation. 
I decided to do something about my speaker situation after demoing a pair of B&W 805d’s. One of the tracks played was Sympathy for the Devil. At the beginning of the song, a percussion instrument, either a guiro or cabasa, just popped out at me on the left speaker. I’ve heard that song a million times but never noticed that percussion instrument coming at me like that. I came home and played the track through my system, through my streamer and turntable. My speakers are Golden Ear Triton One’s. That same presentation just isn’t there like with those 805’s.
The GET1’s are certainly decent speakers; are they not designed for this type of detailed presentation? Is it my room? My listening room is a odd shaped man attic with a 3.5’ wall on one side with an 8’ wall on the other side peaking a 9’ in the middle. My listening position is about 17’ from the speakers.  I’m sure the room is acoustically challenged. Also, I have a long speaker wire run, like 40’. Does that contribute to the lack of detail? I figured out a way to trim about 15’ of speaker wire length from each run and plan to do that ASAP. I’m using AudioQuest construction rated wire. I believe they’re 14 gauge.
So, why not buy the 805’s? I’ve thought seriously about them but concerned they’ll be kind of small for my room. Seems like I need floor standers. I’d like to keep any replacement speakers at $4k. I have an opportunity to pick up a pair of Dynaudio S5.4s for $4k but haven’t made a move in them yet. 
Any suggestions on a speaker selection or adjustments to my room or speaker wire are appreciated. To sum it up, I’m looking for more instrument detail with good sound staging either by making tweaks to my current set up or getting another flavor of speakers. Thx. 
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bfoura OP
88 posts
 
@pimbo why do you say that about the Dynaudio’s. Don’t know that much about them. These 5.4’s are about 18 years old. Please tell me more. Thx. 
dmbwire
44 posts
 
Bfora. I have the MC-152 / C47 in my office system playing through the 805
d3’s. This system sounds incredible and seems to check your search boxes. Why not see if BB Mag will set up the d3’s in your room? If you go the 805 route I’d strongly suggest the d3’s over the earlier models. I went that route starting with the “S” model. Enjoy your journey. 
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bfoura OP
88 posts
 
Thanks for the input @dmbwires. That’s a pretty close “Apple to apples” comparison. I’ll listen to the original 805 D’s in my system this weekend but will keep the 805 D3s in mind as I heard those this past weekend. There’s a smaller Audio dealer in town that sells B&W’s who might let me audition the latest model in my home. 
dsper
663 posts
 
Dill 1
Bring your listening position to 10' from the speakers. Put your speakers 10' apart (measured at the center of the tweeter). Position yourself 10' from an imaginary plane between the tweeters, dead center. Angle both speakers so you can see just a sliver of the inside wall of each speaker at your listening position. Also, adjust your listening position so your ear (height from the the floor) is as close as the tweeter height is from the floor. Do not use a cloth covered , high back chair for listening. I would also suggest shorter, higher quality speaker cables, but only after you have done all of the above.

I wondered about being 17 or 20 feet from the speakers and would start with the basic stuff like dill1 suggests; and then incremental adjustments to try to improve the sound. 

Also maybe the odd room shape is disrupting the treble, and some sort of room treatments are necessary.

If it is the room, spending for new speakers may be a way to waste your money

Or maybe you just want new speakers?

FWIW

Dsper.



steve59's avatar
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steve59
1,767 posts
 
To the first post. I have a pair of speakers that takes the song 'lost cause' by beck and turns it into a magical mystery tour. the background, idk woodwinds? flute? overlayed in the mix on one specific pair of speakers sound distinct and amazing, like at the end of the song when beck blows into the mic, that sound continues through the entire song, but I only have one pair of affordable speakers that show it? I'v bought several speakers at multiple times the price and none are able to recreate the layering, contrast, and depth on that specific song. I've decided there's a treble peak in the affordable speakers tailor made for that one song or there's other fq's those speakers aren't reproducing that allow those delicate notes to shine so well. Either way my more recent experience shows me it's a speaker coloration making that song pop and B&W speakers also have tailored output.
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