Speaker upgrade for classical music
Another Magnepan recommendation here. My friend who played in an orchestra and has an amazing system of his own always loved hearing my 1.7i now upgraded to 3.7i and would say it was the most realistic sound he ever heard. I'm using these in a 12 x 15 room. Hopefully the pandemic will be over soon so you can hear for yourself. |
I'd guess that almost any speaker you carefully is going to be a huge improvement over the Polks. They're probably good for the money but compromises in floorstanders at that price point are huge. I'd have a hard time saying no to these for 8k. They've got powered bass so should be fine powered by a big receiver. Vandersteen Model 5A Floorstanding Speakers; Gloss Black Wrapped Pair - The Music Room (tmraudio.com) These would be awesome, I'd be a little concerned trying to power them and a bunch of other speakers from a single receiver. You'd probably want to keep the volume moderate and eventually get a separate power amp to power them. You could get something like a Parasound A21 for $12-1500 Thiel CS3.7 3.7 Speakers RARE and COMPLETE | eBay If you want to go new I'd be hesitant to spend 8k. It's such a huge jump from what you've got and you lose a ton of money if you decide you made a mistake. The Vandersteen 2Ces are a good place to start for around 3k. That basic model has been around for decades. |
@jon_5912 and @skywachr, I get what you’re saying about spending too much. I’m thinking of spending maybe 3k on speakers (am partial to the Tannoys Or used Graham Audio for now—am going to listen to them today), 4k on pre-amp plus amp. Regarding vinyl: two reasons I’ve been hesitant to go down the path. 1) I’ve been aware of the deficiencies in my current system and didn’t want to have another set of things to spend money on and 2) to be honest, I’m not sure I can hear the difference between digital and vinyl. I don’t want to start this wonderful thread on the rabbit hole of the age-old digital vs vinyl debate, so let’s leave it there. I’m willing to give vinyl a try and change my opinion after I’ve addressed the current deficiencies In point #1 above. (BTW if you have reasonably priced turntable recommendations you can send me an email at ssmbogus at gmail plus the com part. ) |
I’m not sure I can hear the difference between digital and vinyl.Analog folks would chuckle. LOL To feel the depth and width of orchestral music and to get accurate timbres of all orchestral instruments with digital media, you would need to spend well over $10K for speaker, amp, and CD/SACD player. However, $10K vinyl system would easily prove you that vinyls sound better than CDs. Jungson int amp ($1200) + Speaker (Harbeth C7 ES3, $4000) + Turntable ($2000, cartridge included) + phono preamp ($1000) + cable ($500) + cleaning system ($300) + SACD player ($1000) would be a nice setup for classical and jazz music. If you need more bass, you can add a $1000 subwoofer later. |
Why not start with digital and then determine if you really want to go the analog route. You will always be in the hunt for good vinyl. if you can tolerate the pops, clicks, hiss and warped records then that's fine. You might as well forget new releases since they will be digitally recorded for an analog record. This limits you to old releases or new ones made from the master tapes. Others may disagree but I have found that you may need to spend a lot more on an analog setup to get "better" sound than digital. |
