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Full circle and thinking about speakers

This all started a couple of months ago by buying a pair of old B&W DM305 speakers and i'm completely new to all of this..
Then a  Rogue Cronus, Nottingham TT w/ a Lyra Cart. Waiting for an EAR phono stage to arrive Monday.
On the digital side - a Pro-ject streamer and Schitt DAC (place holder but it all sounds very decent).
So now I'm back to the speakers, cables and interconnects. I would like something at a level with the other gear - not that the B&W's are bad, they just aren't great.
What I like about the B&W's: clear detailed and focused.
What I don't like: At times the highs are glaringly high and when I expect there to be gobs of bass, there just isn't any to speak of. Jazz trios and quartets sound pretty awesome.  Rock not as good.
Condo life, which means my listening level is on the low side. Wall moving bass is probably not what I am looking for.
Listening space: The room is 14' x 25' and I haven't settled on which direction to arrange speakers. Currently they are projecting across the 14' width. That may very well change.
Any recommendations of where to start the search are highly welcomed. Speaker types, specs etc...as I know very little.
Let's say under 2K and used is fine if it gets me to a higher level.
Thanks  all
smaarch1
p05129
497 posts
 
Why does anybody listen or read Miller carbon’s posts and waste bits and bytes to reply. If you want cheap stuff, go the Miller way. 92db speakers? If his tektons were 85db, he would state you need 85db speakers. Get the speakers that you like, and then get the amp that compliments or fits the speakers. Or if you like a specific amp, then get speakers that will work with the amp. You won’t want a 5 watt SET amp with 86db totems, nor would you need the 1200 watt monoblocks if you had 104db avant garde speakers.
B&W speakers have been paired with Classe and McIntosh amps for over 10 years because those amps are on the warmer side and compliments B&W speakers.

jwl244
64 posts
 
Personally if you’re in an environment you can't play loud... if that’s a priority you may want to lead with that. You may not be looking for base extension if that's the case. But then you brought up a subwoofer so I’m not sure now. Maybe you feel you can turn it up after all? I was going to suggest the monitor audio line. For 2G you can look into the silver line of floor standers. They don’t have high sensitivity but honestly I’m only bringing it up since it’s been the trend to in this thread. Sensitivity doesn’t make a great or bad speaker. At the heart of it.... it dictates how loud your amp can drive the speaker. So again if you’re in a condo and worried about playing at high volumes... sensitivity may not matter at all. Perhaps you should also consider only getting bookshelf speakers. These will be a smaller cabinet enclosure and typically would be decoupled from the floor since you have to buy a floor stand for it. Bookshelves also do not have as deep bass extension as floor standers (generally speaking). If you get something like the monitor audio silvers and find you want a sub... their matching subwoofer is well reviewed.
coachpoconnor's avatar
coachpoconnor
380 posts
 
Start with room treatment. You'll never hear what your speakers/system is capable of. Start with first reflection points. Locate your system on the short wall.

Good luck & happy listening!
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
That's the ticket. Professional acoustic design ain't cheap. Not much left for components, at least not for the 12 years it will take to pay off the second mortgage. But totally worth it when you hear the full capabilities of the Bose Wave Radio. 
jasonbourne52's avatar
jasonbourne52
2,863 posts
 
Buy a pair of older Vandersteen 2's from eBay! Often less than $1K! Why pay more? A classic design still in production!
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