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Your thoughts on my quest for new speakers

I know this has been asked many times on this forum, but I would really like some input on my quest for new speakers.  I am currently running a Hegel 160 with Linn Majik 140 floor standing speakers and a Rythmik sub to fill out the bottom end.  I use the Hegel's built-in Airplay to stream Tidal (Hi-Fi only) to the Hegel.  I tried the Bluesound Node recently and found it actually decreased the sound quality, so I removed it from the system.  It seems the consensus is that Tidal Hi-Fi Plus is not worth the extra $10/month.  I listen to all types of music - with a focus on well produced recordings.

My listening room is a 30' x 13' rectangle with 9' ceilings and pretty good acoustics (I think).  The speakers are on a 13' wall.

Overall I am happy with my system and get a lot of pleasure out of listening to it.  But like many of us, I get the itch every now and then and wonder if I could improve the sound in some way. I think the Hegel is a solid contributor to good sound, so I plan to keep that and replace the speakers (although the Hegel 390 certainly is tempting).

Regarding price, I am willing to pay for good sound, but I subscribe to the theory of diminishing marginal improvement, i.e. $20k speakers are not twice as good as $10k speakers.  My sense is they are maybe 10% better (if that).  But let's not make this discussion about that.  My sense is $10k should get me speakers that are a solid upgrade from the Linns, but that is just a guess.

I am fortunate to leave near John Rutan's shop (Audio Connection) in NJ and spent a few hours with him last week.  He (as many of you know) is high on Vandersteens.  We listened to the Quattros for a while and they are great, but probably more than I want to spend and they would require I replace the Hegel as well.  We also listened to the Magnepan 3.7s and I was very intrigued with them - they really envelope you in the sound.  I am going back to listen to the Vandersteen Treos next week.

I listened to the 8 series B&Ws yesterday and really liked the 805s and 804s (I like the 801-803 as well, but too expensive).   They are also aesthetically pleasing, but that is not as important as the sound (of course).  I also listened to the Majico A3s, but I didn't find the $ worth it for the sound.

I also will listen to QLN, Boenicke, Focal and Harbeth at Park Avenue Audio next week.  The Boenickes really intrigue me.  The Buchardt S400 MKIIs also interest me, but wonder whether they are enough for my large room (even with the sub)?  I like that I can listen to them in my home for a period to be sure I like them.  They would be a nice low cost option.

So I would love to hear your thoughts on a good choice for me.  As I said, I think $10k is enough, but if there are some $15k speakers that would be a quantum leap forward, I would consider them.  I am open to used as well.

Thanks for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

 

 

 

jcs01
carlsbad's avatar
carlsbad
1,551 posts
 

jcs,

I think the Hegal is a great amp and I have a buddy who loves the built in DAC.  My guess is that with the node, you were using the DAC in the node, which is inferior.  If you use the Node only as a digital streamer and take a digital signal to your Hegel DAC, you should see improvement over the airplay which is compressed and the overall sound signature shouldn't change, since it is the DAC that gives you most of the character of sound going into your amp.

Now for speakers I'm gong to make a recommendation that may cause you to disregard all of my advice entirely.  I see you have listed all the popular flavors of the day that you will find listed on Stereophile's recommended component list and they are the same speakers the come up in every speaker thread.  They are good speakers.  But they are strongly priced because they are trendy.  In the sub 10K price range you can't beat Encores by Tekton.  I bought a pair used.  Liked them, thought about selling them to go to planar speakers, and ended up keeping them when a guy brought his tube amp over to try them out and I saw what they can do.  Now I wouldn't think about trying to replace/improve on them in this price range.  The midrange is absolutely spectacular with vocals and sax.  Very efficient so your Hegel won't even break a sweat.  the unique midrange composed of an array of tweeters absolutely shines.

I have spent quite a bit of time finding the right amp to drive them, focusing mostly on tube amps, but Hegel was a strong candidate for ss amps and I think they would pair very well with your amp.  i have ended up with a Decware SET.

You have to have thick skin, because there is a lot of irrational hatred for them. But I've always been a bid of a rebel.  Honestly, if this will bother you, then I don't recommend them, becaue you will see it ofter here.  But I laugh and ignore it.  And there are a lot of Ex B&W owners on the Tekton forums.

Other readers:  please do not turn jcs's thread into a tekton bashing thread.  We've been over that.  I have acknowledeged that some people hate them, just make your recommendations and keep the thread productive.

Jerry

g_sysak
3 posts
 

Oh yes.. also heard Harbeth 30.2 XD.. enjoyed the sound but thought it was too warm/rich. 

erik_squires
16,118 posts
 

Here’s my advice:

Take a look at your room in the AM Acoustics room simulator, and deal with the first four of these nodes:

https://amcoustics.com/tools/amroc?l=30&w=13&h=9&ft=true&r60=0.6

Based on the location of the pressure zones I’d recommend floor to ceiling corner traps behind the listener and behind the speakers. I was going to recommend corner traps but the 37Hz, 43Hz and 56Hz nodes are hard to deal with by lesser traps.  So, 8 units total. These nodes may be preventing you from raising up your subwoofer level appropriately.

Look at the location of the pressure zones of the first few nodes and try to keep can keep your speaker and sub out of them.

Next, plug your main speaker’s ports and raise up your subwoofer’s cut off frequency as high as you can. EVERY single A’gon member who has done this has been amazed at the improvement this brings. I strongly recommend you do this with the aid of measurement devices.

Lastly, measure and see if the sub can still benefit from EQ.

Post removed 
erik_squires
16,118 posts
 

P.S. - Regardless of whether or not you get new speakers, I do encourage you to deal with the room first. The room acoustic treatments will outlast every other piece of gear and will help you get to your final system a lot faster.

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