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All in 5-6k for setup in living room...with bad acoustics

Looking for suggestions with a total spend of 5-6k (because I think deals can be had) for a living room. Room is fairly large and we often listen to the music from the kitchen. Not an ideal setup at all but the silence without music right now is killing me. Other thing is I tend to listen to music on the loud side rather than sitting down and critically listening,

I’m sensitive to compression drivers and the "harsh" highs. Unfortunately the one side of the room is sliding glass doors with curtains so I’m thinking a dome tweeter. What about something like the Magnepan speakers? I don’t think they would have the desired output but they do sound nice.  GoldenEar an option as well?

There are a lot of speakers out there for under 6k that are tempting, a few B&W’s, Ariel 7T, and my favorite is the Focal 1038be which is out of my budget currently. If I get speakers like these will a sub be required (I’m thinking yes) and what about amps, etc. Can I power these speakers with a 1k budget or am i dreaming? Typically listen to music from my Blue Node.

Asking a lot of questions here but thanks for the help.

 

seanile31
Post removed 
soix
9,381 posts
 

Just to be clear, is the $5-6k just for speakers or the whole system?

tomcarr
1,484 posts
 

With bad acoustics and no room treatment planned you're wasting your money on buying good gear. If what you want to hear is music while in the kitchen why not consider ceiling speakers?

I'm not trying to be snarky, just realistic based on the information you provided.

My POV is based on my home systems which are-

1. Main system in a dedicated room with acoustic treatment.

2. Living room system with no treatment.

3. Bedroom system with no treatment.

4. Ceiling speakers system with no treatment.

Most audiophiles spend way too much money on gear, and little or none on treatment.

 

fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,543 posts
 

What tomcarr said. Invest the money on the room. I get sufficient sound in the kitchen using an FM transmitter and a clock radio. 

mofojo
2,266 posts
 

For that money I hear a lot of people are saying room treatments. Ok spend a grand on room treatments and the rest on the system. Don’t worry about cables. Very small improvements IME in the level you are looking at. Just an example of one of my systems:

 

Focal 836W rated 8 - $700 (drove 2 hours each way)

Jolida CRC 302 upgraded vintage rca input tubes rated 9 - 550

Burson Dac new model rated 9 - $600

 

This is my favorite most musical system in the house.

 

in a normal size room at reasonable volumes room treatments mean less unless you are sitting farther away. They matter for sure…

 

pick your transport or streamer or record player and done. 
 

Deals come up if your quick and need to be patient. Guy like me checks daily on all the sites 😜. 6k buys a real nice system used if you buy right. 

 

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