Feel like I'm outta my mind....


Been through this forum, and don’t know where to start. Y’all are a pretty wild bunch!

Looking to go to a 2.2 setup, but have no idea where to begin. Haven’t seen anyone review speakers wholly, or in their entirety so far.

Old guy; ears are about 85-90% from the grinders and diesels.....LOVE the feel of sound - hence 2.2. Current dealio is dual 10" drivers and a 1" silk dome in each tower (no-name, about 275WPC on 8 ohm), and a 100W 10" front-firing sub. Missing lots of vocals though...... Looking for a full, rich-sounding set, or set(s) of towers.

Power is available through twin Carver M400a’s at 500WPC, and twin Carver M400t’s. Would love to have dual, and responsive subs to cover the low bits - let the ’a’’s handle the mids, and the t’s can get up high. Pretty sure I have the power to bi-amp on 20A breakers.....(electrician - (NOT electronics-guy!), amongst better things.) Source is usually CD, from the few thousands lying about here...

KEF Q950?? Polk R700?? Monitor 300?? SVS Pinnacle? Paradigm Premier? Monitor?

Any generalities that can start pointing me in a decent direction? Budget is simply....."let’s not get stupid...."

Metal is priority. Rock second, opera third, classical fourth. Just lookin’ for thoughts. Anything to start some ideas......
 

the_general

Welcome. I’m an old guy as well. But have been actively improving my system for fifty years.

Choosing the right speakers is non-trivial. But from what you have said, my first impression is definitively B&W speakers driven by MacIntosh electronics. The combination supports driving sound and bass that hits you in the chest. Spend as much as you can. But go to a dealer and listen.

 

The best way to get on track is a book by Robert Harley: The complete guide to high end audio. This explains the principles and language used. This would then allow you to read Stereophile, The Absolute Sound, and HiFi+ articles and interpret what they mean. It is hard to get much meaningful info from here without an extensive history with high end audio.

Whether you want a short cut or want to learn deeply about the subject, you must hear some of these products. Take three different $10K speakers… they will sound very different. They will all sound very different again depending on the electronics you use to power them.

But from what you said, B&W speakers and McIntosh electronics if you want a real short cut.

With the Carver amps you gotta go Sunfire subwoofers, two HRS 10's would be sweet.

Next for speakers I would get a pair of these JBL 590's, on sale:

https://www.jbl.com/loudspeakers/STUDIO+590.html

@the_general Like the Mac (lots of power) recommended side of things. For speakers might go Magico, Focals, and Reven Salon2’s too.  That book @ghdprentice mentioned will elevate and inform you; maybe even get you to full bird.

Be careful as You’ll be able to talk endlessly about efficiency ratings and passive crossovers to your intolerant friends and family. Round these parts friends and famdamily love the music just not hearing about what’s making it sound so good.