2. speakers
  3. 184961-11209

Do my ears deceive me??

     The money is in the bank, thinking of upgrading speakers, but everything I demo is no better or worse than what I have.   Willing to spend up to $6,000.      Upgraditis??   My main system is Mcintosh MX 134 that I bought in 2003, with a pair of Focal 836v's and a Parasound 5250  (250w/channel) amp I bought around 2012.   I either blew the tweeters or crossover on my 836's, so they are in for repair.   Since I've owned them for 10 years, I was considering new speakers.    The blades are way more than I would spend, but I also demoed the Kef R11s, Martin Logan xtf 200's, Mcintosh XR 100s, and B&W 703 S3.   

       None of them sounded better than what I'm hearing right now from my BP 2006s.    Would I really need to demo them in my room to make a fair comparison??  Or are speakers just not much better than they were 20 years ago?   I know I love detail, and tend to lean towards aluminum tweeters.  I pretty much only listen to classic rock and roll.   Of all I demoed, I really like the B&W 706s.   They sounded much brighter/cleaner than the others.   But they had the reciever set up so I couldn't adjust the treble/bass.  I love a V equalizer curve, and bump up the bass and treble a bit on my home/car systems.   Maybe I just have the good luck of prefering cheaper speakers.   

 

  

fenderu2
kokakolia's avatar
kokakolia
198 posts
 

@fenderu2 It looks like you answered your own question. Cherish what you have and don’t get embarked by the hype. 

roxy54's avatar
roxy54
7,693 posts
 

Embarked?

fenderu2 OP
22 posts
 

Yep.  I hear ya Tom on the 10%.  Gonna keep demoing and hopefully find something that blows me away.   I've saved a lot of money the last 3 years, partially thanks to covid, so maybe I just have to accept that a 10 to 20 percent improvement is good enough.  Obviously I keep my stuff for the long haul.   $5,000 to $7,000 over a 10 year span could warrant the purchase.  Plus the right brands and models can hold some or a lot of their value. 

            Years ago, I was semi tempted to move up to Focal Electras, and they were a lot cheaper 3 to 8 years ago than they are now.  WIth covid kind of ending, hopefully supply chains will get back to normal.   Had I bought those electras  back then, I could have broke even, or even maybe made a little money.  So I am not averse to going the used route too.   

 

 

 

stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,370 posts
 

see if you can find an owner or dealer of Vandersteen speakers

grislybutter
2,300 posts
 

I would say ditch the old speakers and buy something way more expensive

More to discover