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Advice on Speaker upgrade vs System Component Upgrade

Hi Audiogonners,

I'm getting a bit of an upgrade itch, and looking for some advice about which direction to go. My current system is in my profile - small room 11x11x8 but sounds pretty good. Dynaudio Heritage Specials with DIY Aleph 60s i just built (fun!) - nice warm mid range / bass which i've enjoyed (mostly speakers),  also have a Parasound JC5+ which is nice too. I'm tempted by some of the following speakers but not sure on room size being a challenge for full sized towers. 

I listen to a lot of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Bowie - classic vinyl, but mostly on the roon rather than my turntable as my vinyl collection is really small. I love the sound of both digital and vinyl - but my digital is pretty warm with the R2R and the 

Looking at stepping up to speakers in the 10-20k range new but buying second hand;

Wilson Audio Sabrina's - $10K ish on Audiogon

Sonos Faber Olympica Nova ii - $7K used at local dealer

Or would i get a better result upgrading something like the DAC or Streamer. I'm just a bit unsure. And yes I know that the two speakers are very different sound character with the Wilsons being super revealing and probably very hard to set up in my small room. I have Kef R11s in the living room with the JC5, which are much more neutral than the Dynaudios, but they also sound great. 

Anyway - just looking for some perspectives - I'd like to move up a level with detail / clarity while still keeping that musical mid range..

Thanks in advance

 

 

gmdodd
vthokie83
1,019 posts
 

OP,

As several have said, treat your room as the dimensions aren't great.

I won't buy my next set of speakers without auditioning the Joseph Audio Pulsar 2 Graphene speakers. I've got some time to save up yet, but I'd also throw in Tannoy's, Fyne Audio, and Borreson X3s.

erik_squires
16,676 posts
 

If you like SF, I saw recently 2 pairs of Stradivari, and IMHO very few speakers come close to bringing the recording venue into your room the way those do. 

elliottbnewcombjr
5,823 posts
 

I suggest you add the second woofer before you do room treatments.

A stereo pair of subs is a very different experience than 1.

skinzy's avatar
skinzy
197 posts
 

I would upgrade your speaker to a floor stander which will have better frequency integration than an sat/sub. brand is your preference.  I love Wilson.  Just upgraded from Alexia (with two subs) to Alexx V (no sub) and realized big SQ improvements.

pindac's avatar
pindac
2,864 posts
 

I have seen your Room Dimensions and a proportion of your Rooms Layout.

I would not be too hasty to focus on controlling Bass Energy, the Deep Pile Carpet is already absorbing energy from the lower frequencies.

I feel based on my own experience of working in a smaller space that working with the energy in the room and diffusing it, can prove to be the best starting place.

Hearing Sound that is not a reflected sound can be appealing with immediacy.

How the sound is managed is a evolving experience, more can be attained as the ear learns more of what is an attraction.     

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