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Speaker and amp advice needed

Thanks in advance for any advice.  Love great sound, but far from an expert.  Current set up is in an 18x21 foot room.  The ceiling is 8 feet tall.  I sit toward the back of the 18.  It is set up that way because of a beam that runs along the ceiling and only way the home theater will work.  I have Sonus Faber Olympica bookshelf speakers than I use with an Anthem amp that runs the home theater, and a roon and Moon streaming device.  The rest of the room is Sonus Faber as well, and I also have a Sonus Faber sub.  I would like to upgrade the two channel sound.

Was wondering a couple of things:

Is the room, especially the ceiling height too small for a large speaker like a Sonus Faber Amati Tradition (which I would get used)?  Or, would I be better going with better bookshelfs, such as the Guerneri, or the Focal Utopia, or something like that?  Also, was thinking about getting a Mcintosh amp, such as the MA352 since I like warm sound.  

Thanks for reading, and any thoughts would be helpful.  I tend to drive myself crazy overthinking things and never get anything accomplished because I over analyze.  I listen to mostly vocals, and really love female vocals.  But, also enjoy most other music other than rap and heavy metal (which I don't listen to in the listening room).

Thanks

Jonathan

dodgers5559
rick_n's avatar
rick_n
208 posts
 

I've auditioned the Amati's (previous generation) and the Olympicas.  Go for the Amati's, you won't regret it.  They do like power and the MA352 may or may not get the job done.  Heard the Amati's driven by the more powerful MA12000 and it was right on the cusp of clipping which was very surprising.  

 

The Focal Utopia's are fantastic, revealing speakers but the Focal house sound is the exact opposite of Sonus Faber IMO.  Good luck and cheers.  

hilde45's avatar
hilde45
4,974 posts
 

If you're concerned about ceiling height and tweeter height, you might try measuring your reflections with REW and a mic. Or just try some room treatments on the ceiling and/or add a rug at the first reflection point on the floors in front of the speakers.

https://advancedacoustics-uk.com/pages/what-is-the-first-reflection-point#:~:text=Where%20is%20the%20first%20reflection,loudspeakers%20and%20the%20listening%20position.

mazian's avatar
mazian
396 posts
 

@rick_n +1, especially re the Focal speakers. If you love the Sonus Faber sound be prepared to hate the Focals.

ghdprentice
6,967 posts
 

I own Sonus Faber Amati and previously Olympica. I can highly recommend the Amati. There is nothing too big about them, they are only 46” high. You can see them in my audio room in my virtual system. Focal are a very different sounding speaker and would not mesh with the rest of your speakers. Having the same voicing across your system for home theater is important and Focal / Sonus would not mesh easily.

 

About the amp… depends on how warm you want to go. I have all Audio Research equipment and find it really natural and musical with great midrange bloom… but still detailed. You will loose a lot of detail with MacIntosh. If you only listen to rock this combo is great. Macintosh is the muscle car equivalent in the audio arena… heavy mid-range and bass. One of the well known synergistic combos in high end is Audio Research, Sonus Faber, and Transparent wires, for natural, detailed, musical sound with great midrange bloom.

woots's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
woots
293 posts
 

Sonus Faber + McIntosh = Good Match

Focal + McIntosh = Not Such a Good Match

Suggest you demo some different combinations of equipment until you find the right match for you. 

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