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Room setting: new amp or new speakers?

hello gys,

My Hi-Fi journey is rolling on, and over the past few weeks, I’ve had the chance to dive into some amazing gear—like tube amps and high-efficiency speakers. It’s been super fun, but now I’ve hit a bit of a dilemma.

Here’s my current setup:

  • Amp: Yamaha AX-396, pretty old, low value

  • Speakers: Sonus Faber Venere 1.5 bookshelf speakers, definitely ’better’ than the amp

  • Streamer: Bluesound Node N130

I’m planning a big overhaul of my system, but I can’t decide what to upgrade first

A little more info:

  • Room size: 55m² (so, pretty spacious).

  • Current speaker placement: Sitting on a bookshelf, positioned to the side of the sofa (definitely not ideal) - see pic

  • Ideal setup: Properly placed speakers facing the sofa for proper sound.

My thoughts:

  • If I upgrade the amp first, I might squeeze more out of my current speakers - which are not as bad —but will their awkward placement limit the improvement?

  • Upgrading the speakers with floorstanding will come with new position + higher quality (2x the ROI?) AFAIK they account for big big part of the final sound. then will do the amp.

I’d love to hear what you think! Have you been in a similar spot? Which upgrade made the biggest difference for you?

Let me know your thoughts! thank you so much

albymana
albymana OP
2 posts
 

PS none of the sessions I did was with a sub, and honestly I did not feel the necessity (in particular, AN + Devore, AN + AN/K)

goofyfoot's avatar
goofyfoot
1,379 posts
 

I can recommend what I have; ASR Emitter 2 Exclusive amp and Quad 2912 ESL speakers. I would advise not to underestimate the value of having a great amp.

soix
9,549 posts
 

Sounds like Audio Note is really striking a chord with you — that’s a good sign.  Their speakers are very placement friendly and work well near walls, which may be a benefit in your situation I’m guessing. They also make excellent DACs if/when you get to that point.  Best of luck. 

audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,169 posts
 

Start with the most important part your sourse record, or digital  it’s the most important for Everything good or bad starts there once detail is lost it cannot 

be made up downstream , your node is a big weak spot god for the streamer 

signal upgrade your source a big upgrade l please remember 1/4 or less goes into 

the component ,being an audio dealers and in sales over 30 years 

that is the truth cables many times  mark up from the mfg ,Thst is why spending more  on a sourse and then speakers is monies well spent .

ghdprentice
7,027 posts
 

@soix

+1

Start with speakers. Then orient addition purchases to support them. You want additional component to break in and drive your next purchase decision unless you are wealthy enough and sure enough of what you are doing to purchase the speakers and all the new components at one time.


But everything requires breaking. I am a big fan of Sonus Faber speakers. I am on my third set after exploring the world of planar for many decades. Very natural and musical. It can be really helpful to go listen to some really good systems of different flavors to get a feel for where you want to end up. Natural / musical, highly detailed / flashy imaging system, muscular system that slams you in the chest. Very different end points possible.

 

My endpoint rule of thumb is 35% speakers, 15% amp, 20% preamp (yes you still need one), 15% amp and 15% streamer. Wait to invest in high quality interconnects and wires until later. It’ll take you a year to really know your system. I’d consider DHLabs for interim speaker cables and interconnects.

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