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.
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:
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Amp: Yamaha AX-396, pretty old, low value
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Speakers: Sonus Faber Venere 1.5 bookshelf speakers, definitely ’better’ than the amp
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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:
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Room size: 55m² (so, pretty spacious).
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Current speaker placement: Sitting on a bookshelf, positioned to the side of the sofa (definitely not ideal) - see pic
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Ideal setup: Properly placed speakers facing the sofa for proper sound.
My thoughts:
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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?
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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
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- 17 posts total
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 . |
@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.
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. |
Both, really. I had the Venere 1.5s in my home for a week, my local dealer let me try them. I don’t know why but they were very forgettable, to put it politely - completely lifeless. I have the same feeling for your Yamaha model, far from the potential to provide you with a lot of joy. (If it were Denon from the late 90s, I’d be excited) You could get some money for the speakers and that would let you buy an integrated amp too. NAD, Cambridge Audio, Quad, Rotel have decent, quality models in the $800 range. (Although you may not be in the US but the prices must be comparable) For speakers, Audio Notes is one of the most the highly regarded brands for sure - and easy to drive. If you want to be overwhelmed: https://speakerchoices.com/ |
Don’t spend any money on new speakers, amps, etc until you can fix your placement problem. Once you you have the placement problem sorted then look at decent floorstanding speakers or standmount speakers plus a sub or two. |
- 17 posts total