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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
travelinjack's avatar
travelinjack
186 posts
 

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.

The room, placement and the speakers are easily the largest part of the good sound equation. Everything else is gravy.

mark200mph
207 posts
 

Speakers then amp then preamp then streamer dac then cabels.you can go cheap like fosi audio class d or schitt or Amazon chifi or hit the used market.iseldom buy new to stretch my $. Enjoy the search stay healthy.

bassbuyer
114 posts
 

Agree with getting your room setup first.  It will have the most impact on what you hear coming out of your system.  I would then upgrade your source.  Moving from the Bluesound Node N130 to an Innuos Zen Mk3 streamer and a Holo Audio Cyan 2 DAC made my speakers sound different.  So much more detailed.  Hearing things I didn’t before with the same setup.  Changing the source had More impact for me than the preamp, amp and cables.  I also play CDs and upgrading the player didn’t have as much impact as changing the streamer and DAC.  Next the speakers.  Suggest floor standing with your room to fill the space with sound.  A good pair can work without a sub unless you need the room to shake for movies.  I have a pair of Arendal 1723 towers.  Finally, Make sure your amp can power the speakers you choose so they can produce the volume you want at no more than 50% volume setting, to prevent clipping. What you get will depend on your budget.

In my experience the 3 most important factors are:

1. Room setup 

2. Source - most importantly for streaming 

3. Speakers

Enjoy your new musical journey.  It’s a fun part of this hobby.  And as Hans says, enjoy the music!  

ervikingo
155 posts
 

As I heard (paraphrased) once visiting a guy from a now defunct local audio club

"if you can't do placement of your speakers which allows them to perform in your space, save your money, get a good source, good amp and some really nice wired headphones".

hickamore
668 posts
 

You are getting contradictory information from different sources approaching the problem from different angles.

Start with speakers and their placement. You have a lifetime thereafter to audition various streamers, DACs, preamps, amps, and cables/ICs. Your question is like an equation requiring a constant. Let the speakers and their placement be the constant. Every component prior in the chain is a variable which you can spend forever tweaking to your preference. Or think of it as building a house. Speakers & their placement are the foundation; finish carpentry might be DAC X vs DAC Y vs. DAC Z, which is where I have landed after 10 years.

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