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Please help with speaker choices

Hi all,
Well the room and time has lead me down the road to upgrading speakers. A most exciting time, but alas, filled with choices and no possible auditioning for me.

So I must relie on this communities suggestions and help!!

First the current system:
Nick Doshi Preamp
Nick Doshi modded Lectron JH50
Amazon Referenze TT
Triplanar Tonearm
CDP-Don't have one yet
Focal 1007 Be Monitors-current speakers

Room Size:
21 by 13 with 8ft cellings

Music:
I listen to pretty much everything. Sorry for being so general. In one listening session I may move from Coltrane, to Cannonball Adderly, to Muddy Waters and Johnny Lee Hooker to Lucinda Williams and electric/folk Neil Young. Throw in some Dylan and then move onto the White Stripes, Beck, if I'm real rowdy maybe some Ramones or AC/DC, then come down with some Edith Piaf and a sip of 12 year single malt.

Reason for wantng change:
One is I find this a hobby. For me that means having fun with experimentation. So far I have only owned the Focals.
Two is now that I moved my system against the short wall and facing out to the long part of the room, the monitors seems lacking, like they are too small to fill the space, like it is too much effort. Three is I have nerver had a floorstanding speaker and the prospect excites me. Four is, sitting wise, I can only get about 9 feet near to the Focals. To place them closer puts them right in the middle of the living room. Not really acceptable. At 9 feet, the monitors just not presenting the soundstage I desire. At that distance with monitors, I am just not in the heart of the music.

Also something important to note is I like listening loud, but do not always have that option as my system is in the living room and out of respect for others cannot always listen loud so I must have speakers that offer low volume detail.

My choices so far (more of course welcome)
Sonus Faber Cremona floorstanders
Merlin VSM-Mxe
Verity Fidelio Encore
ATC 20's passive

At the higher end(only consider if HIGHLY recommended)
Verity Parsifal ovation
Sonus Faber Amati Homage

Monitors I might consider
Focal Mini-Utopia Be
Sonus Guarnari Homage

OK, sorry for rambling so much. Obviously I am putting a lot of thought into this. Any input much appreciated!

Peter
mariasplunge
johnnyb53
3,510 posts
 

08-07-07: Mariasplunge
Those look interesting Johnnyb. What room size are you listening to those in and how far away are you sitting from them? How do they handle rock?
The living room is nominally about 16'x18', but it's in an open architecture with 15' high cathedral ceiling and an open sweep to the front hall, the dining room, and a half-flight of steps to the upstairs hall.

These omnis, even the small satellites, are particularly adept at filling large spaces with sound. I originally hit on them for my next door neighbor, who was looking for a new stereo to fill a similar space with open architecture.

And Mirages rock. I have a pair of the older full-range bipolar Mirages in my "big rig", and they're linear to 29Hz and with a good amp, deliver plenty of rock-solid thump. The OMD-28s are several generations newer, are more expensively built, and would be even faster, cleaner, and more extended. All Mirages I've encountered can rock hard, while the full-range ones scale extremely well from solo and small-group acoustic to big band and full scale orchestra and chorus at the other end.

When the original Mirage M1 Bipolars came out, they immediately became a Stereophile Class A component at about half the price of the next cheapest speaker in the category. These OMD-28s would be worlds better.
sauloween's avatar
sauloween
8 posts
 
I know of a pair of Veritys that you could get at a good price. They are my favorite speaker and for your applicatio n they would do nicely. Pair of Fidelio Encores for between 5000 and 6000. Call Decible Audio in Chicago.
mariasplunge OP
174 posts
 
Thanks Johnny. John, how do the encores perform with rock, bigger movemnts, loudness, etc. Like I stated before, I've heard verty's are great in intimate setting but may not perform with well on the rockin' you out scene.

This of course may be ok with me but i just want to get a feel for their performance. Say, how far apart do you have yours and how far do you sit from them.

That goes for all recommendations folks, that info would be most useful to me as i figure on how to get floorstanders into my room.

Thanks for all your great sugestions all.

Oem, Nick can be contacted through Larry Marcus at paragon Sight and Sound.
Cheers,
Peter
dougdeacon
3,338 posts
 
Peter,

As Dan_Ed said, Nick's modded Lectron is far more capable with a wide range of speakers than anyone could guess from the specs. It has the transparency to play cleanly with horns and the oomph to handle tough crossovers and efficiencies in the upper 80db range, like our B&W's.

As you probably know, Nick drives ATC monitors with a Lectron that's pretty much identical to yours. There are no problems with volume or amp stress in his system. He can rock without distortion at chest crushing SPL's, and his listening room is *much* larger than yours.

The ATC's aren't my cup of tea and I'm unfamiliar with most of your other speaker choices, but from the description of what you're seeking I'd keep them on the list. The Merlins also work really well with the Lectron. A little less weight and body than the ATC's, better for Edith Piaf and the single malt I think.

I did notice that your idea of "everything" in music was missing a little from the classical side. For real music you need real speakers, not them head bangin' ATC's or those seductive Merlins. ;-)
mariasplunge OP
174 posts
 
I got ya on that one Doug. You see, I am still musically relatively undeveloped. However, my better half, who is the actual musician, is developed. So far, she has bought three LP's with encouragement from me to buy more.
Which did she purchase you might ask? Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky.

So you see Doug, I may, with any luck, get there :-)

Thanks for your help,
Peter
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