Triangle Heliades & HT setup


This is my 1st post but I have been reading these forums and a few others for the last few months. I am looking for advice/suggestions on my setup.

My current living room is fairly large at 21x13x9ft. My HT setup currently consists of -
Philips DVP642 DVD player
Music server HTPC, all CDs ripped to FLAC
Roku Soundbridge
Yamaha RX-V496 70Wpc HT rcvr
Energy Take5 satellites
Energy EXL-10 subwoofer
Kimber 4PR speaker cables
AudioResearch(or quest) interconnects

The Energy setup while satisfying in previous smaller apartments left me severely wanting in the music area when I wanted to listen to concerts on Rave(Soundstage, Austin City limits) or my CDs from the server.

I decided to replace my satellites with a good set of floorstanding speakers in the range of $1.5K. I researched and demoed a few speakers in December including the B&W 603/604, Rega R5, Paradigm Ref 60 , Gallo Reference & Vandersteen 2Ce. I also read a lot of good stuff about the Triangle Heliade but couldn't find any local dealers in Dallas. I found a dealer in Austin who had a last demo pair. So I had a friend demo them & satisfied that it would be the best match I ordered & received them last week.

Herein lies my predicament - I was not happy with how the speakers sounded. My music tastes are mostly rock(classic, alternative), some classical(western/indian-instrumental) & rarely pure vocals. When I demoed speakers locally, I listened to Pearl Jam, Alan Parsons, Pink Floyd & some Indian-Western Fusion.

On the Heliades, the same music really underwhelmed me. The highs sounded a little harsh, mid-range just ok & bass was very vague(for lack of a better word). I tried concerts recorded in DD5.1 from the dvr & I still wasn't satisfied. The only music which sounded halfway decent was Acoustic ones like Nirvana's Unplugged CD. Upon some further research here & on Audioasylum, it seems that the Triangles are known for being bright & require good tube amplification to sound good. Also, most people buying them like classical & less bass oriented music like blues & jazz.

Now that I have bored you with all the details, I need some help.

- Given my room size & music tastes, are the Triangle's even the right choice?

- If I wanted to drive them with used tube equipment(2-channel amp/integrated amp), how would I integrate them into an HT setup? I also ordered a Noxa Center channel in a haste because the Energy was really mismatched. The Yamaha rcvr has no pre-outs & only external decoder inputs so I cannot just connect a power amp to it.

My options:
# MC preamp with fronts driven by tube/hybrid/ss amp & center/surrounds driven by rcvr. (
# Integrated amp driving Heliades in 2-channel mode & rcvr in HT. (How can I drive speakers with both ?)
# MC preamp/MC amp (expensive, also rears are satellites)
# Good A/V rcvr (don't want to deal with hdmi switching until the whole 1.3 issue is sorted out, might not be good for speakers)

I have a limited budget so I would like to buy used as much as possible. The local audio store has a Rotel RSP 976 AV preamplifier for $300 so I am really considering it.

Again sorry for the really long post but I am in such a fix I feel like selling the speakers & starting fresh in a few months so I would really appreciate some advice.

Thanks,
Srinivas
srinivos
I have the Celius which are a little stronger in the bass.
First - everyone says they take a while to break in. Mine were used so I don't know if this is accurate. From what I have seen from testing done - this is true of most dynamic speakers-especially of woofers. I have seen tests where the bass drops 5hz or more over a good burn in (50-100hrs or so). Also- my speakers had no bass when in a normal set up - meaning closer to the back wall than front. I think this is because of the front ports. Mine are flat to 35hz when 8ft from the front wall - in a near field position (I treat the wall behind me, the side walls and the ceiling. this helps imaging and brightness). While most people buy too much speaker for a room maybe given the size of the room and your musical tastes you have too little? I would run an RTA and see what the plot says running sweeps or pink noise. (Use a PC with a SW RTA installed like RAL lite. Use your sound card and a mic. The Radioshack meter's output can be used and even some PC mics - since you are primarily concerned with freqs below 300hz). Also try facing the speakers more forward to cut the brightness. Triangles are tipped up a bit in the treble which I think makes them a good match for tubes - plus they are sensative). If you need more email me at imispgh@yahoo.com