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Advice needed building a system over time???

I'm new to AudiogoN, but happy to have found it. Long back, I got a taste for HiFi, but then had a very long hiatus. Always dreamt of the killer system, but other priorities reared their heads. About 7 years ago I bought some gear to drive the speakers in the ceiling throughout my house, without too much concern. Ended up with ROTEL separates which I even used to watch TV, again with the speakers that were in the cieling. Finally got a 5.1 home theater system which satisfies my needs using an integrated amp and MK speakers - I consider watching a movie a passive listening event and if it sounds pretty good I'm happy. It does.

So I had these ROTEL parts sitting around and decided to buy some speakers for them, to dedicate a room for active listening. At first the room was going to be a small space ~14 x 14, so I thought some stand mounted speakers would be best for that small space. I purchased some Usher BE718's that I thought sounded great. Apparently many reviewers have thought the same. My thoughts were to get a good sounding speaker at a reasonable price, then build up my components around them, finally getting something along the lines of Wilson Sophia 2s or Watt/Puppys.

Maybe not the best logic in system design. The room, however, changed. The acoustics in that room were not good, and the WAF (wife acceptance factor) limited anything I could do in terms of acoustic treatments, so I moved my audio room to a "bonus" room that is roughly 17 x 23. The Ushers still sound great the bigger room can handle more volume which seems to make the speakers even better.

Given I have a ROTEL pre- and power amp, with a ROTEL 5 CD changer, what would you all recommend as the first piece to invest in when moving to class-A or reference components.

Buy the way, long back I had an Audio Research tube pre-amp mated to a GAS "Son of Ampzilla" and I see ARC is alive and well (though recently acquired). Their gear seems to get tremendous reviews and I have a soft-spot for ARC. I plan to audition the Ref CD player and Pre-amp soon. I've also heard some great SS gear like Parasound HALO amp, T&A gear too. I listen to classical (my great great uncle was Antonin Dvorak) and a little bit of rock, Dylan, Mark Knopfler, Van Morrison, Norah Jones - broad range but no HipHop, metal, etc. I like musical sounds and sweet sounding vocals. I tend to dislike jazz when it gets too wierd.

So where would you spend your first upgrade $$ ???
bobvin
mariasplunge
174 posts
 
I agree with the above posters. Room evaluation, if I had a dedicated room would be my first move. It seems like you have a space and depending on the WAF it seems like you can do some acoustic treatments.

If your happy with the Usher's then combining room treatment and the speakers you plan on keeping awhile is useful.

Since your interested in ARC gear and the Rotel's seem to drive the Usher's fine to your ears, you might want to check out a pre amp, after the above is taken care of. There are rave reviews of their new LS-26 here on the 'Gon. I have not heard it but it was on my short list.

Enjoy and let us know how you progress.
jb8312
247 posts
 
For an alternative point of view, I respectfully submit the following:

If I were just starting out (sort of the way you are), or redoing it all over again, knowing what I know now, and had my own audio room, the very first thing I would do is get the best speakers I could afford, i.e the best sounding to me while maxing out my budget. A set of speakers that you can "grow into" and ones that are almost too big for the room and look good while doing being so…

With speakers meeting the above spec's, chances are you will be happy for a long time as its much more fun to "tweak" the sound of your speakers by adding, subtracting or changing the electronics that make up your system. If you have speakers you really love house sound of, then the music will, even with the “worst” electronics, sound pretty good to you. Even when you have an amp/pre/CDP that you don't really care for, the system will, generally, sound good because the majority of the sound arises out of the speakers’ signature sound you originally bought as being the sound this is just right for you..

THEN, I would deal with room acoustics and spend the next ? years finding and buying the "perfect" electronics for your tastes....

I had a pair of B&W Matrix 805s that stayed with me for years, in 1986 they cost $1600 which was way more then I should have spent on anything much less a silly pair of stereo speakers! Over the subsequent years electronics came and went but I always stuck with the speakers. Even when I had crappy supporting electronics (like the time I had a $200 Denon Receiver driving them because I had to sell my Brystons to pay the rent) or source, they still sounded pretty good to me. I did eventually "out grew" them, however this was because I grew out of the B&W “signature sound” and began to appreciate and love more “romantic” or “musical” speakers, but they were a staple for a long time…

Think about it and enjoy the ride………John
mitch2
4,153 posts
 
I would consider that you have a relatively large room with stand mounted speakers, so I would configure my system and listening area for near-field listening, where room treatment will not be as big a factor. I would then ditch the 5 CD changer for a cdp with a tube output stage, such as one of the Lector models depending your price range, the droplet, or maybe a modified Denon. I believe the tubed output CDP will inprove on some of the less desirable issues of the Rotel gear. Later you might look at new amps and preamps, but unless you have suddenly turned wealthy, you might also want to do those upgrades in steps, and stick with several year old models in good condition that come from stable manufacturers who are stable. You might go through these iterations a couple of times until you reach the point of dimensioning returns. Along the way you will have time for room treatment using stuffed furniture, carpeting, absorbant material at reflection points, and maybe something like DIY bass traps. I personally would do speakers last, once I had zeroed in on my electronics.
mariasplunge
174 posts
 
Jb's words are wise and now of course he owns the verity parsifal ovations...lucky dog. At least he is congruent between actions and words!

Good luck
stehno
1,453 posts
 
I'd focus first and foremost on careful speaker placement, proper line conditioning, and proper vibration management.

All three of these are easier said than done. Yet all three areas are absolutely foundational regardless of what components you swap in and out and without any one of these three you will never know what any of your components (now and in the future) are truly capable of producing.

Seriously, what possible benefit could there be upgrading your car to a Ferrari if that too only performs like a '72 VW bus?

-IMO
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