Time for a Change!

dkg999

With the tax return in and the numbers made for the annual bonus payout at work, it's time to seriously consider some new main speakers for my 2 ch. system. I am currently using my SDA 2A's that I bought new in 1985. I have installed the upgraded tweeters. I also have a mint pair of Monitor 10B's with the upgraded tweeters. My budget is around $2000. My preference is for floorstanding speakers, but not necessarily a requirement. The speakers I am considering include:

Magnepan 1.6QR w/Mye Stands
Dynaudio Audience 72SE
Spendor S5E
Totem Arro
Spendor S8E (used)
Magnepan 3.6 (used, not sure I have the room or amps to do these justice!)
Totem Forest (used)

These look to be in the price range buying new, I am not opposed to buying used in good shape from reputable sellers that are close enough to Chicago or Des Moines IA that I can preview and pick up and not have to ship. Available equipment includes a Parasound PHP-850 pre-amp and a pair of Parasound HCA-1500A power amps as well as a Parasound HCA-1000A power amp. I am having a challenge finding a dealer in the Chicago area that actually has the 72SE in stock to listen to. There is actually a Totem dealer in the Quad-Cities that stocks most of the Totem line, and I have not listened to them yet but have heard very good things about them.

I'm looking for your opinions on other speakers I should consider, or your opinion on the ones listed, and on the ability of the Parasound amps to do justice to the speakers. An amplifier upgrade isn't in the near future plans. Upgrading my pre-amp may be.

Thanks!!!!!!!!!

janmike

If you have not listened to Proac speakers, do it. You may or may not like them, but listening is free. I have heard that these speakers sound best when driven by tube equipment.

dkg999

Zero - I really appreciate you taking the time to provide all the feedback and suggestions! Upgrading the electronics will happen, it just won't happen in the next year or so. I will check out your suggestions! Even in the Chicago metro it seems hard to find dealers with some of the more niche lines of speakers. I'll keep searching. Another speaker I hadn't considered is the EPOS M22 floorstander. I absolutely love the sound of my EPOS ELS3's that I have in the bedroom.

Musical Tastes: runs from heavy metal (current and 70's) to alternative to folk/vocals and acoustic. Very little country, except for the man in black. Right now I am listening to the new Seether CD, and next up is Gordon Lightfoot, then probably Mindy Smith or Joss Stone. You now see the challenge!

Room: Right now I am in a small apartment. In the late fall I will be in a new place with the 2 ch. system in a room that will be about 18 x 20. I am a single parent, so now WAF to get in the way of speaker placement. The placement just has to be kid-proof! I don't tend to listen at high volume levels anymore.

Tonal Preferences: I have high frequency hearing loss from growing up on a farm prior to worries about what loud farm equipment would do to your hearing. Speakers that are a little on the warm side per others perceptions tend to sound about right to me. I like nice tight bass, and clear mids. Soundstage is a real concern, hence why I like and have kept my SDA's so long.

I would prefer to get more speaker than my current amplifiers can do justice to. I plan to upgrade my pre-amp in the next 6 months or so, a tube pre-amp or hybrid pre-amp may be in order. Unfortumately I tend to listen to music in short sessions due to work and kids, so tubes really don't fit into my routine, they are a little high-maintenance for me right now. I was running the Parasound HCA-1500A's with a friends set of Spendor S5e's and they seemed to do just fine. I could not tell a real difference between them and his Classe amplifier, at sane volume levels! Unfortunately his S5e's had lots of problems stemming from a container that was dropped hard, although Spendor did a fantastic job of quickly replacing them and making sure he was happy. So I will be going down to Saturday Audio in Chicago to give them a fair listening session.

Thanks for all your help!

Frank Z

LSi's

danger boy

this may seem like a unusual route to take if you're looking for different mains.. or you could also use these in a two channel only set up to replace your current SDA 2's.

I've only had my SDA SRS's for a pretty short time...and i've not heard all of the other SDA's. I have to say the SRS's have a big wide soundstage... maybe bigger then the SDA 2a's. If you like the SDA sound a lot.. then maybe "upgrading" to the SRS would be where you should go.

Friday night I had a fellow audio lover over to listen to the SRS's... he was floored.. he had NEVER heard anything that compares to what he was hearing. He couldn't put into words really how good the sound was. There again.. many people have said... that with the SDA's they hear things in music they've never heard before.. I have to agree.

anyway.. just a thought. Good luck with your new fronts. It's fun to demo new speakers.

TroyD

I'd opt for the Maggie 3.6's.

BDT

dkg999

Thanks for all the information and help!!!! I forgot to mention that I already have the SDA SRS's at my house at the farm in IA. I need to get brave and rebuild the cabinets, as I picked my pair up from an insurance auction after the floods of '93, along with another pair for replacement and spare drivers, cross-overs. The particle board and MDF in the cabinets needs serious help at this point and they are now tucked away in storage. I was driving them with a pair of GAS Ampzilla mono-blocks. Maybe the answer is to rebuild these and use them! I was looking for something newer, not for any really good reason other than I was thinking I should try some speakers built in the current decade:rolleyes: I am going to try to audition the Dynaudio and the Totem. I have never been a big Klipsh fan, I briefly owned a pair of Heresey's once and the horns didn't do it for me!

TroyD - since owning a pair of the original Maggie Tympani 1's I have had a thing for Magnepan's! I traded them for a pair of Dahlquist 10's. The 1.6's may be the answer, although I really do want the 3.6's, I just can not justify dropping the $4200 they want for a new pair. If I can snag a good used pair under $3000, this might be the way to go.

Time to go road tripping to listen to some speakers!

dkg999

And the winner is ................ Maggie 1.6QR's!

I listened to a lot of speakers, and I just kept coming back to the Maggies as the sound I really liked. I have to say the Dynaudio's are incredible, and if I wanted to put the money into the amps and source that they really deserve, they would of been the first choice. The Spendors were OK, but seemed to fall down with certain types of music. I listened to some very expensive Revels, that I just don't get why they cost so much because they don't sound like they should be an expensive speaker. The B&W's were very nice, however the ones I liked were not anywhere near my price range. The biggest surprise was the EPOS 12.2's and the 15.2's. I love my ELS3's, and the rest of the EPOS line is just as good, at least to my ears.

I didn't go for the Mye stands yet. The dealer in Des Moines had a demo pair with Mye stands, and a pair without. On an A/B comparison I just couldn't tell a difference. I got the dark gray with the dark cherry wood sides. I'm really looking forward to getting these broke in!

My SDA 2A's that have served me well since 1986, and have the upgraded tweeters, will go into storage for a while. For loud rock&roll my Monitor 10's (also with the upgraded tweeters) will be on-call.

dorokusai

Stop wasting time on monkey coffins, start thinking out of the box. If you want something truly different, go Magnepan, Apogee, Carver, Martin Logan, etc.

Be different. Good luck.

EDIT: Just read the last post, great choice, have fun. The MYE stands are top notch as I've owned a couple pairs.

dkg999

Doro - no question on the build quality of the Mye stands, or their cosmetic appeal. I was really surprised based on comments that I have read that in a side-by-side A/B comparison with same source, amps, and cables, that I could not really tell any difference. I will probably get the Mye stands at some point, as I do like the looks and concept.

dorokusai

I wouldn't expect a noticeable improvement per se, but it is a much more solid foundation for the speaker. The stock stands are pathetic compared to the aftermarket MYE or Sound Anchor.

I have the MYE "Stealth" stands for my 3.5 and am very happy. I never liked the stand being extended past the front baffle/frame and this was the best alternative. Aesthetically it's awesome.

dkg999

Yep, the Mye stands are in the budget as a future purchase! I'm looking at upgrading my pre-amp to the new Parasound P2000 in the Classic line first.

dorokusai

Sweet

LuSh

buy a used pair of Von Schweikert VR2's then take part of the savings and buy a better source. The better source will tame the harsher frequencies and add more 3D depth. Perhaps a used Copland or Linn, Benchmark or Museatex DAC would enhance even further.

pearsall001

Go listen to Proac & Harbeth - you're in for a real treat

George Grand

Congrats on an out of the box piece of thinking as Doro said.


I'm really glad you made this post for one big reason. It showed ME that the real fun in this hobby is finding a REASONABLY priced outstanding loudspeaker, that sounds good with REASONABLY priced amps.

"So and so's very pricey speakers seem to sound their best when driven by so and so's very expensive amps." Great advice.

George Grand (of the Jersey Grands)

dkg999

George Grand & Doro - thanks for the support and comments! I don't have anything against expensive, or less expensive used, high-end audio gear. I envy those that choose to afford it and get enjoyment from it. I have to be honest, even though I could choose to spend more, with this level of components I am pretty much at the outer limit of my ears hearing a real difference. Just call me a mid-fi type of guy! It doesn't put a damper on how much I enjoy listening to my system!

dorokusai

dkg999 - Your Hi-Fi is another mans' Lo-Fi....who cares. I have a mix in every rig I own, if they work for me, they stay, cost has nothing to do with it.

I'm not rich, I work for my gear, always have, always will.

You made a solid choice, rock out

Eventually, some folks realize that it's not about the money, it's about the actual piece that brings everything together.

Here's a story....as if anyone cares

I just recently sat down and critically listened to this old Phase Linear rig I assembled, not bought whole, bought in pieces. The CDP is shady, works 50/50, and if it breaks, it's DONE....the other pieces were fooked up, but I took them apart, cleaned them up, looking good.

I finally hooked them up to a pair of REAL speakers(RTA8T), not my gruntball who-cares testers(Audiovox)....and all I can say is, NICE. I wish I could crank them up, but it's 12AM. The volume on the PL is 0, and at ONE(1) notch, it's a perfect listening level. Don't you just love old school gain?

Anyways, it's a motivator to know I have a low investment in a rig that's stellar. Vintage gear and vintage Polk, a match made in....well, a perfect world.

dkg999

I finally got time today to actually set down and listen to the 1.6's! I had them running for about 20 hours this week just to start breaking them in, but not really listening to them. All I have to say is wow! I was worried that they would sound totally different in my cramped apartment. Even with non-optimal placement, and not anywhere close to broke in, they sound incredible. With only about 2 feet between them and the back wall, the bass response is boosted a little, I'll fix that when they are moved to the new place later this year. I was switching back and forth between the Maggies and my SDA 2A's, and yep, the Maggies are keepers. I found what I was looking for! Not that the SDA 2A's are bad, in fact it's amazing how good they sound when you A/B them with the Maggies. The Maggies just have that presence thing going. I can run them at a lot lower SPL than the SDA's and they seem to fill the room a lot better.

dorokusai

Magnepan is a totally different speaker from the SDA, in design and application.

I can't begin to describe what the changes are, it's too time consuming, as they both excel in different areas. The only thing I know for sure, is that I will continue to own a pair of SDA AND Magnepan in my inventory.