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Back to it - Practical speaker upgrade

I am looking to upgrade my family room system. I have a mid-fi setup that includes a Rega Mira amp and decent digital sources, cables, etc.. that I use for both TV and 2 channel audio. This is in the family room and the amp must do double duty and be reliable. I have older Infinity Beta 40 speakers (which surprisingly sound ok) but I have been looking to upgrade (and not getting around to it). I demoed Rega RS5 recently, and while it was nice, it didn’t strike me as a significant enough upgrade. I listen to jazz, acoustic music, some rock, some classical. I value timbre and timing, and I don’t need a ton of bass. I don’t like analytical sound or fake hi-fi “detail”.

My room is an open concept 14’ x 25’, with 8.5’ ceilings and approximately 10’ listening distance. There is a half wall that opens up to a 20’ x 14’ kitchen area.

I also have a 14.5’ x 18.5’ living room/library where I could potentially add a second system.

Here are the options I am considering:

1. Upgrade my speakers in the family room and spend $3-5k. I’m open to upgrading the Rega as well but would need something with enough inputs to accommodate other sources (TV, DVD, etc…)

2. Take the same money and set up a second system in the 14.5’ x 18.5’ living room/library with another amp and speakers — For example, a tube or hybrid integrated and nice bookshelf speakers, for example.

Any thoughts on which direction you would go? And, any tower speaker recommendations for 5k and under with good WAF that would work well with the Rega? The new Focal Aria line looks nice but I haven’t heard them.

Thanks.

braudio7

Showing 1 response by jdl57

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jdl57
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What you are asking is actually a very personal question that only you can answer. If it were me, I would go for the second room. There is someone selling a pair of Magnepan tympany 1 speakers for $1200 on Audiogon right now. I'd buy them myself if I had any use for them. Its been a long time now, but one of the best systems I have ever heard was Tympany 1's powered by Mark Levinson electronics (ML-2s) I don't remember the turntable (this was pre-cd). I still remember it to this day. They do look like room divider screens.

There has been no real advancement in speaker design for 50 years. Don't think newer is better, but don't take that to mean all speaker designs are good. (I gave the Avantgarde horn speakers a tryout at a distributer demo--and hated them.) I use Sound Lab A-2s, purchased used in 1985. Still haven't found anything I like more. My second system (same room, I turn my chair around) uses the Altec 755a, made in 1957, and a 2 watt homebuilt single ended triode amp. Except for orchestral music and rock, I prefer the second system.




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