$600 +/- Bookshelfs w/ Holographic Soundstage


Hello all,

Thank you all for your time & dedication to Audio :-)
This site has been a wonderful find for me (and a constant source of amusement for my wife watching me! LOL!)

I have been reading a bunch of the articles - trying not to clog up the forum with yet another speaker advice column - but have learned that it is the specifics of each individual situation that makes this such an exciting topic. So ...

I am looking to upgrade my bookshelf speakers - and would love input on my situation:

Right now I have a pair of B&W DM.601 s1 - that I am enjoying, but I feel their holographic soundstage is a bit limited.

This is my #1 priority - I love 'seeing' the music. My pinnacle moment came when listening to Rimsky-Korsakov, Sherezade on Primare driven ProAc Response D28s - when, with my eyes closed, I could tell you exactly where each member of the orchestra was sitting! That was when all of this began!!

Budget is self set at $600 +/-
Used / New all-ok
I'm partial to bookshelfs due to the size of my room (12'x10') in an NYC Apartment.

My current system:
Rotel RX-1052 Receiver (my upgrade dream right now is the Primare I30)
Rotel RCD-1072 CD
Technics SL-1200MK2 (w/ Shure M97xE)
B&W DM.601 S1 on Stands
Decent Wiring (Monster M850 Interconnects, Kimber Kwik 12 Speaker, I'm working on power cabling next)

What I've listened to in the last 48 Hours:
Art Farmer - Modern Art - CD
David Byrne - Grown Backwards - CD
Pink Floyd (bootlegs circa 1968-1974) - FLAC burned to CD
Thin Lizzy - In Sunshine or Shadow - LP
Radiohead - OK Computer - Audiophile LP
Miucha & Antonio Carlos Jobim - LP
Jorge Ben - BEN - LP Digitized to CD
Amadou & Mariam - Dimache & Bamako - CD
Pepe & Cheich - CD
Franz Liszt - A Faust Symphony - CD
Schuman - Frauenliebe und Leben - CD
Bach - Sonatas & Partitas - CD

Ok - I think this is probably more then enough info!

Thank you all so much & Happy Holidays
Ethan
128x128septemous
Listened to Totem Rainmakers & Mite's today - and I wasn't blown out of the water - so now I believe my current system is probably better then I thought it was - I was just 'amped' up to buy!

Thank you all - I think I learned a lot from this thread. I am going to start with placement & cabling. I'll read up on treatments (I have a brick wall that would probably do well with some soft-goods on it).

I will then up my amplification and finally speakers. I think this will give me the right learning curve, sound and help the wallet out a bit.

The guy at the store used a great metaphor (and this was after I demoed the speakers :-) Not sure if this is the standard metaphor for the audiophile world, but as he said it:

Speakers are a window and your electronics are the view. You can have a big window that looks at a brick wall or a small window that looks at a beautiful park.

We are city folk :-)

Happy new year all!
Nice metaphor, but I think it leaves out a crucial part. The size of the window is obviously important, but for holographic imaging I think it's probably even more important to have a clear window. What good is a beautiful park if you can't see it clearly? In the end I think need both if you want that "reach out and touch it" imaging.
I like the metaphoric extension Siox :-)

It really seems to be a chicken and egg situation - and that is what leads to the personal audio arms race - it started with a CD player and moved on from there.

I'll move forward and am very grateful for all the wonderful feedback and advice.