Advice on best amplifier + speakers to manage a difficult room

[skinnypuppy71]

It's nice to know some folks are getting into dads vinyl collection..lol..brilliant stuff.
On another note, I wouldn't rely on the room correction of the wiim products, it's very basic and when I had the wiim ultra, I tried it out just for curiosity sake, into my then Acoustic energy ae1 active speakers, it did actually make the sound worse and basically removed all the bass in my little 2x2 summer house which does suffer from bass boom at certain a frequency...but the room correction over compensated and I reverted to the flat response, but I will give it this, the parametric eq on the wiim app is very handy, so Yeah!....maybe the room correction ain't that great but you'd still have a decent eq to play with until a agreeable setting was found.
Enjoy your vinyl, it's great fun..

 

[RTHerringbone]

So then the choice is between Rotel A8, Rega Io and the first gen Audoliab which are all around £400. Any thoughts on the relative pros and cons.

I've had the Marantz PM6007 you mention in your first post. It's very capable and represents big bang for the buck at the price point. If aesthetics matter, it may be a bit of a mismatch if / when you get the WiiM Ultra. It's a bit old-fashioned looking to my taste, but one of the best options in that price bracket.

I can't give an objective view on the other options. I like Rega stuff and like the look of the IO so I'd lean that way personally, but based on nothing other than preference.

 

[Fandango Andy]

Have added a picture of the room, if that helps

The good news, the room isn't as bad as it looks and you can make it better.

If there are normally binds on the windows, can you go a stage further and get curtains? You may need to be creative with the rail!

I'm guessing the right wall is glass to waist hight overlooking the room below. In an ideal world that would be replaced with something "dead" that doesn't reflect the sound. Your could have a temporary cover over them for example a rug you hang over while listening to music, or even a curtain you can pull across.

Finally, the speakers are going to be low, so get a low sofa or chair so the speakers are as close to head hight as possible.

As for the amp, I still think the the Audiolab is still the best deal in town. If you want streaming capability immediately, you can get the 6000A Play for £399. I haven't heard it but I am told it isn't as good as a regular 6000A but it isn't far off.

If you go for the WiiM and buy online, you have 14 day cooling off under remote selling rules, so you could always return if it doesn't live up to your expectations.

 

[Allears]

It's nice to know some folks are getting into dads vinyl collection..lol..brilliant stuff.
On another note, I wouldn't rely on the room correction of the wiim products, it's very basic and when I had the wiim ultra, I tried it out just for curiosity sake, into my then Acoustic energy ae1 active speakers, it did actually make the sound worse and basically removed all the bass in my little 2x2 summer house which does suffer from bass boom at certain a frequency...but the room correction over compensated and I reverted to the flat response, but I will give it this, the parametric eq on the wiim app is very handy, so Yeah!....maybe the room correction ain't that great but you'd still have a decent eq to play with until a agreeable setting was found.
Enjoy your vinyl, it's great fun..

He had a 1st press White Album which I am very excited to play

 

[Allears]

The good news, the room isn't as bad as it looks and you can make it better.

If there are normally binds on the windows, can you go a stage further and get curtains? You may need to be creative with the rail!

I'm guessing the right wall is glass to waist hight overlooking the room below. In an ideal world that would be replaced with something "dead" that doesn't reflect the sound. Your could have a temporary cover over them for example a rug you hang over while listening to music, or even a curtain you can pull across.

Finally, the speakers are going to be low, so get a low sofa or chair so the speakers are as close to head hight as possible.

As for the amp, I still think the the Audiolab is still the best deal in town. If you want streaming capability immediately, you can get the 6000A Play for £399. I haven't heard it but I am told it isn't as good as a regular 6000A but it isn't far off.

If you go for the WiiM and buy online, you have 14 day cooling off under remote selling rules, so you could always return if it doesn't live up to your expectations.

This is great thank you. The chairs are on order and are low and pretty much will put me at head height. We can put a rug over the glass and have one for the floor too. I think I am going to go for the Audiolab. I am guessing they will be OK with the Kupids?

 

[Fandango Andy]

This is great thank you. The chairs are on order and are low and pretty much will put me at head height. We can put a rug over the glass and have one for the floor too. I think I am going to go for the Audiolab. I am guessing they will be OK with the Kupids?

You will be fine. It has more than enough power, and if anything is a class above the speakers.

Having never seen a them except in pictures I was curious how small the speakers are, they are only 5cm shorter, 3cm narrower, and similar depth to my old Tannoy M1's. You wouldn't want to put the Tannoy's in your space though, they need some room around them.

 

[Allears]

You will be fine. It has more than enough power, and if anything is a class above the speakers.

Having never seen a them except in pictures I was curious how small the speakers are, they are only 5cm shorter, 3cm narrower, and similar depth to my old Tannoy M1's. You wouldn't want to put the Tannoy's in your space though, they need some room around them.

Luckily the Dali's fit under that sloping roof and seem to have had the thumbs up from pretty much everyone on here and in lots of reviews. I am going to go Auidolab or Rega IO and then add a Wiim Pro or Ultra assuming the sound doesn't feel awful. Really appreciate the time you and everyone has taken to help me with this

 

[record_spot]

Have you considered active speakers? If you've limited space, they'll remove your amp/speaker spacing problems and all you'll need are some cables and a phono stage (if the actives don't have one) , and maybe a passive switching box/volume control if there's no onboard preamp.

 

[matthewpianist]

One amp that has been overlooked here is NAD C316BEE V2, and that’s a pity, because it’s a bargain. It’s better built and less rough sounding than the Rega io, and has an excellent phono stage. There’s also simple tone controls if you need to tweak the bass, treble and/or balance to suit your awkward space. I have also compared it directly to the WiiM Amp Ultra, with and without room correction, and as good as the WiiM is, it doesn’t engage like the NAD does.

Do also consider the AT-LP5X turntable. I have one, and it gives my Rega Planar 3 with external power supply a good run for its money. It’s another bargain.

 

[matthewpianist]

Of course, there is also the NAD D3020 V2, which has the same phono stage.

 

[gasolin]

Room correction in the Wiim is nice but not very sofisticated. Better look out for an amp with Dirac or, even better, insert a miniDSP unit in the audio chain. Be aware that using digital room correction is not easy and you can easily make it worse. And some problems can't be solved at all. Than you need some acoustical treatment to solve it.

And as said, the phono input of the Wiim isn't very good. Use a decent separate phono preamp instead.

WHY the amp has peg, max and min gain when doing room correction,max Q, frequency rang i does room correction , target curves, non boost mode values set is not above 0db, smoothing main speaker output bass, subwoofer bypass mode,sync subwoofer and spakers, eq works after room cotrrection (get adayton usb mic)crossover in 1 hz incremenst from 30hz to 250 and -15 db to + 15 db, phase adjustments, volume limit lets say 90% of max power when volume is at 100% balance,stere ,mono.left or right channel,fade-in and fade-out effects somooth transitions between tracks, eliminates click and pops, you can do steret room correction or mono room correction (each speakers, takes longer time)

I don't think it's basic room correction

 

[gasolin]

Hi, reading all good advices above, I will recommend not to focus on basic amp with many functions "all in" and even with room correction. I think this is not the best way for beginner in hifi. Also considering your Vinyl collection and streaming requirement. So, Rega Planar 1 or 1+(with phono preamp on board) are very good start points for vinyl enthusiast. Cartridge Rega Carbon, now with improved stylus in version Carbon plus is very good value. Amps like Rega Io or Marantz 6007 or also Rotel A8 are all very good. Also speakers Dali Kupid are truly good. No bad choice here. When selected amp without integrated streamer, than some small streamer like Bluesound or Cambridge Audio will work here. This system will be a lot better than my "Tesla" collection, where I was starting some 32 years ago.😉

Dali Kupid has very low sensitivity and need around 100 watt to play loud mabye a sonos amp (2x125 watt peak in 8 ohm)

 

[gasolin]

So I think Planar 1 is a much as I can spend at the moment, but I definitely take your point on the upgrades. I agree that I may well be fine in that space and I am thinking that I can will probably add the Wiim Ultra later for streaming and room correction if necessary. So then the choice is between Rotel A8, Rega Io and the first gen Audoliab which are all around £400. Any thoughts on the relative pros and cons.

Consider the entry level argon audio TT

Good quality and sound built in riaa preamp, 7 different colours https://argonaudio.com/products/tt-mk2

 

[gasolin]

Thank you so much for all of this. Here is a picture of the space. The squiggly lines under the sloping roof is where the system is going- Kupids fit under the slope but anything much bigger won't. The furniture it goes on is 150cm wide and the cross is where the chairs will be- about 6 ft from the speakers. The big windows on the left are normally covered by blinds.
View attachment 10250

From the reviews I have seen- no What HiFi one yet- the Wiim Amp Ultra seems to stack up well against the Marantz, Rotel and Rega IO and I do want streaming at some point. However the main reason for getting the Wiim at the moment is that I have seen some positive things about the room correction and I am nervous about the space.

https://www.avforums.com/reviews/wiim-amp-ultra-streaming-amplifier-review.23009/

https://www.avforums.com/reviews/wiim-amp-pro-streaming-amplifier-review.22489/

Fore the money a wiim amp pro is better then the marantz pm6007 and has more power features