Advice on upgrading Speakers and Amp

[admin_exported]

Hi All,

I am in the process of upgrading firstly my speakers and secondly my amp.

I am in Cape Town, South Africa so demoing kit and access to particular brands is problematic!

Firstly the speakers -

I want to upgrade my MA BR2's - love the wide spacial sound and imaging, don't particularly like the 'cupped' sound to some vocals - a little deeper bass would also be nice...unfortunately these need to be situated quite close to a rear wall (10-15cms) and around 20cms from small side walls. Speakers under consideration which I can get locally are:

- MA BR5

- MA RS1

- B&W 685

- Rega R1

- Dali Range

- PSB, Mission etc

I had tried some Wharfedale 9.5's, but the lack of dynamics and slow plodding bass has relegated them to my study...

I listen to a complete cross section of music - some classical, electronic (Zero 7), ambient chillout etc..

The amp is a NAD C315BEE, which I am considering upgrading to the CA 540, 640 or 740...

Room is 3m wide by around 8m long, with the seating position around 4m away from the speakers.....

Any thoughts or ideas?

 

[Anonymous]

How about the MA RS6's, will be a good upgrade from the BR2's and will fill your sized room with music much better than standmounts.

 

[Anonymous]

Do they have tight bass compared to the Wharfedale 9.5's?

Do they image in a similar manner to the BR2's?

 

[JoelSim]

My Dali Ikon 6 work well near walls, I have little room for manoevre yet they seem to sing with no overblown bass problems.

 

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't advise RS6 if you enjoy accurate reproduction.

They look nice and sound impressive, but they are for parties or home cinema really.

I've been impressed with the neutrality of smaller standmounts such as the Dali Lektor, AVI Neutron, and the MA RS1 is even okay.

In fact I watched a bit of a narrated documentary recently via Lektor 1s and was overwhlemed by the dialogue quality. They are probably too small to fill your room, however, so maybe listen to the bigger brother - Lektor 2.

B&W 685 have the grunt to fill the room, but a coloured midrange that you want to avoid.

 

[Anonymous]

I have the RS8's, Monitor Audio have a very strong range at the moment and are worth an audition.

Check out the review on them, heres the link....

http://whathifi.com/Review/Monitor-Audio-Silver-RS6/

 

[Anonymous]

The RS8s are just less-controlled - more boomy. An OTT RS6 if you will.

Based on my experiences with the Lektors I would hope that Dali's floorstanders may offer a nice, balanced sound.

I forgot to mention Spendor A5 in my previous posts too, which I enjoyed. If they are out of budget you may find a deal on the outgoing S5e and S6e.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes the RS 8's have timing issues, but I sorted that by fitting Clarity Cap SA's to the crossovers.
Now they are outstanding.

The RS6's don't have those issues, and especially if you remove the metal tweeter grills are give a lovely balanced sound.

They partner very well with Cyrus, MF.
Do agree with the Dali and Spendor speakers as well, it all depends on what the budget is also leaving aside money for accesories to get an ideal match.

Really needs to sit down and have a listen and let his ears decide.

 

[Anonymous]

I really like my RS6s so far...

Trevor - what was the difference in sound in removing the metal tweeter grills? Also, anything to keep in mind when doing this or is fairly straightforward?