Hi, i am looking to buy my first hi-fi stereo system for music listening. My room size is 20 ft x 13 ft and the speakers will be placed along the short wall.
I listen to a variety of stuff ...blues, classic rock, folk grass, indian fusion, selective bollywood stuff (to name a few of my favorite bands - Dire straits, Beatles, Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd, Tom Petty, Shakti, Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, A.R. Rahman, Shankar-Ehsan-Loy etc.) and I'm trying to experiment with Jazz.
My source will be mainly digital (FLAC, ALAC) files, played from either a laptop or preferably streamed via wi-fi or bluetooth - so i will need to buy a DAC unless the amp has an in-built one. Budget can go upto ~$4000 for everything i need - speakers, amp, DAC, cables, bluetooth dongle etc, but if I can get the same sound (for apartment level listening volumes) at a lower cost, then obviously would prefer to not spend so much.
I've auditioned a few speakers (I live in India, so don't have too many choices)...Dali, Elac, Tannoy, B&W and have shortlisted the B&W 683 and Tannoy XT6F. Now between the two i felt the B&W sounded better, but my questions are as follows -
1. Is B&W overkill for my room size and listening needs? Or should i look at B&W 685 instead (maybe with a sub if needed, though i don't plan to listing to club music where very strong bass is needed)?
2. I'm thinking of going for either a Rotel RA-12 or RA-1570 (since i understand that they pair well with B&Ws). Any suggestions here? I know the RA-12 is 60 wpc vs RA-1570 is 120 wpc - but my question is for apartment level listening levels, do i need a RA-1570? Will there be a difference in sound quality at lower volumes? Should I look at a RA-12 with a seperate sub, especially if I go for the 685?
I listen to a variety of stuff ...blues, classic rock, folk grass, indian fusion, selective bollywood stuff (to name a few of my favorite bands - Dire straits, Beatles, Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd, Tom Petty, Shakti, Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, A.R. Rahman, Shankar-Ehsan-Loy etc.) and I'm trying to experiment with Jazz.
My source will be mainly digital (FLAC, ALAC) files, played from either a laptop or preferably streamed via wi-fi or bluetooth - so i will need to buy a DAC unless the amp has an in-built one. Budget can go upto ~$4000 for everything i need - speakers, amp, DAC, cables, bluetooth dongle etc, but if I can get the same sound (for apartment level listening volumes) at a lower cost, then obviously would prefer to not spend so much.
I've auditioned a few speakers (I live in India, so don't have too many choices)...Dali, Elac, Tannoy, B&W and have shortlisted the B&W 683 and Tannoy XT6F. Now between the two i felt the B&W sounded better, but my questions are as follows -
1. Is B&W overkill for my room size and listening needs? Or should i look at B&W 685 instead (maybe with a sub if needed, though i don't plan to listing to club music where very strong bass is needed)?
2. I'm thinking of going for either a Rotel RA-12 or RA-1570 (since i understand that they pair well with B&Ws). Any suggestions here? I know the RA-12 is 60 wpc vs RA-1570 is 120 wpc - but my question is for apartment level listening levels, do i need a RA-1570? Will there be a difference in sound quality at lower volumes? Should I look at a RA-12 with a seperate sub, especially if I go for the 685?