Good bits - any advice on set up?

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I have the kit I want for when I get a house, so kit is not best suited to room, but open to advice on placement etc. I got the Platinums because they are so incredible and the Arcam was best at hifi and film. The flat is also Cat 6 networked, so having server for our office in another room so I can get rid of CD's and plan on getting a Chord QBD76 to use with a Chord Indigo plus. I have gradually got all the bits over time based upon getting them at right price as I'd rather wait.

I demo'd the QBD and the Naim DAC last night and am finding it difficult to go back to the DAC in the Arcam AVR600. I have also spotted a Chord DAC64 for £850 which could be a good compromise.

I have also been told that the PL100's which are currently in Bedroom (powered by Zone 2 on Arcam AVR600) will work better in living room than the bunged up PL300's - any thoughts as moving these beasts is a person job and pulled a muscle in my neck getting them in flat.

Sony Pascal Aluminium front ported speakers on rear as there is no room for PL100's as sofa is wall to wall.

Any thoughts on how I could position this set up would be greatly appreciated.

Pictures are quick one (and equipment is dusty) - I'll upload new good ones once its finished.

 

[Anonymous]

 

[Anonymous]

am giving up on uploading photos - maybe because I'm using chrome - but its not responding to anything.

 

[Anonymous]

 

[Anonymous]

 

[Anonymous]

Hi woollyjoe.

Lovely looking setup!

If you can upload some more pictures, or specs on the room dimensions and furniture placement/room acoustical battles.

Owning the PL setup, I like yourself have no space currently to place the PL100s anywhere so am using Radius speakers for a temporary rear speaker solution.

Low Cost Solutions:

1. A simple thing with your exisiting setup is to give the PL300s space to breathe. The speakers need at lease 50 cms around the speaker where there is nothing in the way. Ideally, 100cms would be ideal, with small adjustments being made to affect the final sound quality so your happy. The speakers dont unleash there true potential close to the wall and sidewalls. It might be worth having your door in the picture in reverse? so it opens the other way? Or maybe even moving everything to the opposite wall if there is no door there? Again its hard to tell from the pictures. But the key issue with the speakers, its space to breathe. I know they are heavy, buts its worth just doing a simple test one day by yourself. Moving the speakers into the room and seeing how they sound.

2. I detest wood flooring, so look to get as much, non reflecting things as possible. Start with a nice thick rug maybe, I can see a rug in one of the pictures, it seems to be too far back from the front setup though. Also without sounding silly, but from the look of the curtains in the picture, they seem quiet thin. Maybe look to thicken your curtains to absorb some of the sound without it bouncing straight through to the window. Again with more pictures of the room, people can judge more accurately to give you constructive advice.

3. It does seem difficult but a dedicated stand for the PL Centre speaker might be worth looking at.

The PL speakers are fantastic, but with a speaker of such amazing attributes, I would think long and hard about your ratio of Home Cinema vs Hifi playback.

Future Upgrades:

I have used various amplifiers I own on the PL300s, and the better the quality of amplification the better the results. My Musical Fidelity source and amplification, gets beautiful results from these speakers and always leaves me with goosebumps. As I have the Musical Fidelity DM25 CD Player now, it has 2 outputs at the back, and one of them is connected to the Denon 4308 AV Amp. So with the same source and the Denon on Pure Direct Mode, its shocking the hear how bad the Denon replays music. I understand your Arcam is much better than the Denon 4308. But I would suggest to get the best out of your speakers, as a future upgrade. Look to have a processor with serpate power amps.What Hifi Recommends the Anthem Range, its roughly £16K. Amazing bit of kit! something a bit cheaper might be something like Bryston 6Bsst (powers centre and rear speakers) with a Bryston 4Bsst2 (minimum - maybe look at the 14bsst2 to get even more performance) to power the PL300s - these teamed up with a suitable processor.

Hope this makes some sense.Hope I havent offended, just trying to help.

Let me know what you think, ill try to advice you best I can. There are many others with experience of your kit that give great advice on here too.

 

[gbhsi1]

woollyjoe:I have just noticed that I have the same lamp that you have- that's where the similarity ends though! 🙂 Nice speakers- good choice, must sound brilliant!

 

[Anonymous]

Amuzingly I have the same camera bag!

Looks good though, nice looking speakers though I'd have the centre speaker more central (just fussy, bit of OSD I think).