New Streaming Set-Up From Scratch Advice - UK Novice

[rainsoothe]

By the way, how big is your room anyway? Your concern about the Oberons might be unwarranted, and the 606 also need some room behind them.

 

[jjbomber]

By the way, how big is your room anyway? Your concern about the Oberons might be unwarranted, and the 606 also need some room behind them.

From the OP:

Just for information, the set-up will be in room about 14 ft long, by about 10/11ft wide. Unfortunately, due to radiator placement and the bay window in the room, the speakers will need to be facing the breadth instead of the length of the room, so I would be listening from roughly 6 -7ft away from the speakers, which would be either side of a shallow fire/chimney breast (about 10 inches in depth, fire not used)

 

[Tinman1952]

Thanks for your thoughts guys.

I've been doing a bit more digging around, and seen a few comments that allude to the idea that the Dali Oberon 5s maybe too much speaker for a room I have. I have since been looking at the B&W 606 S2 Anniversary Edition. Apparently the B&Ws pair quite well with the Rega Brio rainsoothe mentioned above.
Since my original post I've been able to increase my budget to £2k. So at the moment, I'm considering:

Rega Brio
B&W 606 S2 AE
Bluesound Node Gen 3

Theres a local dealer not that far from me who stocks all 3 items. When the new Bluesound comes out this month, I'll enquire if, due to my condition, they'd be willing to come to an arrangement to let me home audition.

In theory, do the listed items/set up sound workable, or is there anything not right I'm not aware of; compatibility, amp/power pairing eg.

Thanks guys

Dali Oberon 3 then….? 🤔

 

[Deleted member 195594]

Hi again.

Just an update and a big thanks again for all your suggestions.

I eventually contacted a local reputable dealer and explained my situation/condition, and from the precautions taken in the shop itself (I won't bore you with that) I felt safe enough to make an appointment to audition some gear, PPE'd to the gills 😊. Apart from my ears 👂😎.

From past experience, when researching other tech for my PC builds, I should have known that I would probably end up with totally different gear than initially settled on..... This was no different. I feel like I've come a long way since that OP!

Anyway, I auditioned 3 amps, 3 speakers and the Bluesound Node 2021.

Quad Veena 2
Rega Brio
Rega Elex-R

Quad S2
B&W 606 S2 Anniversary Edition
Dali Opticon 1

First up was the Veena 2 and the Quad S2s; this combo was very "polite" and gentle, warm, totally comfortable to listen to but didn't get my emotions going. Just like listening to background radio; it's there but it doesn't grab you by the collars and insist you listen to it. Passed on quickly to the Rega Brio and the Quad S2s.

This was getting there, for sure. Loved the difference from the Veena to the Brio. Where the Veena was like an undemanding, layed back pet dog, I felt the Brio wanted me to give it my undivided attention, but in a good way. This really started to get interesting; played through some of the same tracks by - Joni Mitchell, Mark Eitzel, Stanley Turrentine, Talk Talk, and, Stereo lab for a bit of lowfi electronica.

The Brio and the S2s were a gorgeous combo; the S2s are lovely sounding. Joni Mitchell's vocal on "Blue" had me getting moist around the eyes, I've not heard this track as good as this for over 20yrs since my Naim days. Mark Hollis' sombre, haunting voice was incredible, as was the multi-layered instrumentation from the Colour of Spring album. I've been listening to this album since 1986, so I know it back to front, and inside out, but it never sounded so intricate and evocative.

I knew after this that I could walk out of the shop with the Brio/Quads/Node and be content, but I'd heard/read good things about the B&W 606 S2s so after asking to audition them, and the Elex-r, it would be rude not to.

Well, I know some people on here and many other places will/do love and enjoy the 606s, but after about 3 tracks, I'd had enough, to the point of actually being irritated by them. Maybe it's unfair after the syrupy goodness of the Quads, as I kind of had an idea the B&Ws were a tad more brash in their delivery, where the Quads made me feel like I could just settle down and spend weeks with them non-stop.

The B&Ws made me feel like when my sister used to bring my then 3yr old, unruly nephew around to visit....I couldn't wait to see the back of him, he gave me a headache, as did the B&Ws 🤕 So that was the end of them.

Next up, the Elex-r. This was kind of a wild card, I was just curious to hear the difference between it and it's little sibling, and what the extra ££££ bought you. Probably a bad idea, for my wallet, but not for my ears.

The Quads were plugged back in and off we went again, some of the same tracks, and a few others that are lovingly familiar to me. I thought the Brio was brilliant with the Quads, but the Elex-r knocked it up another notch; Joni was now sat about a foot away from me, Mark Hollis was breathing in my face. Instrumentation on all songs was again where they should be in the soundstage, but in greater 3D than with the Brio, with a little more detail and isolation but without sounding detached from each other. Everything just popped. Glorious!!!

I listened to the Dalis, probably out of politeness, as the chap who was looking after me in the store had introduced these to offset my disappointment with the B&Ws and to provide something different as a contrast to the Quads. The Dalis were good, and I enjoyed them, but not in the same way as with the Quads.

So that was that, deal done, except for one surprise. The Quads were not a demo pair, they were the last in stock, and a freshly opened pair that afternoon for the demo, so had no burn in at all. This was the first time they had been hooked up since the factory. If they sound this pleasing fresh out of the box, I look forward to what they end up sounding like after a few weeks.

All that remains is to decorate the room I'll be setting up my gear in, probably over the next week or 2, and off we go, back to HiFi land again. Its been a long time, it will be good to be back 😊😉

Thanks again for all your words of wisdom and suggestions, much appreciated, and thanks for reading.

Kind Regards

Lyndon

 

[Tinman1952]

The B&Ws made me feel like when my sister used to bring my then 3yr old, unruly nephew around to visit....I couldn't wait to see the back of him, he gave me a headache, as did the B&Ws

This made me laugh..😁 Your experience chimes with mine. I’ve never heard a B&W speaker that I didn’t find bright…
Glad you’ve got your choice sorted. You’ve shown once again there is no substitute for a real demo no matter how many reviews/forums you frequent. 👍

 

[Deleted member 195594]

Hi again, 😊

Just wanted to close this thread up.

After I bought my gear, I had to decorate the listening room and wait for a new sofa to be delivered, plus a solid wood tv stand to put my equipment on. Last Friday, the HiFi gods conspired and both the sofa and stand came on the same day 👍😁. I was a happy man. I'd already bought a nice large wool rug from a local rug shop, so with sofa in place, all that remained was to assemble the stand, place my equipment on it and plug it all in....... Felt like a kid at Christmas again 🎄🎄😊. There's also a new addition to the original line-up; the idea was always to add a CD player later down the line, but after reading/watching similar reviews and thoughts on the Audiolab 6000CDT, with permission from my long suffering significant other, I pulled the trigger 🤭


The sofa and rug have dampened quite a lot of the echo/reverb, more than I thought it would to be honest, but I think I'll need to install some room treatment of some kind, research is ongoing. The room is quite sparse at the moment, so will be adding some artwork to the bare walls and some
soft furnishings which I'm sure will help.

To the set up itself; as all the equipment and cables are all new, I didn't expect sonic Nirvana straight off the bat, and yeah, initially the whole system sounded, I don't know, constipated? The lovely high mids and highs from the Quad S2s were there as I remembered them from the demo, but everything else felt to me like it was a caged animal waiting to get out.

Over that weekend and this week while working upstairs, I've left Radio Paradise running from the Node continuously, interrupted by some selected music listening in short bursts. I've probably put around 70+ hours of music through the system now, and yeah the difference from first turn on is fantastic. Everything has opened up nicely, the Quads have come in to their own now, I'm in love with these speakers, they seem to pair nicely with the Elex-r, which just feels solid and workmanlike. The pairing has a warmish? sound and feel to them but definitely not overly so, which is what I was originally looking for. Highs and high-mids are still crystal clear but without sounding harsh or bright at all, just a lovely pleasing tonality about them. Joni Mitchell's vocal is so insanely high when she really goes for it, this was my vocal test, and the set up passed with flying colours. I've winced when listening to her on lesser gear, but now those inhuman highs are now enjoyable.

I could go on and on, but I'll wrap it up here. Everything I wanted sonically from a system when I set out on this journey again, I've been given, especially by the Quad S2s and Elex-r, in spades! The Node is a fantastic little box of tricks; it's functionality and accompanying BluOS app are great for my needs. I've even discovered new music I had no awareness of prior to this adventure.

I probably took an unnecessary health risk the day I went to my local dealership to demo my equipment , but boy am I glad I did 😊.

Thanks for reading; this has been a fantastic experience for me on many levels, and would recommend the jump in to HiFi to anyone who is toying with the idea, and lurking around this forum like I was 😊.

Thanks again for everyone's advice, suggestions and thoughts, all very much appreciated.

Kindest Regards

Lyndon 🤗

 

[Gray]

The sofa and rug have dampened quite a lot of the echo/reverb, more than I thought it would to be honest.

Massively important.
I cringe when I see pictures of some listening rooms - if they only knew how much they were compromising often very expensive gear.....
Glad you're happy. Now is where the skill comes in.....avoiding the desire to 'upgrade'.

 

[Deleted member 195594]

Now is where the skill comes in.....avoiding the desire to 'upgrade'.

I know exactly what you mean 😁. Although I'm extremely happy with the core of my system, I have caught myself thinking of an external DAC to pair with the Node and CDT 🙄. But no, I'm going let the set up settle in and live with it for a lot longer yet, plus I need to get the room acoustics in order before I even think of adding/upgrading 😊. But yep, slippery slope indeed

 

[nopiano]

I know exactly what you mean 😁. Although I'm extremely happy with the core of my system, I have caught myself thinking of an external DAC to pair with the Node and CDT 🙄. But no, I'm going let the set up settle in and live with it for a lot longer yet, plus I need to get the room acoustics in order before I even think of adding/upgrading 😊. But yep, slippery slope indeed

I‘m delighted to read your journey, and I’m sure it was wise to get the better amp. That helps everything, and far more rewarding than tinkering with DACs.

 

[Deleted member 195594]

Thanks nopiano. I think you're right; the Elex-r with the Quads makes me smile. I'm glad I demoed it, it was worth the extra outlay over the Brio. As for DACs, they can wait, the Node does a great job to be honest, and at my level/budget I'd probably only see small marginal improvements if I bought a comparatively priced DAC.

I have a lot to do to improve the room first, and to keep experimenting with my speaker placement. In the meantime, I'm just going to enjoy what I have and try and get the maximum performance from it.

 

[Tinman1952]

Hi again, 😊

Just wanted to close this thread up.

After I bought my gear, I had to decorate the listening room and wait for a new sofa to be delivered, plus a solid wood tv stand to put my equipment on. Last Friday, the HiFi gods conspired and both the sofa and stand came on the same day 👍😁. I was a happy man. I'd already bought a nice large wool rug from a local rug shop, so with sofa in place, all that remained was to assemble the stand, place my equipment on it and plug it all in....... Felt like a kid at Christmas again 🎄🎄😊. There's also a new addition to the original line-up; the idea was always to add a CD player later down the line, but after reading/watching similar reviews and thoughts on the Audiolab 6000CDT, with permission from my long suffering significant other, I pulled the trigger 🤭
View attachment 2592

The sofa and rug have dampened quite a lot of the echo/reverb, more than I thought it would to be honest, but I think I'll need to install some room treatment of some kind, research is ongoing. The room is quite sparse at the moment, so will be adding some artwork to the bare walls and some
soft furnishings which I'm sure will help.

To the set up itself; as all the equipment and cables are all new, I didn't expect sonic Nirvana straight off the bat, and yeah, initially the whole system sounded, I don't know, constipated? The lovely high mids and highs from the Quad S2s were there as I remembered them from the demo, but everything else felt to me like it was a caged animal waiting to get out.

Over that weekend and this week while working upstairs, I've left Radio Paradise running from the Node continuously, interrupted by some selected music listening in short bursts. I've probably put around 70+ hours of music through the system now, and yeah the difference from first turn on is fantastic. Everything has opened up nicely, the Quads have come in to their own now, I'm in love with these speakers, they seem to pair nicely with the Elex-r, which just feels solid and workmanlike. The pairing has a warmish? sound and feel to them but definitely not overly so, which is what I was originally looking for. Highs and high-mids are still crystal clear but without sounding harsh or bright at all, just a lovely pleasing tonality about them. Joni Mitchell's vocal is so insanely high when she really goes for it, this was my vocal test, and the set up passed with flying colours. I've winced when listening to her on lesser gear, but now those inhuman highs are now enjoyable.

I could go on and on, but I'll wrap it up here. Everything I wanted sonically from a system when I set out on this journey again, I've been given, especially by the Quad S2s and Elex-r, in spades! The Node is a fantastic little box of tricks; it's functionality and accompanying BluOS app are great for my needs. I've even discovered new music I had no awareness of prior to this adventure.

I probably took an unnecessary health risk the day I went to my local dealership to demo my equipment , but boy am I glad I did 😊.

Thanks for reading; this has been a fantastic experience for me on many levels, and would recommend the jump in to HiFi to anyone who is toying with the idea, and lurking around this forum like I was 😊.

Thanks again for everyone's advice, suggestions and thoughts, all very much appreciated.

Kindest Regards

Lyndon 🤗

Thanks Lyndon for the final chapter of your story and the photo! 🙂
Now you know what to say to people who say ‘there is no such thing as burn in’….. 👍
Enjoy the music!