Old Hifi to HD AV slowwwly

[tlspuds]

After many years of pleasure from my old hifi, its now time to move on - maybe. My first and only step into quality audio was my Marantz KI Signature CD & Amp with a pair of Mission 752 Freedoms. Old but still in perfect working order and I remain attached to the Missions for both looks and sound. Then a couple of years ago I stepped into the world of HD (when content was more readily available) adding a Sony KDL-40W4000 TV, Sky HD and a PS3.

Since then I've kept an eye out for an AV upgrade path and dreamt about getting the Denon 2310 with a number of speaker options. Time being the wonderful thing it can be, I got this month's mag and was stunned to see the Denon AVR-2310 for £450 at RS. A few days of 'negotiating' with the Mrs later and as of yesterday I'm now the proud owner of my first AV Amp! (No concerns about 3D compatibility btw). So now I have my TV, Blu Ray and AV Amp and am wondering what to do on the speaker front. There are dreams, a mortgage deposit to be saved, a marriage to be maintained and therefore a target budget in the next 12 months of £1000-£1500. Possible Audiophile Blasphemy ahead........

On a whim I also purchased a Dali Ikon Vokal I Centre Speaker. Knowing I have 14 days to return it (and at only £80) I figured it just might enhance the sound until a full speaker upgrade. So off I trot home, throw everything together, no real tweaking and in goes my Star Trek Blu Ray for the Dolby TrueHD action packed soundtrack. In a word...Wow!

Several Blu Rays later and an out of the box, not run in, with a (presumably) sonicly mis-matched Front LR & Centre speaker combination and I had a very big smile on my face. I'm now questioning my own plans i.e. if this sounds so good, why don't I just add a couple of comparible Dali surrounds and I've slashed my budget. I (and my neighbour) can live without the sub as I can manage with the base provided by the Missions.

Questions:

Am I just so delighted at the step up I've just taken to not notice the nuances of mismatched kit?
Will a new dedicated £1500 speaker package really sound that much better?
Unless a true audiophile do you really need 'matched' speakers or just complementary kit for a great audio movie experience?
I'm confused on which way to go now and put this out there for your thoughts/advice, while accepting I still need to do a lot more listening/tweaking.

Additional info - kit is in a 4 x 7m room, slightly angled into a corner i.e. far from perfect.

 

[both.of.me]

i think your onto a winner there

i wouldn't be too concerned about everything "maching" brand wise as the current mission stuff are not a well made as your mission freedoms and tonally i think that dali are comeing from the same sort of place as the mission id keep running those and get some good rears and when possible and budget allows sort the fronts out (maybe ikon 6's) to more evenly match the center and would be a nice upgrade for 2 channel music too!

 

[professorhat]

It's not impossible to match different brands tonally (I've done it before), however it's just not easy generally so you may have just been lucky! To really know if a new £1,500 system is going to bring massive improvements, you need to audition one and see what you think. Ideally, take your Denon amp along so that you know the amplification is the same, it's just the speakers that are improving.

On the other hand, if you're perfectly happy with what you have - keep it as is and save yourself some cash (for now)

 

[tlspuds]

Thanks for the replys.

I do think I've got very lucky and the combo of
the Mission 752 Freedoms and Ikon Centre. While I knew Dali speakers had a good reputation I had no idea
just how good they might be. Taking a chance has paid off and got me a nicely detailed, very musical front speaker set up. And now I'm hungry for more..........

I've now spent the last couple of hours looking online at other Dali speakers and got a shock at the Ikon 6 prices considering they have been superceded by the Mark 2's. The best I found was £899 new, with one forum post mentioning seeing them previously as low as £650 - here's hoping someone will sell them at that price again - I'll keep looking.

In the mean time I'm thinking seriously about puchasing the Ikon 1's as rears for a full 5 speaker surround set up currently £350 at RS.

So much for my upgrading slowly. Luckily I have a brake (the Mrs) as this stuff so addictive once you 'start' upgrading

 

[purwoadi]

Hi tispuds,

Correct me if I'm wrong, I understand that you use the Mission 752 as your front speakers connected to Denon 2310 and not use Marantz PM KI anymore.

Have you noticed the difference between Denon 2310 and Marantz hifi amplifier when hearing the CD audio ? Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

sell the mission freedoms and spash the cash on a full set of Dali's. I also had a speaker setup similar to yours, but replaced the lot with a 2005.2 KEF jobby. In a word BRILL.

 

[tlspuds]

First up, I have an un-avoidable poor positioning problem i.e. crammed in corner with the TV, etc. This creates a boomy base and affects any clear judgement. When I originally got the Missions they were centre stage, with room to breathe, in a 24 x 12 feet
lounge and it was musical heaven. Kids turn up, move house for more bedrooms, get smaller lounge and I'm guilty as sin of stubbornly hanging on in hope of moving back to a house where I can position them properly again.

I digress.......

In my new set up the Denon 2310 definitely up's the base and therefore the boom during CD playback in particular (nicer for movies) to a point where at higher volumes it starts to get unbearable. Still early days using the Denon, I'm still experimenting and am hoping I can tweak the base in the settings.

So even with the slightly booming base (due to speaker size/placement) I'm stillvery pleasantly surprised with the musicality of the Denon, to the point that I put my Marantz KI Sig CD and Amp on a certain well known auction site today. Once sold I will buy a new Blu Ray with as good a musical credtionals as my budget allows. In effect, a musical downgrade, but with a significant upgrade on the movie/tv side.

Reality is dawning on me in several ways:

Until I win the lottery I will continue to have one listening space for a quality tv/movies/music set up - the living room.

As much as I love music, I have to share the room with the family, so music will be the thing it's used least for

Without a large room and central positioning I'm starting to accept that 'big' floor standers are not the best solution, however much I like/adore them.

Unless I do move house, I really do need to think about getting kit (especially speakers) thats gives me the best sound for the space I'm using it all in - avoiding buying big and beautiful and not getting the full benefits.

 

[tlspuds]

beedee:sell the mission freedoms and spash the cash on a full set of Dali's. I also had a speaker setup similar to yours, but replaced the lot with a 2005.2 KEF jobby. In a word BRILL.

Thinking about a smaller speaker set up longgg and hard. I thinkyour KEF's,
MT-30 or Dali' Fazons are the 'right' choice for me but I long for
something like the Dali Ikon 6 or maybe down a level to the Lekton's.
The heart continues to rule the head - for now.

 

[tlspuds]

purwoadi:
Hi tispuds,

Correct me if I'm wrong, I understand that you use the Mission 752 as your front speakers connected to Denon 2310 and not use Marantz PM KI anymore.

Have you noticed the difference between Denon 2310 and Marantz hifi amplifier when hearing the CD audio ? Thanks.

First up, I have an un-avoidable poor positioning problem i.e.
crammed in corner with the TV, etc. This creates a boomy base and
affects any clear judgement. When I originally got the Missions they
were centre stage, with room to breathe, in a 24 x 12 feet
lounge
and it was musical heaven. Kids turn up, move house for more bedrooms,
get smaller lounge and I'm guilty as sin of stubbornly hanging on in
hope of moving back to a house where I can position them properly again.

I digress.......

In my new set up the Denon 2310
definitely up's the base and therefore the boom during CD playback in
particular (nicer for movies) to a point where at higher volumes it
starts to get unbearable. Still early days using the Denon, I'm still
experimenting and am hoping I can tweak the base in the settings.

So
even with the slightly booming base (due to speaker size/placement) I'm
stillvery pleasantly surprised with the musicality of the Denon, to the
point that I put my Marantz KI Sig CD and Amp on a certain well known
auction site today. Once sold I will buy a new Blu Ray with as good a
musical credtionals as my budget allows. In effect, a musical
downgrade, but with a significant upgrade on the movie/tv side.

Reality is dawning on me in several ways:

Until I win the lottery I will continue to have one listening space for a quality tv/movies/music set up - the living room.

As much as I love music, I have to share the room with the family, so music will be the thing it's used least for

Without
a large room and central positioning I'm starting to accept that 'big'
floor standers are not the best solution, however much I like/adore
them.

Unless I do move house, I really do need to think about
getting kit (especially speakers) thats gives me the best sound for the
space I'm using it all in - avoiding buying big and beautiful and not
getting the full benefits.