Please Help - completely baffled!

[admin_exported]

I'm currently running a pair of Revolver RW16 stand mount speakers with Rega Brio 3 amp and Planet CD player and I know I need to change the speakers. I love what the Rega kit does as it sounds so clean, lively and musical to my ears but the speakers somehow sound too 'jangly' (excuse my use of non true HiFi terminology). I know these are supposed to be good speakers and worked well with my old Cambridge audio kit. I don't know if I need to improve the quality of the speakers or just change the flavour of the sound. After reading through many threads in here, it seems like speakers have the greatest impact on the overall sound of a system.

Can anyone make any suggestions about what speakers I should be looking at and what budget?

How well would Wharfedale Evo2 10's work and are these good quality speakers?

I am very new to the hi fi thing and would really appreaciate any suggestions and help from you experts out there.

David

 

[the record spot]

First things first; I'm completely unconvinced that speakers make the biggest change to the sound of your kit. Having swapped bits of kit around this past year, I think it's a fallacy to be taken in by this. Don;t mean to be confrontational with regard to yours or anyone else's opinion, but I've changed my speakers this year and there was a slight change (as expected).

I've also changed my CD player and I've also changed my amp. The biggest change to date has been changing the amp. The biggest changes in order so far have been 1) amp, 2) source and 3) speakers.

If you factor in a change to my interconnect too, then they come third and speakers last.

The RW16 is apparently a very musical speaker from what I've heard, so how did you come to have those? Did they come first, or did the Rega gear make it over the front door finishing line in pole position?! Perhaps they don't make a good natural mix with the Rega gear. My sole experience with Rega amps to date was a trial of a Mira amp which was barely a step up sonically from my then Arcam Alpha 5; quite warm and smooth, with a soft high end. Not for me.

Might be worth having a chat with a dealer who can suggest some good synergies between not only your Rega kit and new speakers, but also your Revolvers and a new amp or source. A home demo wouldn't be out of place either, but that can sometimes be tricky to get.

Once again though, the underlying characteristic of the component change is the main thing, rather than a blanket "speakers make the biggest change!" as from my own experience both this year and further back, this isn't generally set in stone.

 

[Anonymous]

Over the years the biggest changes to me have been in Powering the System.
Once this is cleaned you know you are getting the best out of it, with you having a 'level playing field' in which to audition and build your system up to your tastes.

To me it is pointless investing thousands of pounds if your cherished system is robbed of its ability to perform well due to contamination getting onto its signal path.
The culprit of course is a dirty Mains.

You will find it very hard to achieve a great musical performance without spending some time addressing these issues.

 

[Anonymous]

its all for music:
I'm currently running a pair of Revolver RW16 stand mount speakers with Rega Brio 3 amp and Planet CD player and I know I need to change the speakers. I love what the Rega kit does as it sounds so clean, lively and musical to my ears but the speakers somehow sound too 'jangly' (excuse my use of non true HiFi terminology). I know these are supposed to be good speakers and worked well with my old Cambridge audio kit. I don't know if I need to improve the quality of the speakers or just change the flavour of the sound. After reading through many threads in here, it seems like speakers have the greatest impact on the overall sound of a system.

Can anyone make any suggestions about what speakers I should be looking at and what budget?

How well would Wharfedale Evo2 10's work and are these good quality speakers?

I am very new to the hi fi thing and would really appreaciate any suggestions and help from you experts out there.

David

Speakers are the most difficult to engineer and therefore the most
critical part of any hi-fi setup.. The only
real answer is to find a good dealer and try out the ones you're
interested in to see which you prefer.

 

[gregory]

So what your saying is we should all go and have a separate mains spur installed then get the system of our choice, not always practical if you live in a council block or your landlord will not stump up the 400 odd quid an electrician would charge for this. Mains is generally not that bad, there was only one place i lived where the mains could be called dirty, the fridge switching on but not that bad as to clean the mains at some cost but sorry back to the OP, i feel the speakers are not a weak link more a system mismatch, the Revolvers work well with valve amps due to their highish sensitivity but that should not mean bad with a solid state amp, i like Rega gear and the Revolver speakers are also very nice so it's either keep the Rega gear and sell the speakers or vice versa. Why not try the new RS1'S with your Rega gear and maybe recoup some of the money buy selling the speakers.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your replies.

On the subject of cleaning the power to my kit, I have heard the results of doing this and it is something I will be looking into in the near future but I need to sort out getting the best speakers (not nessessarily the most expensive) for my system first.

I guess it makes sense that each component within a system must stamp it's own mark on the overall sound so while I wouldn't want to argue with your experience, I'm sure that carefully selecting better matched speakers would change and improve the sound. I've owned the Revolvers for a number of years now and I was running them with Cambridge Audio's 640 amp and cd player. They worked well with the Cambridge kit but the bug hit me and a change was needed. I was lucky enough to get a home demo on the Brio amp from a great dealer in Exeter for 1 day and that was enough to convince me that this is the amp for me but after settling in with it for a couple of months and trying my lttle Monitor Audio BR1 speakers (borrowed from bedroom system), I'm convinced that it's the speakers that are next on the list to be changed. In fairness, I was wanting to change the speakers anyway. The BR1's seem to have the right flavour of sound but they aren't in the same legue as the Rega kit and are too small. I have read that some speaker manufactures voice their speakers so that the upper midrange frequencies are pushed forward so as to give the music more presence. I wonder if this is the case with the Revolvers? When I'm listening to music at late night low volumes the music can sound quite good but when I turn the sound up just a fraction then it seems as though those frequencies are too far forward. Am I making any sense? I'm after a pair of speakers that sound maybe more relaxed or warm yet still detailed enough for the Rega kit.

Once again, any further help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

David

 

[Anonymous]

trevor79:Over the years the biggest changes to me have been in Powering the System.
Once this is cleaned you know you are getting the best out of it, with you having a 'level playing field' in which to audition and build your system up to your tastes.

To me it is pointless investing thousands of pounds if your cherished system is robbed of its ability to perform well due to contamination getting onto its signal path.
The culprit of course is a dirty Mains.

You will find it very hard to achieve a great musical performance without spending some time addressing these issues.

Hi Trev

How does that address the problem of the jangly sound that was described? That isn't going to be a problem with the mains. You appear to give this as a kind of "cure all" answer to every other question that's posed.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Gregory, I have read a bit about the RS1's and on the face of it they seem ideal in terms of budget, quality of finish but I've been to they are too bright for Rega. If they are a better version of the BR1's then they are definately worth looking into. Have you heard them with the Brio?

 

[gregory]

I have not heard the new Rega RS1's yet but if they are anything like the old R1's then i cant see them being too bright with your Rega kit, I listened to the Epos M5 speakers the other day with a Brio amp and P2-24 and was very impressed with the synergy this combo produced but the Epos speakers are due for a price increase soon but they are supposedly bright speakers but not with the Rega kit, could be another route to investigate but do try to seek out the RS1's.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I read your previous post wrong and thought you were referring to Monitor Audio Silver 1 speakers. Yes I guess it makes sense to try Rega speaker because of the synergy. Reviews I read on the R1 seem to suggest that bass is lacking. I know that you're never going to get huge bass from small stand mounts but will I hear less bass than on my Revolvers?

Sorry to quiz but I'm a long distance from the dealer and want as much info as I can get before travelling.

 

[Anonymous]

I take it when you say 'Jangly' you are meaning the sound is a bit hard, brittle, shrill, rhythm and timing perhaps a bit lacking as well as bass?

If this is so you will get improvements by using things like a Tacima, and trying out (on trial) some mains cables.

On the speaker side of things, try the MA RS1 and the B&W 685.
But if you don't mind buying used Roger speakers are better IMHO.

You will fine tune of course with matching well with speaker cable.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks again Trevor79,

Yes, that is exactly what I mean by jangly, especially at slightly higher volumes. Rhythm and timing are all in place though. I'm glad you were able to understand my non hifi terminology. I know it'll be worth investigating mains cables in the future as I have been impressed with the results on a friends system. Having said that, his system cost a lot more than mine and I wonder if you'd be able to appreciate the difference more.

Have you heard the MA's with the Brio? I have been told that they are too bright. I must admit I do like the look of them as they do have to perform wife appreciation duties as well as ideal sound.

 

[Anonymous]

Do you have carpets and heavy curtains? The jangly sound could be due to too many hard non-absorbing surfaces in the room.

 

[Anonymous]

trevor79:I take it when you say 'Jangly' you are meaning the sound is a bit hard, brittle, shrill, rhythm and timing perhaps a bit lacking as well as bass?

If this is so you will get improvements by using things like a Tacima, and trying out (on trial) some mains cables.

Give me strength.

 

[Anonymous]

I live in a small cottage and the living room is carpeted with curtains and a reasonable dose of soft furnishings etc so I'm sure that is not the problem. I am convinced that although both the speakers and the kit are of pretty good quality, it's simply down to mismatch. Thanks for your suggestion though.

David

 

[Anonymous]

No I haven't heard that combination.

A further couple of thoughts, have you got your blue tack under your speakers on the stands?

Chord Company Carnival SilverScreen cable is worth trying if you find the treble to be too forward.

 

[matthewpiano]

If you try a cable upgrade I'd go that bit extra for Chord Company Rumour 2. Its significantly better than Carnival and well worth the extra outlay.

However, I think you need to address an imbalance in your system. The Rega gear is excellent but it does tend to be a bit 'zingy' in the top end. It was the one thing that made me opt for the Denon kit instead. However, I personally think Rega electronics sound best with Rega speakers and that you should audition a pair of RS3 Rega floorstanders. They are awesome speakers for the money and I think you'll be very pleased by their natural musicality and brilliant balance across the frequency range.

Also worth giving the MA RS1s a go, but they are quite different to the Bronze range. If you want to keep the budget down, the BR2s will give you everything you like about your BR1s but with more punch, low end weight and detail. They are surprisingly brilliant for the money and not at all jangly at the top end.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks again for your help guy's.

I've got my speakers on kudos S50 stands and they are isolated with blue tack. Speakers are connected by AST200 cable at the moment. I've read the review on the chord company silverscreen and it does look like it's worth a listen. To be honest I don't know anything about Rumour 2 but as I use Chord chameleon (original - not silver) and Rega apparently work with Chord, I will investigate further but I think you're right, the speakers need to be addressed first then fine tuning with the right wires. As far as budget is concerned, I guess I just want to keep it as real as I can considering the price of the amp and cd player. If its not worth spending more than around £300-£500 then I won't spend more but I do want to find a quality pair of preferably stand mount speakers to last me for many years to come so I will spend more if needed.

What is the difference between the MA RS1 and the Bronze range?

David

 

[Anonymous]

Bronze/Silver...Build wise they are made with much better quality materials, even down to real veneer cabinets.
They sound as you would expect for the price difference, more musical in every way.
A class leading performance many reviewers think.

 

[Anonymous]

hello, I aufitioned the br2's and the rs1's back to back when setting up my system and for me the rs1's blew the bronze speakers away, as trevor said more musical in every way. Also they are finished to a very high standard are look miles better than the br2's. Don't get me wrong the br2 is a great pair of speakers but once I heard the rs1's I had to have them over the cheaper ones. (plus I got them for only£270)

 

[Anonymous]

Ok thanks,

So it's seems I have some auditioning to do. MA RS1's, Rega R1's and Rega R3's. The R3 are a long shot I think just because of my reservations about floor standing speakers in small rooms and understaning that large panels can cause colourations in the sound.

I tried to do a home audition of the MA RS1's a few weeks ago from the nearest dealer in Plymouth and they told me that the only way could do that would be to purchase the speakers and have them on 14 day approval. They only do home loans on high value equipment. In other words I guess, to them I am a low value customer because I'm not spending thousands with them. Have they lost sight of what purchasing hi fi is about and that many buyers will want to listen to a few products before committing to a purchase? Maybe this is a topic for another thread.

Once again thanks for your replies and help here. This seems to be a good place to get advice.

David