... that the modern budget "great speaker" can sound as good as the best vintage equivalent!
OK, I've been going on about this in other threads. But my Wharfedale Diamond 220s are a serious disappointment against my beaten up old Celestion 3 mkiis. Ok, I'm running them on a reasonably humble source, Marantz m-cr603 with decent Audioquest cables and that's it. But I really think my trusty old Celestions are in another league. Detail? Celestion wins. Seperation? Celestion again. Rhythmic drive? Celestion once more. Delicacy and overall musical involvement? Same result. Bass and integration of sound? A win maybe for the 220s, but that's really not a lot... the Celestions embarass the newbies on sheer enjoyment and value in every other department. Is it the case that the Wharfedales would come into their own with a higher rated amp and CD player with seperate DAC and all that jazz? Or do they need 200 hours of burn in?(!)
So why am I still whinging? Well, the mkii sound great with most of what I listen to. I listen to a lot of acoustic pop, folk, rock, jazz, some classical but I have pretty wide ranging music tastes... and with hard driving indie and a bit of hip hop (The Strokes, De La Soul etc) the old mkiis sound a bit pushed. I'm looking at used upgrades: B&W 601 s2/s3, Monitor Audio silver s4i or others. I think new I would have to spend £400 to get a sound that would satisfy on every level. I've heard Dali Zensor 3s and liked them but they probably need more breathing space than I can spare.
Can anyone help me find my sonic nirvana?
OK, I've been going on about this in other threads. But my Wharfedale Diamond 220s are a serious disappointment against my beaten up old Celestion 3 mkiis. Ok, I'm running them on a reasonably humble source, Marantz m-cr603 with decent Audioquest cables and that's it. But I really think my trusty old Celestions are in another league. Detail? Celestion wins. Seperation? Celestion again. Rhythmic drive? Celestion once more. Delicacy and overall musical involvement? Same result. Bass and integration of sound? A win maybe for the 220s, but that's really not a lot... the Celestions embarass the newbies on sheer enjoyment and value in every other department. Is it the case that the Wharfedales would come into their own with a higher rated amp and CD player with seperate DAC and all that jazz? Or do they need 200 hours of burn in?(!)
So why am I still whinging? Well, the mkii sound great with most of what I listen to. I listen to a lot of acoustic pop, folk, rock, jazz, some classical but I have pretty wide ranging music tastes... and with hard driving indie and a bit of hip hop (The Strokes, De La Soul etc) the old mkiis sound a bit pushed. I'm looking at used upgrades: B&W 601 s2/s3, Monitor Audio silver s4i or others. I think new I would have to spend £400 to get a sound that would satisfy on every level. I've heard Dali Zensor 3s and liked them but they probably need more breathing space than I can spare.
Can anyone help me find my sonic nirvana?
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