So, I think I can get (be allowed ) ~£600 to spend on new speakers. I'd welcome input on what to go for, given the rest of my system and some very specific limitations (other than budget!).
System:
Fanless PC[1] pushing S/PDIF optical out to
Cambridge Audio DACMagic to
Rotel RA04 bi-amp driving
Mordaunt Short Avant 902i
There's some other hardware bits but I barely use them any more! Half-decent interconnects (Chord somethings), reasonable speaker cable.
Specific limitations on new speakers:
They have to be wall-mounted (my wall-mounts were rated for 15kg, are mounted straight to brickwork with some big rawl plugs and screws) because of the woodstove between them. And large dogs.
So the new speakers have to be happy playing real close to the back wall and not mind getting warmed a lot in winter.
Desire to change has been brought on by the introduction of the fanless PC source which, along with the high quality source files, has brought out a lot of detail and expanse, but is pushing the speakers outside of their comfort zone. Treble is sounding a little tinny at times and tracks with a lot of bass or a lot of treble seem to drown the midrange a bit.
What to go for? I was considering the EB2s, but can't tell whether they are going to cope with being that close to a wall nor whether they would be driven by the RA04. I hear the DynAudios are ok being that close (with bung in port) but the veneers might not stand up to the warming of the fire. Any suggestions?
Cheers
Chris
[1] For those interested, works like a piece of hifi gear, just a power button to turn it off and on. Runs Ubuntu low latency kernel, OSS and MPD; controlled from laptops or mobiles or (shortly) tablet. Only fed FLAC, can of course play most any format if you must. Music fed from storage box in loft over network dLAN (DeVolo AV200) which also serves UPnP for other playback devices.
System:
Fanless PC[1] pushing S/PDIF optical out to
Cambridge Audio DACMagic to
Rotel RA04 bi-amp driving
Mordaunt Short Avant 902i
There's some other hardware bits but I barely use them any more! Half-decent interconnects (Chord somethings), reasonable speaker cable.
Specific limitations on new speakers:
They have to be wall-mounted (my wall-mounts were rated for 15kg, are mounted straight to brickwork with some big rawl plugs and screws) because of the woodstove between them. And large dogs.
So the new speakers have to be happy playing real close to the back wall and not mind getting warmed a lot in winter.
Desire to change has been brought on by the introduction of the fanless PC source which, along with the high quality source files, has brought out a lot of detail and expanse, but is pushing the speakers outside of their comfort zone. Treble is sounding a little tinny at times and tracks with a lot of bass or a lot of treble seem to drown the midrange a bit.
What to go for? I was considering the EB2s, but can't tell whether they are going to cope with being that close to a wall nor whether they would be driven by the RA04. I hear the DynAudios are ok being that close (with bung in port) but the veneers might not stand up to the warming of the fire. Any suggestions?
Cheers
Chris
[1] For those interested, works like a piece of hifi gear, just a power button to turn it off and on. Runs Ubuntu low latency kernel, OSS and MPD; controlled from laptops or mobiles or (shortly) tablet. Only fed FLAC, can of course play most any format if you must. Music fed from storage box in loft over network dLAN (DeVolo AV200) which also serves UPnP for other playback devices.