Reference 2 Channel Speaker Recommendations

[Rexp]

Spending the 10K on a new power amp will give better sound IMO particularly if improving imaging and soundstage is your goal....

[Rexp]

Granted the Emotiva XPA-5 is 5 separate mono blocks in one enclosure, but it's not a bad amp. What would you recommend and why?

 

And it's while imaging and soundstage is important to me, I think it's easier to find that in speakers than clarity and precision.

Having been a HiFi dealer in the past I've played with lots of speaker/power amp combo's and found with most high end speakers you haven't really heard them until you stick a high end power amp in front of them. I haven't demoed any amps in a while so best you check with your dealer what is good for 10k and get a home audition with your 803's which I can assure you will sound like much better speakers. Some good ones I have heard recently are Bryston 4B3, Parasound Halo JC1 monos and Luxman M700u.

[Rexp]

On 23/03/2017 at 2:50 AM, Johnseye said:

 

 

A well tuned speaker listening system will crush headphones any day.  Them be fightin words I know, but I've listened to some very high end headphones and it's not even close.  Granted, you're going to pay a bit more for a speaker rig.  You could also say it's like comparing apples and oranges.  Headphones have their uses and their place but I'll choose speakers any day as long as they're setup right.

 

Don't count out the Audio Alchemy DDP-1 DAC/Preamp.  For the cost it's a great piece.  I've got to keep talking it up.

 

 

I agree except think the source comes after the amp.  The caveat there may be when comparing vinyl with digital.  Those two differences in impact exceed the change heard with an amp.  Everything I've been doing with higher sample rates, microRendu/sMS-200, fiber ethernet, etc is at the micro level when compared to the others you listed.

Because the tweaks you've applied to your digital source have only made a negligible improvement doesn't mean the Source isn't the most important component in the chain, which it is IMO.

[Rexp]

6 hours ago, Johnseye said:

 

Well that complicates things even further because those sources have many possibilities.  I could have an original first run piece of vinyl or I could have a third or fourth edition or I could have a Music Matters or MFSL edition.  With regards to live recordings, I could have an audience show recorded FOB or with AKG or another mic and recording rig.  Then I could have a soundboard.  With both, the source could be recorded to DAT or analog with tape generations playing a factor.  With regard to digital studio recordings we're back to the 44 vs 96 vs 192 or dsd comparison.

 

So if we're classifying source as those, then yes they could have a significant impact, but I was originally referring to source as the components upstream to the DAC/preamp.  Source of music player, not source material.  I think that's where the difference lies in the term source.  Source as a music player vs. source as the actual music material.

I see we were talking different definitions, I refer to source in a simplified chain: Source +  Preamp + Power Amp + Speakers (source material being the record/file). In this context where would you place each component in order of importance?

[Rexp]

6 minutes ago, Johnseye said:

Sorry, still confused. Are you saying source is the record/file or the device playing that material? If it's the device do you include every component of that device up to the preamp? 

I'm not including source material (record/file) in this simplified chain, so yes Source includes every component before the preamp.

[Rexp]

Congrats on your new pre, after the source, the pre is the next most important piece in the chain IMO.