Back into audio after retiring...(tl;dr Help!)

[LTig]

They are definitely on my list. One of the most enjoyable systems I ever owned was built around Magnepan speakers 40 years ago!

Then you should have a listen to a Neumann or Genelec speaker. 15 years ago I switched from Magnepan 1.6 to K&H O300D (current model would be Neumann KH310) and wow that was a revelation!

 

[6sigma]

If I were starting over with a clean slate, I'd follow the trend in my current system toward simplification. With all your files on your network and streaming next in terms of interest, I'd suggest a single component of the sort represented by the NAD M10 (below) or C 338. If you can swing it with your remaining budget, the Revel speakers are very well regarded. PSB Speakers -- a sister company to NAD -- offers less expensive options and I believe they are also an adherent to the Toole school.

Thanks for the suggestion. Decades back I had racks holding a turntable, CD player, tuner, amps, preamp, etc. Today, I have friends with a smartphone, dac, amp and speakers. The convenience & minimal dimensions of their systems is amazing!

 

[6sigma]

Then you should have a listen to a Neumann or Genelec speaker. 15 years ago I switched from Magnepan 1.6 to K&H O300D (current model would be Neumann KH310) and wow that was a revelation!

I'm going to have to find both the Neumann & Genelec lines. Several people have now suggested those. I appreciate knowing a Maggie owner liked the change.

 

[q3cpma]

Only two big advice I can consider:
* Really look at active solutions, the technology is just better. Especially if you don't already have an expensive amplifier.
* If you go passive, just understand that well designed amplifiers have a negligible amount of distorsion compared to the speakers themslves. Differences will be either inexistant or incredibly small between those Hypex NC400 and a Crown XLS or Behringer A800, which have the most important thing: boatloads of clean power.
Speakers are 99% if not more of the final sound, balance your budget accordingly.

As others said, Genelec and Neumann really are the stars of the $1000-8000 range. Far beyond that, you have stuff like the Kii, Grimm or D&D which while very good, will still need subs or JBL's M2. And you have ME Geithain's RL901K2 at $10-12k that I consider my end game.

 

[6sigma]

Only two big advice I can consider:
* Really look at active solutions, the technology is just better. Especially if you don't already have an expensive amplifier.
* If you go passive, just understand that well designed amplifiers have a negligible amount of distorsion compared to the speakers themslves. Differences will be either inexistant or incredibly small between those Hypex NC400 and a Crown XLS or Behringer A800, which have the most important thing: boatloads of clean power.
Speakers are 99% if not more of the final sound, balance your budget accordingly.

As others said, Genelec and Neumann really are the stars of the $1000-8000 range. Far beyond that, you have stuff like the Kii, Grimm or D&D which while very good, will still need subs or JBL's M2. And you have ME Geithain's RL901K2 at $10-12k that I consider my end game.

Wow...the "new names" just keep on coming! From my days with Audio Research, McIntosh, Adcom and others, we've got lots of new brands & big changes to the overall mix of needed components. This will be fun. I think I feel a road trip coming on to research some of these. Thanks for the advice!

 

[q3cpma]

Wow...the "new names" just keep on coming! From my days with Audio Research, McIntosh, Adcom and others, we've got lots of new brands & big changes to the overall mix of needed components. This will be fun. I think I feel a road trip coming on to research some of these. Thanks for the advice!

Genelec dates back to 1978. It's just that the more engineering minded crowd is starting to understand that the pro market is simply less (just less) full of it.

 

[6sigma]

Genelec dates back to 1978. It's just that the more engineering minded crowd is starting to understand that the pro market is simply less (just less) full of it.

This is also new to me. Pro audio or sound reenforcement components weren't thought of as among the best home audio components back in the day. Clearly, not a lot of logic in that thinking, but that's the way things once were. Remember, I come from the transistor radio generation

 

[gene_stl]

You might want to buy these books:

Mark Waldrep's Guide to Music and Audio

Floyd Toole's Book 3rd edition

Almost the entire audio "press" is worthless.

In addition to this oasis of decency there are also:

Archimago's Musings

I too just returned after being gone for about 25 years and all these have been very helpful.

 

[Wes]

They are definitely on my list. One of the most enjoyable systems I ever owned was built around Magnepan speakers 40 years ago!

you'll be interested to know that they are TONS better now - it seems like a transition point was passed between x.5 and x.7 versions

 

[6sigma]

Toole's book just arrived. Bookmarked the Archimago site. Will check out the Waldrep book. I really appreciate how big the "objectivist school of thought" has become.

Amir has done a fantastic job with Audio Science Review. I need to locate the Patreon for this site!

Thanks to each of you. Oh...and forgive me if I ever lapse into the old subjective language. I don't yet know how to "measure the joy" of six grandchildren dancing to music from a Google Mini, but I'll figure it out when they hear the new system.

 

[beefkabob]

You can get a lot of great stuff in the 1k - 6k price range, a whole system.

How loud do you listen? From what distance? What kind of music? Do you already have a computer that can be the audio source, or will you need a streamer?

If it's just classic rock and jazz, you probably won't need a sub. There's little or nothing down that low in those genres, and certainly a quality speaker in your price range can deal.

If you're into electronic or hip hop music, you'll need a sub for full enjoyment.

If I listened at low volumes to classic rock, classical, and jazz, that just-reviewed Genelec 8341 would do the job. <6k for the speakers if you hunt for a bargain.

 

[Doodski]

You can get a lot of great stuff in the 1k - 6k price range, a whole system.

How loud do you listen? From what distance? What kind of music? Do you already have a computer that can be the audio source, or will you need a streamer?

If it's just classic rock and jazz, you probably won't need a sub. There's little or nothing down that low in those genres, and certainly a quality speaker in your price range can deal.

If you're into electronic or hip hop music, you'll need a sub for full enjoyment.

If I listened at low volumes to classic rock, classical, and jazz, that just-reviewed Genelec 8341 would do the job. <6k for the speakers if you hunt for a bargain.

The room is 16.5' x 25'. Is the Genelec 8341 capable of filling such a large room? I think it's a bit small for the size of the room.

 

[beefkabob]

Oh, yeah, and as others have said, room correction is a must. You can do this with a laptop as source, but it takes a bunch of work. You can also do this with a Dirac-powered DSP. And do you want Tidal, Spotify, and the like to work?

 

[6sigma]

You can get a lot of great stuff in the 1k - 6k price range, a whole system.

How loud do you listen? From what distance? What kind of music? Do you already have a computer that can be the audio source, or will you need a streamer?

If it's just classic rock and jazz, you probably won't need a sub. There's little or nothing down that low in those genres, and certainly a quality speaker in your price range can deal.

If you're into electronic or hip hop music, you'll need a sub for full enjoyment.

If I listened at low volumes to classic rock, classical, and jazz, that just-reviewed Genelec 8341 would do the job. <6k for the speakers if you hunt for a bargain.

The system will exist for true listening sessions - not ambient music background, so the volume will be comfortably loud - I don't have a measurement, yet. We'll listen to everything from Frozen 2 with the grandchildren to solo piano, lots of vocals, lots of classical and plenty of movie soundtracks, acoustic musicians and even some country.

We're not hip-hop or rap enthusiasts, but just about everything else. Lots of musicians in the family, so lots of musical varieties. Positioned properly I'll be about 12 feet from the speakers, but there will be times that 8 or 9 people are in the room in various positions relative to the speakers.

I'd like to get as close as the (stretched) budget might allow to a full-range speaker. Subs have clearly come a long way, but I'm hoping to avoid the issues associated with accurately integrating a sub. I need to learn a lot more on this subject!

I really like what I've read so far about that 8341. Lots of listening ahead.

Thanks for asking.

 

[6sigma]

Oh, yeah, and as others have said, room correction is a must. You can do this with a laptop as source, but it takes a bunch of work. You can also do this with a Dirac-powered DSP. And do you want Tidal, Spotify, and the like to work?

When I ripped the Cds, I also uploaded the files to Google Play Music(GPM). Played back I think they stream as 320Kbps mp3 files. GPM is supposed to merge or move over to YouTube Music at some point, but no signs of when that might happen.

I know I like the convenience of streaming from a phone or computer, but my streaming service of choice could change from GPM to something else.

As for room EQ & DSP...that's all up in the air until I dig deeper.

 

[beefkabob]

The room is 16.5' x 25'. Is the Genelec 8341 capable of filling such a large room? I think it's a bit small for the size of the room.

Filling the room is not the same as seating position.

 

[Doodski]

Filling the room is not the same as seating position.

Filling the room is not the same as seating position.

I just don't see how those 4 little oval woofers are going to provide enough output in such a large sized room.

 

[beefkabob]

The system will exist for true listening sessions - not ambient music background, so the volume will be comfortably loud - I don't have a measurement, yet. We'll listen to everything from Frozen 2 with the grandchildren to solo piano, lots of vocals, lots of classical and plenty of movie soundtracks, acoustic musicians and even some country.

We're not hip-hop or rap enthusiasts, but just about everything else. Lots of musicians in the family, so lots of musical varieties. Positioned properly I'll be about 12 feet from the speakers, but there will be times that 8 or 9 people are in the room in various positions relative to the speakers.

I'd like to get as close as the (stretched) budget might allow to a full-range speaker. Subs have clearly come a long way, but I'm hoping to avoid the issues associated with accurately integrating a sub. I need to learn a lot more on this subject!

I really like what I've read so far about that 8341. Lots of listening ahead.

Thanks for asking.

You want 8" woofers at least. Two JBL 708p or two Neumann KH310. MiniDSP SHD Studio, which has Dirac. Some monoprice cables. Under 6k with tax.

Later buy a sub if you really want.

Focal might have a good alternative. Adam might as well.

If you're gonna go BIG, two ABH2, two Salon 2 or equivalent, a streamer, a top tier DAC - RME, Benchmark, Matrix, and others, a Benchmark LA4. WAY more than 6k, though.

2600 preamp
3000 x 2 amps
2000 dac streamer
20000 speakers

 

[Doodski]

You want 8" woofers at least. Two JBL 708p or two Neumann KH310. MiniDSP SHD Studio, which has Dirac. Some monoprice cables. Under 6k with tax.

Later buy a sub if you really want.

Focal might have a good alternative. Adam might as well.

If you're gonna go BIG, two ABH2, two Salon 2 or equivalent, a streamer, a top tier DAC - RME, Benchmark, Matrix, and others, a Benchmark LA4. WAY more than 6k, though.

2600 preamp
3000 x 2 amps
2000 dac streamer
20000 speakers

Now we are getting somewhere. Are there any speakers these days that are respectable and have a ~12" woofer or bigger and 3 way or better and in the price range? I'm out of touch with the latest market offerings. To get some thump and pump in that large room will take some efficiency or a big amp and speakers that can move some air. Perhaps a dual 8" speaker with subs optional later is good if no quality 12" is available.

 

[6sigma]

You want 8" woofers at least. Two JBL 708p or two Neumann KH310. MiniDSP SHD Studio, which has Dirac. Some monoprice cables. Under 6k with tax.

Later buy a sub if you really want.

Focal might have a good alternative. Adam might as well.

If you're gonna go BIG, two ABH2, two Salon 2 or equivalent, a streamer, a top tier DAC - RME, Benchmark, Matrix, and others, a Benchmark LA4. WAY more than 6k, though.

2600 preamp
3000 x 2 amps
2000 dac streamer
20000 speakers

This is quite a nice list. I'm probably going to crawl before I walk or run, but the grail is out there!