You might want to consider what the circle of confusion is. You seem to be stuck in it.
EDIT: My apologies this comes off too harsh, impolite and condescending. Not my intent. I do mean it just not the way it might read as ill mannered.
If you have speakers of good fidelity and well behaved, you have a reference point from which to work. Even recordings that might sound worse over a speaker of high fidelity can be shaped with DSP as needed. If your speakers are badly colored you start in a hole, and with some issues that can't successfully be adjusted to work well.
Accessories4less has deals on the Focal 948 and 936.
And if your amplification is not sufficiently powerful for some reason, you can solve that for a few hundred dollars at most before you start reaching seriously diminishing returns that you probably can’t even reliably distinguish in a blind test.
I now have Rythmik servo subwoofers, and they beat JL Audio in both total power output and sound quality, while costing a fraction of the price. I’ve never heard a cleaner, more accurate sounding subwoofer. And I’ve not seen even a single report of anyone buying a Rythmik and being disappointed in any way.
So now we're looking at a project like this:
Thanks to the generosity of people here with their time and expertise, I no longer dread the challenge of choosing speakers.
- MiniDSP SHD
- Phono preamp. Other sources connect directly to the SHD
- Powered subs (maybe Rythmik L12)
- Power amp (e.g. 2x NC400 as I mentioned or maybe you have a suggestion)
- Use our current bookshelf speakers for now and delay choosing upgraded speakers
- Learn to use the MiniDSP in our environment and maybe treat the room
- Develop more specific requirements for upgraded speakers
I look forward to it.
What for example?
I ask because I'm inclined to order two Hypex NCore NC400 Mono Kits. They appeal to me because I can then forget about amplification for the rest of my life (assuming they last). I'll never have speakers they can't make the most of. $1200 seems like a fair price to remove that question/problem from the overall system for ever.
I wonder what the crowd thinks of this deal: Used Thiel CS 3.6.
Great speakers, but make sure parts are still available. The company was run under after Jim Thiel died. I know one of them employees bought the stock of parts and services them, but don’t know the status of what Is available. I believe Thiel used all custom drivers.
Did you ever used or considerd roomcorrection software. I did some treathment regarding first reflections incombination with Mathaudio room eq white outstanding results imo.If you go to audiocircle, the Salk forum has a list of owners for demo. Salk also will return them if you don’t like them, but I think you cover the shipping in that case.
Regarding vandersteen. I’ve owned 3 pairs, 2c, 1c, and 3a Signatures. They are wonderful when set up correctly. The downsides I have found are 1) the listening window is very small, and 2) the mids on the 3 ways never fully integrate with the woofer and tweeter. The Salks have neither issue, but don’t have that warm mid bass and lower midrange I traditionally prefer (but they are also flat in the treble, something I have never traditionally liked as I found it bright, but they are open without being bright). Jim Salk is clear that he aims for dead neutral, so it is not a shortcoming, it meets his design goals. I have also had the Revel F36. They don’t have the utter transparency of the Salks, but do have a bit more warmth. Even though Revel sold through traditional retailers, I felt the F36 was a good value at the $2k pricepoint.
Also, while not asked by you, set up and some room treatment as needed are very important. The room has a huge effect on the sound as does the proper setup of the speakers and listening position. GIK Acoustics has some great information on their site i suggest reading/watching, have reasonable prices, and will make suggestions if you send them information about your room. The $800 of so I spent treating my main room made massive improvements.
Did you ever used or considerd roomcorrection software. I did some treathment regarding first reflections incombination with Mathaudio room eq white outstanding results imo.
Yes i Read that you are planning to use roomcorrection by considering a minidsp. I was wonderig if CDMC did consider or used roomcorrection software. Using roomcorrection software is much easier to use instead of placing strategicly acoustics pannels. Is there a (big) difference between acoustics pannels and or software only? . Also i can't find a test/ review between roomcorrection software like between REW, Mathaudio and others.Yes. Please see my post from about 11 hours ago. I want room correction software (using microphone measurements) that can provide presets for different listening modes. How and when to add it in the overall upgrade project is a question. I'll post about this below.
IMO there is nothing wrong with that, so long as you accept that you’re likely going to want to spend more than the remaining $1800 on speakers and subwoofers at some point in your future. ...
Yes i Read that you are planning to use roomcorrection by considering a minidsp. I was wonderig if CDMC did consider or used roomcorrection software. Using roomcorrection software is much easier to use instead of placing strategicly acoustics pannels. Is there a (big) difference between acoustics pannels and or software only? . Also i can't find a test/ review between roomcorrection software like between REW, Mathaudio and others.
Update: We ordered a pair of Ascend Sierra Tower with the ribbon upgrade. Will keep the rest of the system as it is (diagram above) for the time being. Consideration of subs, DSPs and room treatments can wait.