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Replacing B&O, looking for suggestions

radix

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Aug 1, 2021
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Hello,

I've only recently found these forums, it's quite impressive! I've had a B&O 9500 + Penta (mk 2) + AV7000 + Beolab 6000 system since 1994 or so. It has aged past its prime. The Pentas have hum, and it's pretty source limited. I've sent the Pentas in for repair, but even getting an estimate on them costs more than some people's stereo. Anyway, I'm in the market for a complete replacement. The replacement is audio only, no video. That's a different room.

I've been out of the hifi scene for a long time, and am just catching up. What do you all think is the right direction to go for speakers, say with a budget of $10k passive or $20k active? (those are soft numbers) I'm interested in what speakers/subs you all think are worth me spending my time reading about and trying to get an audition of.

The room is about 400 ft2 / 38m2, but the listening space is more like 130ft2/12m2. The normal listening distance is about 8ft/2.5m. 90% of the time, I'm listening at low volume. I believe the Pentas are 115 dB SPL @ 1m, give or take, and they are plenty powerful for the space.

In the new system, it will be streaming plus turntable. I listen mostly to female vocalists, some pop, some rock (mostly prog-rock, e.g. God Is An Astronaut), some odd-ball classical (ars nova, madrigals, etc.), some punk, some darkwave. It's kind of all over the map. I use Roon + Qobuz + Yamaha WXA/C + Volumio around the house currently. I'll get a good network transport or DAC with the new system, depending on how it comes out.

Based on what I've seen in posts in these forums and the review pages, it looks like Genelac 8351B + subs (the 7360A?) or Revel F228Be are highly regarded.

I've been living with active speakers for a long time. I am a bit hesitant to re-invest in more B&O, as I'd prefer to not get locked into their digital eco-system.

Prior to finding this website, I was thinking of Splendor or ATC (passives) or Harbeth, with either Naim 282/250DR or Mac 7200/8900, or C53/452/462. I've not auditioned any of those, so this is all speculation at this point.

Thanks for any advice,
Marc
 
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