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Second-guessing my purchase

Sullen778

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Hey everyone, first post but long-time reader; used the forum to help my purchase of several DACs, headphones, and amplifiers. Apologize in advance if you find my dilemma boring, unoriginal, offensive, or stupid in any way. Regardless, I'd still like some advice.

I've always been a vintage audio guy, but recently stumbled on a pair of used Wharfedale Evo4.4s in fantastic condition for $895 at a local place and quickly jumped on the opportunity. I tried them back to back with a pair of their demo Vandersteen 1ci+s and preferred the Evos. At home, they don't sound as good. Better than the old Jensen's they are replacing, but then again they are paired to one of my older 80wpc receivers, and obviously the room is much different than a demo studio.

In looking for an amplifier upgrade to pair with these, I find a lot of love-it or hate-it relationships with the Evos. I'm aware that the 4.1s measured poorly, but I'm also aware that the 4.4s are a different speaker. I have a pair of their Denton 80 bookshelves that really opened up when I fed them more power. I don't want to drop a load of cash on an amp to find that the Evos won't do the same, or are just average whatever-ish speakers.

So now I'm going crazy looking at other floorstanders, perhaps even "downgrading" (in specs at least) to a set of Diamond 12.4s or Revel F36s - something that I know has the ASR stamp of approval. I don't mind spending more money, but for at or under $2k, am I better off looking elsewhere?

Maybe I'm overthinking this and should just enjoy what I have. Or maybe I bought crappy speakers, but any input would be appreciated. I should note that these are being used with a LG CX setup. I watch a lot of movies and game on it more often than not, but I do stream music from the TV as well. In that way I guess I'm more of a casual listener.
 

TSB

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As a 4.4 owner I'd say they are great if you can pair them with Dirac Live. They really need some serious EQ. Then they can be great.
 
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Sullen778

Sullen778

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As a 4.4 owner I'd say they are great if you can pair them with Dirac Live. They really need some serious EQ. Then they can be great.
Interesting. Most of my streaming and (obviously) gaming can be done through a mini ITX PC hooked up to my TV, and it looks like you can run the Room Correction Suite with a PC license. Thanks for the recommendation.
 
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Sullen778

Sullen778

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As a 4.4 owner I'd say they are great if you can pair them with Dirac Live. They really need some serious EQ. Then they can be great.
I wanted to follow up on this again. Are you using a miniDSP device or some sort of processor for Dirac Live?

And what are you using to drive the Evos?
 

theyellowspecial

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I use Dirac multi-channel system-wide on my PC and I'd easily pay double the asking price.
 

TSB

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I wanted to follow up on this again. Are you using a miniDSP device or some sort of processor for Dirac Live?

And what are you using to drive the Evos?
My answer won't help you much, as I'm using a pre-production device that isn't for sale with dirac :)
 

Sokel

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What's exactly bothering with your existing set-up?
Is it specific or an overall feeling?
 

caught gesture

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Personally I think any upgrade should be preceded by a detailed measurement of the room with the current setup. I find this helps with the inherent biases of new purchases, saves time as well as sometimes money. It provides the base line so that any changes can be measured and evaluated.
 
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