Speaker Upgrade

Ram Sinha

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I'm planning to upgrade my speakers to a floorstanding ones since I have moved to a larger space. Budget is Rs 3 lacs at the most. I have a Symphonic Line RG10 integrated amplifier with a Onkyo CD player. Please suggest. Room size is 20 x 15 feet. Ceiling height is 11 feet. Thank you.
 
What your current speaker ?

What are you missing out on ?
My current speakers are Dynaudio Focus 140 , the focus though excellent and has stopped me from upgrading to anything better all this while but somehow in the new space the Focus just dosnt sound as powerful as it use to in the old house and I don't blame the Focus for this at all, I can't bend the laws of physics.....hence looking for suggestions for an upgrade within a reasonable budget.
 
Adding a subwoofer is a consideration ?

Maybe some room treatment ?

Do look at the overall picture

Room treatment I believe can only dampen or sharpen the sound rather than make it filling imo. I'm against the idea of adding a Sub woofer, want to keep it pure stereo. Hence was looking for speakers with larger drivers and enclosures.
 
Room treatment I believe can only dampen or sharpen the sound rather than make it filling imo. I'm against the idea of adding a Sub woofer, want to keep it pure stereo. Hence was looking for speakers with larger drivers and enclosures.


While - Its OK to stick to 2 speakers due to space and decor reasons but 2.1 is also stereo music IMO.

Room treatment is to be experienced to be believed ( and not believed to be experienced :) ) and is not as simple as sharpen or dampen the sound

anyways - back to your question - there are so many brands so choices are personal really but do look at

PMC speakers - the PMC 25.26 or similar
Blumenhofer speakers
ATC SCM 40 maybe ?

There are 1 or 2 dealers in Kolkata too - you may start with them or maybe stick to Dynaudio itself by going for a floorstander ?

EDIT - @jai1611 has put it more lucidly than i have ( points 1-3 of his )

Start with
 
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Changing rooms has a very significant impact on sound - much more so than a lot of components.

Before jumping ship to a different pair of speakers, I would suggest a few things to try out:
1. Speaker positioning - not just small tweaks around the current position but trying them out in a completely different part of the room. Will demonstrate whether the issue has to do with room size or something else.
2. Put some rugs in front of the speakers. Solves issues emerging from ceiling height.
3. Put some extra soft furnishings in the area around the system. Sometimes helps create better sound.

These are experiments that can help determine if the issue is from room size or room acoustics.

If you do decide to go down the new speaker path, do listen to PMC 25.24 and 25.26 speakers as well as ATC SCM 40 if possible. Also in consideration may be the larger Harbeth speakers (SHL5), Acoustic Portrait and Blumenhofer.
 
I'm planning to upgrade my speakers to a floorstanding ones since I have moved to a larger space. Budget is Rs 3 lacs at the most. I have a Symphonic Line RG10 integrated amplifier with a Onkyo CD player. Please suggest. Room size is 20 x 15 feet. Ceiling height is 11 feet. Thank you.
you can audition Viren Sir's Lyrita speaker at one of the forum member in kolkata.
 
Room treatment I believe can only dampen or sharpen the sound rather than make it filling imo. I'm against the idea of adding a Sub woofer, want to keep it pure stereo. Hence was looking for speakers with larger drivers and enclosures.
Towers of the same family have bigger cabinet volume and more bass drivers.
But the mid range and tweeter is mostly the same size in a family of speakers.
The larger or multiple bass drivers give the room filling sound.

@mpw has recently integrated a purpose built subwoofer
I have integrated a REL T9/i into my rig.
Both the above rigs have standmounts are L/R speakers.

Adding a sub or two to make it 2.1 or 2.2 is still stereo. Check brands like REL, Rythmik, etc
They accept speaker level or high level inputs and act as sub bass units.
Don't rule out the option, since you still like the Dynaudio units.

Make friends with local FMs in your town. Check if you could borrow a suitable unit for trial.
If not convinced, start a serious speaker replacement hunt.

Cheers,
Raghu
 
I have a solid state amplifier. Will a Blumenhofer sound good with a normal class AB integrated amplifier ? Heard good things about them.
 
Your speakers should be super excited about moving to a large space! Give them and your ears some time to settle in.

If you have flexibility with speaker placement in the new room, creating a larger reflection free zone will be rewarding.

Let your ears get used to the leaner bass in the larger room, and if you feel the need for more, then as mpw suggested - adding a subwoofer can do wonders and give you more flexibility with speaker placement.
 
I'm planning to upgrade my speakers to a floorstanding ones since I have moved to a larger space. Budget is Rs 3 lacs at the most. I have a Symphonic Line RG10 integrated amplifier with a Onkyo CD player. Please suggest. Room size is 20 x 15 feet. Ceiling height is 11 feet. Thank you.

Dynaudio (as most British speakers) are big sounding, even as bookshelves. My living room is identical to yours in area - 22x13= 286 sq ft x 10 ft height, plus a balcony which is usually open. My Castle Knight 2 BS are similar to your Dynaudio in size and driver configuration. And the sound has more than enough loudness. I can’t exceed 10 am position on my preamp without getting phone calls from the neighbours. More importantly, the bass has enough body and the sound never feels weak. I have never used (nor intend to use) subwoofer with these BS. What I have realised is it isn’t just how deep bass goes in terms of Hz, or how much volume of air it drives, but also how clear and detailed the bass is reproduced as well as how it decays. If there’s good clarity and decay of the bass is optimum, the entire room is filled with sound that one can enjoy from anywhere. And given that your Foucs 140 go down to 41 Hz and 86 dB can be driver harder through a powerful amp (as your Symphony seems to be), I doubt you’d find the sound levels lacking in your new room.

I’d suggest first experiment with your current speakers (esp since you like their sound) in the new room, try different placements, distances from front and side walls etc. Also if the bass is booming, eliminate that with equipment isolations/ room treatment. Am assuming the speakers are already on stands designed specifically for them. Test out with audiophile bass test tracks... you’d be able to google them. If your system is transparent enough, you see unlikely to find the sound lacking in strength unless you are a basshead (the Beats headphone kinds).
 
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I have a solid state amplifier. Will a Blumenhofer sound good with a normal class AB integrated amplifier ? Heard good things about them.
I have a Blumenhofer speaker (Big fun 17) which sounds brilliant with a Hegel H160. I have also heard it with the Trigon Exceed, also very good.
 
Search old posts in the forum and you should find FMs recommending ATC SCM 40 v2 to be a great match with your Symphonic Line amplifier.
 
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