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$600 +/- Bookshelfs w/ Holographic Soundstage

Hello all,

Thank you all for your time & dedication to Audio :-)
This site has been a wonderful find for me (and a constant source of amusement for my wife watching me! LOL!)

I have been reading a bunch of the articles - trying not to clog up the forum with yet another speaker advice column - but have learned that it is the specifics of each individual situation that makes this such an exciting topic. So ...

I am looking to upgrade my bookshelf speakers - and would love input on my situation:

Right now I have a pair of B&W DM.601 s1 - that I am enjoying, but I feel their holographic soundstage is a bit limited.

This is my #1 priority - I love 'seeing' the music. My pinnacle moment came when listening to Rimsky-Korsakov, Sherezade on Primare driven ProAc Response D28s - when, with my eyes closed, I could tell you exactly where each member of the orchestra was sitting! That was when all of this began!!

Budget is self set at $600 +/-
Used / New all-ok
I'm partial to bookshelfs due to the size of my room (12'x10') in an NYC Apartment.

My current system:
Rotel RX-1052 Receiver (my upgrade dream right now is the Primare I30)
Rotel RCD-1072 CD
Technics SL-1200MK2 (w/ Shure M97xE)
B&W DM.601 S1 on Stands
Decent Wiring (Monster M850 Interconnects, Kimber Kwik 12 Speaker, I'm working on power cabling next)

What I've listened to in the last 48 Hours:
Art Farmer - Modern Art - CD
David Byrne - Grown Backwards - CD
Pink Floyd (bootlegs circa 1968-1974) - FLAC burned to CD
Thin Lizzy - In Sunshine or Shadow - LP
Radiohead - OK Computer - Audiophile LP
Miucha & Antonio Carlos Jobim - LP
Jorge Ben - BEN - LP Digitized to CD
Amadou & Mariam - Dimache & Bamako - CD
Pepe & Cheich - CD
Franz Liszt - A Faust Symphony - CD
Schuman - Frauenliebe und Leben - CD
Bach - Sonatas & Partitas - CD

Ok - I think this is probably more then enough info!

Thank you all so much & Happy Holidays
Ethan
128x128septemous

Showing 5 responses by septemous

septemous's avatar
septemous OP
26 posts
 
I like the metaphoric extension Siox :-)

It really seems to be a chicken and egg situation - and that is what leads to the personal audio arms race - it started with a CD player and moved on from there.

I'll move forward and am very grateful for all the wonderful feedback and advice.
septemous's avatar
septemous OP
26 posts
 
Or could the clarity of the windows be thought of as the cabling?
septemous's avatar
septemous OP
26 posts
 
Thank you all very much! I'll start working through this and start listening and experimenting.

My one real confusion is where people recommend the DAC addition? When I purchased the 1072 - I did that thinking that it was the onboard DACs that made it such a good unit. If I were to port out to a new DAC, wouldn't that bypass the good parts of the 1072 (the Brown-Burr 24bit DACs?)

Thanks for the suggestions - I need to get myself out and listening, experimenting. Even upgrading to these 850 Monster interconnects was a HUGE improvement - so I'll check out that route as well.

Any other suggestions / input is greatly appreciated. Thank you all & Happy Holidays!

Ethan
septemous's avatar
septemous OP
26 posts
 
There is a pair of Epos M12.2 for my price range. I think this would be a great pair for the money?

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrmoni&1233543029&/Epos-M12.2-cherry-finish-see-p

And I can local pick-up :-)
septemous's avatar
septemous OP
26 posts
 
Listened to Totem Rainmakers & Mite's today - and I wasn't blown out of the water - so now I believe my current system is probably better then I thought it was - I was just 'amped' up to buy!

Thank you all - I think I learned a lot from this thread. I am going to start with placement & cabling. I'll read up on treatments (I have a brick wall that would probably do well with some soft-goods on it).

I will then up my amplification and finally speakers. I think this will give me the right learning curve, sound and help the wallet out a bit.

The guy at the store used a great metaphor (and this was after I demoed the speakers :-) Not sure if this is the standard metaphor for the audiophile world, but as he said it:

Speakers are a window and your electronics are the view. You can have a big window that looks at a brick wall or a small window that looks at a beautiful park.

We are city folk :-)

Happy new year all!
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