Advice from apartment dwellers


Looking for speaker /amp / acoustic treatment recommendations and insights for listening at lower volumes in an NYC apartment. I listen mostly to jazz, classical, and world music, with an occasional foray into rock. Sources are a Scillia-modded AR turntable and an Oppo 105. Not really interested in headfi.

Any insights appreciated ~ thanks!
128x128mdemaio

Showing 4 responses by melbguy1

Mdemaio, in your situation you want an amp and speakers with play well at low levels & have excellent inner detail. Based on your musical preferences (which are similar to mine), for an amp recommendation i'd look at a 2nd hand Modwright KWA-150. The KWA-150 sounds great played at low levels thanks to its resolution and wonderful inner detail. It also sounds warm & tube-like, yet clean which I think would suit jazz, classical & world well. It also has good control for rock music. The last guy selling one on the 'Gon was asking $2800 obo. A 2nd hand Modwright LS-100 pre would be a good option for preamp. A good example recently went up on the 'Gon for $1800, so for around $4500 you'd have a great value pair of amps able to play wonderfully at low level. That also gives you an upgrade path as you could later upgrade the tubes in the LS-100 to matched NOS tubes & send your Oppo to Modwright to get the tube mods done.

For a speaker recommendation, if you are mainly listening at low volumes, I would recommend a pair of Josesph Audio Pulsars placed on stands. A nice pair recently sold on the 'Gon for $4495. For a floorstander, for similar money 2nd hand i'd recommend Living Voice OBX-R2's which are lovely sounding speakers & well suited to your requirements. The only Harbeth speakers I could recommend would be the 40.1's, however the last pair sold here north of $7500.

For acoustic treatments, i'd look for a good value proven product. I've heard good feedback about the Vicoustic products. But possibly the most universal and easy to place room treatments are the new Stillpoints Aperture panels. Not cheap at $600/panel, but you only need 4-6 to start with then you can add more later depending on how your room measures. Hope that helps! ps: this post took way too long.
@Mdemaio, you're welcome. The Sound Anchors stands are great value for their performance and looks. Good stands with spiked feet are essential to get the best out of monitors. Let us know which way you decide go with your system.
Zd, I don't know what Mdemaio's budget is for speakers as that hasn't been clarified, but the Joseph Audio Pulsars would blow the Cdm-1se's out of the water. I've never really liked the B&W tweeters which are too strident for my liking. The only B&W speaker which did not display, or atleast did not noticeably display that tendency was the Nautilus. But that was a $50k speaker.
Lol Zd, yep I did fly through your post! Mea Culpa. Their is a controversial Emimen sing which describes the experience of listening to a B&W speaker, but I can't post it here.