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Help building new system: devore, verity or Sonus?

I'm getting a dedicated room for my gear, but the room is tiny, at 11.5' by 11.5' with about 9.5' ceiling.

I've been listening and reading up on a lot of speakers and the one's I'm most curious about are Devore Fidelity's The Nines or Super 8s, Verity Audio Finn (possibly Rienzi) and the Sonus Faber Liuto.

My current system is a McIntosh MA6600 with Dali MS4 Euphonia's, Clearaudio Turntable, and MHDT DAC with Mac Mini and Denon 3910, and Harmonic Tech. cables. I listen to folk, singer-songwriter, jazz, classical, female vocals, classic and indie rock, as well as solo guitar work. I Prefer smaller scale groups and intimate recordings.

My previous experience with the Dali's in a small room makes me feel they will be too much. I will treat the room as best I can, but WAF is a big issue.

I want to build my system around my speakers, and am in the NYC area, so can demo a lot. I'd prefer to buy from a dealer probably. I am looking to build a system that is very natural sounding and has some life and emotion to it, with no listener fatigue. I like: nice, taut, round bass that isn't boomy, muddy, or over-pronounced; sweet highs that are neither syrupy nor hyper-detailed and analytical; lush but not over-romantic mids.

I'd like to spend under $7,000 on the speakers. What do you guys think about the McIntosh with the speakers I listed? I am happy with the McIntosh, but would consider changing to something else if I found it didn't pair best. It's a small room so don't want anything that runs super hot.

Any other speakers I should try out? Any particular speaker/integrated amp combos you guys love?

Sorry this is so long, and thanks in advance for the help!
brookjoo

Showing 6 responses by brookjoo

brookjoo OP
26 posts
 
Thanks everyone for the responses.

I also agree that I wouldn't think of using Verity Parsifals or Sonus Cremonas in a room that size. I am definitely going to listen to a lot of speakers and do as much in-home auditioning as I can, or at least bring my amp to dealers to try them out together.

I was hoping to find a good floor-stander that could also work in the room, so that it could also move into a larger room down the road, hence why the speakers I've gravitated towards are on the smaller side for floor-standing speakers (maybe with the exception of The Nines, although it's supposed to be somewhat easy to place, and could work well in a large room too).

I was under the impression that the Verity Finns replace the Taminos. They're certainly not huge speakers. And both they and the Liuto's don't dip below 35hz (40hz, for the liuto's actually). Can someone chime in with technical reasons they think these speakers may not work. I know, obviously, that it's optimal to hear speakers in your room with the gear you intend to use; however, if there's some technical/physical reason that these speakers, based on their specs, wouldn't work, I'd be curious to know.

Thanks
brookjoo OP
26 posts
 
Nrenter: Thanks for the info. What I mean about room treatments is that I will do what I can with conventional means to treat the room--rugs, fabric wall hangings to minimize reflection, and avoiding glass and other reflective materials in the room--but I can't start loading up on diffusors and bass traps, etc. I disagree, however, that it would be better to just get headphones though. With careful positioning and equipment matching I am confident I can get a smaller floorstanding speaker to excel in that room, its just a matter of which one. Sub integration can in fact pose just as much a challenge.
brookjoo OP
26 posts
 
Thanks Toudou: I thought of that too, but it won't work because of a closet and a window in the room.

Jdoris: I'll keep you updated about what I hear, starting now:

I listened recently to the Liuot's with an Audio Research Company VSi60 and an Ayre cd player (7xe or something like that). The sound was truly lovely. It was incredibly pleasing to listen to, my only nitpicks were that the soundstage was perhaps not as deep or as tall as my current setup, but I'm in a BIG room now. Frankly, in some ways I could have easily just bought that setup outright (minus the CDP) and been a happy camper.

I listened to the Nines a couple of weeks back with a friend, who is purchasing them, and loved them. I heard them with a luxman amp, I believe, which sounded authoritative and very natural--a striking combo. I heard them again at in Living Stereo recently, with a Leben amp. I really wanted to love this, because I love the look of the Leben, but I thought the Luxman was significantly better on the bottom end. I agree with what everyone says, though that In Living Stereo is a great place. If I go with the Nines I will probably go there. I'm going to go back and listen to the Finns I guess, when I have time.
brookjoo OP
26 posts
 
I wouldn't rule it out, but would need them to be sold locally. I'll buy amps and other pieces of equipment without listening, because it's easy for me to ship if I don't like. Speakers, however, I prefer buying new from a dealer so I can listen to them, obviously, but also becasue shipping is a huge pain, and I like a warranty with my speakers.

Some seam to feel that I should go with monitors. I'll give a listen, but for some reason I'm not as sure about monitors. Will go back and listen to the DeVores. Any other monitors people think would be a good stand in for a smaller floor stander?
brookjoo OP
26 posts
 
I heard the Leben CS600, and the Luxman 590A II. I preferred the Luxman, but it kicked out too much heat for the size of my new room, which is a bummer. It was also more than I can afford, which is the real bummer!

I've heard the Nines at both in living stereo and Sound by Singer. I didn't hear them with the Pathos, but imagine that's a great combination. I've heard the Logos and loved it. I'm a ways off from pulling the trigger because I'm not even in the new space yet, and actually really like my McIntosh, so I may end up having to bring it into the dealer I end up buying from to see how they mate, although I'm more interested in keeping whichever speakers I get long term than my amp. I'm lucky to have two great Devore dealers near me, because I had to drive out into Jersey to get my last set of speakers from the dealer, because they didn't have an NY dealer.
brookjoo OP
26 posts
 
Hey Edo

Got the Nines and am working on tuning the room around them. Are they a little too much for the room: yes. Are they amazing; yes. I can always try out super 8's to see the difference, but I found a great deal and I'm happy.
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