Trading Dynaudio Contour s5.4's for ???

I've never heard the Dynaudio's described as warm... even at the dealer, while it didn't strike me as thin, I never found it warm.

Anyway, when I tried the Helicon 400's in the same room, they sounded completely opposite.. very warm, but almost too warm, the high end was very muted.

I have a big wide room and the speakers aren't anywhere near the corners. They're also not that far into the room (they're only 2 feet from front wall).

The room is carpeted. A plush large sectional couch (material, not leather) on rear wall.

I use a Theta Casanova as a pre-amp (it's a long story).

Speaker cable is MIT Terminator 2. Interconnects between preamp and amp aren't anything special (Bryston), but they're balanced.

For source I use a Classe CD player (as a transport only). I also feed the Theta with a PC running iTunes for casual listening (all songs using Apple's lossless encoding).

Ian

The speakers are in a large, irregular room. Front wall is about 22 feet wide. Room is 18 feet deep on one side, the other side extends into a 24 foot long kitchen. On one side of the front wall is a hallway leading to another room.

Room is carpeted. Speakers are about 12 feet apart. Between them is a small stand with a 50" plasma. In the one side of the rear of the room (where it doesn't open up to the kitchen) is a sectional couch (material, not leather).

The only thing in the way of sound is a wood coffee table (I know, far from ideal).

Anyhow, I don't think sidewall reflections are coming into play since the speakers are not close to any, and while I can see deep bass being affected by room nodes, I don't think the room is really coming into play when it comes to midbass or lower midrange. Other speakers in the same position (Revel Performa F50's, Dali Helicon 400's) had plenty.

But hey, I'm open to trying anything.

Ian

Cinematic Systems: Thanks for your suggestion regarding the cables. I'll experiment with this.

Raquel: Much thanks for your post. I'll investigate the Mahlers.

Preamp is a Theta Casanova, fed digital SPDIF from CD player (and for casual listening, computer running iTunes).

Are there any tube preamps that accept digital signals (i.e. have good DACs in them)?