Recommendations for HiFi Listening Room


Newbie here.  Wife and I are looking to turn our Great Room into a listening room.  It’s roughly 21’X’19 and has a cathedral ceiling that is 11’ tall at the wall and 20’ tall at the apex.  Spoke to a good hifi dealer in the area who made the following recommendations/proposal and I’m curious if this group may have any input for getting maximum bang for my buck.  Basically, with a budget around 35k (or thereabouts) would you buy something similar or are there any components you’d add or swap out?

Paradigm Persona 3F

McIntosh MA8950

Pro-Ject Xtension 9 w/ Ortofon Black Cartridge 

Sony ES DSD Music Server (this one concerns me a touch in that it appears to be an 8 yr old product line).

Thanks so much in advance for your collective expertise.  My wife isn’t going to let me drop money into this for another 15 years so I need to get it right the first time. 

If it matters, our musical taste is quite varied: classical, jazz, classic rock, alternative, hip hop.  My mother complained in my youth that if i had 10 bucks I would just buy a CD with it.  She is still right. 

128x128brewerslaw

I like your goal and vision.

My suggestion is to listen to as many different types of systems as you can.  My rationale is there are different sonic characteristics and the goal is for you to find what you like the best.

For example, I have a friend who has Magnapan speakers - they are very different than my Sonus faber speakers in sound presentation including for vocals and different types of instruments.  

Based on my tastes - if I was to spend $35k here's what I'd likely do:

Speakers: Sonus faber Olympica Nova V (or Nova 3)

Electronics: Moon by Simaudio 390 Network player preamp with 330A amplifier

Rega P8 turntable with Ania

Quality cables- Transparent, Kimber, Nordost.

This is close to my current system except I have 2 M400 amplifiers.  

And for the record I moved from McIntosh to Moon - based on my personal preferences.  I loved my McIntosh gear.

 

+1 To everyone stating about investing in room treatments. A $20K system in a mindfully-treated and positioned room will sound exponentially better than a $35K system in an untreated room (even if positioned well) as the room shapes the sound between the speaker and your ear. 

I would also urge not only to listen to speakers first, but if possible with different amps, or ensure the amp can properly control said speakers. I have sound very expensive speakers sound terrible with the wrong application, and I’ve heard very cost effective speakers sound great with high quality amplification. 

@brewerslaw In what city/state are you located?

The paradigms are too small for a room that size. Something like the Klipsch Cornwalls will work nicely and are in about the same price range. They also require a lot less power. They will make the amp you have sound more powerful. I would still add subwoofers down the line. That is a larger room with a very tall ceiling so you are going to need sound absorption in a few places. You will need much less with the Cornwalls because they have controlled dispersion. The Paradigm are not controlled and will require more room treatment to sound good.

If you've never heard Magnepans, do so before you buy. They are worlds apart (and better, IMO) than boxes.