Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

Mather said:
Those... those are 10 grand.
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The Legacy Focus 20/20 speakers were $6500 a pair ... in 2004. I saw a pair for CAD $3300 on Canuck Audio Mart for what was said to be a MSRP of $11K. Could be a 20-year-old speaker, might be a bit newer. Also saw a pair of Bryston Middle T speakers for CAD $3000, for comparison. Can't say if they are better or worse than the Focus 20/20, but they are certainly more plain-looking.

I've always though the Legacy Focus speakers were intriguing, but never enough to find a pair to demo.

Agree that a pair of Forte IV's in good condition would be a good gamble.
 
Mather said:
Harbeth Super HL5Plus XD in rosewood
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There's actually a few of these around used locally, Cherry as well. Only thing is I've read that some people find them a bit lacking for rock and electronic music, which.... I play a lot of rock. But damn are they pretty.
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You run subs though so I’m sure that’d make up for it. I do love Harbeth and the other BBC monitor style brands.
 
Angsty said:
The Legacy Focus 20/20 speakers were $6500 a pair ... in 2004. I saw a pair for CAD $3300 on Canuck Audio Mart for what was said to be a MSRP of $11K. Could be a 20-year-old speaker, might be a bit newer. Also saw a pair of Bryston Middle T speakers for CAD $3000, for comparison. Can't say if they are better or worse than the Focus 20/20, but they are certainly more plain-looking.

I've always though the Legacy Focus speakers were intriguing, but never enough to find a pair to demo.

Agree that a pair of Forte IV's in good condition would be a good gamble.
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Ah yeah, I was looking at the Model T, those are 10 G.. The Middle T (cute Bryson... cute) is definitely in range. I've heard Bryston amps before but never their speakers that I can recall. It's kinda strange that of all the stereo places I know that sell Bryston, few to none of them carry their speakers. It's not like they get bad reviews, I just never see them anywhere around here except at shows.
 
Mather said:
Those... those are 10 grand.
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If you want Canadian made, $10K speakers, take a cross-country road trip for these Verity Audios. The seller isn't joking about how good the brand sounds. It's a pretty similar deal to what I got the Fidelio for, but the Rienzi are a fancier model with the rotating bass drivers so you can adapt them to your room.

In all seriousness, anybody out Vancouver's way and in the market for speakers may want to give those a look. It's a screaming deal.

Sadly, I've only ever had exerpience with old Klipsch RF-62s, so I've nothing helpful to contribute to Heritage Line talk. Just being a smartass. XD
 
ZiggsMBK said:
If you want Canadian made, $10K speakers, take a cross-country road trip for these Verity Audios. The seller isn't joking about how good the brand sounds. It's a pretty similar deal to what I got the Fidelio for, but the Rienzi are a fancier model with the rotating bass drivers so you can adapt them to your room.

In all seriousness, anybody out Vancouver's way and in the maerket for speakers may want to give those a look. It's a screaming deal.

Sadly, I've only ever had exerpience with old Klipsch RF-62s, so I've nothing helpful to contribute to Heritage Line talk. Just being a smartass. XD
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Yeah those are very pretty. I'm always afraid to go too old on used stuff because I simply don't know where to take these things for proper maintenance. For all the local shops I know, I'm not sure I could name a single place within the GTA to actually get anything refurbishished to factory specs.
 
Mather said:
Yeah those are very pretty. I'm always afraid to go too old on used stuff because I simply don't know where to take these things for proper maintenance. For all the local shops I know, I'm not sure I could name a single place within the GTA to actually get anything refurbishished to factory specs.
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With older stuff you’d be surprised with local manufacturers that they will often still repair for a fee, especially the more boutique companies. In a country like this with little manufacturing I have also found there is a handy number of specialist all brand hifi repair specialists who are so knowledgeable, it just takes looking in the right places!
 
Mather said:
Yeah those are very pretty. I'm always afraid to go too old on used stuff because I simply don't know where to take these things for proper maintenance. For all the local shops I know, I'm not sure I could name a single place within the GTA to actually get anything refurbishished to factory specs.
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That is definitely a concern. I was forunate in that I got mine from my local dealer, and he'd already done a thorough inspection of their condition before accepting them as trade-ins.

Coherent Audio is a GTA local-ish manufacturer--I think it's one gentleman crafting the speakers--so if you ever need something refurbished, it might be worth contacting him to see if he'd be willing to take on the work. Actually, his speakers are very nice themselves, as I remember. Got to listen to the Tens at Corby's Audio a number of years back and remember being impressed. Not sure what they cost nowadays, though.

Coherent Audio
 
Angsty said:
In Canada, there is also Axiom Audio. I have not researched them much, though.

Floorstanding Speakers | Axiom Audio

Axiom's award-winning M50, M60, M80 and M100 Floorstanding Speakers are perfect for full-spectrum sound in medium to large rooms. Hear them! 30-day in home trial.
www.axiomaudio.com www.axiomaudio.com
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They manufacture Bryston's speakers. Actually, I think the companies merged recently. Anyway, Axiom's lineup was quite popular with reviewers and buyers in the early 2000s, but their popularity has fallen off in recent years. Not heard a pair myself.
 
ZiggsMBK said:
Do you need to update the processor or could you just add something like an Emotiva Basx five channel amp to take care of the incresed power needs?
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Not sure. TBH, outside of my wheelhouse.

I spent all of yesterday toying with the speakers. The 3.0 is handling movies extremely well. Watched my 4k blu of Point Break last night and was able to set it at only 48 decibles and still hear dialogue clearly and experience a surprising amount of pop during the actions sequences.

It's when it's set to stereo for records where there seems to be a power pull- which makes some sense as it was the Concertos that reviewed as power hungry. Though I'm not sure why incorporating the center speaker would lessen that drain instead of extending it. I'll continue feeling it out. As I said, receiver wise, this one is pretty up to date tech wise. The only real thing I'm missing is the ability to use blue tooth speakers for the surround speakers which would allow me to avoid crazy wiring solutions.
 
DownIsTheNewUp said:
Not sure. TBH, outside of my wheelhouse.

I spent all of yesterday toying with the speakers. The 3.0 is handling movies extremely well. It's when it's set to stereo for records where there seems to be a power pull. I'll continue feeling it out. As I said, receiver wise, this one is pretty up to date tech wise. The only real thing I'm missing is the ability to use blue tooth speakers for the surround speakers which would allow me to avoid crazy wiring solutions.
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If your current AVR is up-to-date enough for the features you want (HMDI standard, HDR, audio codecs, etc.), then there is little point to replacing the entire thing. Especially, if it's two channel playback where the power draw really ramps up. Assuming the AVR has preouts, you could just add a two channel power amp for your front left and right and save yourself some money. However, this won't help with the PITA that is running wires to your surrounds, as it won't get you that bluetooth connectivity for rears. Is that something they have on newer AVRs?

If you want to do a full AVR refersh, I'd look to Anthem first for good amplification power and excellent room correction. If not them, I'd go higher end Yamaha.
 
ZiggsMBK said:
If your current AVR is up-to-date enough for the features you want (HMDI standard, HDR, audio codecs, etc.), then there is little point to replacing the entire thing. Especially, if it's two channel playback where the power draw really ramps up. Assuming the AVR has preouts, you could just add a two channel power amp for your front left and right and save yourself some money. However, this won't help with the PITA that is running wires to your surrounds, as it won't get you that bluetooth connectivity for rears. Is that something they have on newer AVRs?

If you want to do a full AVR refersh, I'd look to Anthem first for good amplification power and excellent room correction. If not them, I'd go higher end Yamaha.
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Thanks. Food for thought. First priority is adding an SVS sub. I have a friend who is willing to buy the B&Ws off of me but I should probably give them a wired test run as 5.0's.
 
DownIsTheNewUp said:
Thanks. Food for thought. First priority is adding an SVS sub. I have a friend who is willing to buy the B&Ws off of me but I should probably give them a wired test run as 5.0's.
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An SVS sub will be a sweet addition to your setup! Nowadays, it’s pretty much them or REL, isn’t it?

Anyway, I’m an idiot. NAD still makes AVRs. I’d put them before Yamaha. Their bells and whistles might not be as cutting edge as a more mainstream brand like Yamaha, but it should offer more power and sound better. Had a T747 a while back that was musically fantastic for an AVR. Put NAD alongside Anthem for sound quality.
 
ZiggsMBK said:
An SVS sub will be a sweet addition to your setup! Nowadays, it’s pretty much them or REL, isn’t it?

Anyway, I’m an idiot. NAD still makes AVRs. I’d put them before Yamaha. Their bells and whistles might not be as cutting edge as a more mainstream brand like Yamaha, but it should offer more power and sound better. Had a T747 a while back that was musically fantastic for an AVR. Put NAD alongside Anthem for sound quality.
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I really like my RSL SpeedWoofer.
 
For the record I second NAD in that room. And the new units have Dirac room correction which would probably do a great job in that small space.

Alright so I don't remember who on here runs Fortes, or had Fortes but question for y'all... Do you or did you ever run them with a solid state amp? Or did y'all have tubes the whole time? @kvetcha @Slimwhit33

I've read (and been told) that horns do better with tubes. Which makes sense, but on the other hand Darkos main system is literally Forte IVs and the Lyngdorf 3400... (At times)... So it can't be THAT bad...
 
wmeugene said:
Sure, I had a Grado Platinum 3 and have now switched over to a SAE 1000LT. I have a Ortofon Quintet Black S I intend on installing next.

I installed a fluid damper from KAB:


I found it to be a great and worthwhile upgrade, I could tell the difference with the tone arm immediately. Otherwise I just replaced the stock cables.
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Thanks for the response. I ended up going with a Hana SL MK 2 cartridge for now, based on where I purchased the table. I will probably continue to look down the road if I find it's not to my liking. Hopefully it works well though. It gets great reviews.
 
Mather said:
For the record I second NAD in that room. And the new units have Dirac room correction which would probably do a great job in that small space.

Alright so I don't remember who on here runs Fortes, or had Fortes but question for y'all... Do you or did you ever run them with a solid state amp? Or did y'all have tubes the whole time? @kvetcha @Slimwhit33

I've read (and been told) that horns do better with tubes. Which makes sense, but on the other hand Darkos main system is literally Forte IVs and the Lyngdorf 3400... (At times)... So it can't be THAT bad...
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I never used my Fortes with tubes. Just my previous Luxman Class A, an L550axII.
 
Absolutely. But I have no experience listening to them on a high powered Class A/B. I did use my Heresy III’s initially with a Yamaha Class AB 100wpc, then a PrimaLuna Integrated, then the Luxman. Each step was a significant improvement to my ears.
 
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