2 speaker + amp combo in the $1500 range

I'm sure there are a lot of great speakers besides the B&W 606 S2 and especially the Dali Oberon 3 as I witnessed today. My only critisizm of the B&W 606 S2 which was just as bad or worse on the Dali Oberon 3 was high end.
Sound like you had the same experience as Darko
 
I'm not surprised - the Dali sub isn't very good which you can tell just by comparing the spec with the SVS SB1000 Pro - but that's not to suggest that specs always translate to sound quality. Having said that I do wonder whether the sub had been properly integrated with the speakers.
It was crossover and not a dedicated sub out, so maybe this is why the Dali Oberon 3 sounded still oddly bassy.
 
Sound like you had the same experience as Darko

Somewhat yes. I will try to next time change the speakers to liking (adjust treble or mid- high on amp) and see how they handle it. I can't say so far I fully agree with him.
 
In case anyone is wondering these are some of the tracks I played today
When I get a chance I'll see if any of this is available free online and create a playlist.
 
Store experience

I was totally surprised today when I listened to Oberon 3. Actually I was not that impressed, I went from there with a weird feeling of maybe people aren't hearing the same things I am on the Oberon 3.
You are not whoever has written about Oberon 3.

I believe that individuals don't neccessarily hear the same thing. What is heard depends on a long list of what someone likes or wants, just a few being musical taste, how the brain is wired (I'm very sensitive to certain distortions) what qualities someone wants or expects or focusses on.

For example I don't sit and listen to music and visualise the performers in front of me. I listen to music when I'm doing other things but I am actively listening - it's not just background.

So I don't care about a speakers ability to image - I can hear the horrified shrieks of lots of people as I'm typing this :rotfl:

What I want is a level of quality that portrays the sounds of the instruments and performers accurately. I don't want my listening to be disturbed by failings in the equipment.

I have a large vinyl collection bought in 1970-90. Some of the actual recordings go back to 1930s .
By modern standards much of the recording quality is potentially excruciating. But I want to listen to that performance so I have to reprogram my brain to ignore that. Yesterday I played Phil Spector Echoes of the 60s. Even on my good equipment it sounded like a cheap transistor radio from the 60s. But I accepted that and so enjoyed it.

I allude to the brain below so expand the post.

Speakers

Choosing speakers. This can be a very difficult task for even those of us with a lot of knowledge and experience.

You have a number of particular issues to contend with.

The first is that you are used to listening on headphones, so the effect of the room is zero. Even if a speaker existed that sounded exactly like your headphones and there were zero room effects they would still likely sound wierd and unsatisfactory. Your brain would require time to adapt.

The second is that you don't have an existing reference point to compare speaker sounds against other than the sound from your TV. Ideally when auditioning speakers I would take my existing speakers to compare against. Audio memory is very short and can't be relied on.

The majority of speaker brand available in the UK are available in Denmark - see links below.

When you start auditioning speakers I expect you'll find night and day differences between a pair at £150 v £300. From £300 to £600 it may be more subtle but still audible and significant.

They might sound different but is it better ? And what is better ?

So no, you are not hearing what other people have heard. Trust your ears :thumbsup:
 
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I have a simple ethos with picking kit, just go with the ones that put the biggest smile on your face. People will always recommend speakers or amps with their own personal preference, there are not too many people that have had a great selection of speakers or amps. You can narrow down the line up but you have to ultimately trust your own ears.

Don't go into auditions with expectations, I did that with Naim amps and came away very disappointed. I expected it would be just a rubber stamping visit in the end I came away with Rega that wasn't even on my radar. That smile I was talking about, well it's still on my face four years later.
 
It was crossover and not a dedicated sub out, so maybe this is why the Dali Oberon 3 sounded still oddly bassy.
I think you are correct
 
Regarding researching subs have a look at this thread - it's just a starting point

Upgrading sub

Mr Wolf is one of the leading sub experts on the forum.

Also have a look at the Arendal speaker range.
 
….our own ears are everything as others have said (or in my case, one ear :thumbsdow) .
Anecdotally, I have had the 606s for almost 2 years now, used with 2 different amplifiers (Audiolab 6000a and Denon DRA 800-h). They have never displayed the much talked about fatiguing characteristics at any part of the frequency spectrum. My room, my ears, my sources - so many variables 🧐
 
Btw I got some more suggestions from Køb Hi-Fi udstyr - Højttalere, Surround, Stereo - Lave priser | HiFi freaks I'm just going to quote it as they said it.

Dali and B&W are relatively hightoned both of them, and can make the nasty s' sounds, especially if they are paired with digital amplifiers. However, a strong second bid could be Wharfedale Evo 4.2 or Quad S2 Both English sounds, with the slightly warmer top :) And all three are digital amplifiers - it may well be what you are allergic to, it is now not unknown to some people. ;-) A tender here could be Audiolab 6000a Play or 6000A + a Wharfedale Evo 4.2, it would be a really nice match, massaging the details, and still good with punch. EVO 4.2, however, is a relatively large compact speaker, so it is whether you have the space for it :) But if you have it, you get some more at the versus the slightly smaller models, S-2, Z-1, 4.1 etc.
The Audiolab 6000A seems really well built:
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Dirac can be really nice, it can save many real normal living rooms, and some better than Audessey etc. .. Personally, I am not a fan of room correction, and sometimes the dynamics suffer ... ;-)

I've spent the last days trying to figure out what makes a speaker great for electronic music. A pattern I see is a lot of producers use the speakers with ribbon tweeters, PS Audio on youtube (the older gentleman) also answered a question in one of his videos saying ribbon tweeters if done correctly should be "the way to go"

Both Quad S2 and Wharfedale Evo 4.1-4.2 suggested by the store are ribbon tweeters

And this brings me back to @Paul7777x original suggestion of Adam A5X, I can remember many electronic music producers using them, so I appreciate that suggestion it made me focus on what I am actually looking for in a speaker.

The Adam A5X and A7X are listed as nearfield studio monitors btw, (studio monitors for listening?), otherwise I saw "nearfield" mentioned in many threads regarding electronic music, not sure if this was for studio specifically. It wasn't obvious to me how the sub was connected to them :)

And one of these as a dac/preamp.

Other brands I've seen suggested in a wide range of old forum posts for electronic music was Focal, Polk, Zu, Dynaudio
 
I have the Audiolab 6000A (non Play version). It's a fabulous amp imo. Well built and belies its small 50wpc rating. I use it with some Monitor Audio Silver 100's and it fills the room with ease.

DTSPlayfi (used by Audiolab in the Play) doesn't allow gapless playback. So if any of your music requires this, you might want to consider the 6000A and then add a seperate streamer.
 
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8 have the Audiolab 6000A (non Play version). It's a fabulous amp imo. Well built and belies its small 50wpc rating. I use it with some Monitor Audio Silver 100's and it fills the room with ease.

DTSPlayfi (used by Audiolab in the Play) doesn't allow gapless playback. So if any of your music requires this, you might want to consider the 6000A and then add a seperate streamer.
Yes I have insider knowledge from them :lesson: .. He said a new version will be coming out in 2 months with HDMI so you don't crossover freq the sub, price will be 7.500 DKK.

I don't know if I can use DTS Play-Fi for anything if I don't use streaming. From what I've read it seems it can connect all aspects of your system wirelessly if supported, but if I am stuck with streaming I couldn't care less! The whole presentation of DTS Play-Fi didn't catch my attention very well, it seems like an odd product. But I don't know maybe someone can better explain when it gets good. As a software engineer myself I don't put much thought into someones builtin fancy software because 5 years down the line it can be completely abandoned and if you run into any issues they'll never be fixed in most cases, they'll release it and require you to buy new components whether that embedded hardware and software is half-baked it is what it is.
 
I don't know if I can use DTS Play-Fi for anything if I don't use streaming. From what I've read it seems it can connect all aspects of your system wirelessly if supported, but if I am stuck with streaming I couldn't care less! The whole presentation of DTS Play-Fi didn't catch my attention very well, it seems like an odd product. But I don't know maybe someone can better explain when it gets good. As a software engineer myself I don't put much thought into someones builtin fancy software because 5 years down the line it can be completely abandoned and if you run into any issues they'll never be fixed in most cases, they'll release it and require you to buy new components whether that embedded hardware and software is half-baked it is what it is.
Just my opinion, but DTSPLAYFI is buggy at best. I completely agree that streamers live and die by their software. This is exactly the reason I've gone down the route of getting a seperate streamer. (Most likely the Bluesound Node).

I'm sure DTSPLAYFI will improve, but for now I'm steering clear. Not to mention, lack of gapless playback is a dealbreaker for me!

I currently have my TV connected via the 6000A's optical input, running a basic 2 channel system. The audio is a definite upgrade on the TV speakers!

The Bluetooth module in the 6000A is also very good imo. I've streamed music from my phone for many an hour during a party with no audio dropouts at all.
 

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