I am currently using Aurender N20, Rossini Apex, Soulution 725 pre, and 511 power amp in a rather small 15m² space. The speakers are Marten Mingus Quintet 2, and while satisfactory, I feel the bass sometimes overwhelms the space. I am now thinking about two options, constrained by financial limits. (Tidal is sold considerably higher than Vivid here).
Option 1 is to trade the Marten for Tidal Piano G3, which is smaller and has adjustable bass via terminal connection changes.
Option 2 is to add or trade for Vivid Audio Giya G4 Cu while keeping the Marten and switching the speakers (although I would have to move one pair into another room).
I like liquid and clear vocals and strings while enjoying large-scale orchestras such as Hans Zimmer’s “Pirates of the Caribbean.”
Even if AI tells me that the combination of dCS and Soulution can be lean, I never felt that way; rather, it felt clean and accurate. Adding the 725 at a later stage beefed up the vocal texture, which I found immediately attractive.
In the past, I enjoyed the YG Carmel 2 for its beautiful highs and mids, but it clearly lacked bass. Focal Utopia Diablo had fatiguing highs, and Sopra 2 caused a lot of bass boom. Magico is not my favorite, as I feel the sound is too dry.
As there are no places to hear the aforementioned speakers here, please share your experience…
You don’t say if the 15m² space is dedicated or not and how much flexibility you have with layout and system placement so this may not be relevant. However in a smaller space the benefits from speakers that can be or are even designed to be placed up against a wall are often multiplied. I don’t believe either the Tidal or the Vivid fall in that category, in fact only a small minority of modern speakers do. So I would be thinking not just about size and bass energy, but things like compatibility with boundary placement as well.
One of the best systems I have ever heard combined dCS with Soulution so I completely reject the notion that it is inherently dry. As always, its the whole, including the ancillaries, the speakers and their compatibility with the room, and your taste that matter most.
Thanks for the quick response. The room is my personal study and pretty much flexible with speaker placement. The front wall is 3.5m, and the length is 4.5m. Presently, the face of the speakers is 1m off from the front wall and .8m away from the sidewalls. The listening position is 2m from each speaker. All walls are wood (wood doors and floor). Even if I know AI is not really accurate, at least on hifi equipment evaluation/location and room gain frequences, recommending lower speaker range 50 hz or above to avoid room gain. But I enjoy communicating with it as it provides options. As I occasionally trade audio equipment like many audiophiles, I would rather stay away from lesser-known brands for trade issues.
For reference, I added a Rel sub with YG Carmel 2, but the integration was so confusing to meet my satisfaction, I gave up.
From personal taste, I am not a big fan of traditional British “box” speakers like Harbeth, as I feel they sound somewhat muddy. YG (Sonja 2.3, Vantage 3) sounded great only if I placed them in a much larger place like my living room. In my study, I needed to raise the volume over 70~75db to extract YG’s tight, authoritative bass. (My comfortable listening volume is from 60~65db). I am very satisfied with current electronics (maybe add a Rossini clock later), and the only area for improvement is speakers. I am very happy with Marten Mingus Quintet 2; by far the best in my room.
Based on the aforementioned information, I will be happy to hear your subjective speaker recommendations
I’ve found that my YG Acoustics Hailey loudspeakers work exceptionally well in my relatively small room. Since they aren’t rear-ported, the bass is very well controlled and integrates seamlessly with the mids and highs. If you liked the Carmels, and think the Sonjas need more room to breathe, then the Haileys could be an excellent choice and well worth considering.
As a fellow user I’d love to help but as a dCS employee it isn’t my place to play favorites, sorry. Luckily the forum has probably the highest concentration of qualified experience in the world so I expect you’ll get plenty of good pointers, If you’re ruling out suggestions on the basis that they are “rare here” it may help to clarify where “here” is.
One of the best systems I’ve heard was in a room about the size of yours, Simon, and a sizeable part of why that system sounded so good was the extremely well set-up subwoofers. (Easy to verify by turning them off.)
I’d read up on your subwoofer options, and ask your dealer for help getting them set up correctly. Set up poorly they will be AWFUL. Set up well they will be transformational. Luckily, the more subs you add the easier they get to set up.
Subs should minimise how obvious your room’s modes (e.g. a nasty 80Hz hump, or a bothersome 30Hz trough) will be. The subs should minimise seat-to-seat variance, too — the person sitting next to the sweet spot should hear smoother bass.
Below is a link to a great online tool for seeing what your room’s modes are. (Every room has them!) I’ve guessed on a room height of 2.5m with the initial dimensions:
Authors to aim for: Earl Geddes, Todd Welti, Duke LeJeune, James Romeyn. An example to get you started:
My room is larger than yours (72m²), but it definitely had some bass problems before I got creative with subs. Bass traps could have helped too, but to treat the modes in my room would have meant enormous traps that swallowed an unpalatable about of our living room’s volume. Would never have had approval from the rest of the family.
This is very interesting. AI also says it needs careful measurements and a trial-and-error process, but once done correctly, no two-speaker-only system can beat them.
I will research this. It will not be a mere purchase, but rather the possibility of acquiring credible know-how (from the dealer). Previously, I tried on my own, but failed (Camel 2+ Rel sub).
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