Mismatched system with Esoteric speakers?
GPA -- Thu, 10/01/2009 - 18:45
Hi, I upgraded my speakers last year from B&W 704 to Esoteric MG-20. Unfortunately, I could not afford to upgrade my Rotel RC-1082 and RB-1070 amp. The dealer that I purchased the speakers from suggested that the Estoric's deserve a better amp/pre-amp to drive them and that my system is mismatched. Currently, I cannot afford to upgrade my amp/pre-amp. My question is should I consider downgrading my Esoteric's to another set of speakers that would better match my Rotel amp and use the leftover money to purchase other audio gear? Or wait until I have more money to upgrade my amp/pre-amp? I appreciate any advice. BTW, I think the Esoteric's are great speakers.
If you like the sound of the Esoteric speakers, keep them. You won't be happy bringing the system down to match the lowest common denominator.
What, specifically, do you not like about the Rotel sound? Fixes may not be so expensive as you suspect.
Boomzilla
A good sense of humor makes it ALL sound better!
Boomzilla...we are thinking the same way on this one...GPA, as you can tell, I agree with Boomzilla's advice, I'm just not as succinct :-)
Let us know how you make out
Boomzilla...we are thinking the same way on this one...GPA, as you can tell, I agree with Boomzilla's advice, I'm just not as succinct :-)
Let us know how you make out
Is there anything about the current sound you're getting from the Rotel and Esoteric combo that is not to your liking? Forget the dealer, if you like the sound coming out of your system, then you should sit back and enjoy and not worry about the dealer trying to upsell you on more expensive electronics. Having said that, if there are qualities about the music reproduction from your system that are bugging you, then try to identify what those are. It may be that you can temporarily fix the issue with more cost effective means, like speaker placement, cost effective room treatment, changing out cabling, etc...Also, it would be helpful to know your room size, what source(s) you are using, and what cabling. Finally, I would say, you clearly liked what you heard when you bought the Esoteric speakers so that if the you like their sonic qualities, I would wait and not sell them and downgrade to another speaker. Rather I would identify what you don't like about the current setup (too bright, not dynamic enough, not enough bass, images aren't floating free from speakers, etc...whatever the problem may be) and that will help you identify what the fix ought to be and I would wait until your financial situation allows you to address the fix. It could be the associated electronics or it could be something else.
To confirm that you like the sonic qualities of the speaker, i would go back to your dealer and have him set them up for you with whatever associated gear you originally auditioned them with and try to sit down and 1) verify you dig the sound, and 2) try to describe what you like in the sonic presentation from the dealer's system that you are not achieving at home. And then you can come back on this forum and let us know and hopefully you can get some suggestions on how to proceed forward. Good luck and if you like what you hear right now, forget the dealer's upsell pressure. And shop for a new dealer :-) My 2cents worth.
Boomzilla...you must have beat me to the post...GPA, as you can see, I clearly agree with Boomzilla's advice...i'm just a bit more wordy :-) let us know how you make out
Hi, thanks for writing back to me; your advice makes sense. Most importantly, I need to upgrade my source since I'm using an entry-level DVD player and my iPod as my 2 sources. I like the iPod as my music server; I've been downloading my old CD's via Apple Lossless. I'm thinking of purchasing the Wadia i70 with a DAC to improve the sound from my iPod. Hopefully, that will improve the overall sound. Once again, thanks for the advice.
Jerry
Hi Jerry -
Be sure to AUDITION the Wadia before you buy it. Its sound may and may not be an AUDIBLE improvement. If you can't hear the difference, then spend your money elsewhere - your entry-level player wasn't the weakest link.
I've also used Apple Lossless Encoding (ALE). I've found, in my system & to my ears, that the ALE version is indistinguishable from the original, uncompressed CD.
Your iPod's Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC), however, is known to be less than audiophile quality. Keep that in mind when listening to music with the iPod as the source. I got MUCH better sound when I streamed my music to an Apple AirPort Express and used the optical output from that with a separate DAC.
Happy upgrading! - Boomzilla
A good sense of humor makes it ALL sound better!
Hi Boomzilla,
I like the idea of streaming music to an AirPort Express; how did you accomplish this? Did you invest in the Music Streamer? Also, what DAC do you recommend? I was thinking of the Cambridge Audio DacMagic. I appreciate your advice on these topics. Thanks again.
Jerry
Hi Jerry -
My music-streaming system works as follows:
All the music is on an external, 1.5 TB hard drive (bought at Office Depot for less than $150). The USB drive is plugged into my home computer (I use a MacBook Pro, but any current Apple or PC running iTunes would work). The computer is plugged into a wireless router. All of the above equipment resides in a computer room at one end of my house.
In my living room (other end of the house), I have an AirPort Express ($99 & rated "Class D" by Stereophile magazine). The headphone jack of the AirPort Express also contains an optical digital jack. I use a cable I bought on e-Bay (1/8" optical male on one end to TOSLINK optical male on the other end - cost about $15) to connect the AirPort Express to my AV receiver's optical CD input. This way, the (better) digital-to-analog converters on the receiver actually do the conversion from a digital bit stream to analog music.
Now the magic of the system - I use my iPhone running a (free) program from the iTunes store as a controller. The program, called "Remote," basically runs an abbreviated version of iTunes on my phone. The phone then acts as a remote control for the music server. I can use cover flow and see all my album art on the iPhone. I can select individual songs, playlists, etc. or search by artist or album. Once I make a selection on the iPhone, the music begins playing on my living room stereo. If you don't have an iPhone, a newer iPod can do the same thing. The iPhone, by the way, connects wirelessly with the wireless router so that I can sit on the couch with the phone and control the stereo equipment across the room.
By using all-Apple equipment, I get the benefits of all my iTunes metadata when selecting music. If I wanted to simplify the system, I could put a Mac Mini music server in the living room, hook it up directly to my TV, and use the Mac Mini's remote control to do what I currently do with my iPhone.
I looked at music server DACs including the Logitech and others, but they all had the disadvantages of not having as good an interface as my Apple equipment, not using the metadata (including music tracks, album covers, and ratings) included in iTunes, and not using the format that I had chosen (originally, Apple Lossless Encoding).
Hope this answered your question!
Boomzilla
A good sense of humor makes it ALL sound better!
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