Old DIYer needs help: 3 systems, 3 rooms

[navin advani]

my 2 cents.
This looks like your primary music system, but you have listed the speakers taking into account your needs for movies also. I suggest you first decide on a stereo system, then add a receiver and some surrounds and center. If you are lucky, your mains manufacturer will also have surrounds and center, if not, pick some surrounds and maybe single bookshelf from the same line as the mains. For movies, it might be a slight compromise, but for music, it will be probably much better. ...Also check out some of the ususal suspects, atc, thiels, spendors, proacs, cadence, ushers etc.

It might also be a good idea to get the HT and kid's system first. and then when you have ample time, search and audition for a stereo system.
Get him an AVR and maybe with an ipod dock. These things come with all sorts of protection circuits. Get speakers with kevlar woofers:lol:

Doors thanks for following my story.

Canton Chrono SL 595 are not available in India.

Heco Celan XT 701 were too dry did not get me to dance

Morel Signature Floor cant be used in this install as they have side firing woofers and these would fire against some furniture.

Martin Logans Electromotion was eliminated becuase of fears of the effects of dust and humidity on the ESL panel.

My son's system is almost chosen. His Speakers will be 4 JBL 4312 (wall mounted) more or less gifted to him by a friend who will bring it down to India in April. This will be suplemented by his JBL 120P subwoofer. Only the AVR is left. It would be a Yamaha A810 or Integra 40.3 or something in that vein.

The Living room system will most likely have Paradigms (the Focals are a stand by if the Paradigms are found to be too bright) driven by Marantz 6006. My BIL whose opinion I trust (he is a serious audiophile who rolls his own wire and build his oewn tube amps) is going to audtion the Maratz 6006 with the Focals and Paradigm. I prefer the build quality of the Paradigm so far but build quality is NOT sound quality. I fear the Paradigms will be too bright for someone used to ScanSpeak and Morel tweeters.

For the bedroom I would love to have Tannoys. I once had a pair of Gold 12 coax (in the early 90s) and yes they were a bit too bright and all my attempts at reducing the brightness killed the HF completely but they did everything else so well. I hope Tannoy now have solved this. The Tannoy are serious budget speakers is there anything in this price range (I am told that the Tannoy Definition DC10T and 8T range compare more with Monitor Audio's PL300 / 200 than the GX300) ha and yes I will also consider my 2 fav brands - vandersteen and sonus faber. I suspect my wife will nto like the Vandy's decor. So in the end it should a 3 horse race - Sonus - MA - Tannoy. Are Tannoy Definition 8T, Sonus Liuto, and MA's GX 300 in the same price range?

 

[navin advani]

Living Room:27'x12' main area opening into a 20' x10' dining area
AVR + Power amp: Marantz 6006+Marantz 7055 (or NAD T955)
Front Subwoofer: Rythmik DS1510/H600 bass reflex kit
Rear Subwoofer: Klipsch SW311 or Velodyne MiniVee 10
Front Speakers: Focal 836V or Paradigm Studio 100
Center Speaker: Focal 800C or Paradigm CC 690
Rear Speakers (on wall): Focal 800 SR or Paradigm ADP 590


Bedroom: 16' x 17'
AVR: NAD T757
Subwoofer: Klipsch SW 311 or Velodyne MiniVee 10
Front Speakers: Monitor Audio GX 300 or Tannoy Definition DC 8T
Center Speakers: phantom center (no room)
Rear Speakers: Monitor Audio RXFX or Tannoy Revolution DC4

Son's room: 15' x 15'
AVR: Yamaha A810
Subwoofer: JBL L8400 or LS120P
Front and rear speakers: JBL 4312E
Center speaker: Phantom center (no room)

1. Any opinions on the above systems?

2. Will the Marantz/Paradigm Studio combo be too bright? I normally play music at Symphonic levels and what I know so far leads me to believe that the Paradigms will fill the room better than the Focals (more sensitive and less compression at full volume) but I wonder if the brightness will get fatiguing.

3. Which amp is warmer Maratz 7055 or the NAD T955? Instead of bi-wiring using 2 channels of the Marantz 7055 or NAD T955 does it make more sense to get a 3 channel XPA3 instead? I am told the XPA3 is a bright amp. It is brighter than the 7055 or T955?

4. Has anyone heard the NAD 757 + Tannoy DC8T combo? I am looking at using 4 channels of the NAD (bi-amp mode) to power the Tannoys.

5. How is the Sonus Faber Liuto compared to Tannoy's Definition and MA's Gold? Specifically I was thinking of the following:

Front: Sonus Faber Liuto Wood
Center: phantom center
Rear: Sonus Faber Liuto Monitor Wood

6. Given that the Front towers are flanking the TV do I need a center speaker? Can a Phantom Center work reasonably well?