Dinyaar,
Firstly, a big congratulation!
Secondly, would you be kind enough to write about the current system, before you upgrade it to the next level
? At least, what are the differences with the one I heard when I visited you about a year ago?
Thirdly, how far away are the speakers from each other and what is the distance of each from the listening position?
Regards.
Asit
Its not really about upgrades or what level or what category this rig falls into.
When U came over I had the Accuphase E 450 with the B&W 805 s and the cdp was the Yamaha CDS 2000. That was at the time when my home was being refurbished and I was living in my uncles large, vacant apartment.
When I moved back home I fired up the system in a room much larger than what I had earlier. The room size is 16 ft X 14 ft and it leads into a smallish open kitchen. The speakers are 7 ft apart and 2 ft from the rear wall. The side wall on the left speaker is about 3 ft and on the right about 5 ft.
I sit about 8 ft away from the speakers on a two seater sofa and there is a wall 6 inches behind the sofa.
I always had a floor stander in my earlier homes but could never really accomodate one to my satisfaction in this home. Have gone through quite a few candidates before I had bought the 805s sometime in 2007 I guess. I still like that speaker and it did a lot right but finally it was the over zealous metal dome tweeter that made a lot of my music sound a tad bit unrealistic. Secondly the speaker CANNOT handle real power being pumped in. It reacts by sounding heavy / harsh so high SPLs are a bit difficult to sustain. The B&W distri was kind enough to offer me many options but finally I wanted to get out of this and look for other options. At the time I was seriously considering a smallish floor stander and was hoping that it would not boom (bass overhang) in my room. 805 was sold in a jiffy and I then was all set to try out all that I had shortlisted in MY OWN ROOM.
Borrowed some popular candidates from my buddies and rest like the thiels I got from dealers for a home audition.Finally settled on the Avalon Ascendant as that came closest to the most NATURAL BALANCE to my ears. Highs that are natural, realistic and a bass that does not go down too low. In my opinion Avalon does the tone right. Integration of drivers is TOP DRAW. The only issue I had was that the E 450 in my opinion could be bettered!!!! What I was looking was something with similar fluidity, similar pleasantly coloured tone BUT something with a bit lesser bloom and more control. I have heard the indra / ascendant perform very differently with different electronics and I was informed by my overseas friends that the speaker will change colour (like most speakers) as it breaks in, only in this brand the break in is pretty dramatic. Took all this with more than a grain of salt but finally after about a week of listening I decided to take the Avalons.
Difference v/s the B&W 805 BS is naturally bigger scale , more depth , smoother highs and over all more involving. Downside 3 X the price!
An uncle was all set to buy my accuphase amp so I was looking for electronics once again. Again tried a lot from the sims, AR, Classe.......... but I somehow liked a lot that the Accuphase did so I was in a bit of a spot. Plus the superb feel / build of the Accuphase was not something that my wife or me could let go easily.
Meanwhile the distributor planted the seed of the accuphase Pre/ power in my mind and asked if this is something that I could consider if I was given a 'special price' or 'loyalty bonus'!!!
Long story short I got the spanking boxed pre/power to try and it was a completely different sound. Compared to the integrated U could actually call it lean!!!! In about a day of listening to this pair and doing an A/B with the E 450 I knew exactly what I wanted. Tremendous drive for a ' 90' watt amp!!! It is simply more than what I could expect and the Preamp is versatile too. You can actually shape the sound to suit your room which is a bonus with certain recordings and in moderate rooms.
Later I spoke to Accuphase and was given to understand that the way forward for them is less sugar, less syrup and drifting more towards a NEUTRAL sounding less coloured amplifier. The newer cdp 510 also drifts in this direction and the most dramatic improvement is the new E 460 which is the new class A/B flagship integrated (replaces the 450). Back to mosfets in integrateds for accuphase. I cannot think of a better integrated that does almost everything at this price point (About 4L)
So Finally my uncle took a small hit on the 450 and replaced it with the 460 and I coughed up some money and took the Pre /power.
You are more than welcome when U come to Bbay. The speaker has now fully broken in and so have all the electronics. The sound is different and to my ears much better.
Rgds
