[scp2]

I just went down almost your exact path. Mine was  Bolder modded Duet feeding Yam 863 to Von Schweikert spkrs vr4 jr. Decent sound nothing amazing. BTW 863 does have pure direct. I was looking at the same speaks as you and found the VS and fell in love with the looks and lucky for me they sounded good as well.

I had heard about the hype of separates..but did not want to spend a bunch...since I was not convinced. I had already decided to buy good mutilchannel amp and landed on Bryston 9bsst.  I was browsing audiogon and came across an April Stello pre/dac combo with HT bypass and a headphone amp...all for $900. Hmmm worth a try...I ran the digital out from the Duet to the Stello to the  Bryston to the Von Schweikerts......WOW there it was...this wide sound stage everyone was talking about. You could swear there was a center channel speaker...it just amazed me.

This was mid priced hifi...what would higher end sound like? So here I go....I replaced my Duet with a Modwright Transporter and replaced the Bryston with a Spectron Musc III and just ordered a Joule Electra La150 SE.

Long story short...pre and dac will deliver.  I am going to sell my Stello soon if interested...it does give you a complete pkg cheap with good sound. Ooops sounds like a sell job...it is get a decent Dac and pre first.

Sidenote this is an addictive hobby...be careful

[Nuance]

I am with TJHUB and kshep.  I would, however, get room treatments right away, or at the same time you get the preamp and/or DAC.  Get those suckers in place so when listen to a new piece of gear you'll fully hear what it has to offer.  If you wait till till the end concerning the room treatments, the sound might change again, making you realize you no longer like the preamp, DAC or amps. 

Room treatments are very important and are often recommended as an immediate thing to purchase, but oddly enough most people wait till the end. 

That's just my $0.02, and YMMV. 

[TJHUB]

I am with TJHUB and kshep.  I would, however, get room treatments right away, or at the same time you get the preamp and/or DAC.  Get those suckers in place so when listen to a new piece of gear you'll fully hear what it has to offer.  If you wait till till the end concerning the room treatments, the sound might change again, making you realize you no longer like the preamp, DAC or amps. 

Room treatments are very important and are often recommended as an immediate thing to purchase, but oddly enough most people wait till the end. 

That's just my $0.02, and YMMV.

Agreed.  Time and time again, I've read posts from members that were chasing room issues and thought they needed to replace gear when it was the room all along.  Nuance is right, treat the room the best you can, then explore what you think your setup needs.

[caper334@hotmail.com]

so scp2 you had the same pre amp as my v863 and the sound wasn't that great..than you separated  with another pre amp and it all came together...what exactly did you buy..could you give exact names of things so I can look them up...I still want better speakers..but if its the yamaha amp thats giving me more grief....IT WILL BE GONE!!!!...but then what do I use for home theater because that is why I use it ..remember i'm a newbie and trying to learn what each piece of the puzzle does so be as specific or put it in LAMEN"S term to me....I really do appreciate the suggestions..... thanks all

[scp2]

Caper

The Yam is a good home theatre receiver/amp. I still have mine and use it for Ht....and it does an awesome job. It is not so good 2 channel pre...I mean I was happy with it til I heard what REAL 2 channel sounds like.  Your emo amp is probably fine. I have an April Stello DP 200 preamp/dac. Kind of an odd duck..but also a swiss army knife of pre's. combines a pre/dac with home theatre bypass...a good one box solution.  Benchmark also makes a similiar unit...Media Dac 1?  Not sure of any others. I was looking at a dac and a pre...lowend stuff..dac??$500 pre??700-1000.

This all depends if you are intested in two channel or HT.

I think you are well up the food chain with the Ht2 tl's. May want to rethink and switch gears to the song towers rt...an awesome speaker as well. there is a lot of info and suggestions out there.


As far as acoustics..I was lucky and my wife has our room chuck full of accessories and room treatments have not been a major issue. You may not have that luxury.


Hope this helps...BTW I am also newbie ...just got started less than a year ago.

[revrob]

SCP2,

Can you provide an update or review of the Spectron Musc III and the Joule Electra La150 SE? How is the synergy between the two. I just purchase Wyred SX-1000 monos and a Joule LA-150 MKII. I should have them both in the system this week and will marry them up with my Salk HT3.

Thanks,
Steve