Allan welcome, Allan here too, although known here as J1, had the DSD>BHKPre>M700s>B&W800 chain playing for a year, upgraded to M1200s to satisfy hungry B&Ws, very happy. Also have the S300 amp which yesterday we paired it with a 25yr old pair of small Magnepan 10.1s for the 1st time via DSD>BHKPre>S300s>Magnepan10.1s, giving attention to placement, to our astonishment, the S300 provided a magical airy stage of ambient details on familiar tracks that we don’t even hear on the larger system, astonishing really. In Paul’s latest Youtube video on the FR30 speaker he goes into the “top down” tier marketing concept where you start with flagship tech and trickle down models from there.
Similarly it appears the DSD>BHKPre>S300 into an average speaker is such a pedigree upstream that you can theoretically spend less on the speakers. Enjoy, cheers
I’m glad you have good luck with the s300. Mine was not so good. It sounded quite veiled. Like the view through a muddy window. The m700s removed that veil…and now the view is sparkly clean.
A great idea.!
I maintain a loose plan of sorts, whereby I focus on one aspect or another until I feel like I have reached a point diminishing returns and/or exhausted my budget.
I also have a wishlist of kit for review/consideration that I keep an eye out for on the used market.
My current focus is on looking for ways to improve room acoustics and identify and minimize sources of noise in any and all forms.
FWIW.
The reason Sabrina’s won’t work for me is that I have my speakers on the long wall. So pulling speakers out into the room leaves too little distance to the listening position. If you were to place your speakers on the short wall you should have plenty of room for them to work their magic.
Nice to meet you Allan. I was actually just pondering the very question your Magnepan experience seems to be hinting at. At what point do you know what part of your sound system is limiting the others. Was it the S300 that woke the Maggies from their 25 year slumber, the attention to placement, or both. I wonder in part because whatever equipment I end up with most likely will be demo’d on the Salk Supercharged Song Surrounds (should have bought a model with a shorter name), or BMRs. In the unlikely event my current gear is wringing every nuance out of those speakers what am I going to learn about the gear being auditioned?
So long as the wife doesn’t veto any or all of my “plans” the speakers will be on the short wall, after getting rid of the desk, one book shelf, a dresser, and moving the guest bed to a murphy bed on the opposite wall.
I like to think I’ll be adding my name to that list of M700 lovers. This is certainly an engaged group of enthusiasts!
Which raises another question. What is it about PS Audio that draws people in? Is there such a thread going?
Edit: corrected M700
Well, Paul’s youtube videos drew me in.
The BHK Pre to M700 is a very good combination. Very clean, very dynamic, great imaging. There are a ton of very descriptive reviews in the forums (I think the forums have more thorough and descriptive reviews than the professional reviews). The only thing that was missing for me was tube magic. I’ve been listening to music thru a full tube preamp and full tube poweramp for 20+ years before turning to PS Audio, and while the BHK/M700 combo is VERY good, I needed another set of tubes in the signal path, so about 8 months after the M1200’s were released I ended up trading in my M700’s for the M1200’s. It felt strange trading in the M700 that I really, really, really liked. But for me it was worth it. I plan on listening through the BHK Pre to M1200 combo for a long, long time.
PS Audio, as in Paul, is certainly fundamental to the success of this forum. The company hosts/sponsor’s it and Paul leads by example with regard to enthusiasm and civility.
But more than that, the admin(s) and regulars here go out of their way to practice, preach and “patrol” civility.
One last point, PSA does not squelch discussions about other kit and companies.
All together, these factors (along with participation of knowledgeable hobbyists) make for a great place to “gather” and learn.
My $0.0212 (have to account for inflation, these days).
It was a number of things that brought me in, in roughly chronological order:
- The company’s long-time reputation for performance-oriented components, dating back to the first PSA phono preamp.
- My brother buying one of the first PSA regenerators, and hearing what it did for his system (I don’t remember the model, but it was large and heavy, with lethally dangerous heat sinks - I helped him bring it home from Music Direct).
- Getting a dealer demo deal on a P500 regenerator for myself, and hearing what it did for my system.
- My brother moving away from Cary/Sonic Frontiers/Sonus Faber and going full-in on BHK 250 power and BHK preamp for his new Maggie 20.7s and hearing that combination (he’s since upgraded to BHK 300s). He also migrated from a Levinson transport to the DMP, and now the PST.
- Deciding to help Wally at Underwood Hi-Fi “put it to Paul” after PSA’s changeover to direct sales by buying his last SGCD at a huge discount (I never really understood Wally’s logic on that one).
- Frequenting the forum, since I now had two pieces that I loved, and hearing all the positive chatter on the other products, and perhaps more importantly the level of customer service - no keeping customers at arm’s length here.
- Seeing Paul’s posts and videos.
- Discovering the trade-in deals.
- Being consistently happy (very happy) with the trade allowances and the sound results of my upgrades. I now have the SGCD, M700s, a PST and a Stellar P3 regenerator.
That’s what got me here, and what’s keeping me here. Major kudos to @Paul for the quality of the organization he’s put together, and to @jamesh and the others who stay involved with us end users here on the forum.
The place sure does have the feel of your favorite neighborhood pub. I thank you for your welcome and help and look forward to hanging out.
I lost a few hours of sleep last night watching and reading up on Spacial product. Time we’ll spent. I misread the pricing so an M series will fit well into a budget. They will be, for more than performance reasons, on the very short list when I get round to speakers. Because of the room layout one of the speakers will have to sit out in the path of the doorway. But they’re relatively unobtrusive and appear to be easy to move for those critical listening sessions. The rest of the time they can sit out of the way closer to the wall. Thanks for the recommendation!
They have been very busy so plan on a few months to wait between the time you order and receive the speakers.
If you’d like to get more feedback on Spatial, they have a product circle at the AudioCircle forum. Lots of chatter about models, sound quality, user reviews, and as @Baldy alluded to, wait times (!).
Many thanks! Sometimes wait times can be used to an advantage.
Allan, I like your Spatial M idea, there are some good Youtube demos of them and I do believe they offer up a revealing, detailed presentation. One aspect I underestimated after running the DSD>BHKPre>M700s>B&Ws for some time is how much difference in SQ could cleaner power add. Quantifying clean power is not a neglected subject here, and until you hear a noise floor drop, it’s just a concept, but adding a P3 Regenerator really opened my ears, literally. The effect of giving the chain clean power on SQ, was equal to a major component upgrade. It just unveiled piano strikes, cymbal and brush shimmer, and just brought the resolution up to where I knew the speakers could play but had never heard. If you add the Spatial M’s you will hear the PS Audio magic immediately. Cheers
I am driving Spatial M5s with M1200. These speakers sound so transparent with good bass with M1200 although I have a pair of subwoofers. Spatial Ms can be driven with an amp as low as 10w per channel but they do sound much better with more power. I don’t doubt they will sound great with M700. If you have a large room, M3 might be better but Clayton recommended M5 for my setting. He doesn’t make M5s anymore but M6 or M4 fill the gap.
I’ve yet to find out what Spacial considers small, medium, and large but for now am going on the assumption that my 14 x 20 is medium. It’s going to be awhile before I have the space cleared out for them so I have some time (but little patience) to read up /obsess over them. It’s good to know your experience with the M5 / M1200 combination. It’s all a stretch until the boss stops choking on how much I’m considering to spend but the M1200 is something I’d like to consider. I’m just having a hard time rationalizing 1200W into any speaker let alone some as efficient as the Spacials.
If you call Clayton on the phone he will be happy to talk to you about your room and gear and suggest the correct speaker for your situation.