I had M5 paired with a primaluna (40W), a Cherry amp (200 w) and M1200. M1200 is by far the best amp to my ears.
I had my X5’s in a similar sized room (14’ x 24’ x 11’ high) and they were perfect. I am not using them now but they aren’t going anywhere either.
I know I’m late to the party but I am also one of the folks here who runs SGCD M700 into Focal Aria 948’s along with a pair of SVS SB3000 subs and love what that gets me. I also have a pair of Magnepan LRS that I switch in now and then for a change of pace. I don’t know I’d recommend either for your application but would offer as a suggestion Ohm Acoustics for a good value and a room filling sound at low volume due to their 360deg radiation. Welcome to the forum and see you around. Jim
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Thank you Jim. More new to me tech to digest!
I have the Spatial M series on my short list. I was looking at the M3’s but may grab the M4’s. Here’s what Spatial define as room size from their page:
How do you define small, medium and large rooms?
Small room example 10x12ft, medium room example 13x17ft, large room 15x20 and more significant.
Just to cut down on confusion among folks unfamiliar with the company, it’s spelled “Spatial,” with a “t.” Here’s a link to their website for anyone who’s curious.
Thanks Craig! I edited my post, apologies for any confusion
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Many thanks. I wasn’t able to find that. I have no idea where Spacial came from but I think I started it.
Thanks much for the correction.
Edit: deleted redundancy
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Thanks. Spell check got me on the first post and I missed it.
Glad the BHK/M1200 combo is working for you. In my system, the BHK pre and M1200s have been quite a challenge to get tuned to my tastes. After trying a Zesto Bia 120 tube amp with the BHK preamp (fantastic partnership) I have to admit that kindled a bit of desire for more of the special richness that certain tube products bring. The Bia amp had technical problems and went back to the seller however. After that, I tried my Dehavilland UltraVerve preamp (6sn7 tube line stage) and I have to admit I’m enjoying that even more than the BHK preamp. While the DeHavilland doesn’t have the last degree of detail retrieval that the BHK does, there’s a certain musicality and tonality that is a bit more musically complete. The M1200/Dehavilland combo certainly isn’t as ruthlessly revealing as the BHK/M1200s are of recording deficiencies and sibilance excess. I’m sure with a different set of less revealing speakers than mine I could well feel differently. Finding the best system synergy and balance seems to be a never-ending quest. The DeHavilland also sounded great with my BHK250 amp but the DeHavilland constantly kept tripping the BHK’s protection circuitry. No such problems with the M1200s though. I’ve never heard the M700s so I’m not sure how relevant my thoughts are to the original OP’s question though.
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It’s all very relevant. Thank you for adding your experience. The M1200 is a significant stretch even beyond the BHK/M700 but the more I digest the more expensive this gets. It’s something worth considering. I’m sure your experience is much more evolved than mine so I am curious what speakers you are running that are so revealing? Thank again.
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I completely understand the leaning toward more tubes, as I still have the old tube preamp and power amp mentioned earlier (Conrad Johnson), that I put back into the system from time to time, but have the BHK Pre/M1200 combo connected most of the time that I am quite happy with. The BHK/M1200 combo for me is both very musical and clean & neutral.
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I know you didn’t ask me, but speakers that I like tend to have ribbon tweeters. PS Audio’s future speakers reportedly (I know, things can always change) will have ribbon midrange drivers in addition to ribbon tweeters. This is the one thing that will tempt me to improve my system.
This is not to say I don’t also like speakers that don’t have ribbons, like Wilson, B&W and Joseph Audio, for instance (or mbl, or Martin Logan, or Magnepan). As soon as one generalizes something, one can find a million exceptions, lol.
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Me too…
Something planar or ribbon like.
I think their “dispersion” ability and speed sets the speaker apart when they are incorporated into a design.
My Anthony Gallo Acoustics Ref. 3.1’s have a proprietary film tweeter they refer to as a Cylindrical Diaphragm Transducer. I have had them for years and I am still quite enamored with them.
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The other major parts of my system are Tidal Piano Cera speakers (Accuton tweeter version, not the Diamond version) , PS Audio Stellar P3 regenerator, Luxman D-08u SACD player, and an Acoustic Signature Final Tool/AudioMods turntable. The Tidal speakers are revealing but not ruthlessly so I would say. I find them less prone to inducing listening fatigue with bright sibilant recordings than Martin Logans or B&W’s.
But I’m glad for your answer. Thank you. I’m also drawn to ribbons but that may have as much to do with the overall quality of the speakers they’re integrated in. I have a pair of original Philharmonic Audio BMR in the HT setup that feature the RAAL 64-10. Working from home a pair of Salk Supercharged Song Surrounds sporting RAAL 70-20 are my constant companion during the day. They both easy listening. Just to mix it up some the next set of speakers will likely be something different but the BMRs aren’t going anywhere.
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Thanks for a peek into your system. And another P3. Regardless of what the next system looks like I’ll have to consider this also.
Those speakers are cool!
Mine are a “box” (Sonist Audio Concerto 4, no longer available for purchase), made of wood but with a custom dark brown finish.
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I first had the M700’ and moved up to the M1200. The M700 was very good but the M1200 has more headroom, punch and more air. The tubes in front make the M1200 more musical. In front of the M1200’s I have a German handmade tube preamp, AudioValve Eclipse. This is a killer combination. I tried the BHK inn front because I though this should be better, but swiched back to the AudioValve because this adds more varm and feeling to the music. The BHK had great sound inn my system also but more analytical and neutral. I have Piega Coax speakers with ribbon middrange and tweeter so very open and detailed sound.
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Was your comparison to the BHK preamp made with the RCA or XLR connections from your preamps? I ask because I am finding that there is indeed a distinct difference in the presentation of the BHK pre depending on the XLR/RCA connection choice. I just received a set of RCA terminated Neotech NEI-3001 III interconnects I had SonicCraft make for me and the gestalt of the BHK is noticeably less analytical and warmer than was the case when using the XLRs. I had never really used the RCA connections because of PS Audio’s strong recommendation for the XLR over RCA but there is apparently more to the story than technical specifications, or so my ears tell me.
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