I just asked him. He says that he prefers the taste of good broken-in shielded cables much more than bare copper. He said that the bare copper wire makes his tongue tingle.
Here's a better picture of my setup with the B&W bookshelves. I had to put the Heresy's on pedestals to get them over the couch. The filled up the bay window and blocked a lot of the beautiful incoming light. Besides, they were a bit overpowering for the room. Horns are meant to be driven and at low volume you end up losing a lot of the subtleties that make them so great. My old place was a large loft style apartment in an old converted factory. Huge room with high ceilings, exposed beams and brick. The perfect home for the Heresy's.
All you guys saying ditch or train the girlfriend are likely avoided like the plague by women of substance. If you are using a tube amp eff must be high on your search list. Don't rush, the B&W's will serve you well. Looked at your amp specs, pretty stout, 40 W. Sensitivity in a small room may not be as critical as I first thought. I like how detailed the specs are, phase angle, output voltage, etc. https://www.thetubestore.com/lib/thetubestore/schematics/McIntosh/McIntosh-MC240-Owner-Manual.pdf
CatManDude (Greg) not to be negative, defeatist or dismissive (you know I like you) you might look into options: store the Mac stack and Klipsch, get a decent integrated to run the B&Ws and invest in a killer headphone rig for critical listening. Situations change and a future dedicated listening space may be achievable. Or wall mount the B&Ws on the long wall...
can you take more shots of the other 3 walls of the room? also point out where your listening spot is.
Room is too congested. You either have to move some furniture out, or find another spot in the house for your listening space.
Definitely looking at options to rearrange the room. Also considering wall-mounting the speakers in the outer corners of the room.
I kinda like the speakers where they are actually, although I agree the stack of equipment in the middle is ugh. As for the corner mounting...like @avanti1960 said, need pictures of the room, and which corners. I'd want the speakers symmetric to that window if they were on that wall, the window is just too huge of a visual cue. I'd be thinking about mounting something up high on the wall on decorative shelves, but maybe I'm odd, I dislike sound coming from down by my knees but don't mind it coming from above my head. That in-the--pit feeling or something.
I had put the stack there temporarily before I had a chance to move in the walnut stereo cabinet. I'll probably relocate the C28 pre and the power filter to the cabinet and leave the MC240 in the center of the bay window. It's too beautiful to hide away.
That is a tough space but it looks like the bay window or whatever it is has some good space behind the speakers. That would work well for a Devore gibbon 3x. It would be a delightful combination with that amp.
Or….take it easy in your budget and get a pair of RP-600m RP-600M II Bookshelf Speakers | Klipsch they really do sound very good and are just about (if not the) most efficient stand mount speakers you can buy. I’ve been in your spot before, you can’t just move in with a chick and drop a massive stereo in her living room. You will get there in time, look at these replacement speakers as temporary and a transition step to get her into the idea of having a nice music in a common area.
You can pick up a used pair of Dynaudio Special 40s for about $2k. Great speakers and work in my difficult space,
No, no, that's totally wrong! The black face of the speakers matches the black cat...OP needs speakers with a tawny colored face for best synergy...
Given your new home and room, have you thought about replacing the amp and speakers with a turntable-supporting music system like the Sonus Fabre Omnia (£1600 over here) ? Seriously stylish, Sonus speakers, 490w amplifier, space-saving. Built in streaming, supports a TV too, and according to 5* reviews sounds like stand-mounted speakers, single 65cm wide unit, and allows you to keep your deck if that’s important. No need for speaker stands.
Huh. I like my Special 40s but feel like they are not ideal for my room. (Good enough mind you… just not perfect. ) I think I would be much happier with them if I could pull them a full three feet from the front and side walls.
