Can you recommend a good amp/receiver upgrade?

And maybe a dac...

 

I'm really good at spending other people's money lol

 

Those I can afford!

 

Sorry, I deleted my previous reply. I checked the pictures of the speaker and don't see any exterior screws. It seems you do need to open up the speaker from the back to check for drivers screws tightness.....Too much work and risks!

 

Curious, when adding back the sub, did you use the receiver to high pass the signals to your mains? If so, you are getting more highs because there is less distortion from the mains (by not playing the low notes).

 

The subs high level inputs allow you too high pass the outputs to the speakers. We set them to 90 Hz. Kind of wish we could have gone a bit lower, but 90 was as low as you could go, which I thought was a bit weird...

 

Maybe the OP can use the Sony STR-DE997 to do the high pass? That way there could be more crossover point options?

 

He's using a refurbished Sansui 9090 now.

 

I see. Yeah, lacking low/high pass capabilities was a problem for me when using receiver/integrated amps without bass management option. That was why I moved to AV preamps with bass management for both my downstairs setups. It helps relief both the speakers and the power amps from working too hard.

Anyway, I am not surprised that high passed the speakers improved the highs. The KEF is 2.5 ways speaker. The mid is playing all the notes from low bass to over 2.2 Khz. Thus if the mid woofer don't need to play loud bass below 90 hz, the mid woofer will be able to articulate better to 2.2Khz+.

 

Yeah, I thought it was weird that the midrange driver played so low. Seems a strange design choice, but what do I know? Lol

 

I checked out Paradigm Prestige series recently. Even the biggest $5K pair floor stander is 2.5 ways design. I read somewhere that Paradigm said the Prestige 2.5 ways work better for off axis listening, so it does well for home theater where not everyone is in the typical sweet spot...

 

I will say one thing. What I lose in bass management by using the sub with the Sansui, I totally gain in soundstage. I NEVER had any real soundstage (everything was left, right or middle) with the Sony receiver. I always thought the talk of wide and deep soundstage was bogus until I was at the dealer and heard the speakers totally disappear. Well, I certainly don't get the speakers to disappear in my place (the room especially doesn't allow for that), but I absolutely get a noticeably improved soundstage with the better receiver. So I ain't giving that up anytime soon.

Well, ya know, until it craps out on me in another year due to my rotten luck. ;-)

 

The first time I heard big sound stage where speakers totally disappeared was back in 2009. I was in dealer's showroom auditioning Paradigm Studio 10 speakers. The stage went far beyond the edges of speakers. Notes floated in the air. Yeah, it can be addictive.

I recently have a new setup (combining old items in a new way) in my living room and I finally got the setup to produce big stage with nice bass details and kicks. Really happy about it.

If you haven't try it, search for "sumiko" speaker placement method. It might help you get the speakers to totally disappear.

 

Soundstage was the beginning of the rabbit hole for me...lol

 

Or maybe I should say once I heard a big and deep soundstage, the rabbit hole got much deeper lol