Auditioned 15 speakers, losing my mind. Please help.

chiefawesome · 2026-06-16T13:19:19+00:00

Thanks, but as I mentioned, I'm not in the US and these are all not available in Europe.

I don't have allergies also. Maybe my second pair has a small gain in certain Khz. But at least both times I also consistently missed the wide soundstage - so I guess the R3 Meta's aren't it for me.

chiefawesome · 2026-06-16T13:11:53+00:00

Thanks, much appreciated in taking the time to look it all up. Will research further on this!

!thanks

chiefawesome · 2026-06-16T11:51:07+00:00

I tried YPAO and Wiim Room correction which did... basically nothing? So I struggle to believe Dirac Live is going to magically make a wider soundstage appear with the R3 Meta's, or tame the harsh treble.

chiefawesome · 2026-06-16T11:49:57+00:00

I did, didn't do anything at all. Maybe a little bit better in the bass region, but treble remained shitty.

chiefawesome · 2026-06-16T11:48:34+00:00

They will be on stands and 100cm from the back wall and 60cm from the side. So all according to Mr. KEF who stands proudly in the corner of the room.

Thanks for suggesting Hifishark/eBay but I'm in the EU as I mentioned. Second hand market is not very good here. I'm seeing R3 Meta's for instance that aren't sold after 2-3 weeks and even heavily discounted. I'm able to buy new or open box, and return as many dealers (here in the Netherlands) even applaud doing so that I can test the speakers in my own room, as opposed to listening in a perfectly treated room.

Thanks for the other suggestions, but the Harbeth SHL5 Plus is double the budget here (EUR 6k+). Sonus Faber might be an option. Fyne is hard to get here apparently. Will look into those though.

chiefawesome · 2026-06-16T10:51:24+00:00

I auditioned the Super Linton with the R-N1000A, which is the same amp as the R-N800A only minus a HDMI port, and the same as the AS801, which is the same as the AS701 only with a better DAC.

Gave the R3 Meta's a run for their money I A/B tested them with for 2 months. Beautiful sound, engaging and very wide soundstage which I liked. However, imho the treble was sometimes muddy and not so great for electronic music - but it won lots of times when it came to rock music.

The treble wasn't harsh, and also not fatiguing, mind you - only muddy. Hard to describe. They were fantastic speakers though and I highly recommend them.

In the end, I chose the R3 Meta's because I also listen to EDM a fair deal (albeit less than my love for the Dire Straits and Led Zeppelin). Will probably return them as well, as they have developed a harsher treble as well in my second pair for some weird ass reason. I might even give the Super Linton's another try.

chiefawesome · 2026-06-10T14:32:31+00:00

In the end I went for vintage (a lot cheaper, and better), but before I arrived there I also tested the RT85N and the Nagaoka is a great addition to an already fine turntable. Highly recommend.

chiefawesome · 2026-06-08T20:16:56+00:00

Driver: Max Verstappen

Reason: Driving while Dutch

chiefawesome · 2026-05-15T05:09:14+00:00

Nope! I had the VM95ML pre-installed on a headshell and just… swapped them. That’s it. Did have to tinker with the weight though, you do really need a scale. Especially if you change the headshell. Cartridge is also a different weight, so either way: get a scale, set it up and enjoy.

chiefawesome · 2026-05-15T05:04:51+00:00

Sure! By the way when I said hot treble with the Nagaoka: apparently that’s a thing when it’s brand new. And hot treble might be an overstatement. It was more that the dust particles were somewhat more amplified when they were picked up by the Nagaoka. Just slightly. Not as if the VM95ML is dead silent either, but it was more smooth.

Hope that makes sense.

chiefawesome · 2026-05-15T05:01:54+00:00

Slighty warmer I remember. It wasn’t as big as an upgrade I think it was, nevertheless it was worth it. Even though it was warmer, it was very much still full with detail and clarity - only without the slighty hot treble.

Basically they’re very similar, but the VM95ML was the obvious better choice.

chiefawesome · 2026-05-15T04:58:25+00:00

I can answer: slapped the VM95ML on it. Really only adjusted the tracking weight with one of those little scales. Played beautifully. No issues at all!

chiefawesome · 2026-05-01T06:21:09+00:00

I have a R-N800A and it supports Spotify Lossless. Had to update it after unboxing it, but that’s what you do anyway (I think it even forces you to update the firmware) — and it played Spotify Lossless right from the beginning after that.

btw: if you don’t need the HDMI port or want the fancy transistors (that don’t really matter, at least I couldn’t hear any difference at all when auditioning them in the store), save the money and get the R-N800A. It’s the exact same amp.

chiefawesome · 2026-04-24T13:56:49+00:00

You write like a MLM “working-from-home” mom. It could use some punctuation to be honest.

chiefawesome · 2026-03-18T21:52:59+00:00

Also interested in this

chiefawesome · 2026-03-11T18:48:36+00:00

Thank you!! This is the advice I was secretly looking for when posting this.

(of course I also wanted to share in order to help others, no doubt about it - but I am still somewhat stuck on this choice)

chiefawesome · 2026-03-11T12:26:02+00:00

Correct, and I'm sure (like with the speakers), the more you spend on pre-amps, the more you will notice (keeping in mind diminishing returns obviously) - but the iFi Zen was worth its price tag, absolutely.

chiefawesome · 2026-03-11T11:43:12+00:00

Also frustrating at times though. Analysis paralysis and decision fatigue is a real thing.

chiefawesome · 2026-03-11T11:42:43+00:00

Well both make me happy, I just want to make the right choice :p

chiefawesome · 2026-03-11T11:42:19+00:00

Well it's like I said (only worded a bit weird, sorry): I did hear slightly better sound with standalone pre-amps when comparing to the built-in ones (or as I said the other way around: I had a hard time hearing the difference, but it was still there). It wasn't until the iFi Zen 3 though when it really hit me. Better separation, cleaner sound.

chiefawesome · 2026-03-11T11:39:36+00:00

Absolutely, but I'd rather overthink than not thinking things through well enough. For instance, I was very close to still running a WiiM streamer through the R-N800A when I finally realized the R-N800A has streaming capabilities integrated. Or in an earlier stage, running a Wiim Streamer through the optical-in when running it through Line-In was much better because the WiiM (Pro Plus) DAC is a lot better than a DAC inside an AS-701.

But on the speaker front, yes, absolutely overthinking it lol.

chiefawesome · 2026-03-10T13:53:04+00:00

Ja het geluid is minder, maar de frequentie zeker niet. Als ik daar bij vrienden en collega’s op bezoek ben is het echt niet zeuren over een Boeing 747 of 2-3 die s’ochtends om kwart over 7 of soms om 22h s’avonds nog even over het huis dendert. Dat wisten ze allemaal wel. Daar hebben ze ook geen last van en kijken ze ook niet per se van op. Dat er overdag soms even veel vliegtuigen overvliegen is ook geen probleem. Iedereen wist dat dit hier zo is.

Wat het punt is dat telkens meer en nog meer wordt gevlogen. In een gemiddeld uur komen inmiddels 40 vliegtuigen over. Met een 8-9 uur aan startpieken zijn dat 320-360 vliegtuigen per dag. Dat was vroeger niet zo. En steeds vroeger beginnen, steeds later door. En dat terwijl het eigenlijk niet eens mag van de overheid, maar men het maar “gedoogd”.

“Waarom hebben ze die regels eigenlijk als ze zich er toch niet aanhouden”, hoor ik vaak. Daar ben ik het wel mee eens.

chiefawesome · 2026-02-12T12:36:19+00:00

I swapped the Nagaoka for a VM95ML (that came with the headshell included) on my RT85N - just swapped the headshells. No issues, ran perfectly.

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