[wout31]

For the time being I want to hang on to my current speakers - they're old, but they were pretty high-end at their time and they have emotional value since they belonged to my grandfather.
It's a pair of BeoVox 1200 (https://www.beoworld.org/prod_details.asp?pid=435), they have a pretty low power output (15 Watts RMS) and 4 Ohms resistance.

Tim I understand the emotional value of the speakers, but chances are that the rubber of the (bas)speaker and most likely the paper of the cone as well are totally shot, giving the age of the speakers. They are early seventies, so 50 years old!
Depending on how they have been stored over the last decade or so the quality will vary. Most likely they stayed in a storage place that had no controlled temperature and with that no humidity control. That kind of conditions is fatal for the total of the speaker. wood, paper, copper, iron, rubber and electronics of the time.
Even if they were stored properly all the time, the capacitors in the crossover will be leaking. Only electrolyte capacitors in those days. Rubber always wears out with time.

So my advice would be: keep the speakers to look at and have good memory of your grandfather, but don't spent money to build a system around it.

Follow the general rule of Jason Stoddard, that you have to spend the largest amount of your money in a 2-channel system on the speakers! After that start looking at the rest.
Sure you can buy Ragnarok, Vidar of Aegir, but don't chose any of them to match the Beovox speakers. Match the amp to what speakers you are thinking to buy in (near) future.
Better yet, buy the speakers first before you go into pre-amp and power-amp choice. But whatever you do enjoy your music.

 

[Tim van der Leeuw]

Better yet, buy the speakers first before you go into pre-amp and power-amp choice

You do have a very good point regarding speaker quality, so yes I have started looking around at what speakers could possibly replace them. At least they have never been in storage, they went directly from my grandfathers house to mine.

But here's the rub: the current amp is such a low end thing (Yamaha RX-V357 home-theatre AV-receiver) that someone in the "Schiit Happened" thread already replied to my first inquiries, that this thing "really makes music unlistenable". And that's what my wife has been telling me since we got it, but I never yet could be motivated to think about upgrading since anything we would look at, if we would like the sound of it then it would instantly be far above our limited budget. But with a bit of Schiit, I might finally see a way to gradually improve the sound quality without breaking the bank.

But the crappy amp must go first. No pair of speakers will sound good with that AV-receiver-amp-thing. And when I have a good amp, I can use that as a basis for a speaker-search, and take my time for that.

That's kinda my current plan.

 

[wout31]

Sorry, wrong way around (IMHO).
Best is to chose your speakers first.
They make the biggest difference in sound signature and overall quality.
Go to a hi-fi shop and listen to different types and brands of speakers (even those you can never afford).
I think you then know what I mean how big a difference speakers can be.
If you spent almost € 1200+ on Aegir and Saga-S, your speakers should be at least double that price, or it is all to wast.

 

[wout31]

Have a look at John Darko's video

 

[terminatetrails]

The only thing I don’t like about Darko’s recommendations and reviews is that he often uses powered speakers. Good ones are pricey. I would recommend looking for the best passive speakers you can afford. Everyone has their favorites, me too, but there seems to be a general agreement lately that bang for buck goes to Klipsch. (See Gutenberg, Darko, Stereophile on the RP600M). I’ve heard a lot of the Klipsch line and enjoy them. Obviously there are other, better speakers, but they tend to be lots more money. I ran the Aegir with my RF-7 II’s and it was magical.

 

[Alcophone]

You do have a very good point regarding speaker quality, so yes I have started looking around at what speakers could possibly replace them. At least they have never been in storage, they went directly from my grandfathers house to mine.

Do they work at all? Since you have a working receiver (one that you're somewhat eager to see die, even), I would check that first. What speakers are you currently using with the receiver?

But here's the rub: the current amp is such a low end thing (Yamaha RX-V357 home-theatre AV-receiver) that someone in the "Schiit Happened" thread already replied to my first inquiries, that this thing "really makes music unlistenable". And that's what my wife has been telling me since we got it, but I never yet could be motivated to think about upgrading since anything we would look at, if we would like the sound of it then it would instantly be far above our limited budget. But with a bit of Schiit, I might finally see a way to gradually improve the sound quality without breaking the bank.

But the ****ty amp must go first. No pair of speakers will sound good with that AV-receiver-amp-thing. And when I have a good amp, I can use that as a basis for a speaker-search, and take my time for that.

That's kinda my current plan.

As the owner of an RX-V377, I suspect that's fair. I was using it with the Yamaha NS-SP1800BL, a 5.1 surround set that I paid $135 for ($180 for the receiver). Much later I got great headphones and wanted to enjoy music with speakers, too, but didn't with this system.

I thought I primarily needed better speakers since the Yamaha seemed reasonably powerful. Checking out the KEF LS50, Chris Livengood (with Audio Vision SF at the time) suggested there's no point with that amp. That spooked me, so I got a Vidar and a SYS, and used an iFi nano iDSD as the DAC. I tried them with the stupid little Yamaha satellites and the cute 8" ported subwoofer that has no phase adjustments or built-in crossover, just a volume knob.
Holy Schiit! Music! It sounded so much better already, I was shocked.

That initial comparison was so stark that I never bothered to try other speakers with the Yamaha receiver, only with Vidar and now Ragnarok 2. I probably should, just for giggles. I did use it as a headphone amp for one review, and it has that same killing-the-music ability there.

Generally, yes, transducers are where you should start, but at least my cheap Yamaha receiver is simply not capable of revealing a speaker's potential, so upgrading that in some fashion seems vital.

I've also used the Jotunheim as a preamp into Vidar for a bit, and a Topping DX7s as a DAC/preamp combo. Saga in passive mode sounded roughly the same, Saga active turns on a spotlight in the center of the sound stage that I don't want to miss anymore. Both the stock tube and LISST did that, but I stayed with LISST. The Ragnarok 2 as an amp, or as a preamp into the Vidar, has that same quality.

Since you're looking for something to grow with, I'd consider Freya S (or +) instead of one of the Sagas, it gives you more flexibility down the line in terms of adding another Aegir (apparently often a solution if it doesn't quite have enough oomph), or hooking up a truly balanced DAC. I still have to experiment, but Bifrost 2 is only "cheap ass balanced" (much like Chord DACs), so single ended into Freya S or Ragnarok 2 (Nexus either way) could potentially be even better than relying on the opamps in Bifrost 2 for the conversion to balanced.

In my case, an Audioquest Niagara 1000 made a huge difference in the sound of my speaker rig, but it only has one high current outlet. I upgraded to the 1200, which has two such outlets, one for Ragnarok 2, the other for my subwoofer. If I went with mono blocks instead, I'd need a third high current outlet... So the Ragnarok 2, being an integrated balanced amp, can save money on the power conditioner side as well, though I'm generally a fan of specialized components. Something to consider.

 

[Tim van der Leeuw]

Do they work at all? Since you have a working receiver (one that you're somewhat eager to see die, even), I would check that first. What speakers are you currently using with the receiver?

YES! They work. In fact, they are currently hooked up to that same receiver as alternate front speakers. The receiver also has the 5.1 speaker set hooked up that it came with. The receiver will stay for use with the TV.

The only thing I don’t like about Darko’s recommendations and reviews is that he often uses powered speakers. Good ones are pricey. I would recommend looking for the best passive speakers you can afford. Everyone has their favorites, me too, but there seems to be a general agreement lately that bang for buck goes to Klipsch. (See Gutenberg, Darko, Stereophile on the RP600M). I’ve heard a lot of the Klipsch line and enjoy them. Obviously there are other, better speakers, but they tend to be lots more money. I ran the Aegir with my RF-7 II’s and it was magical.

Speakers I've started to consider include Klipsch and Kef. Due the layout of the livingroom, and how full it is, I can't consider any floorstanding speakers -- they'll have to be wallmounted or on a shelf close to the wall.

The more I look at my livingroom though, and how I was considering to place the speakers for good music listening in the area where we most want it, the more I get a feeling though that even my BeoVoxen are too large and that I might just have to dip deeper into savings, and buy speakers right away that are smaller, and not too visible against the walls. There's a big pillar in the middle of the room that really limits our options for good speaker placement.

Froms speaker I've listened to in the past, KEF stood out as the most convincing but I don't recall if there was any Klipsch' in those showrooms.

What I have currently shortlisted as "should try to listen to" is KEF LS50, KEF R3, Dali Rubicon series, something in Klipsch's range of RP-1X0M bookshelf speakers, or perhaps something like the Klipsch RP-502S surround speakers since they might be able to spread the sound through the room better - but I'm open to all suggestions.

 

[artur9]

For budget speakers it's a good idea to listen to Wharfedales. Stereophile did a review of the PSB Alpha and really liked it. And there are always the Elacs.

I love the sound of panels so the inexpensive Magnepans are always an easy recommendation, if you have the room or don't mind shuffling them in and out. For TV use, they also used to have the motorized ones that went flat against the wall when not in use.

For really unobtrusive, I really like my Cambridge Audio Minx but there's no bass in those.

 

[Tim van der Leeuw]

I love the sound of panels so the inexpensive Magnepans are always an easy recommendation, if you have the room or don't mind shuffling them in and out.

Unfortunately the room is really cramped so I don't think panels are an option.

 

[PioBeer]

Anyone tried Tekton DI with Aegirs and Vidars? What did you like better?

 

[Tim van der Leeuw]

I ran the Aegir with my RF-7 II’s and it was magical.

Given the power requirements of those speakers, I presume you had 2 Aegirs in a dual-monoblock configuration?

 

[Tim van der Leeuw]

Sure you can buy Ragnarok, Vidar of Aegir, but don't chose any of them to match the Beovox speakers. Match the amp to what speakers you are thinking to buy in (near) future.

That is sound advise which I should keep in mind, thanks. It doesn't make sense indeed to buy something matched perfectly to speakers which eventually will go out anyway.

The more I think about it, the more I feel that a Saga is not a good purchase for me. I can better use the Jotunheim which I already have as a pre-amp. If I want a pre-amp / power-amp setup.

That would allow me to buy now an Aegir still that matches my current speakers, but since on paper it doesn't look like a good match with speakers like the KEF LS50, Klipsch speakers, or many other things, in a stereo configuration, I can add a second Aegir, for dual-monoblock, and the Jotunheim will happily drive both until I perhaps get a Freya.

Mind you, that's just one possible path, not saying that I have decided now on Aegir, just that it seems to make sense to upgrade that way, from some perspective.

 

[artur9]

....
Mind you, that's just one possible path, not saying that I have decided now on Aegir, just that it seems to make sense to upgrade that way, from some perspective.

That's what I like about this hobby, so many paths to enlightenment.

At this point, I think selecting the music you want to use for auditioning equipment may be a sensible first step.

 

[Tim van der Leeuw]

At this point, I think selecting the music you want to use for auditioning equipment may be a sensible first step.

Yes, I have already begun making that selection in my mind, and I will soon need to start actually putting some songs together in a playlist.

 

[unsane69]

Yes, I have already begun making that selection in my mind, and I will soon need to start actually putting some songs together in a playlist.

I will follow your updates on this, since I'm considering an upgrade of my speakers at this point.