audiofreak Posted July 10, 2017 Report Share Posted July 10, 2017 If you had a pile of cash, say 2/3K what would you buy (vintage of course at that budget) to "upgrade", improve over, or in any way "better" the sound of the 1590''s. Really curious as I can't think of a brand or type (in that budget) that could do it. Opinions please. Can it be done to start with? How much money would it take? A good friend may be in this position soon. I'm saying just buy another pair of 1590''s or WHAT???? I'm really at a loss to recommend anything to even look at. ??????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidDru Posted July 11, 2017 Report Share Posted July 11, 2017 I absolutely love my 1590's. With that said, I am sure you could find something with that amount to up grade. Maybe a used pair of Ariel Acoustics since Mike Kelly heads that up and one would think those might be the natural evolution of the ADS line. At the end of the day, I am not sure how much of an up grade it would seem like, they do so much so well including reaching down into the lower reaches so that's not even missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiofreak Posted July 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2017 Pretty much my point. Looking for ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidDru Posted July 13, 2017 Report Share Posted July 13, 2017 My idea would be Aerial Acoustics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glitch Posted July 14, 2017 Report Share Posted July 14, 2017 audiofreak: L1590's set the bar pretty high when it comes to listening pleasure. One setup that could arguably "better" the L1590's is a pair of L1290's combined with a nice pair of subwoofers. This would give you the ADS voicing (that I assume you like) and addresses the disadvantage the L1290's have compared to the L1590's for the low frequencies. I paired my L1290's with a pair of Hsu Research ULS-15 MK2 subs. From a budget standpoint, a nice set of L1290's (shipped) would be about $1000-1200 and the ULS-15's would be $1500. I have listened to both combinations in the same room. The L1290/ULS15 combo has the edge on the lowest of the low notes. The upper bass is also a bit punchier. The L1590's have the edge with slightly clearer mids/highs that have a sharper attack. I'd be hard pressed to pick a clear winner between these two combinations. When I did my comparisons, the "better sound" was mostly a function of how the particular piece of music matched to the relative strengths and weaknesses of the speaker combos. Another candidate the comes to mind is the AR-9. There are also the AR-90 and other similar variations thereof. Maybe other can opine here. From the ADS line, I would expect the L980 to be a worth mentioning. I don't have first hand experience with this speaker, but from a driver specification standpoint, it should be pretty competitive. I don't think that anything "lower" in the ADS line would keep up. The L880's bass, while very nice, is a tad boomy and doesn't have the lower reach of the others. A L1090 & musical sub pairing might work, but nice pairs of L1090's are harder to find than L1290's. Speaking of hard to find, it seems like it may take some time to find clean, unabused examples of anything I mentioned above. I can think of other possible combinations, but exactly how they would sound would be too speculative on my part. DavidDru: I like your suggestion of the Aerial Acoustics. Which particular models were you thinking of? It seems like the 6T or 7T might be a similar enough to considered. However, I can't recall ever seeing these for sale used. They would have to be "used" to meet the budget constraints. Do you know the used market price for these? I've seen 10T's that are in the right price range, but they seem to be a different animal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidDru Posted July 15, 2017 Report Share Posted July 15, 2017 by all accounts the 10T would be what I would want, but I doubt I would turn down the 7T either. The 7 has the two 7" woofers compartd to the 10" on teh 10T so I would like to hear how the two compare and since my 1590's have the two 10" woofers...... You probably need to find a dealer to purchase the Aerials from or Audiogon or similar where the higher dollar stuff goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve F Posted July 21, 2017 Report Share Posted July 21, 2017 I've always found Aerial Acoustics speakers to be supremely uncolored and natural-sounding. Every model. I was particularly enamored by the now-discontinued Model 9, which used four 7.1-inch woofers and played down strongly to the low-mid 30's Hz region. Not quite AR9 reach, but close. The Aerial 9's went for around $9k/pr, but you'll have to look in the used market now. I think it's a very recent discontinuation, within the year. I e-mailed Michael Kelly and told him I had AR9's, would his Aerial 9's be a good replacement, especially in the low bass? He said his 9's wouldn't go quite as deep as the ARs, but he thought I'd still be satisfied and he felt his 9's were far superior to the ARs in mid-HF clarity and naturalness. He had a few left in stock and he offered me an 'insider' deal, which I still question whether I should have jumped. Now, Aerial has no speaker between their expensive TOTL and the mid-line 7. Steve F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stupidhead Posted July 21, 2017 Report Share Posted July 21, 2017 On 7/10/2017 at 11:58 AM, audiofreak said: If you had a pile of cash, say 2/3K what would you buy (vintage of course at that budget) to "upgrade", improve over, or in any way "better" the sound of the 1590''s. Really curious as I can't think of a brand or type (in that budget) that could do it. Opinions please. Can it be done to start with? How much money would it take? A good friend may be in this position soon. I'm saying just buy another pair of 1590''s or WHAT???? I'm really at a loss to recommend anything to even look at. ??????? without knowing what you are driving them with, possibly a component upgrade in the source would open them up even more? holy grail is holy grail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiofreak Posted July 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2017 Look at my signature as it lists my system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidDru Posted July 21, 2017 Report Share Posted July 21, 2017 I'm not seeing a signature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiofreak Posted July 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2017 I'm sorry I thought I had a" signiture" here. My bad. I'm using a Krell 250A and parasound hca 1500a,Perreaux SA33 Pre, nakimichi crossover, denon dp1200/ATOC9ML, Lehman black cube SE phono pre and the L1590 biamped. The friend of mine has the l1590/1 and is driving with Classes ca2200/2100 biamped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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