Eugene
Identity crisis...
A tale of compromise...?
My ATCs are in storage (and have been for nearly 4 years) as there isn't room in either lounge or dining room to give them the space they need. Consequently, music has mainly been via Sonos (various streaming and vinyl through Sonos Connect) and while that's been ok, it's a long way short of what the ATCs do and I miss the scale and detail of their presentation. I've occasionally looked at finding smaller "proper" speakers (Elac B5, AE1 Active) as a proxy but they need stands and it'd still be tricky to accommodate them - so nothing's happened.
And then I saw Larcs on the System pics 2019 thread and wondered if they might be a possible solution, being fairly compact floor-standers. I'd always assumed the starting point for the "serious" Shahinian experience was Arcs, so I'd really not paid any attention to Larcs before - besides which, I was /am already a happy ATC owner and figured if I ever changed them I'd go for one of their bigger models. But there seems to be a lot of love for them on PFM (and elsewhere) with a few long-term fans, so I think I need to find a pair of Larcs to try.
Pros:
Compact/small footprint; largely unfussy about placement being omnis; not spiked so can be moved for listening or tucked away when not; relatively discreet and therefore domestically acceptable
Cons:
I've never heard a pair in the flesh and a demo is out as they're discontinued - so definitely a second-hand purchase but possibly unheard and a gamble.
My ATCs are active so the Larcs will need a power amp - so another variable/world of pain opened up.
Before I set out on a quest to find a pair, am I potentially missing any other possible and more straightforward solutions? I'm thinking whatever I go for, presentation is going to be quite a bit different to the ATCs but as long as they're engaging, I think I can live with that. I'm also thinking compact floor standers - possibly Larson 4.2 or (and here's a wildcard!) Royd Minstrel?
Thoughts welcome!
My ATCs are in storage (and have been for nearly 4 years) as there isn't room in either lounge or dining room to give them the space they need. Consequently, music has mainly been via Sonos (various streaming and vinyl through Sonos Connect) and while that's been ok, it's a long way short of what the ATCs do and I miss the scale and detail of their presentation. I've occasionally looked at finding smaller "proper" speakers (Elac B5, AE1 Active) as a proxy but they need stands and it'd still be tricky to accommodate them - so nothing's happened.
And then I saw Larcs on the System pics 2019 thread and wondered if they might be a possible solution, being fairly compact floor-standers. I'd always assumed the starting point for the "serious" Shahinian experience was Arcs, so I'd really not paid any attention to Larcs before - besides which, I was /am already a happy ATC owner and figured if I ever changed them I'd go for one of their bigger models. But there seems to be a lot of love for them on PFM (and elsewhere) with a few long-term fans, so I think I need to find a pair of Larcs to try.
Pros:
Compact/small footprint; largely unfussy about placement being omnis; not spiked so can be moved for listening or tucked away when not; relatively discreet and therefore domestically acceptable
Cons:
I've never heard a pair in the flesh and a demo is out as they're discontinued - so definitely a second-hand purchase but possibly unheard and a gamble.
My ATCs are active so the Larcs will need a power amp - so another variable/world of pain opened up.
Before I set out on a quest to find a pair, am I potentially missing any other possible and more straightforward solutions? I'm thinking whatever I go for, presentation is going to be quite a bit different to the ATCs but as long as they're engaging, I think I can live with that. I'm also thinking compact floor standers - possibly Larson 4.2 or (and here's a wildcard!) Royd Minstrel?
Thoughts welcome!