Sound advice - how do you "drop us a note?"
Hi, great magazine. On the off chance that one's question could be interesting to a wider audience in the Sound Advice column - how does one "drop us a note?" - as it is stated in the column? Via the forum, to a specific e-mail address or something else?
So, assuming this this was an acceptable avenue to your Sound Advice column - here is my burning question: I have the Dali Ikon 6 full 5.1 system (the old one, not the mk II version). I feel the need to upgrade the speakers, but not necessarily the whole speaker system. I run the Ikon 6 front speakers from a Primare I30 amp via the preamp outputs of a Pioneer VSX LX 53 surround amp. Blu-ray player is Pioneer BDP-LX54, and CD player is Hegel CDP2A MkII - the latter feeding the Primare directly.
While the system sounds great for movies I feel that there is still more to be gained in stereo, ie upgrading the Ikon 6 front speakers. I dont necessarily want to get a new center channel, subwoofer and surround speakers as well if I can avoid it. So, am I caught in a trap by the current integrity of my one-brand and fully matched 5.1 speaker system and thus need to "settle" for the upgraded Ikon 6 mkII; or do I stay in the Dali family and look to ie. the (aging) Dali Mentor 6 as new front channels thus retaining some system coherence? Or do I go for stereo system optimization and consider something completely different like the KEF XQ 40 which I can get at a bargain £2000 as it is an outgoing model - they sounded great on audition. (I halve also auditioned the B&W CM9, but they lacked some sparkle and enthusiasm in comparison).
So to reiterate the question which I think may have some broader interest - how does one - or can one - reasonably upgrade an otherwise good 5.1 system such as the Dali Ikon 6 5.1 without replacing everything?
Cheers,
Geir Erik Gabrielsen
Oslo, Norway





You just did it via the forum, or you can email us at whathifi@haymarket.com, or post to Sound Advice, What Hi-FI? Sound and Vision, Teddington Studios, Broom Road, Teddington, Middx TW11 9BE.
All those contact details should be in the magazine.
Consulting Editor, What Hi-Fi? Sound and Vision/whathifi.com Audio Editor, Gramophone