General Speaker Advice and Recommendations

Discussion in 'Speakers' started by shotgunshane, Mar 7, 2017.

  1. sphinxvc

    sphinxvc Gear Master (retired)

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    I will go against the grain and suggest a higher budget ratio for amp than speakers, especially if you can DIY a speaker. Flat pack speakers are stupid easy to put together. Or alternatively, pocket the difference if you're not set on spending the full amount.
     
  2. FishCommander

    FishCommander New

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    Okay cool thanks!

    Well I'd like bigger speakers however, I have a small house and moving gear to the living/family room would be a challenge so I'm sticking to something I can fit in a 130-140 sqft room for now. This will likely change in the future but for the present, that's what I'm working with. I'll check out the links, thanks! I might be able to reconfig the room a *little* for larger floor standing passives.

    Totally makes sense, small speaker, small cabinet, low powered amp = compromises. I do appreciate the reiteration. I think I might head into Seattle this weekend and try to demo some used / new gear that I can find.
     
  3. ergopower

    ergopower Friend

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    How far away are you (your ears) from the speakers? You said they weren't on the desktop, but are they immediately behind or on a different wall?
     
  4. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    I'm also wondering if your particular listening spot is a bass/midbass dead zone.
     
  5. FishCommander

    FishCommander New

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    I used "The golden trapagon" "golden triangle" method (maybe I'm making up the name here) so that the speakers are approx 1.5m from each other and approx 1.5 meters from my ears. It's something like this: http://www.audiogurus.com/learn/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/speaker-distance.gif.

    I have adjustable height speaker stands that are on either side of my desk. There's about a ~12 inches between the back of the speakers and the wall.

    I don't think, and it doesn't sound to me like I'm in a dead spot but I will double check the measurements and placement when I get home later.
     
  6. artur9

    artur9 Facebook Friend

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  7. ergopower

    ergopower Friend

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    That's definitely nearfield. Nearfield monitors are designed for good integration of drivers at short distance. Other bookshelf speakers may not. My desktop speakers are somewhat closer, just under 1m. Currently using Energy Take 5.1 speakers. Honestly, they're pretty average, but being very small, woofer is very close to tweeter, and I like the coherence better than some other larger but better speakers I had. I plan on an upgrade, hopefully build something based on a full-range driver for that very reason. So close driver spacing might be something you want to consider.

    Being small is also gonna mean not much bass, so a subwoofer IMO is needed. I currently use the matching Energy Take 8" sub. It has a crossover so you don't need 2.1 outputs from the amp, a standard stereo amp is fine. Something like this does the same thing and is cheap. There's a 10" for $20 more.
     
  8. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

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    for sure, small speakers are a compromise. but in some situation, might be all one need to enjoy music ie: desktop.

    real speakers are not 5 inch woofers or 6.5 inch woofers. you need a decent sized box and at least a 8 inch woofer for bass duties.

    unfortunately, good speakers of bigger size dont come cheap. for your budget, your limited.
    Epos es-14 if in good condition would be great. reference 3 a decapo i would also fit the bill. you can find a pair used for around 1500$
     
  9. direstraitsfan98

    direstraitsfan98 D2Girls v2.0

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    @murphythecat hey murphy, didn't realize you were on here, I recognized your avatar as I'd seen it some days back. I saw you listed your harbeths, any luck selling them? I'm wondering if you have a backup pair of speakers you're using. whats the woofer size on the shl5+, anyway?
     
  10. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

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    my shl5+ are back on sale. I had a buyer but backed out and decided to keep them. im so dumb. I love them tbh, they use a 8 inch woofer, but im going back to school and need some back up money.

    ill likely downgrade to a pair of reference 3 a decapo that also use a 8 inch woofer. I also have a pair of genelec 1037b for the living room with 12 inch woofers.
     
  11. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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  12. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

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    What can you tell me about those? Compared to your harbeths and 3 way JBLs use to have.
     
  13. bixby

    bixby Friend

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  14. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

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    the jbl 6332 rolled off around 60hz, so hard to compare. also, ive never loved the JBL bass, it was slow. the genelec are muchfaster in the bass and coherent with the rest of the FR. it doesnt have the harbeth mid detail though, but much better bass.

    apple vs orange really. MAkes me wonder how is the harbeth 40.1... one day :)
     
  15. FishCommander

    FishCommander New

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    For sure, I have a small room so small speakers does make sense for my use case. In a bigger room I would definitely consider something bigger more appropriate.

    I google'd your shl5+, if I had the room... Nice. Thanks for the other recommends as well.
     
  16. FishCommander

    FishCommander New

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    General update:

    Thanks all.
    I went and demo'd a bunch of speakers on Saturday morning. KEF LS50, Dynaudio M10, Rega RX/S?, Focal Aria 906, B&W 705, and the Monitor Audio Studio's. I'm not going to go into a write up on all of them. I'll say though I did not like the KEFs. I preferred the Dynaudio to the Rega on the gear / room I listened in. The Focal's sounded bright to me and they had a (minor) dented tweeter which may have made things worse. B&W sounded good but I wasn't about to pull out my wallet and pay retail, no way. the Studio's were the easiest to listen to, they were hooked up to a tube pre with bloomy tubes and I asked if they could swap out for something different or a SS amp. The guy who had the Studio's obliged and I think there was a mid bass bump that was fun but I couldn't live with. Also, I was in a total of three different listening rooms with different sources so there was a lot variables.

    What I've learned the most is definitely that source and room / treatment matter, including listening distance from speakers and speakers to walls, size of room, etc. To that end I've re-arranged my office. My speakers now have treatment behind them and are equal distance away from each other as to the wall, and I am sitting farther back from them.

    The above helped.

    I'm still planning on selling my powered monitors, picking up a Vidar, just no idea what speakers yet.
     
  17. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    I’m not an LS50 fan either. Also find the Focal 906s too bright (and mushy bass too).

    Rather than the ATC SCM7 like @murphythecat suggested, if you can handle the extra size, I would recommend the ATC SCM11 v2 - you get a bit more bottom end - I find the 7s a bit too lean. And being a sealed cabinet, placement close to walls etc is less of an issue for sure. The 11s have the tightest bass I’ve ever heard, and should pair pretty well with Vidar especially at that listening distance. I’ve had this pairing and liked it (so much, I upgraded to the SCM19s).

    If you liked the Dynaudio M10, you may also want to look at the next higher up Excite (X) series. I have the much more expensive Special Fortys right now and love them (maybe more than my ATCs...maybe). Have also read good things about the new Revel M16s as well, but have never heard them.

    Edit: Have also read very good things about the Technics SB-C700 as well. Similar design as the KEFs with a coaxial mid/tweeter but some say it sounds better.
     
    Last edited: Sep 3, 2018
  18. FishCommander

    FishCommander New

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    Ya know, I had a chance to demo the ATC SCM7, or it could have been the 11 I forget but, I did see them. I thought they were more than I wanted to spend but I'm thinking about increasing my budget a little to give myself some more options. I won't pass on the chance to demo them again! I'd be willing to give the Technics a shot, I'll put them on my list if I can demo them.

    I think I can demo the Excite series, down the road a bit? Don't have a lot of time at the moment. Good to know though, thanks.

    I've been wondering about the JBL 3 way bookshelves. The JBL-4307 and the 4306 (which are two way), or some other model. I don't think there is a dealer around me that carries them unfortunately. Even the JBL studio series is becoming a curiosity at the moment.
     
  19. FishCommander

    FishCommander New

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    You were on to something there :D
     
  20. wormcycle

    wormcycle Friend

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    What is the impact on sound quality when an amp with a spec of aminimum speaker impedance 4 Ohm has to drive a 3 Ohm speaker?
    I know this or similar question was asked many times and I found some answers but..
    I have Totem Hawks, I really like them , they are 6 Ohm. I bridged my two Bryston 2B LP so they only see 3 Ohm impedance speaker. Some answers say that's not a biog deal, some other that this is a cardinal sin. Bryston support said that it is no ideal but they will survive.
    I set the gain on the amps to 50% and I never listen very loud. There is no clipping or anything wrong I can see, cannot really say if it does affect the sound quality.
     

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