First Speaker setup

Hey all. Looking to get my first speaker setup. I'm currently rocking a Modi 2 Uber/Vali 2/HD650 headphone setup and would like to get some speakers that can at least rival that setup. I'm not sure I can do that with my limited budget, but I'd like to try.

I'd first like to say that I may already have speakers and a receiver (for a cheap price), however they are in pretty rough shape and have to get them looked at. It is a Sony receiver (not sure of model) and a couple big vintage Advent speakers. Here are a couple pics:




^ Comes as a pair.

I doubt I'll be able to restore the speakers.

As far as price range, I'm looking to spend around $300 on the speakers. 2 speaker stereo setup. This will be used primarily to listen to music. The only floor standing speakers I can find that are in my budget are mostly made by Polk. Currently looking at these: Polk Monitor 70 Series II

I'm not sure what else I would need. I'm guessing I could use the Sony receiver, but is it any good? I'll be heading by my friends (who has the receiver) later and will try and get a better pic of the front and back.

I was looking at this stuff for speaker wire: Mediabridge 12awg

Will be using a computer (I guess this is where my Modi will come in handy?) and eventually a turntable as a source.

 

I was in a similar boat looking for speakers as an alternative to my aging shitty? powered monitors. For ~$300 budget and depending on taste I choose the Philharmonic Audio Affordable Accuracy Monitor. Currently there is a wait list, but at around $220 shipped, they are quite the bargain!

 

How do they sound? As far as my tastes, I'm not sure as I've never owned good speakers before. It has been quite a while since I've even owned crappy speakers. If I were to compare to headphones, my favorite so far is the HD650. The only two things I would change about them is deeper bass extension and bigger soundstage. The soundstage part I would imagine would be no problem with a speaker setup.

Deep extending bass (I am NOT a basshead though) with smooth highs (not recessed though, think hd650) without a suckout in the mids.

 

if you're not afraid of little DIY you can in fact resto-mod those Large Advents in to a solid pair of speakers.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index....esign-collaborative-econowave-speaker.150939/

That project eventually morphed into the SEOS horns from here.

http://www.diysoundgroup.com/plastic-seos-12.html

 

Depends on what you mean by "little DIY", ha! I'll take a look at those links and try and make sense of it. Beyond soldering some cables for headphones, my DIY knowledge is pretty low.

 

it would require assembling a crossover on a board from a schematic, routing a hole for the horn, and a little wiring, and depending on the condition re-foaming your woofers, which is easier than it sounds. If it sounds like something you might want to do, post and get some opinions I haven't followed that mods development in years but it is still active. I have heard some later SEOS horned speakers and they are very nice affordable wave guides not at all honky like alot old horn designs extremely good constant dispersion measurements.

 

I'll look into it, but I doubt it is something I will do for my first setup. I may work on it as a side project though.

 

I don't have them yet. They are backordered so just waiting...

 

I don't see the point of butchering a collectible vintage speaker like in that "econowave" project. If you're replacing the tweeter with the horn and building a new crossover, you're designing and making an entire new speaker system. You're just using the woofer and box from the old one. What's the point of that?

If you want to build a DIY horn speaker, just buy or build an empty speaker cabinet, or buy a pair of cheap speakers on Craigslist for the cabs, or a broken pair of nicer speakers, and install a suitable woofer.

If I had Large Advents the only work I would do would be restoration/repair work. Refoaming the woofer, recapping the crossover if necessary, and refinishing the cab or replacing the grille cloth if they need it.

 

Let me know what you think! I've exchanged emails with Dennis before and he's super helpful and nice! Your order should ship by the end of this month latest. I'm really considering his AAs.

 

What are some other speakers I should look at?

 

Lot of press regarding ELAC B5/6. I have the B6 and they have me pretty happy. Insane low end that retains tightness, amazing depth, decent width, and overall a warm smooth listen. If I were to be nitpicky, I would say that the mids are a bit recessed, and slightly rolled off highs.

The B6 is $280 and B5 is $230, but if you wait around on Amazon, warehouse deals has them for $50 off.

Let me know if you have questions.

 

Recessed mids, even slightly, is a no go for me. Rolled off highs would also probably be an issue for me.

EDIT: Does anyone have thoughts on the Polk Audio Monitor 70 Series II? Link

EDIT 2: Also looking at some Chane bookshelf speakers. Looks like they got an upgraded product line coming out later this spring. Great reviews.

I prefer the look of tower speakers, but it seems that I can get a better system at my price range ($3-400) with bookshelf speakers. These will be used in a moderate sized bedroom. Mostly empty.

 

Figured out what model the Sony receiver is. It's a Sony STR DE635.

Here's the spec sheet:


This a decent enough setup to get me started?

 

That's plenty of power! I have a vintage Sony too, and it works beautifully.

 

Great! I'm assuming I can use my Modi 2 Uber as a DAC from my PC, so I'm all set aside from speakers! The Sony even have a phono preamp built in for my turntable.

I can pour my full $400 budget into speakers then. I posted some ideas I found myself a few posts up.

 

Any thoughts?

 

i have no idea. only polk experience i have is the polk monitor 10's and polk sda 2.3's and liked them a good bit. just the sl2000 tweeters on my monitor 10's were bit too hot for my taste but, the bass performance was unexpectedly pretty darn good though. never expected a speaker with dual 6.5'' woofers and 10'' radiator to hit as low as they did.

i think best buy has monitor 70's up in the ht section. i know not idea set but, even being bout couple feet from speaker you can get an idea on how they sound. well i think so. that's how i tested my pioneer sp-fs51lr when i bought them over few years ago when they were first introduced and couldn't be more happier with purchase but, i gave them to my brother for his games....

on speaker wire...depending on speaker. most speakers really don't except any larger than 14awg really. even that is pushing it. do you know how thick 12awg is? pretty darn thick. your sony receiver looks like it uses spring loaded speaker outputs... those are defiantly not gonna accept 12awg wire. good 16awg is good enough and for peace of mind 14awg is way to go.. thicker is not really needed unless you plan on pulling more then 2400w or more continuously. just saying...

 

I can vouch for Adam A3X for your needs. Good clarity in mids and airy highs, not too boxy sounding and roughly in your budget.
Plus you can ditch the receiver.