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Thread: Tips for selecting speakers... |
    
Bronze Member Username: Wasserman12
Post Number: 21
Registered: Jul-06
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| Posted on Friday, November 10, 2006 - 11:08 am: |
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I'm wondering what particular factors I should consider when selecting a pair of speakers. I can describe my equipment, however, as far as type of music is concerned, my taste is too far-ranging to really have a constructive influence on the decision; however, if it will help I can provide a basic description. I guess its safe to say I listen primarily to jazz, 60's and 70's rock and what is generally described as "contemporary classical" and mid century classical.
My system is-
Receiver: Luxman R-115
Turntable: Linn Axis with Basik Arm and Grado Cartridge
CD Player: NAD C 540
I use the turntable far more often the the NAD.
Right now I have some cheap KLH speakers. I'm looking for "bookshelf" size speakers.
Any suggestions, not necessarliy for particular speakers, but what I should consider?
I got all of this equipment for a grand total of $200. (craigslist is pretty amazing) I point this out only to illustrate that I didn't select these pieces with a deliberate design in mind, and that I almost never buy things new. finally, I'm not an audiophile, but I am a musician and a sensitive (or neurotic) listener. I probably would be an audiophile if I could afford it.
Any help will be greatly appreciated-
Thanks |
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Silver Member Username: Stefanom
Silver Spring,
MD
United States
Post Number: 242
Registered: Apr-06
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| Posted on Friday, November 10, 2006 - 11:15 am: |
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Perhaps some older cheap KLH speakers? They used to make decent stuff back in the day. |
Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigne
Dallas,
TX
Post Number: 9334
Registered: May-04
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| Posted on Friday, November 10, 2006 - 04:36 pm: |
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.
http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=how%20to%20audition%20loudspeakers |
Bronze Member Username: Gavdawg
Post Number: 15
Registered: Nov-06
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| Posted on Tuesday, November 21, 2006 - 01:19 pm: |
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I myself like a speaker with a warm and fluid midrange, bass that is there, but not artificially tight. If a designer tightens the bass too much, it will take the wooden quality of an upright string bass, and wring it dry. I will take a speaker with an ever so slight hint of fatness to one that is on the thin side.
for the treble, I like a speaker that is relaxed, yet airy. My preference is all over the table, so I like a speaker that can play it all. |
Bronze Member Username: Rysa3
Houston, Texas
Post Number: 35
Registered: Nov-06
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| Posted on Wednesday, November 22, 2006 - 12:01 am: |
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General stuff- find a pair that makes your hair stand on end in a good way. Also, I believe in finding decent speakers that can be driven easily as far as power. It makes it much easier to get the best from them without getting caught so easily down the undertow of needing to upgrade everything to get "10%" better sound quality and such.
I prefer to audition speakers on a consistent group of CDs or vinyl that I like or am familair with, or material that I have seen performed live. Are the musicians in the room? Or is the equipment in the way?
My rec for somewhere in your budget vicinity? Is it AScend 170s? ( Nope) Axiomt22ti ( Nope)..perhaps a paradigm or polk offering? ( nada)--but g-head and give em all a listen!
My vote is for the entry level bookshelfs from a French company called Highland Audio-- can get em shipped from Quebec. Maybe they will be at CES again this year in Janaury in Vegas. A suprisingly pleasant surprise for smaller budgets! |
Gold Member Username: Nuck
Post Number: 4633
Registered: Dec-04
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| Posted on Wednesday, November 22, 2006 - 05:00 am: |
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Eugene, what you should consider is your room. Your listening environment has more to do with the sound than we might imagine.
Any purchase you consider will ideally be auditioned in your home.
Then punch up 'speaker placement' and prepare to move the speakers around quite a bit. Speakers made of granite are inconvenient to this exercise. |
Bronze Member Username: Rysa3
Houston, Texas
Post Number: 36
Registered: Nov-06
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| Posted on Wednesday, November 22, 2006 - 06:33 am: |
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" A Good Room can never make bad speakers sound good"
hehe. |
Bronze Member Username: Rysa3
Houston, Texas
Post Number: 37
Registered: Nov-06
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| Posted on Wednesday, November 22, 2006 - 06:34 am: |
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However, auditioning in the inteneded listening environment is preferable to be sure. |
Bronze Member Username: Gavdawg
Post Number: 18
Registered: Nov-06
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| Posted on Wednesday, November 22, 2006 - 08:30 am: |
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very much agreed... I just listed my own personal preferences.
Listening in your own room is highly reccomended.
However, a modestly priced rig in a good room will sound better than a more accurate system in a poor room.
I myself believe that you need to get the room correct for serious listening as a priority, because it can never be removed from the equation. This is why I am as of right now not using a subwoofer on my maggie MMGs. The nodes are excited too much.
now... back on topic lol |
Silver Member Username: Cheapskate
Post Number: 543
Registered: Mar-04
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| Posted on Friday, November 24, 2006 - 03:40 am: |
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the BEST thing to do is to just LISTEN to a wide variety of speakers to find out EXACTLY what YOUR audio priorities are.
the very first time ANY speaker got ME excited was my friends tiny acoustic suspension infinity minimononitors. they had NO bass extension whatsoever, but the bass that WAS there was super fast and resonance free, THAT was why i hated all those big bloated $2,000 speakers i'd heard before! their woofers were too slow and the ported units were just distortion boxes.
those tiny $100 2 ways with 5 1/4" woofers did everything right that the bigger units couldn't as well as imaged like crazy which is another thing tiny speakers excel at.
MANY people despise acoustic suspension and minimonitors on the other hand because they crave scale and weight so big loud speakers are their thing.
there are no rights or wrongs with audio... just specific sets of compromises. don't trust ANYONE but yourself when trying to find perfect gear. someone with exact opposite priorities to yours might recommend the worst sounding system in the world to you.
go out and audition gear yourself. find out what YOU like and what you hate. audio is a VERY polarized field.
for me... hearing the much higher speeds that small acoustic suspension woofers are capable of as well as the imaging they can provide was EXACTLY the thing that i found lacking in everything i'd heard before once i experienced it (although planars can do the speed and clarity thing even better i found out later)
with so many adjectives to throw around... speed, detail, extension, weight, scale, imaging, dynamics, volume, & low level linearity, it's very tough to find the perfect speakers FOR YOU until you train your ears to the the things that matter most to you.
a total scale and dynamics fan would hate my tiny superzeros just as much as i hate their big sloppy klipsh horns.
what rubs YOU the wrong way? |
Bronze Member Username: Wasserman12
Post Number: 24
Registered: Jul-06
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| Posted on Monday, November 27, 2006 - 12:49 pm: |
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budget minded-
I assume you're referring to the NHT superzeros? How big of a room do you use them in? What, if any, subwoofer do you use in conjunction with them? What amp/receiver? |
Bronze Member Username: Wasserman12
Post Number: 25
Registered: Jul-06
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| Posted on Monday, November 27, 2006 - 12:51 pm: |
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i just auditioned a pair- and while I thought they sounded great, within their range, the lack of bass is sort of prohibitive. |
