I realize that locating speakers in the corner of the room is pretty close to worst case, just to get that out of the way. Background: My family has a cabin in the woods that my Grandfather bought in the '40's, an now multiple generations of families spend time there, so it's a concensus thing more than a WAF thing. However, for practical purposes, the corner mounted speakers have worked fairly well for the last 30-40 years... I started with a Sansui receiver back in the '70's and upgraded to an NAD 40 watt receiver and Polk speakers in the '80's. We are the only people on our power transformer, so the power shouldn't be terrible. (I've just been using a TrippLite power block but might consider upgrading to a Furman PST-6.) The source is primarily a homebrewed Raspberry Pi music server using a RPi3+ and a HiFiBerry DAC+ Soundcard with ~ 20K flac files on a Sandisk SSD and the 7" touchscreen. Operating system is LibreELEC. There is a NAD semi-vintage CD changer for back-up. The speakers are on ~32 Ft of #12 AWG oxygen free copper zip type cord. We also run Bose 201's outside on the "B" speaker channel of the receiver. The room is ~24' x 24' x 9', all soft wood.
Situation: Lost a channel on the receiver at the end of last season, no noise, just gone (it might have made some noise when I wasn't there, but I didn't get any feedback). I suspect a blown power transistor, and I have the schematics, but I have not had a chance to dig into it... However, it has lit a fire to look at upgrading the stereo at the cottage. Because the corner speaker placement is the only thing that works for our situation, I figured that I might as well disregard anything with a rear port, and only consider front port or acoustic suspension speakers.
After looking at reviews and forums, the cheap speaker solution seemed to be the ELAC Debut B6.2 2.0 @ $230/pr.
If I couldn't fix the old NAD, I thought I might just replace it with an Onkyo TX8020.
I was also considering replacing that old zip cord with some welded end budget Belden speaker cable from Blue Jeans, the 5000UE to be specific.
For more money, I should be able to get a more resolving speaker, within reason...
That brings us to the NHT C-3 @ ~$326/ea.
or the B & W 685 S2 $700/pr.
And at that point, I would probably just replace the old NAD with an Outlaw Audio RR2160 receiver.
I would appreciate any and all constructive opinions on this but particularly about the speakers.
We listen to Rock Blues Jazz Pop and a little Classical.
I have been positively impressed by the NHT speakers that I have heard, but I have never heard the C-3.
The speakers in my primary stereo are B&W, but I have never heard the 685 S2.
Get speakers made for corner placement. Without a doubt, in your situation I'd buy Sjofn "the clue" speakers. Do NOT go by the Stereophile review -- the guy totally screwed it up. I and many others have heard these at shows and have been absolutely flabbergasted by how good they sound, and the bass that comes from them is absolutely unbelievable given their small size. They're designed to use the room as reinforcement, and boy does it work!
And I think the Outlaw receiver is a great choice. Onkyo has had problems with their receivers, so I'd avoid. Yamaha has been much more reliable and also sounds good, but I'd get the Outlaw. Best of luck. GET THE SJOFNS!!!
Cornwalls work for me. I bought a pair for $800 and upgraded the caps with new boards from Crites. They sound great in a corner turned in to cross at your favorite listening chair.
Older JBL C-34 corner horns (about $4000/pr used) would sound terrific if the corner locations work for you. And if you replace your amp, a lower power unit would do nicely. Only problem is .... these might cause you to completely tear apart your home system. :-)
Check out some vintage Allison 3 speakers. They are designed for corner placement, very clean sounding, and, if you like them enough, expandable by inverting a second pair against the ceiling with no space infringement to the room.. I forgot to mention they are very reasonably priced.
viridian: You raise a good point. Image stability and coherence are tools that I used to try to evaluate and improve my system at home. I found that if I worked to tighten up the imaging, the frequency response and impact followed along naturally, if that makes sense. I do not see me really listening for the imaging at the cottage, however I am interested in improving the frequency response and the impact of the music at the cottage. Best Regards, Bil
erik_squires: The last system I built used a Hsu sub, so I like their stuff. However their speakers all seem to have rear firing ports, which will be sub-optimal when actually shoved into a corner. I can remake the shelves so the speakers are an inch or so out from the back and side walls, but I am skeptical re: rear firing ports sounding their best that close to the wall. If you have tried these that close to the wall, please let me know how they sounded. Thanks for the input. Bil
Hi o-holter, There is a lot of nature to observe at the cabin, and I concur re: silence is golden sometimes. I also agree re: no sub at the cottage. Thanks for the input. Bil
viridian: I have found corner loading useful for mechanical amplification of bass. However, whenever I have looked for the best speaker location for speakers that had good imaging capabilities, that location was always at least one foot from back and side walls, and usually closer to two feet from back and side walls. Whenever I put these speakers right in the corner, the sound didn't exactly die, but for my money, the speakers lost half their value. I'm trying to avoid choosing speakers that do that. Bil
Hi Bil. My cottage is smaller, main room ca 15 x 24 feet. I find that the system plays best in the long direction of the room, placed on the short wall. Over the years, I’ve had several systems and speakers, including Dynaco speakers hanging on the wall above the listener. My home Bose 901s were tried also, but these need stone wall reflection, I have soft wood walls too, and it did not work well. I have ended up with a small tube amp system, a Ming Da integrated MC34a amp driving Aurum Cantus Leisure 2SE speakers. These speakers are more pinpoint, and require solid stands and space from the walls. Yet they give me the touch of music that I need, on the cottage. Do I need more bass? Well, I have it in my home system. I don’t want a sub, here. So it is a matter of the preferred listening priorities, also. Silence is golden, listening to nature’s sound, when I’m at the cottage. But some music is nice too.
When I would go up to my Grandfathers cabin (which he himself built) just south of Lake Tahoe in Kyburz, CA (beautiful country!), I’d be out swimming or fishing in the American River, hiking in the woods, climbing trees, or doing other fun stuff, not sitting inside listening to music! ;-)
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