You took away my first suggestion, Vandersteen.
Other than that, maybe Magneplanar 3.6, Soundlab M-3 or Quad 988 depending on how loud you want to listen and personal preferences. |
I'd go with Magnepan. I had the 3.3rs & they were the most revealing/most forgiving speakers I've owned until I got my Apogee Mini Grands (more revealing, not as forgiving).
I know it sounds like a contradiction, but I could use stock Adcom 555IIs on the Maggies, if I tried to use them on my Clearfield (Counterpoint) speakers with the Vifa aluminum tweeter (like Thiel used to use) I had to leave the room. Bright sound, way too bright sound! |
Acoustat 1+1 ,Xover/with sub,16/20 in from side wall and 4ft
from the rear. |
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Von Schweikert VR4GenIIISE |
Spendor. They make everything sound like... well Spendor
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acoustat ESLs, eveything will sound sweet (to a fault). |
will a fellow audiophool, please, explain to me exactly what "forgiving speakers" means. It sounds, to me, like a euphamism, for speakers that just can't cut the mustard, and reveal what fine speakers are meant to. Albert's list, obiously, has some killer speakers. What's the" forgiving" deal? thanks in advance. peace, warren |
castle,gradient,vanderstein,spendor,harbeth,ohm |
Of the 20 or so different speaker I've owned, the only ones that I truely enjoyed for old, poorly mastered Classic Rock CD's were the Swan's Diva 5.1 and the Fried A-6. My system is pretty revealing and poorly mastered rock CD's sound, well, poor! But, that's OK with me because most of the music I listen to sounds great on it. But, I do remember thinking that if I listened mostly to older rock CDs, I would be really happy with both of the speakers I listed above.
Enjoy,
TIC |
get an affordable tube amp - maybe a refurbished vintage scott or fisher - nothing sounds really awful through tubes! |
IMHO Boom box are more forgiving than anything else |
Often a speaker that is especially "forgiving" has a somewhat recessed upper midrange/lower treble region. This is the region where the ear is most sensitive (as indicated by the Fletcher-Munsen curve), so any coloration in this region is especially annoying.
The BBC-spec LS3/5a design was I believe among the first to intentionally incorporate a dip in the 3 kHz ballpark region for psychoacoustic purposes - now commonly known as the "BBC dip". It can result in what some would consider an overly sweet and laid-back sound, but it certainly is forgiving. Silverline (among others) offers several models with a significant "BBC dip" in the response, and they are indeed very forgiving and relaxing.
Maggies 3.6 and below are voiced with a broad, shallow dip in the midrange which serves to psychoacoustially balance out the lack of deep bass, and as a side benefit Maggies are exceptionally forgiving.
Also, in general a speaker with a wide radiation pattern tends to be more forgiving than a narrow-pattern speaker. Examples include models from Shahinian, Dueval, Beveridge, Sound Lab, MBL, old Epicures, and Bose (yup - that and a severe BBC-ish dip are Amar's secret weapons). |
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I have the most forgiving speakers in my system:
They've been dropped onto the TV chassis by my little son and they "forgave" him for that abuse and still sound beautifull...:-) |
Hey Duke,
Nice response. I liked your explanation and choices of "forgiving" speakers, I agree and would add that most of them in their forgiving nature tend to also be guilty of sins of "ommision" rather than sins of commision! as I once heard it said.:)..Best!--Ken |
I find Spendor S3/5 very forgiving speaker - almost always to sound very pleasant (some people may mistake that as polite sounding) |
I too am looking for the best speaker for this type of music. After much research I had ruled out the Vandersteen's. I thought that they were very reveiling of
bad quality recordings. Am I confused ? |
That was my experience also. A slight lack of transparency and a slightly rolled off top end but the upper midrange did not seem any more forgiving than others I tried.
Just so some can point fingers my system includes Musical Fidelity 3.2 integrated and CD player. And yes the VPI with a grado is more forgiving but I would like to enjoy my collection of 1500 cd's.
Also thanks for the answers-I think I might try the Spendors.
Ed |
Obviously it can't be a female speaker. |
But seriously folks...
I might recomend a good speaker, and an outboard equalizer.
Then carefully preset the eq so that you have the balance you want, but can still enjoy the speakers the rest of the time, with good recordings.
I think if you buy a speaker that will allow poorly mixed, poorly transferred rock, you will have such a poor product, it won't be worth owning. So outboard fix is the best way to go, IMHO.
Best |
Spica TC 60 (you can get them for around 400.00)
a good sub (@600 used)...so for a grand...you got a forgiving top end and deep bass for your rock. You also get WIDE soundstage and good imaging. |
I respectfully disagree that the Spica is good for rock music, IMHO. They are small, delicate creatures, that are articulate, first order cross overs, limiting dynamics, while doing exactly what Rich said otherwise.
Buy a good speaker, then, if NEED be, as I mentioned EQ the nasties out when necessary.
Someone said Vandersteen; that makes more sense,as they can handle rock and roll. This whole series is a tough one, since we don't know the volume levels you find acceptable, etc.
Right on Warrenh, forgiving, to me is an oxymoron.
If you don't want to hear it, don't play it. I completely understand the problem.
Some deaf engineer eq'd the recording, running them as hot as he could, so HE could hear the high end. What a mess.
Good luck. I still contend that for you to be pleased, you would have to do the inverse operation that the deaf engineer performed.
Larry |
the 60 is fine with rock..the 50 is another matter |
Hi,
The 50 used an Audax woofer and tweeter that did not like too much power. As a result, the 60 had a vifa tweeter and a woofer that can take much more power. Also, if you x over with a sub, the 60 would do just fine...unless you really like it insanely loud...cheers. |
