I don't know if this will work, but here's a diagram: https://tinyurl.com/y26272p4
Speaker shootout update; aggressive treble eliminating some (fairly?)
I've been trying out speakers in a complicated shoot out, both bookshelves and towers — all in my home with my gear. I'm looking for speakers obtainable up to about $4k but could go up (or down) a bit if the right thing came along.
Basic facts: All speakers were run in at least 100 hours. Room is 27 x 14 x 6.5 ceilings. Powering with all QS tubes, 60w, NOS, tube R2R dac, and decent cables. No terrible reflection points; room not overly live or dampened. REL R 328 sub available but I did most listening without it.
Recent auditions, type:
Klipsch RP 600-M (budget singleton of the group)
Fritz Rev Carbon 7 mk II (bookshelf, 2 way, soft dome)
Focal 936 (tower, 3 way, inverted metal)
Martin Logan Motion 60s XTi (tower, 3 way, AMT)
Coming soon:
Salk SS 6M (bookshelf, 2 way, beryllium)
Dynaudio Evoke 30's (tower, 3 way, soft dome)
Let me speak just to the problems, rather than what was good about the speakers. So far, I've found the Klipsch, Focal, and especially the Martin Logans were all too bright — forward, aggressive, "turn it down" treble.
The ML's were the most impossible to tame and hardest to listen to on more tracks. (I did a lot of hanging of towels and other dampeners and other soft things to try to see if I could bring them to heel. I varied the recordings used. Changed cables/wires. No luck.)
The Focals were occasionally too bright; their bigger problem was a bit too much energy in my small listening space. They were better when I plugged their ports with socks.
I'm looking forward to how the next two speakers sound. The Dynaudio towers, I notice, are 10 inches shorter and half the weight of the other towers; not sure what that might mean, but it could just be right size for my space. I'm looking forward to seeing if the Salks bring more detail to the treble without also being too rolled off or harsh.
Hearing is very personal for physiological and taste reasons. However, if anyone has any thoughts about why I might be experiencing some of the phenomena I am (harsh treble, especially) based on my room or gear, etc., that might help me understand factors I'm not fully appreciating. Thanks.
Basic facts: All speakers were run in at least 100 hours. Room is 27 x 14 x 6.5 ceilings. Powering with all QS tubes, 60w, NOS, tube R2R dac, and decent cables. No terrible reflection points; room not overly live or dampened. REL R 328 sub available but I did most listening without it.
Recent auditions, type:
Klipsch RP 600-M (budget singleton of the group)
Fritz Rev Carbon 7 mk II (bookshelf, 2 way, soft dome)
Focal 936 (tower, 3 way, inverted metal)
Martin Logan Motion 60s XTi (tower, 3 way, AMT)
Coming soon:
Salk SS 6M (bookshelf, 2 way, beryllium)
Dynaudio Evoke 30's (tower, 3 way, soft dome)
Let me speak just to the problems, rather than what was good about the speakers. So far, I've found the Klipsch, Focal, and especially the Martin Logans were all too bright — forward, aggressive, "turn it down" treble.
The ML's were the most impossible to tame and hardest to listen to on more tracks. (I did a lot of hanging of towels and other dampeners and other soft things to try to see if I could bring them to heel. I varied the recordings used. Changed cables/wires. No luck.)
The Focals were occasionally too bright; their bigger problem was a bit too much energy in my small listening space. They were better when I plugged their ports with socks.
I'm looking forward to how the next two speakers sound. The Dynaudio towers, I notice, are 10 inches shorter and half the weight of the other towers; not sure what that might mean, but it could just be right size for my space. I'm looking forward to seeing if the Salks bring more detail to the treble without also being too rolled off or harsh.
Hearing is very personal for physiological and taste reasons. However, if anyone has any thoughts about why I might be experiencing some of the phenomena I am (harsh treble, especially) based on my room or gear, etc., that might help me understand factors I'm not fully appreciating. Thanks.
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- 299 posts total
Shorter good quality towers is probably a decent option like monitors, as long as tweets are lower. I would often suggest someone having brightness issues and willing to try something completely different consider Ohm Walsh speakers, which tend to be more laid back and seldom ever exhibit brightness. The maker voices them to sound like what he hears in his favorite seats at Carnegie Hall and having heard both, I’d say he does a good job of that. A pair of microwalsh speakers would be a relatively low cost experiment and the liberal in house audition period and return policy would help. I think the smaller models would meet the height requirements for your case. Just having a discussion with John Strohbeen at Ohm about your specific room might be insightful. He tends to have a great focus of getting the right speakers into each person's unique room. Here are the stands I use with my small monitors in my wife’s acoustically challenged sun-room: https://www.guitarcenter.com/IsoAcoustics/ISO-130-Isolation-Stands-for-Studio-Monitors-Pair-1500000214884.gc?cntry=us&source=4WWRWXML&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=%5BADL%5D%20%5BGC%5D%20%5BLIA%5D%20%5BCurbside%20Pickup%5D%20-%20(Accessories%20-%20Studio%20Furniture)%20-%20%7BMQ%7D&utm_term=4578297733882292&utm_content=%5BLIA%5D%20Accessories%20-%20Studio%20Furniture%20(GC)&adlclid=ADL-9b30c280-0ba8-4008-9e9c-778a263ac543 Low, inexpensive and very effective. Can be tilted upwards slightly if needed. Just make sure you get the right size for any particular monitor. Also an amp may be up to the task of driving harder load speakers, but they will still distort less and perform their best with an easy load, which puts you in the best place you can be to help take that factor out of things. That’s typically where the Fritz excel. |
@mapman Thanks. I'm saving the page for those stands. Your point about amps not being taxed to do the work (even if they're up to the challenge) is good advice and I'll factor it in. I was very interested in Ohm for a while. (Kept seeing them on the Bosch TV show.) A lot of places that have home trial seem great but will cost more than a few $$ for return shipping. I tried the Martin Logans from Crutchfield rather than Music Direct or Audio Advisor because Crutchfield is free shipping to me and $10/speaker (I kid you now) for the return. Music Direct/Audio Advisor those speakers would be about $250 to ship back. |
I went through many speakers. Vienna acoustics use quality tweeters that offer exceptional resolution without being sibilant or ever sounding harsh. the Beethovens are hard to beat at the price.. Revel speakers didn't sound bright and are probably a great choice for ht. Kef can sound bright with the wrong amp. Usher was a great experience and I love meridian. The affordable Dynaudio's don't use the esotar tweeter and won't sound as resolving, but they make up for it in the bass. |
- 299 posts total