2. speakers
  3. 158881-139155

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.


128x128hilde45
hilde45's avatar
hilde45 OP
5,015 posts
 
@lalitk I'll take a listen. Though I'm not sure how people make sense of a speaker which is through different electronics, in a different room, via a microphone, through my laptop and headphones. What of the original sound survives all that?
Taylor speakers have a try at home possibility or not?

@squeak I've heard good things about NHT but I'm pretty sure a tower with that many drivers is one main cause of the problems I've experienced.

@mapman If deconey found that there is "a ramping response at 10k-15k with a notable peak," then perhaps we have identified a really important contributing factor, at least in *my* room.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,389 posts
 
That would fit the bill. Also still worth checking impedance/phase curves for an easy load. Fritz should be a leader there and so far seems to be.

It’s seldom just one thing. Could be at least three contributing factors to various degrees 1) inherent speaker brightness 2) more difficult load to drive 3) room acoustics/low ceiling. Wires used could also. I think I recall some kind of power conditioning being used so I would assume that is covered for now.

hilde, is there a picture or some other more detailed description of the room here somewhere that I missed? Others responses lead me to suspect that.

Nobody ever said good sound was easy.....especially with acoustically challenged rooms to start with and sensitive ears.

Well, MC kinda insinuated that but he is special.  :)
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,318 posts
 
In his 7-series speakers, Fritz uses 4 tweeters.  The beryllium obviously in the Carrera; a less expensive Scanspeak in the Carbon, a ring radiator in the REV, and a Scanspeak Revelator in the LS (with Illuminator woofer).  I heard the Carreras at CAF; I'd love to hear the LS.
lalitk's avatar
lalitk
5,593 posts
 
@hilde45,

This hobby is all about the pursuit of perfect sound that best suited for your ears, associated electronics and the room.

As @mapman pointed out, Nobody ever said good sound was easy to achieve, it’s a journey to that pursuit and you my friend off to a good start. So don’t give up 😊
hilde45's avatar
hilde45 OP
5,015 posts
 
@mapman mapman, here is a diagram: https://tinyurl.com/y26272p4
In front of my couch is a rug. No coffee table or other reflective surface.
Agree, it's not easy. And notice, when I asked him how many speakers he'd had…radio silence.

@twoleftears  Different tweeters in different Fritz lines — got it. He sent these to me to review, so I didn't really choose these.

@lalitk  The journey is fun. Except for the part where I'm reboxing! (That's today.) But a $20 return shipping charge for $3500 speakers that weight 80lbs each, boxed? I don't know how anyone can compete with that. Still, Crutchfield has what they have and that limits things. (But not a bad selection, really — Focal, ML, Revel, more.)
More to discover