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
4,974 posts
 
@mesch 
Speakers are imminent. I tried 20" stands yesterday for a short time, but since I was not having much of a problem with the bookshelves anyway, whatever improvement there was — was hard to notice. I will check again when I have time to really go back and forth.

@fastfreight (Ken) You mention the Proacs a bit 'boomy' with their ports - same with Focals, but plugging the ports cleaned that right up. Did you try that? I have no plans to buy B&W in my price class. The Revels interest me. Did you know they're owned by Samsung now? "Not that there's anything wrong with that," to wax Seinfeldian.
fastfreight
769 posts
 
Hi,  I did not know about Samsung...but that seems the way of the world.  Hopefully they will not go down the tubes, but I have my
salons which you know I love (Ultima 2 Salon 2's).  Where are you located?
Ken
hilde45's avatar
hilde45 OP
4,974 posts
 
@fastfreight -- I’m in Denver. Was going to my first audio show ever this Fall, RMAF, before Covid ruined everything. [Shakes fist at sky in comical manner.]
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,118 posts
 
I’ve heard KEF R3s and those are very solid contenders in the small but extended monitor camp for me.

I do currently run KEF ls50s in one room (with sub). Lots of leading edge attack and dynamics especially for the size....not the easiest on the ear at first, but really grabs and holds your attention.....very impressive within their limits once things get dialed in.


I run them off Bel Canto ref1000m Class D amps  (500w/ch to 8 ohms), same as my big Ohms and others.
jtcf's avatar
jtcf
1,617 posts
 
@decooney  @hilde45 the Quickies are up and running today and I think they are a fabulous match.Part of that is the tube compliment - Baldwin input,Gold Lions for both driver tubes and KT88s.Warm and flowing.No sharp transients but who cares when I can clearly hear the tone and substance(realness?).Bass is not taut but is dimen tional and palpable.Digital glare would pop up from time to time but wouldn't linger for more than a moment.I don't want to bore anyone with a long list of tracks but flute,brass,strings,reeds,piano,male and female vocals were all played today.Good quality and bad.This is also the first time I paired them up with the MicroZOTL2.The Quickies seemed to have more authority than I recall.Anyways hilde,this is just an opinion you can file away while you go on with your search.
decooney tomorrow I will try either EL34s or KT 150s out of curiosity,those are all I have.I will mention one song that I'm feeling warm and fuzzy about - Janis Joplin crooning Summertime.That will make your ears bleed on a bright system :-)Just gorgeous.
More to discover