Consider these: https://altaspeakers.com/celesta/
Alta doesn't get a lot of love on this site, but just read the reviews.
Alta doesn't get a lot of love on this site, but just read the reviews.
smaller speakers for critical listening?
I'm curious whether folks out here think that standmount speakers can reward "critical listening."
I know that may be a ridiculous question; of course one can sit down with Radio Shack speakers and engage in serious listening, and of course the experience is subjective for all of us. I'm actually asking for subjective responses here. If your goal is a system for critical listening, do you think smaller speakers can do the trick or do you need the bigger soundstage and depth that can come with floor-standing, planar, or electrostatic speakers?
I'm not asking which is *better* in a given speaker line, the small ones or the big ones, and I'm not thinking about $50k Wilson-Benesch Endeavours or the like. Before the pandemic I auditioned some highly enjoyable standmount speakers in the $5k-$10k range. However, listening for an hour in a store, I couldn't tell whether they crossed the threshold from "terrific sound for a small speaker" to pull-up-a-chair-and-tune-out-the-world bliss.
As you can probably tell, I'm struggling with my room; it's very hard to place big speakers in it. Otherwise I'd buy Maggies or Vandersteens or JA Perspectives, etc, and be happy. And, to repeat, I know that the threshold for critical-listening speakers is subjective. I'm asking for opinions and experiences!
I know that may be a ridiculous question; of course one can sit down with Radio Shack speakers and engage in serious listening, and of course the experience is subjective for all of us. I'm actually asking for subjective responses here. If your goal is a system for critical listening, do you think smaller speakers can do the trick or do you need the bigger soundstage and depth that can come with floor-standing, planar, or electrostatic speakers?
I'm not asking which is *better* in a given speaker line, the small ones or the big ones, and I'm not thinking about $50k Wilson-Benesch Endeavours or the like. Before the pandemic I auditioned some highly enjoyable standmount speakers in the $5k-$10k range. However, listening for an hour in a store, I couldn't tell whether they crossed the threshold from "terrific sound for a small speaker" to pull-up-a-chair-and-tune-out-the-world bliss.
As you can probably tell, I'm struggling with my room; it's very hard to place big speakers in it. Otherwise I'd buy Maggies or Vandersteens or JA Perspectives, etc, and be happy. And, to repeat, I know that the threshold for critical-listening speakers is subjective. I'm asking for opinions and experiences!
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- 99 posts total
@erik_squires wrote: "Anytime we try to get deep into the bottom 2 octaves of response the room interactions can be so detrimental as to make critical listening impossible." I agree with you that room interactions are the biggest issue in the bottom two octaves. Imo there are much better options that throwing in the towel on critical listening. No, I’m not talking about the technique whose users you object to in your blog - our preferred approach is not practical for northman’s situation. I’m talking about adjustability in the bottom two octaves. Without knowing specifics about the room and the constraints it’s hard to say what northman’s options are, but the Dutch & Dutch 8c suggested by djones51 will work well in a very wide variety of room and situations. Among other features, it has adjustability in the bottom two octaves. Duke |
" don’t forget to also audition small floor standers.. " Yes, this. Small stand mount loudspeakers take up the same amount of floor space and you usually get better low frequencies with a full tower. I have had my LS-50s in many systems and so far I don't see what all the excitement is about. The small towers like Triangle Antal do the job without the need for stands and less need for a subwoofer. . |
I chose stand mounts after listening to many towers -- just better and more flexible for my room. My Salk SS 6M's are 20 inches high and blend with my sub. I also found Fritz speakers to work well. Carrera and Carbon Rev. 7 Mk. II. The sound field is big, wide, detailed, and I find myself lost in the the music and never thinking about the speakers' size. I did a video review of the Carrera. |
- 99 posts total