2. speakers
  3. 161474-89896

Looking for more detail in a speaker

Kind of a long first post but needed the space to set up my situation. 
I decided to do something about my speaker situation after demoing a pair of B&W 805d’s. One of the tracks played was Sympathy for the Devil. At the beginning of the song, a percussion instrument, either a guiro or cabasa, just popped out at me on the left speaker. I’ve heard that song a million times but never noticed that percussion instrument coming at me like that. I came home and played the track through my system, through my streamer and turntable. My speakers are Golden Ear Triton One’s. That same presentation just isn’t there like with those 805’s.
The GET1’s are certainly decent speakers; are they not designed for this type of detailed presentation? Is it my room? My listening room is a odd shaped man attic with a 3.5’ wall on one side with an 8’ wall on the other side peaking a 9’ in the middle. My listening position is about 17’ from the speakers.  I’m sure the room is acoustically challenged. Also, I have a long speaker wire run, like 40’. Does that contribute to the lack of detail? I figured out a way to trim about 15’ of speaker wire length from each run and plan to do that ASAP. I’m using AudioQuest construction rated wire. I believe they’re 14 gauge.
So, why not buy the 805’s? I’ve thought seriously about them but concerned they’ll be kind of small for my room. Seems like I need floor standers. I’d like to keep any replacement speakers at $4k. I have an opportunity to pick up a pair of Dynaudio S5.4s for $4k but haven’t made a move in them yet. 
Any suggestions on a speaker selection or adjustments to my room or speaker wire are appreciated. To sum it up, I’m looking for more instrument detail with good sound staging either by making tweaks to my current set up or getting another flavor of speakers. Thx. 
Ag insider logo xs@2xbfoura
dave_b's avatar
dave_b
3,159 posts
 
Diamond are forever!  Nothing does what the 800 series diamonds do...ethereal!!
pcrhkr's avatar
pcrhkr
276 posts
 
The room, the long speaker wire runs.  Speaker placement, room acoustics. A pair of Radio Shack speakers in a good acoustical room will sound better than $10,000 speakers in a bad room with long speaker runs and poor speaker placement.
nordicnorm
313 posts
 
I'm loving following the OP's speaker journey here!

You are approaching it very sensibly. It will only be once you hear a pair of speakers in *your* room that you will be able to tell how it will perform (although room treatment can help significantly).

You mentioned Martin Logan's. I find ML's to be very revealing and detailed. My audio buddy came over to listen to my system (ML Spires). He exclaimed "I've always read about reviews where they talk about hearing the individual notes and I never knew what they meant - until now."

I would advise you stay away from the Vantage and instead look for Spires. They can occasionally be found used within your budget.

Be forewarned though - ML's require at least 3 feet of space between them and the nearest wall.

Good luck in your journey!
cd318
2,636 posts
 
Some goods points here.

@pcrhkr

"The room, the long speaker wire runs. Speaker placement, room acoustics. A pair of Radio Shack speakers in a good acoustical room will sound better than $10,000 speakers in a bad room with long speaker runs and poor speaker placement."

Absolutely.


@ishkabibil,

"Your search for real detail will lead to listener fatigue!

Dont be impressed by a 30 second sound clip!"


A real danger.

There was a great comment (posted on YouTube by Hal Pearson) that I try to keep in mind.

He wrote:

"The best advice I ever got was to chase tonal accuracy and everything else will follow. Chase detail and nothing else will."
Ag insider logo xs@2x
bfoura OP
88 posts
 
Thanks @nordicnorm! One of the legacy dealers of audiophile equipment in San Antonio came by earlier to try and set up my Well Tempered Classic ( this is a project and another interesting journey). After determining he needed more research to set up the WT he asked me to turn on my system so he could give it a listen. He didn’t knock the layout of the room but thought my speakers were too far apart and urged me to move up my listening position. He also thought my long speaker run were taking away some the dynamics. He said the speaker in my guitar amp and computer speakers could contribute to creating subtle distortion. Interesting. He also moved the GE’s further way from the wall and toed them more. I could hear the difference right away. We listened to Yes (CD) , Afro-American AllStars (HAPZ1 server) and the Stones Sympathy recording on vinyl. Everything sounded better. The guiro percussion instrument on Sympathy stood out more too. He liked the GE’s. Thought they were smooth. Not sure they’re better than the 805’s. Looking forward to doing a side by side. He also mentioned some about my McIntosh 152 amp that’s been brought up before. He says the frequency range is more conservative on McIntosh amps than other designs so that could indeed contribute to higher frequency instruments not popping like with other amps such as the Gryphon I heard the 805’s through. So, now I may be amp shopping too, lol. 
More to discover