Young audiophile metal head looking to level up speaker choice


Hello Audiogon,

I'm a pretty new to the world of audio and looking to make a signifiant upgrade from my first self purchased speaker, the Q Acoustics 3030i.  I was encouraged by an audiophile friend to join Audiogon and post a question regarding what speaker would be best.

I decided to pick up a much nicer amplifier last year, upgrading from a Cambridge AXR85 to a Rogue Sphinx V3. This 2024 I am wanting to make a similar upgrade to my speakers.  I wanted a more dynamic amplifier and found the Cambridge to smooth when combined with my Q Acoustics.

I have my own listening room but it's rather small 11ft x13ft.  I listen to mostly heavy metal/rock music at 70-85 decibels.   I have looked at been cross shopping the Buchart S400 mkII, Dynaudio Evoke 20, Zu DWX, Arendale 1723 - but have also heard good things about vintage Usher speakers..

Thanks for your consideration and advice here.

cheers

killingforcompany

Your Rogue has 100 wpc 8 Ohm, 200 @ 4 Ohm. I would look for speakers that are 90 Db + efficiency. Metal requires a lot of energy as it’s a "Wall of sound" and it’s complex due to all of the instrumentation all at once. It also requires a good bass response, bookshelves may leave you wanting more bass. My Son is a metal head and when he visits some times and I hand the iPad to him so I get quite a dose of that genre of music. His last visit he commented how intense that the music is when played over a great revealing and dynamic system. It was previously mentioned to try Legacy Audio Speakers. I you can swing it I would recommend the Signature or the Calibre. They are very efficient and thrive on heavy metal, hard rock music. they are very dynamic speakers and at 4 ohm your amp will drive them easily. My son is amazed with my Focus XD’s bi amped with a tube amp on top. I see some here mentioned the Klipsch speakers and the JBL’s. Klipsch can be fatiguing after a while with certain electronics, the JBL 100’s would play a little nicer with your amp IMHO. Upscale Audio had the JBL’s on sale, not sure if they still do. Steven Covey says "Begin with the end in Mind" so buy the most speakers you can so you save more in the long run upgrading. Good luck on your project.

I listen to primarily hardcore, punk and grind and my room is smaller than yours at 9x13. I’d recommend any room this small to load up on bass traps and at treat first reflections with anything you can afford. Bass bloat was a problem in my smaller room and after the $500 to fix it with bass traps the depth and detail of music really comes alive. Really, don’t skimp on this section. I made the same mistake as others and it’s definitely not the coolest or most fun upgrade, but the gains are worth it.

 

Speaker wise I ran Kef’s and was super happy with them. Detailed and fast. I guess it depends on the type of metal you listen to , but if it’s fast you want something that can keep up. I run focal now and am also really happy with the detail and speed. From personal experience you should be fine with any recommendations here. Good luck!

Heavy metal is a difficult genre to get speakers for. You need speakers that can slam like a mtfr, have significant sound power levels in the upper bass, lower mids, mids, no phase shift between the bass drivers to midrange driver...and so on.

For example, a Schweikert 55 works good for heavy metal, dense orchestra with electronic elements, etc, in larger rooms. It can be a wallet abuser without good deal on used, too big for your room..

As you come lower in price, the Borresen X3 at 11k/pair would work good for your genre. It may/may not work/could be pushing it on room size depending on how many other things you have in the room.

As you go lower in price for your small room...well...just bring the speakers real close in nearfield, about 4ft from you and get a pair of Yamaha HS8 powered monitors with the 8 inch bass driver (only 800 dollars/pair, very affordable!). Add a KEF KC62 microsub, 1500 dollars.

(P.S. The motherload of metal albums/music you listen to got done on Yamaha monitors over the ages. The HS8 is the newer "special" version after their hifi speaker guys and proaudio guys started talking to each other a bit. You should be in good hands.)

Metal Head here (and Jazz, and Indie Folk, and Blues, and Ambient...) Tons of great recommendations here.  Out of -your- choices, the Dyna are best, accurate and detailed but have more of a powerful sound than the others you are looking at.

Like others mentioned and depending on your budget: ATC would kill it. I ALMOST got a pair of the 19s, but they were just too large for my space (a few feet smaller than your room).

My vote is for the LEGACY STUDIO HD MONITORS.  Others suggested them too.  I have driven them with either a Rega Elex~R, or an Adcom GFA555 and honestly when paired with a decent enough sub (REL T5 or T7) these things really do rock, AND they are very detailed and accurate with great staging.  Legacy is used a lot by engineers and mixers in their studios as the Reference speaker and sound for what they mix. 
Personally what I love about these speakers is that they make me want to listen to ALL music---though they can rock, they aren't a one trick pony, meaning they don't fall on their face or are deficient in other areas with different music.

You can also customize/tweak them a little with the external cross over switches for the woofer and tweeter.