That is the best way to find out if it is worth an upgrade.
Time, Wear, and Technological Evolution
Hi, all. I only recently got into high fidelity audio more seriously, and have gotten my system to a place where I am fairly happy with it. The configuration:
SMSL DO100 DAC, balanced XLR to
PS Audio GCC-100 integrated, "control," amp output to
SVS SB-3000 subwoofer from the sub outs and
80Hz in-line high-pass filters and then JM Lab Electra 926 floorstanding loudspeakers
Long story short the high-pass filters and subwoofer are a room compensation configuration because I do not have a dedicated listening space, just have everything set up in the family room/home office, and the Electra 926s produce a massive room gain between 40-50Hz which I was able to overcome by filtering everything out in that range from the floorstanders and using my EQ'd sub to fill in the bottom end in their place. If I adjust the loudspeakers' placement at all, I will be giving up something in the uppers and mids, both in terms of tonality and imaging.
Anyhow, the speakers are house-warming hand-downs from my dad (who, in turn, had purchased them second hand from a friend of his many years ago) from when we bought this house back in 2012. They were not used extensively until very recently when my dad handed down his control amp to me, and concurrently I had begun to dabble with portable high fidelity audio (a separate topic all together). All that being said, the point is that the speakers are almost two decades old, as well as the amp.
So here's my question: do I just leave well enough alone because I am happy with the sound now, or do I consider replacing the aging loudspeakers with something more modern like, say, KEF's LS50 Metas (and continue to use them in conjunction with my subwoofer)? How far has speaker technology come in the nearly two decades between those speakers' releases? My primary concern being longevity of my current loudspeakers (will they wear out in short order due to materials aging?) or are loudspeakers fairly durable?
What would you do, if you were in my listening seat, so to speak?
-Ed
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- 22 posts total
IMO your really nice Focals would walk all over the Ls50s for rock and metal especially. If you make a change I would definitely keep them till you try out the new stuff. 20 years on speakers in my experience is not a big deal at all. I’ve had speakers up to 40 years old that have no repairs or recap and sounded great. I had some B&W 801 Matrix V2 for a while. They were damn good speakers, just super power hungry and were all original. Old Snells same thing. Maybe I’ve been lucky but have never one time had an issue with a speaker regardless of age. And I play em pretty loud. Current upstairs vinyl speaks are over 30 years old and they just flat out jam with my 50 year old Sansui! |
If you like the sound of the speakers I’d play with speaker placement first. Just as an exercise, try pulling the speakers out another foot into the room and drop the crossover to the sub to around 40-45Hz and see what happens. My guess is that 40-50Hz room gain may be greatly reduced and the sub will blend much more seamlessly with your speakers. And you shouldn’t give up anything in the mids/treble, and if anything your imaging should improve and soundstage should become deeper and more 3D. But that’s just a semi-educated guess, but hey, it’s free to try so why not? FWIW. |
Great thoughts from Soix and Mofojo. Even moving them 6in further from the wall may solve the 50hz boost. If the cones are showing age or dried out surrounds those can be repaired cheaply anyway. I'd focus on power cords and conditioning first (if you haven't already) to be sure you're getting the best sound from your existing equipment. Have fun! |
@soix I’ve already put quite a lot of time into speaker placement, unfortunately. This is already as far away from the wall I can go before it messes up the highs and mids. Thank you for the advice, though.
As a follow-up, the dealer didn’t have LS50s of any type on hand, so he loaned me a pair of LSX IIs to demo. CONSIDERING THEIR SIZE, I am actually quite impressed with this sound, but I’ve only managed to get some preliminary listening in. My current system is still set up, so I will try to spend some time doing A/B comparisons later tonight. -Ed |
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