 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
68.119.15.100
It is a long story, but after many years we are leaving our area and moving to the west side of the state. This means selling our 2600 SQF home, and living in an apartment for at least a year, perhaps two.
This means radical changes to the stereo hobby, and requiring a new way to set up and listen to audio.
The deal is I will have room for two three low boy racks on the wall. And the speakers need to be located on each side, and I can get them about 8 feet apart at most. They can come no farther into the room than the front of the rack, which are 18 inches deep. The listening chair is going to be a max of 8 feet way, more like 7 feet between me and the speakers. This is the only location possible in this apartment.
My current gear uses an Electra Print 300 Custom amplifier that is good for 8 WPC. But my speakers are Hawthorne Audio Trio on open baffles, and currently have the 4 feet of the front wall. I do not see them working in this current application, especially since the wall is a shared wall with the next apartment. Now I have a F6 clone that is having a few things changed on it as it underwent shipping damage, and that amp more than likely will take the place of the EP amp. This gives me 30 WPC of power, so should open my speaker choice up some.
It has been a long long time since I used any conventional speakers, especially ones that were designed to be placed near a front wall. As I recall from the way back machine there were certain Linn, Mission, and other Brit speakers that were designed this way.
Does anyone know of others that might fit the bill?
As a side note I could also free up some room by moving to a laptop for CD storage, although my preferred DAC does not have USB input. Has anyone used the Gustard USB/SPDIF converter and had positive results? I am truly satisfied with this DAC so swapping it out is really not an option. Actually it sounds very nice with my EAD T1000 transport, but this has more to do with conserving space and not having my CD collection clutter up the living room.
Regards
Mister Pig
Follow Ups:
My listening room is 11ft wide x 14ft long, and I am using a pair of Focal 806V with Focal S-700 stands that bolt under the speaker. I have paired them with a SS integrated that's putting out 58WPC and a tube integrated putting out 40WPC. You really need to audition these in your new apartment.
With tubes or SS, I have experienced a holographic 3D texture that I never have before. They are 8Ohms with 90dB sensitivity. My audio system is on a 4x2 Expedit, and I have the speakers out flush with the Expedit. These have been the best natural sounding speaker I have ever owned.
Music Direct has these in stock, and you can bring a pair home for 60 days to see how they perform. I'm sure you will be amazed at how good these speakers are for the money.
nothing more needs saying
I have only lived in an apartment, and gone through a few speakers trying to find one that works.
I wound up with Klein and Hummel O300's (subsequently bought by Sennheiser and under the Neumann moniker now). Their current equivalent is the Neumann KH310.
Professional monitoring/mastering speakers are designed for your size of space and placement. They have the added benefit of targeting a different audience than the home audio crowd, resulting in incredible bang for your buck pricing compared to home audio.
If you move to powered monitors, you are getting amplification that is designed to work directly with the speaker. At audio shows, I have asked several of the most respected home audio speaker designers if they would prefer to make an active design, and all of them have answered that they would love to design an active speaker and could deliver a better product doing so, but since high end home audio consumers do not have an interest in powered speakers, they cannot build one.
There are passive professional monitors designed for your use case that you might consider if making the transition to powered monitors would be too disruptive. ATC, JBL, PMC, and Amphion come to mind.
The passive KEF LS50 is quite nice, and worth considering as well.
Good luck with the transition, I am certain you will be able to find something that you enjoy.
I agree with the Harbeth P3ESR suggestion. An economical alternative is the Rega RS1. Both do pretty well with near wall placement in small to medium rooms. The Harbeths are really great.
I'm glad I made the switch to pure acoustic playback. It's compact, too.
How about the NHT Classic 3's? Sensitivity might be an issue, but they should fill the bill.
____
"The blues ain't nothin' but a low-down shakin' chill. If you never had 'em, children, I sure hope you never will"
Eddie J. "Son" House
I have a pair of these in the living room, 10 inches out from the front wall, driven by a Nuforce Icon amp (24 watts/ch).
They sound very nice (really!), despite the ridiculously low price they go on sale for at Fry's (I got mine for $100 / pair).
I am assuming that you want a speaker that doesn't cost a lot since this is a temporary measure. May I suggest the Wharfdale Denton 80th anniversary stand mount.$500.00. They sound great, have a full bodied sound for a small speaker and would suit a 30 watt amp just fine.
depending on exactly how much space you will have, what you want , WAF, and your budget.
Damn efficient, fairly easy to place, immpressive bass for the size and best of all? GREAT sound!
"Once this was all Black Plasma and Imagination" -Michael McClure
Thanks for the thoughts and suggestions all. Yes this is an upstairs apartment, and the front wall is a shared wall with the person next to us.
The small British and Euro speakers seem like a safe bet. Actually a lower sensitivity speaker might work out better in this application as I won't have to worry about large dynamic swings getting the sound too loud.
I think a small form factor floorstander might be the easiest speaker to place and have it be safe. This wall has the front door adjacent to the speakers, so you you have to walk past the one speaker to enter the living room. A stand mount would be far easier to knock off its perch, and the results could be horrific.
I have wondered about the newer generation Totem speakers, and how they could function in this environment. From what I can tell they have a bit softer voicing that might be easier to live with in a semi near field listening arrangement. Although a speaker with controlled directivity on the tweeter could perhaps thrive in this environment, especially if the crossover point is a bit lower. Since the speaker is going to be located near the wall, what i don't want is substantial bass response, as that might create problems with the apartment next door.
Guess I should start considering what to do with my Hawthorne Trio's......
Regards
Mister Pig
The small active ones are amazing near field monitors. Might be just the ticket.
They do not sound like boxes. Given your current speakers this may be attractive. I think they would be OK with the placement you describe. Your 30 wpc amp may be a little under powered, but in an apartment it may be acceptable.
Agree on the ohms plus you can try them a t home for a month an see if the 30w works for you
I would also add that as posted by others, rega and audio note are also designed to be close to the wall and corners respectively. Finally, I also use L35a which do well close to a wall but do better with a bit of room.
In any event, I would give the ohms a free 30 day trial. IMHO a very underrated brand
Mine are happy near the wall.
-reub
Audio Note E, J, K, AZ Three or AX Two - all fit the bill - all are designed for near wall or corners - all are happy with 7 watts per channel.
Priced from $1k - $210k depending on the models. I have owned 4 of the 5 and still own 3 of the 5 and my next speaker will be one of them as well.
As someone who lives in an apartment it's difficult to give up quality but I don't think you give up much with these.
The AN's have live cabinet with an open quick quality that should give much if anything to OB's - the AN's will have significant bass however so the bigger models may be overpowering.
Another nice line is Tannoy Prestige Series - they are not too big and will work in corners as well. But more $$ than ANs and not as easy to drive. These have a nice open clear sound with solid bass and quite nice musically. Not big. While they're floorstanders - they should be put on stands IMO for better results.
Remember though that in a smaller space you don't need piles of power with most speakers.
The AN J/D at $3950 is IMO the speaker to beat at the price but a bit boring looking. I've had mine for 12 years now.
I would agree with RGA. I had the AN-E's and AX-2 Sigs in house for a bit many years ago and I really enjoyed them. If this is only temporary, the AX-2s would be a great choice. Very musical, indeed.
I would also agree with the small Merlin's, but I found them wanting with 8 watts.
Good subject. I am in a similar circumstance. About headphones, I agree that unless you really like using them, there is no point. In my apartment, the back of the speaker has to be 12 inches from the wall which made my very nice GMA Europa's sound very boomy. They should be pulled out at least three feet and really need a bigger room than my 12 x 17 size. However, plugging the port worked wonders, really. Now, I'm very happy. At 89 db sensitivity, 8 watts would be plenty for me. Besides, I can't really turn them up due to the neighbors, but I enjoy them a lot. So, I am keeping my speakers.
However, if I were buying speakers, I would go with a sealed box or something specifically made for being near a wall. Or with bass that rolls off high, that is, sounds lacking in bass while in a large room. On the other hand, if bass response is +/- 3 db to about 50 Hz, unless the response is due to being near a wall, then its bass will sound bloated and overbearing in a smaller room, and I doubt you would be happy.
The Prisma has the placement option and sensitivity you seek.
I've never actually heard a set, but they were designed specifically for placement against a wall. Very well reviewed too.
A two way sealed British monitor is your safest bet. The Harbeth P3ESR or the Spendor 3/5 would fit the bill. I've owned both and they are great when you have limited real estate!
You could consider a pair of DeVore Gibbon 88s or a used pair of the Gibbon Super 8s. I used them (Super 8s) in an apartment and have heard them work extremely well close to a front wall. They're also a fantastic load for an amp in the 30w neighborhood.
I had to part with mine years ago because of loss of work, but I do miss them.
I have a pair working in a fairly small room. I use quite a bit of toe-in so that axes of the drivers cross in front of my listening position. I think they might work with either amp; they're quite efficient.
I'm biased, because I own Horn Shoppe Horns too. That being said, I run mine with a 10 watt per channel amp (First Watt F1J), and its never left me wanting more, power wise.
They work best in the corners, so they should fit Mister Pig's criteria for close to the wall placement. There's plenty of good reviews (link below) which should give Mister Pig a better understanding of the way The Horns sound.
If they're ordered without the Heils up top they're $950 per pair, and you have 30 days to send them back if they don't work for you.
"You won't come back from Fletcher-Munson curve"-Jan and Dean
I also have a pair of these and I just love 'em. The new versions are even better than mine (or so I've heard).
Neighbors below and above as well, correct? Since apartment living isn't going to be permanent for you, I'm thinking you probably don't want to make a major investment in speakers just for that situation.
What I would recommend generally would be either sealed box speakers, or ported speakers with a down-firing port. I also live in an apartment & have generally found types of speakers which sound good in my situation - Well damped sealed box designs (eg: Infinity Renaissance 90) & ported speakers with a down-firing port (eg: Marten). I would avoid dipoles, big horns or rear-ported speakers in your situation.
Vitus SCD025MkII, SIA025, Oppo BPD-103AU, Magico S5's, Taoc ASR racks + SCB-RS50g, Stillpoints Ultra 6's/Mini's/LPI's, Furutech GTX-D(G), Gigawatt PC-3 SE Evo, Jorma Prime pc's + xlr's/Statement sc's/Unity pc, Siltech Classic Anniversary rcas + HDMI
Edits: 09/28/15 10/03/15 10/03/15 10/03/15 10/03/15 10/03/15
It would sure make life a lot more simple. IF you take the budget you ere going to spend on speakers and maybe even a new amp you can probably get a kickass pair of headphones!
Eh maybe. but I don't like head phones. But it might not be an option for certain times of the day.
Regards
Mister Pig
Post a Followup:
| FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
