|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
116.68.122.19
I was about to go for Elac B6 but then I read about its low sensitivity and needing a 100 watt amp and all. I am going for a NAD 316BEE for the budget system which may not be good enough. I will have to look for a more sensitive speaker in the $300 range. Very difficult to find. I do not like the PSB, Wharfedale, Pioneer et al. It is a pity the great designers are not bringing out efficient speakers in that price range. I need such a speaker which will sound like an older brother of the Tivoli radio. I mean nice rounded warm sound and not bright and metallic. Dali Zensor One is good but in the next up price range.
Any suggestions?
Bill
Follow Ups:
conservative power specs and above average headroom. You won't find a better sub $300 pair of speakers than the B6s. I love mine, driven by a 50 wpc receiver that actually puts out around 80 wpc.
Opus 33 1/3
BTW Henry, when is your review of these speakers coming out? Inquiring minds what to know about the sound of these budget speakers....
That is very good news. A good friend has two Marantz amps, PM75 and 6005. 100 watts and 50 watts amps. He has B6 bought last month. I plan to visit him, a 5 hour drive, and listen.
Regards
Bill
It drove them OK in my large 16x20 room, but seemed to lack the headroom for full dynamics at moderately loud volume. The Onkyo receiver is very conservatively rated and drives the B6s with ease.
Opus 33 1/3
includes adequate amplification
"The hardest thing of all is to find a black cat in a dark room, especially if there is no cat" - Confucius
Of course the JBL is a good one. I have looked at the Audioengines too. But my plan is separate amp and speakers. Feel more comfortable that way except for my nearfield Tivoli.
Regards
Bill
If really you want that "rounded warm sound", search the local thrift stores for a good looking old pair of original Advents. Or, search the used audio classifieds. With a little luck you might even find yourself a pair with diminished tweeter function.I am not kidding about this.
Edits: 01/22/16
the "diminished tweeter function"?
Capacitors are going bad in some of these vintage speakers. This can produce a rolled off treble response that some people might actually like.But even with fresh caps and tweeters that are in perfect shape, these old Advents have a warm tonal balance - to my ears, at least.
Edits: 01/22/16
So what is diminished is the crossover , not the tweeter. As for me, I've never sought dull sound. :)
I replaced the 13uF electrolytic in my New Advents with a 12 uF electrolytic and a 1 uF film. I also added wool dampers around the tweeters to reduce cabinet diffraction. The result is a greater sense of "openness" without adding brightness.
The modified Advents in the garage system sound quite natural to me.
I owned the large Advents from 1975 to 1979. My pair had clearly diminished tweeters and I liked the sound a lot.
Regards
Bill
Good. Try the Baby Advents if you want to go smaller.
Why are you not buying used?
Suggest Dyna A25
My friends had Dyna 25s long time back and I used to enjoy the sound. I am unable to buy used because I am 15000 miles away from available used equipments. My only option is to buy new.
It is interesting that you and other posters have figured out the kind of sound I like, the late Mr Kloss's KLH, Advent, Tivoli sound.
Thanks and regards
Bill
Here you go.
Doing a huge budget bookshelf speaker shoot out!
After talking to many on this forum it can be hard to pick a set of Bookshelves under $350 so rather than keep asking questions I ordered 7 (and now more) that I felt would be a good fit for building a 2.0 system. And instead of picking a winner I'm going to compare differences between each to hopefully help you make a more informed decision based on your sound preferences!
Qualifications for initially picking a speaker were:
Passive Bookshelf Speaker
Goes down to 50 hz or lower
$200-$350 (went a bit over w/ Wharfedale)
I've since added a few on request of others
The list of speakers and their prices are below. I'll be updating this forum over the next two weeks as I try them out. Each speaker has the price I paid, and the current MSRP next to them (a - if its the same)
Wharfedale Diamond 10.2 ($375/$450)
Elac B6 ($280/-)
Chane A1rx-c ($300/-)
Energy RC-10 ($330/-)
KEF Q100 ($300/$550)
Music Hall Marimba ($200/$350)
NHT SuperOne ($300/$360)
Wharfedale Diamond 220 ($350/-)
HTD Level THREE ($320/-)
Philharmonic AA ($195/-)
Wave Crest HVL-1 ($200/-)
EMP Tek R5Bi ($225/-) - Arrival TBD
DAC: Schiit Gungnir Multibit
Amp: NAD 316bee
Source: MacBook Pro using Tidal through Amarra sQ+
Songs: tidal.com/playlist/26167c90-9aea-4579-bebd-20e3554d09c3
Wow! You are listening to all these for my sake? That is wonderful.
Thanks a lot.
Bill
No not me. I copy and pasted from the avs forum. He did review all or most of those. Philharmonic and Ascend Acoustics speakers seemed to get mentioned a lot on that forum. The builders of those two speakers also participate in some the forum discussions.
There's a guy on avsforum.com that compared several pairs of budget speakers in your price range. It was pretty interesting for a while. The number of speakers he compared was crazy. I didn't like the idea that he would only audition speakers from companies that had a free return policy. Doesn't seem right. That's a whole nother thread. Anyway, there might be some useful info there. By the way, he ended up with some Ascend Sierra 2's. Can't fault him for that except they're 4-5X the price of the competition. Hope this helps.
Floorstander. $150 each, $300 for a pair on amazon. Plenty of bass warmth, but you might want to use the tone controls tonturn down the treble.Same price at crutchfield.
Edits: 01/21/16
I remember reading about some favorable comments that Art Dudley made about the bass of this speaker. I listened to it and actually felt the bass which hit me. It was priced higher then. A very good buy now but I cannot buy on mail order. Thanks for the suggestion.
Regards
Bill
They have them at frys, if there's one near you. Maybe some other stores.
"Budget speaker" is a wide ranging term in the audio world. Care to give a dollar example for your version of the term?
I was going to suggest you check out the Golden Ear brand. I've got a pair of the Triton 7s ($1,400 list) which is the smallest of their floor standers and a pair of Aon 2s ($800) which are the entry model of their bookshelf speakers. I listen to a lot of instrument and voice acoustic music and find the GEs very natural sounding.
Many people, including me, consider them an excellent value. However, if you are looking for a $200 pair of speakers, then they are obviously the wrong choice.
I use Budget term for real inexpensive stuff like $300 speakers and $300 amp. I have seen Budget term used by reviewers for $12000 a pair speakers probably aiming at Hedge Fund managers. My aim is to find a $300+ or_ speaker for NAD 316BEE amp or find a $300 amp for Elac B6 speaker.
Best Regards
Bill
I asked this question a month ago. I was putting together a inexpensive bedroom 2 channel audio/video system. I was looking at used. All the ones I found had scratches, nicks, and dings in them. People don't take care of low budget speakers evidently. I found some new Polk RTi6's on Ebay for $199.00 from Newegg. They have a 6 1/2" woofer. I kept looking at them and reading reviews but I just didn't like the looks of them. I bought them and they don't look cheap at all. They have a nice real wood cherry finish. I am using a Cambridge Audio 351A amp (45w a channel) and it drives the Polk's to really loud levels if necessary. The tweeters were kind of bright at first, by the end of the first CD they were taming down. I have about 50 hours on them now and no brightness at all. They have a clear/clean midrange. The highs are articulate but not bright, bass is tight and clean....hope this helps....
I found a pair of Energy RC-10 on close out at Fry's in San Diego for only $220. Their new price was upwards of $550. They are easy to drive and sound very non-fatiguing with surprising bass. I am loving their sound.
Saying that a speaker needs a certain amount of power is an egregious overstatement that should never be made.
How large is your room? What kind of music do you listen to?
The difference in SPL between 40 Watts and 100 Watts is about 4dB. With 40 Watts on the B6, you should comfortably hit 105dB, which is more than ample unless you have a huge room and are listening to very loud, demanding music.
I posted to you yesterday but it did not go thru. My listening room is the Drawing Living Dining room which is L shaped with two 25'x12' fused together. Solid condo construction with cement plastering on brick walls and ceramic tiles on floor. Large French windows open to balconies. Height is 10'. There are 3 openings to bedrooms and an opening to kitchen. I am mainly a 1960s and 70s Rock addict but cannot play too loud due to WAF. I am forced to play LedZep at moderate level.
Best Regards
Bill
In a condo sized space with a lot of hard surfaces, even 40 Watts is most likely much more than you will ever need.
> The difference in SPL between 40 Watts and 100 Watts is about 4dB.
This is the egregious statement. Furthermore, it is incorrect because SPL depends on the relative sensitivities of the two speakers in question.
40-watts of power applied to a speaker with 88-dB sensitivity will produce the same SPL as 100-watts applied to a speaker with 84-dB sensitivity.
All trolling aside, the statement was made in response to the B6.
Edits: 01/21/16
The Polk RTi A1 will be wonderful with NAD. It is within your budget for a pair.
I saw the Polks in a shop in town. Will try to listen. They also have Denon amps which they use to demo the speakers. They have the KEFs too, all cheaper than L50. Thanks for the tip.
Regards
Bill
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: