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mad speaker decision
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Posted on March 4, 2017 at 05:51:29 | ||
Posts: 2
Location: NC Joined: March 4, 2017 |
ive been using quad 989 speakers for my main listening for a few years now. recently removed some old PA speakers from my church and on a lark hooked them up at home. These things are ugly. big horns free standing on a massive plywood bass horn enclosure with a 15" driver. really thought the bass would be huge. oddly they sound great with small music, accoustic, vocal, think nora jones, late johnny cash. big rock causes fatigue. When i went back to the Quads they were almost boring. better sound top to bottom but boring. The horns had very little bass but the top end and midrange were positively exciting. I love my quads but they lac the excitment and dynamics of the horns. any suggestions for a middle ground or best of both worlds. |
Heard any of Boenicke's speakers? nt, posted on March 5, 2017 at 13:32:28 | |
nt |
I was interested in the Boenicke W5 until I researched them, posted on March 6, 2017 at 06:39:24 | |
They are an interesting design concept and should image well. I really wanted to like these speakers because I love how they look with the natural wood finish, narrow baffle, and skinny stands. But then I found out that wide-bander is a Fountek FE85 which you can buy for $12 on Parts Express. I know, price isn't everything. I found some measurements of this driver, and they aren't horrible but they are commensurate with the price point: http://techtalk.parts-express.com/forum/tech-talk-forum/54391-fountek-fe85-measurements I eventually did find a review with measurements: http://www.hifitest.de/test/lautsprecher_stereo/boenicke_audio-w5_12447 The frequency response and distortion measurements are shown below. There's a massive smile shape to the on-axis frequency response with bass and treble about 10dB higher than the midrange. Even with no toe-in the treble is about 5dB too high. And then there is that huge mid-bass hump combined with high distortion in the bass. It's a classic boom-sizzle response that may be attention grabbing but I can't imagine living with it. Strangely, the measurements of the finished speaker are considerably worse than the measurements of the FE85 on a test baffle posted by the DIY'er above. That made me question the skill of the designer. Another thing that made me question the designer is the use of "electromechanical resonators", Bybee Quantum Purifiers, and Stein Music zobels in the SE and SE+ versions. Finally, there is the price. When I first heard of these speakers two or three years ago, they were about $3k, which is kind of pricey considering the drivers but maybe worth it considering the woodwork. By last year the price was up to $3600. Now it's $4700 without stands. The W5 SE with stands is $6500 but supposedly worth the money over the W5 because the tuning and crossover layout is improved. Hopefully the changes tame the FR but who knows? The W5 SE+ is $10k with stands, which is in rarefied air for small standmounts, costing more than Kef Ref 1s, Dynaudio C1 Platinums, Joseph Pulsars, Focal Sopra 1s, etc. And I don't think it holds a candle to those speakers. |
RE: Hmm, that's surprising., posted on March 6, 2017 at 16:02:25 | |
I also like checking out systems via YouTube, but it can be hard to judge the sound of a system that way because recording is an art and some people are much better than others at capturing the original sound. Fred Crane (AudioPrana/Stereodesk) is one of the people who seem to do a very good job of capturing the sound of a system in a room, where you can clearly hear strengths and weaknesses in the system, and even separate them from the sound of the room. In comparison, Peter Breuninger's videos are about as good as Forrest Gump fumbling with a 1990s VHS camcorder. I've watched a bunch of different videos of the Boenicke W5 and the one that impressed me the most is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mDIcbPqTlc In the above video, they sound well balanced. perhaps due to the unusual microphone placement well off-axis and close-up. None of the other W5 videos I've heard sound good. The YouTube clip that you posted has a very obvious and distracting bass peak throughout, piano didn't sound good, the vocalist in the first bossa nova track and Sting sound hollow, the cello is devoid of any body, and the only part of it that sounded reasonably good to me is the acoustic guitar piece from about 17:00 to 18:30. For comparison, here is another small speaker in the same room: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5R4Eplg1z4 There is still some room coloration there, but on the whole it sounds A LOT better to me. Fred also has a video of the expensive Kii 3 active speakers in the same room which sounds a lot better than the Boenicke W5. I think the following video shows off the W5 bit better: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnav0ZHLex4 In that video you hear a lot more room coloration because the room is quite live, but the speakers seem better balanced. In particular, the bass peak is less pronounced. But the midrange is still weak and there is still a thin, hollow coloration. One more video of the W5 from AudioPrana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftuo2DGTLaI That system sounds particularly bad to me, and if I was the owner, considering how much money is tied up in it, I would be very embarrassed. |
Yep, sounds very good to me. nt, posted on March 7, 2017 at 10:22:54 | |
nt |
RE: Heard any of Boenicke's speakers? nt, posted on March 5, 2017 at 20:59:20 | |
Take a look at the SoundQuest horns.A good friend heard them and was highly impressed. |
RE: mad speaker decision, posted on March 4, 2017 at 12:45:54 | |
Posts: 3536
Joined: April 23, 2007 |
Horns really do dynamics well.. I thing that's where many speakers (even high priced ones) fail. |