J

Josh784

Junior Audioholic
Hey guys, after owning my stereo for roughly two years, it's about time to perform a few upgrades. Here's what I have currently:

Axiom M2i's
Velodyne VX-10 sub
Yamaha HTR-5550 receiver
Pioneer DV-578A SACD player

I have roughly $700 for an upgrade or two, and was wondering what you would recommend.

I would like to upgrade the subwoofer, as it seems to be the weakest part of the system. I am happy with the Yamaha receiver, as it seems to be a good quality component, but then again it was only $200 and I am sure there are better options. Receiver-wise I only need a tuner and amplification, as I never plan on using it for any home theater applications. My friend is into building tube amps for guitars, and I was thinking about seeing if he could whip something up for my stereo.

Anyway, what are your thoughts?

Thanks
 
J

Josh784

Junior Audioholic
Just so you know, if this is pertinent, room size is 12x12x10. I listen to a lot of classic rock, virtually no rap or hip-hop...the occasional jazz recording, and so on.

Josh
 
jaxvon

jaxvon

Audioholic Ninja
At the price point of $700, you have two choices: better speakers, or a better subwoofer. For $700, you could get a really nice Hsu or SVS sub and have money left over for DVDs and whatnot. Or, you could step up in the Axiom Line. Seeing how you listen to a lot of classic rock, the ultra-low bass isn't as important and if I were you, I'd go for a new set of mains. If you like your Axioms, then I'd say step up to a new pair that's in your budget, such as the M50Ti. Besides, with bigger woofers doing more of the low end work, you can set your crossover a little lower and make your sub work less in the upper bass region.

BTW, what bands do you listen to? I'm a big lover of classic rock...
 
J

Josh784

Junior Audioholic
Hmmm, thanks for the suggestion, although I'm not sure if new speakers are what I'm looking for. I'm pretty happy with the M2i's, I don't know if anything else in the Axiom line would really offer better sound quality, probably just a fuller sound, which may be nice. The thing is the speakers are in my bedroom, which is fairly small, I don't know if I really need floorstanding speakers for a room that size. I had considered moving to the M22ti's, but not sure if there would really be that noticeable of a change with them.

HSU is pretty far up on my list for subwoofers. I have also been considering building my own from a kit, as I consider myself quite proficient in that area, and know how to solder, etc.

Classic rock wise, I enjoy a wide range of music. Supertramp, Led Zeppelin, ACDC, the Kinks, Dire Straits, Cheap Trick, Cream/Clapton, CCR, The Eagles, Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Who. Also enjoy some Beatles on top of that.

Josh
 
nibhaz

nibhaz

Audioholic Chief
jaxvon said:
At the price point of $700, you have two choices: better speakers, or a better subwoofer. For $700, you could get a really nice Hsu or SVS sub and have money left over for DVDs and whatnot. Or, you could step up in the Axiom Line. Seeing how you listen to a lot of classic rock, the ultra-low bass isn't as important and if I were you, I'd go for a new set of mains. If you like your Axioms, then I'd say step up to a new pair that's in your budget, such as the M50Ti. Besides, with bigger woofers doing more of the low end work, you can set your crossover a little lower and make your sub work less in the upper bass region.
I have to agree with jaxvon completely. IMO I'd go for M50Ti's you might find you like listening in stereo with out the aid of a sub. I'm a big fan of classic rock and the only reason I have floorstanding fronts is because I prefer listening in this mode when I'm listening to the classics...it's what my Dad raised me on. However if you are fan of sub use then I believe the benefits of lowering your crossover point presented by jaxvon is spot on!
 
anamorphic96

anamorphic96

Audioholic General
My .02 Cents

A good sub would probably be the best bet here. HSU is a great company along with SVS in regards to bang for the buck . Velodyne, REL, and ACI all make some great subs as well.

My only other suggestion might be to add a stand alone Red Book CD player such as the NAD C521BEE or the Marantz CD 5400. This might help open things up some more for basic CD playback and use the Pioneer for high rez and DVD Video.
The HSU STF 1 or 2 and one of the above mentioned players would be right at 700. :D :D :D Just some food for thought.

Cheers
 
jaxvon

jaxvon

Audioholic Ninja
Ah, well then. Noticing your room constraints, you'll have a heckuva time with a sub in there, but it's also too small for floorstanders, as you pointed out. The fact that your room is square is really kinda bad (from an acoustics standpoint).

If you decided to go for the M22Ti speakers (which is really just the same thing with another woofer), I'm not sure how much of an improvement you would have. The same goes for the M3Ti. You'll get more bass response out of these two options, but how much that would make a difference, I couldn't tell you.

Since you are definitely missing a lot of the bass stuff with your current speakers, I really agree with your initial thought of getting a sub. In that case, I don't think you need to spend more than 400ish on a sub. Following the standard practice of recommending a sub, I'd have to say a Hsu STF-2 would be the best bet. Since you're only doing 2-channel, I assume you're using minimal if not zero processing with your reciever. In this case, you can run your speaker outputs from the reciever through the sub's crossover and then out to your speakers. The Hsu is $400.

And actually, while your'e at it, check out some cheap Magnepan speakers. At $300 a pair with no commitment, I don't see how you can lose. A lot of people love their Maggies, so it couldn't hurt to give em a try. The only caveat is the fact that the larger models require a small powerplant to run a full strength. But, these small ones shouldn't be a problem with your reciever, especially in 2-channel operation.
 
W

warnerwh

Full Audioholic
You may want to build a couple of bass traps. A square room is bad as the above person stated. This will help alot. A new sub with a couple of bass traps is what I think would be the best improvement. Your room modes got to be making some weird anomolies in the bass region which in turn will muddy up the midrange. Fix that and you'll get much better sound.
 
jaxvon

jaxvon

Audioholic Ninja
I agree :eek:

I forgot about bass traps. I'm sure you could find a couple good ones for $300.
 
anamorphic96

anamorphic96

Audioholic General
warnerwh said:
You may want to build a couple of bass traps. A square room is bad as the above person stated. This will help alot. A new sub with a couple of bass traps is what I think would be the best improvement. Your room modes got to be making some weird anomolies in the bass region which in turn will muddy up the midrange. Fix that and you'll get much better sound.

Good point. I dont know why I keep forgetting what the Auralex kit did for my room. :D Acoustic treatment and bass traps would be money well spent. :D

Auralex.com is a good place to start.
 
J

Josh784

Junior Audioholic
I like the idea of bass traps...which ones would you recommend? I've looked at auralex.com, but they don't seem to provide much information on what should be used for what.

Do you think I would see a bigger improvement out of a new CD player, or a new receiver/amp?

Any other sub recommendations, or is the HSU pretty much the only way to go for that price range?

Thanks
 
jaxvon

jaxvon

Audioholic Ninja
About 90% of the sound you hear is from the speakers you use and their room they're in. Therefore, the first place to start (since you already have decent electronics) is the upgrading of the room and the speakers. Your speakers are small, but good. They lack the bass. Thus, a subwoofer. You have a square room, which is hell for low freqencies, hence the bass traps.

As far as subs go, you might also want to chck out AV123 and their Rocket subwoofers, there is a good review of their upper model here on Audioholics. That sub is $600, but the other Rocket sub is only $400. Another option might be the Titantic 10" DIY sub kit from Parts Express (can't give you the link becuase of forum settings). Just do a search there.
 
anamorphic96

anamorphic96

Audioholic General
jaxvon said:
About 90% of the sound you hear is from the speakers you use and their room they're in. Therefore, the first place to start (since you already have decent electronics) is the upgrading of the room and the speakers. Your speakers are small, but good. They lack the bass. Thus, a subwoofer. You have a square room, which is hell for low freqencies, hence the bass traps.

As far as subs go, you might also want to chck out AV123 and their Rocket subwoofers, there is a good review of their upper model here on Audioholics. That sub is $600, but the other Rocket sub is only $400. Another option might be the Titantic 10" DIY sub kit from Parts Express (can't give you the link becuase of forum settings). Just do a search there.
The 400 dollar Rocket subwoofer has a setup mic and parametric eq built in as well. This could help you tune the sub with the room better.

Contacting Auralex with the specifics of your room might help with the decision of what treatments to get.
 
J

Josh784

Junior Audioholic
Got a reply back from Auralex today...was recommended a room kit worth about $600, which is a bit more than I had hoped to spend. Looks like I may be able to get into something similar for $500, so am taking that into consideration.
 
J

Josh784

Junior Audioholic
BTW, did Rocket change their pricing? I no longer see a $400 sub on their site. If so, bummer!
 
jaxvon

jaxvon

Audioholic Ninja
Maybe they did, it's $500 now. It's basically same sub as the more expensive one, but with less power (if I remember correctly).
 
Last edited:
anamorphic96

anamorphic96

Audioholic General
Josh784 said:
BTW, did Rocket change their pricing? I no longer see a $400 sub on their site. If so, bummer!
Sorry about that I guess they did up the price. The ULW 10 used to be 399.00.

See if you can piece together the Auralex stuff. This is what im doing. Most of the stuff in the kits are the other products pieced together.
 
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