AC4L - June is Speaker Month- 10% off most

Kvn_Walker

Kvn_Walker

Audioholic Field Marshall
Ok I know this is an odd place for a first post, but there's a story behind it. First off... 10% off (most) speakers at Accessories4Less in June!

(deleted link, post count too low) :p

The discount shows up when you check out.

I've had the speaker itch this year, first time it's been this bad in over a decade. So last Thursday night (May 31st, I should note) I was watching the basketball game on one tab and reading speaker reviews in about 15 other tabs. o_O Finally decided on Canton GLE 496.2's, and added them to my cart, but still kept reading during timeouts and such.

Pulled the trigger and placed the order at 11:55, after the game was decided in overtime.

The next day at work I was browsing the site again, since info on Canton speakers is so rare... and I saw this huge "10% off speakers" banner! No way! I missed out $70 by 5 minutes! But I called customer service and pleaded a little, and they refunded me the 10%!

So anyway, hello to everyone at AH... I'm now a lurker-turned-poster. More to come later!
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
I
Ok I know this is an odd place for a first post, but there's a story behind it. First off... 10% off (most) speakers at Accessories4Less in June!

(deleted link, post count too low) :p

The discount shows up when you check out.

I've had the speaker itch this year, first time it's been this bad in over a decade. So last Thursday night (May 31st, I should note) I was watching the basketball game on one tab and reading speaker reviews in about 15 other tabs. o_O Finally decided on Canton GLE 496.2's, and added them to my cart, but still kept reading during timeouts and such.

Pulled the trigger and placed the order at 11:55, after the game was decided in overtime.

The next day at work I was browsing the site again, since info on Canton speakers is so rare... and I saw this huge "10% off speakers" banner! No way! I missed out $70 by 5 minutes! But I called customer service and pleaded a little, and they refunded me the 10%!

So anyway, hello to everyone at AH... I'm now a lurker-turned-poster. More to come later!
I like your avatar!

I'm a big fan of Somafm.com

Several of their stations are great!
 
Kvn_Walker

Kvn_Walker

Audioholic Field Marshall
I

I like your avatar!

I'm a big fan of Somafm.com

Several of their stations are great!
Thank you! A guild mate in an online game turned me on to them way back in 2005 and I've been a fan since... Back in the day (2009 or 2010, maybe) there was a sidebar picture on the site of a guy strutting the stealth hoodie. That was me. :cool:

Soma opened up a whole new world of music for me, and I've gotten to see Thievery Corporation and Phutureprimitve live (and at least 2 near misses of seeing Ott because I found out after the fact), great musicians in their genres whom I would have never heard of otherwise.
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
Welcome, and thanks!
I'm glad A4L made good for you! They actually list prior purchases as not qualifying for the discount, but 5 minutes would really suck, LOL!
What speakers do you currently have?

Here is the link (since you cannot yet post one):
https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/category/speakersstands/speakers/1.html

Nice! They include subwoofers in this sale!

Just to reiterate - no promo code required, the discounted price shows automatically after you put it in the cart!
 
Kvn_Walker

Kvn_Walker

Audioholic Field Marshall
What speakers do you currently have?
Klipsch KLF-10's that I bought earlier this year. Even for 2-ways they sound fantastic, but my room is just too small and I'm too close to those horns to enjoy it at volume. There are times I like to crank it up when no one else is home, but I can't move my chair far enough back to get a good listening position.

At low/medium levels they're fantastic, but once it gets loud, the horns become overbearing... they seem to ramp up far ahead of the woofers. But again, my room comes into play, and I know I'd enjoy them so much more if I could accommodate them. Everyone strongly recommends tube amps or preamps to mellow the horns' top end, but I had to decide where to put my money based on my current situation (and my budget), and investing in a tube amp or preamp won't make my office any larger. :confused:

My setup is a PC with Asus Xonar Essence STX sound card going into a Yamaha AX-596 amp. I'm strictly 2-channel in my office and prefer to go subless if I can (I know Canton's advertised 20Hz low end is bunk, but if the dual 8's can at least punch below 40Hz I'm content).

The GLE's are set to arrive today so I hope to be set up and listening tonight. Can't wait!
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
Thank you! A guild mate in an online game turned me on to them way back in 2005 and I've been a fan since... Back in the day (2009 or 2010, maybe) there was a sidebar picture on the site of a guy strutting the stealth hoodie. That was me. :cool:

Soma opened up a whole new world of music for me, and I've gotten to see Thievery Corporation and Phutureprimitve live (and at least 2 near misses of seeing Ott because I found out after the fact), great musicians in their genres whom I would have never heard of otherwise.
Thank you! A guild mate in an online game turned me on to them way back in 2005 and I've been a fan since... Back in the day (2009 or 2010, maybe) there was a sidebar picture on the site of a guy strutting the stealth hoodie. That was me. :cool:

Soma opened up a whole new world of music for me, and I've gotten to see Thievery Corporation and Phutureprimitve live (and at least 2 near misses of seeing Ott because I found out after the fact), great musicians in their genres whom I would have never heard of otherwise.
Hahahah! I remember that little side bar with you in the hoodie!

Yeah, I found somafm maybe 2003 or 2004. My favorites are SecretAgent, Cliqhop, and Lush.
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
Klipsch KLF-10's that I bought earlier this year. Even for 2-ways they sound fantastic, but my room is just too small and I'm too close to those horns to enjoy it at volume. There are times I like to crank it up when no one else is home, but I can't move my chair far enough back to get a good listening position.

At low/medium levels they're fantastic, but once it gets loud, the horns become overbearing... they seem to ramp up far ahead of the woofers. But again, my room comes into play, and I know I'd enjoy them so much more if I could accommodate them. Everyone strongly recommends tube amps or preamps to mellow the horns' top end, but I had to decide where to put my money based on my current situation (and my budget),and investing in a tube amp or preamp won't make my office any larger. :confused:

My setup is a PC with Asus Xonar Essence STX sound card going into a Yamaha AX-596 amp. I'm strictly 2-channel in my office and prefer to go subless if I can (I know Canton's advertised 20Hz low end is bunk, but if the dual 8's can at least punch below 40Hz I'm content).

The GLE's are set to arrive today so I hope to be set up and listening tonight. Can't wait!
I have some time to kill so thought I'd share some thoughts on your post and hopefully provide some worthwhile food for thought when you compare speakers:

On Klipsch:
I'm not familiar with the KLF-10's. My take on Klipsch is they have stuck with the horn technology that was very much offensively harsh in the 70's and have gradually refined it ever since. With the RP-160m (and that series),I feel like they have finally made a great speaker for music that has the benefits of the horns without any of the harshness or artifacts of their past efforts. I liked the previous RF-82ii (and that series) well enough to buy it for my HT; for music, they were not quite right, but they are very good for HT with the immediacy of their attacks. That said, I have a friend with RF-62ii's and using careful toe-in and setup, he has adjusted his system to sound very much like the RP series at the listening position. The RP series can be pointed straight at me without being harsh, strident, or overly bright! They are still probably just a bit on the forward side of neutral, but I prefer forward over laid-back sound. My comments here refer to their middle offerings. I suspect their top of the line offerings were quite good some years ago, but their ability to refine the horn sound on the lower priced models is more recent. You might play with toeing in the Klipsch so they both point at a spot about 2-3 feet in front of you. It looks weird, but often works better than having them toed on either side of you when you have the directivity of a horn.

The room:
Your interpretation of your room may be dead on, but I have experienced the same thing as you in larger rooms where as I turned up the volume the top end became abrasive. These were acoustically "live" rooms with out much absorptive materials on the walls or ceiling. It seems that as the volume goes up the higher frequencies which are most reflective get out of control and "saturate" the room. I have never read this, it is just my perception/experience. I may be mistaken in my explanation, but feel pretty valid stating the net result was the highs overwhelming the room! You might do a clap test and see how much echo your room has and consider absorptive materials if it seems very live.

On Canton:
I have heard two bookshelf speakers made by Canton. Both impressed me as being very well engineered speakers with good sound for their price (especially the A4L price I paid). The build quality is such that I expect your towers will not have any significant resonance issues (always a concern with larger cabinets). I think Canton is a good choice as an alternative to Klipsch, based on your objectives. They are still a forward (not laid-back) speaker, but the word "sophisticated" comes to mind as compared to the Klipsch. Unlike Klipsch, Canton has not been "pissing off the neighbors" (as Klipsch's marketing likes to point out)! If the room situation is as I describe above, it is likely that you will be able to push the Cantons more before encountering the issue, but it may still become an issue.

It is possible your decision points may end up being: do you get a sound you like as much as the Klipsch at low levels? and, if not, are you willing to trade low-level goody for high-level goody?

...just some idle thoughts.

Looking forward to hearing your expreience(s) with the Cantons!
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
How far from the speakers do/will you sit in your office?
 
Kvn_Walker

Kvn_Walker

Audioholic Field Marshall
How far from the speakers do/will you sit in your office?
Not at home, but my guesstimate is about 3 feet when I'm at the keyboard. I can move the chair back maybe 4 feet when I'm not actively using the PC and just want to listen to music or watch streaming.

It's as un-ideal as a room can get, and not just due to the size. I'm already on the long wall but I can't spread the speakers out farther because the door is on that wall. And the other long wall has a window so moving the computer to that wall would make for unpleasant daytime usage.

It's a really small room. The good news is I should be able to move my stuff into a suitably larger room later this summer, which will give me much better placement options. I may keep the KLF's until then just to re-evaluate them. Kinda depends on how creatively I can store them. No way I'm putting gear of that caliber in the garage; I'd sooner sell them.
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
Yikes!
I did not realize that close!
I think towers are generally a mistake as it take some distance for the drivers to properly integrate. For that close, you should really be looking at bookshelf speakers plus sub!
Try to wait for the bigger room before making decisions if you can!
 
Kvn_Walker

Kvn_Walker

Audioholic Field Marshall
This'll be shorter than I want but I'm strapped for time today. Great first impressions! Being 4" narrower and a bit shallower front-to-back let me play with their positioning a little bit. FedEx didn't show up till 6PM so my time was limited since I had other stuff to work on too. Tonight will be about the same, but maybe by the weekend I can really put some time in with them.

Obviously the bass presence couldn't compare, but it wasn't bad at all. I'm anxious to see how a few weeks' break in will do.

Mids were very satisfying though... I didn't get time to play enough songs with vocals in that range however. But

When I get the chance I'm going to remove and measure the tweeter. It seems to be a common size and I might experiment with drop-ins from Madisound or Parts Express in the future. The highs at volume from the GLE tweeter weren't as abrasive as the horns, but still felt sharper than I cared for. But as before, the distance may play a factor there.

The final verdict? Right now I don't have one. :( I'm dead set on moving my office into that spare bedroom this summer. No speaker is going to make me happy in that room I have now. Once that's done I will be able to fairly evaluate what I have, and I need to stop buying and/or modifying speakers until I can space them properly.

(I can't lie though- I have this sudden fantasy about getting a custom cabinet made so I can put the Klipsch woofers and the Canton mids and highs in the same box!) :D
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
Thanks! That was a lot more than I was expecting to hear back on the first day!

Check to see if your preference for the Canton mid and highs extends into low-level listening as well, or only when you turn it up.
 

Latest posts

newsletter

  • RBHsound.com
  • BlueJeansCable.com
  • SVS Sound Subwoofers
  • Experience the Martin Logan Montis
Top