Covid speaker upgrade

Old Onkyo

Old Onkyo

Audioholic General
Currently enjoying my JBL‘s. But I told myself that when I get the Covid-19 vaccine, I am going to reward myself with new speakers. ( I haven’t told the wife yet, but I have at least 3-6 months right?)

I want a clear and obvious improvement In the front soundstage with an emphasis on 2 channel performance. Salk, Ascend, Philharmonic BMR, ....not sure if the Cantons with the ceramic tweeter is enough of an upgrade.

I also haven’t decided whether to put them in the HT setup (LCR) or in a separate room for dedicated two channel listening(LR) Pros and cons each way. Hopefully I will be in a position to demo some of these.....
Are the aforementioned speakers better sounding or just a different sound?

i am sure someone wants to ask what I want sound wise that the 590’s don’t provide?
I want more, better. Improved high’s, a more spatial sound, more of a sense that the sound fills the room and is not emanating from the box. The 590’s give me a taste of this I am getting greedy!

Thoughts?
 
H

Hetfield

Audioholic Samurai
Currently enjoying my JBL‘s. But I told myself that when I get the Covid-19 vaccine, I am going to reward myself with new speakers. ( I haven’t told the wife yet, but I have at least 3-6 months right?)

I want a clear and obvious improvement In the front soundstage with an emphasis on 2 channel performance. Salk, Ascend, Philharmonic BMR, ....not sure if the Cantons with the ceramic tweeter is enough of an upgrade.

I also haven’t decided whether to put them in the HT setup (LCR) or in a separate room for dedicated two channel listening(LR) Pros and cons each way. Hopefully I will be in a position to demo some of these.....
Are the aforementioned speakers better sounding or just a different sound?

i am sure someone wants to ask what I want sound wise that the 590’s don’t provide?
I want more, better. Improved high’s, a more spatial sound, more of a sense that the sound fills the room and is not emanating from the box. The 590’s give me a taste of this I am getting greedy!

Thoughts?
Oh I like this, Covid vaccine speaker upgrade. That is brilliant. I'm gonna make the same deal, but only dual subs. I'm saving up for dual RSL Speedwoofer 10S subs. I'm looking at or hopeful to get the vaccine by June. When I do, I pull the trigger on the subs. Thanks for the cool idea!
As for your question, Ascend acoustics is a good bet. Can't go wrong with them at all. I've been kind obsessed with them for a while. Have been never heard a bad thing said about them.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk
 
ski2xblack

ski2xblack

Audioholic Field Marshall
Big horns like your JBLs can do some funky things, such as making you feel enveloped, or 'inside' the music, if that makes sense. They can often mitigate the influence of local acoustics and let the ambient and spatial cues within the recording itself dominate, and the resulting picture painted in your minds eye, as dictated by the source, can bely the size and limits of your actual listening room. This approach can "take you to the venue".

The BMRs (or any of the Salk and Philharmonics, and the ascends) all kind of follow a similar wide dispersion approach and would help give that 'outside the box' spatial sound. They inevitably involve the room itself a bit more than speakers with more controlled directivity, and rely on smooth off axis performance and a lot of reflected sound within the room. This approach can "bring the musicians into your room".

I would start by determining which room the new speakers will be in, what sort of kooky illusion you're after, and go from there.
 
mazersteven

mazersteven

Audioholic Warlord
I have not heard the 590's. But I'd be willing to go all in on one of the mentioned speakers with the Ribbon Tweeter.

I'd also love to hear the JBL HDI 3800's
 
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ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
Ahh... sweet. This will be fun.

For most bang for the buck, You just can't beat the BMR. Great Bass extension for such a small speaker, with expansive mids and the Raal 64-10 tweeter tat has ruined many an audiohead. ;)
(I've seen more than a few threads that detail whether you can go back to another tweeter after hearing Raals... :) )

The Ascend Sierra Towers. Great Speakers by all accounts. They will play louder than the BMR. With the Raal upgrade, which you should count as compulsory, there isn't going to be a lot to dislike. Careful review of the FR charts will show that Dave voices his high end up a little bit, and though I have heard some say they come off a bit bright, once they get used to the speakers, they are very happy owners.

Now Salk on the other hand, has so many options that its hard to decide where to go. You can be frugal and get a very good experience in the Song 3 especially with a Raal upgrade. you can play around with any of the 2-way Transmission line speakers, too.
I've always said that if I were going to go for a 2-way, it would be one of these! Simply because of the care Dennis puts into his XO and Voicing work.
Anyway, the real treat would be, of course depending on how deep you want to go... upgrading to one of the models with the Satori Be Tweeter. The Song 3 BeAT or the Encore. These models start at $4500 and $6000 respectively.
The Beryllium tweeters are the only thing I've heard that makes me want something other than a Raal. ;)

One last note: Dennis will be releasing a BMR Tower using the same Raal and mids in an MTM alignment with the 8" Scan Speak Revelator woofer from his previous flagship Phil 3s. These should likely rival the Sierra Towers for output, and should outstrip them quite handily in extension. Pricing hasn't been set for these, but I would expect them in the low-mid $4K range for the pair.

Get your drool on! :D
 
V

VMPS-TIII

Audioholic General
I would get on the BMR Roadshow. That would let you try out the new $1700 BMR. I have both the new BMR and the Sierra Towers. The BMR's are in my office with the Hegel H90 and the Sierra Towers in the Home Theatre with the Denon 4700 and the P452 amp.

I'm finding I enjoy listening in the office best. It's more intimate and the BMR's absolutely rock with the Hegel H90. At some point, I'm going to A/B the Sierra Towers next to the BMR in the home theatre..... but if I was starting over, I think I might go with the less expensive $1700 BMR over the $3,000 Sierra Towers at least in a medium size room.
 
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