Interesting Day at Best Buy

[lovinthehd]

Lol, I was looking at the Salon2 and Studio2. I even downloaded the Owner's manual. Still can't wait to do some more auditions. Hopefully next time I don't blow any more subs or speakers. Sooner or later they will start telling e you broke it you bought it.

Curious how they list general spec and then audio spec separately yet are same.

Yeah and even the manual for those doesn't have the wattage spec....but the manual does have this:

Caution
To avoid damage, reduce volume level immediately if loudspeaker sound is not clean and clear.

 

[KEW]

Lol, I was looking at the Salon2 and Studio2. I even downloaded the Owner's manual. Still can't wait to do some more auditions. Hopefully next time I don't blow any more subs or speakers. Sooner or later they will start telling e you broke it you bought it.

As far as I'm concerned, that was BB's fault!
However, I don't think you will blow a SVS sub (nor a Hsu, PSA, Rythmik, Outlaw etc). Quality sub designers should have a system for limiting power if it sees an excessively strong signal!
Ideally this limiter is not just set to protect the sub, but also to prevent a sub from sounding bad from chuffing or reaching audible mechanical limits.

 

[Pogre]

As far as I'm concerned, that was BB's fault!
However, I don't think you will blow a SVS sub (nor a Hsu, PSA, Rythmik, Outlaw etc). Quality sub designers should have a system for limiting power if it sees an excessively strong signal!
Ideally this limiter is not just set to protect the sub, but also to prevent a sub from sounding bad from chuffing or reaching audible mechanical limits.

That's what I was thinking. Especially if the salesperson had control of the volume!

 

[SimplyEpic]

I do blame it on BB but still feel bad seeing equipment getting destroyed due to ignorance even if it isn't the greatest equipment. The proverbial sacrificial lamb slaughtered just to try to appease for a sale.

I was just doing a little research on the Tekton's. They do seem interesting even if they are on the ugly side. Some parts look like they went cheap but they do seem like they have reasoning behind the speakers config with some data to back them up.

 

[SimplyEpic]

The next 2 I am on the lookout for is to have a demo of the Revel Performa3 F206 or Concerta2 F36. The f36 are more in my current price range. I'm also looking for the Warfedales. Not seeing much availability for the Warfedales though. A few of the diamonds and the Evo4.4 which I do want to check out. Not sure what the rest of their lineup is like price wise.

 

[hagosrush]

Klipsch subwoofers are not that great. They are cheaply made. For similar price you can get something way better. SVS, HSU, etc.. Even a Martin Logan sub is better than a Klipsch.

I am late to the party but I sadly have to jump in here. While I love the sound of the klipsch woofer I have, I cannot touch the volume gain knob on the back because it cuts the volume severely and I have to play with it to get it back. This is the most frustrating part of this woofer. I have had no issues with it but this. Good news is I don't ever touch the gain once I set it but my children...well...yeah.

Oh and the woofer feet? ABSOLUTE Basura, rubbish, trash....

 

[lovinthehd]

I am late to the party but I sadly have to jump in here. While I love the sound of the klipsch woofer I have, I cannot touch the volume gain knob on the back because it cuts the volume severely and I have to play with it to get it back. This is the most frustrating part of this woofer. I have had no issues with it but this. Good news is I don't ever touch the gain once I set it but my children...well...yeah.

Maybe try cleaning the pot with some de-oxit?

 

[hagosrush]

Maybe try cleaning the pot with some de-oxit?

I have not tried the de-oxit but have removed the caps and cleaned them completely before. Willing to give it a shot if it helps

 

[lovinthehd]

I have not tried the de-oxit but have removed the caps and cleaned them completely before. Willing to give it a shot if it helps

The caps?

 

[hagosrush]

The caps?

I was referring to the plastic knobs.

 

[lovinthehd]

I was referring to the plastic knobs.

I was hoping you didn't mean capacitors

 

[SimplyEpic]

@hagosrush How old are the speakers? Normally a pot takes a while to get dirty unless it is in a really humid or dusty environment. I'm guessing not very old. Just like lovinthehd said Deoxit works well and is easy to use. Basically disconnect the speaker cables, spray it on, let it sit for a couple of seconds, turn the dial a few times, repeat this process a few times, wait for it to dry completely (hairdryer helps), reconnect and you should be good to go. If that doesn't help you will need to get the dial replaced.

 

[hagosrush]

@hagosrush How old are the speakers? Normally a pot takes a while to get dirty unless it is in a really humid or dusty environment. I'm guessing not very old. Just like lovinthehd said Deoxit works well and is easy to use. Basically disconnect the speaker cables, spray it on, let it sit for a couple of seconds, turn the dial a few times, repeat this process a few times, wait for it to dry completely (hairdryer helps), reconnect and you should be good to go. If that doesn't help you will need to get the dial replaced.

I bought the speakers about...6 years ago? Maybe a bit longer honestly. I dust the area / home often as my wife has a dust allergy. But it could well be the dust honestly, at least I hope that is what it is. Ordering this online will arrive in a week or so to my area. Happy I said something in the chat after all haha

 

[SimplyEpic]

From what I have seen and I am no expert but there are usually 2 things that can cause the dials to get dirty. This happens no matter how much you clean it just may take longer for it to occur. 1 is the electricity interacting with some of the components can over time cause oxidation. This is what happened with an old 5.1 system I used with my computer. The Volume knob on my Creative Labs 5300 started making a crackling noise and eventually wasn't working well when trying to adjust the volume. Deoxit worked well on getting it to work normally again. The other is just dirt from the environment. Even in really clean environments it manages to get into things. I have a friend who owns his own DJ/Karaoke company and he has his soundboard and speakers cleaned professionally every few years due to the environments he works in to keep them sounding good.

 

[SimplyEpic]

Gave Best Buy another shot today and went to a different store and what a difference that made. I am still on a search for speakers but do have a component stand the Sanus NFA245MOC and dual SVS PB-4000's on order as well as picked up my Marantz SR6014. The wife was with as well so WAF was sealed at time of shopping . She really enjoyed the subs and was also giving input into the speakers we were listening to. She really like the Bowers & Wilkins 702's but they were a bit out of my budget and there was something I couldn't put my finger on that just wasn't clicking with me. Not sure if it was details missing or something in the mid to high range that was kind of flat or what it was but they just didn't excite me. Not saying they were bad but just not my favorites. She agreed that the Martin Logan 60XTI's sounded good but were not a good fit for a large space. Just not good off axis. I also found that when I was at the first best but the speakers he claimed were the 60XCTI's were actually the 40's. I have to give it to Justin at the Minnetonka Best Buy. He spent about 3 hours with me and the wife going over speakers sound testing and different receivers, amps and sub demos. Was great to work with and gave me a good deal on the subs as well. He even got me some new music to check out and you could tell he loves music and what he does.

The Kef R11 were nice as well but again out of my price range. I didn't care as much for the Elac speakers they had on display but the store really seems to be focused around Bowers and Wilkins.
We also enjoyed listening to some Macintosh and Arcam receivers as well as some of the Denon and Marantz. The Arcam AVR A30 is a really great sounding receiver but very pricey. The Macintosh were the most neutral receivers I have heard which I appreciated but again way too expensive on my salary.

Overall really good experience. And if Justin ever reads this (never know he could be a member) I enjoyed and appreciated his assistance.

 

[VMPS-TIII]

Gave Best Buy another shot today and went to a different store and what a difference that made. I am still on a search for speakers but do have a component stand the Sanus NFA245MOC and dual SVS PB-4000's on order as well as picked up my Marantz SR6014. The wife was with as well so WAF was sealed at time of shopping . She really enjoyed the subs and was also giving input into the speakers we were listening to. She really like the Bowers & Wilkins 702's but they were a bit out of my budget and there was something I couldn't put my finger on that just wasn't clicking with me.

The Denon 4500 refurb offers an extra 15 watts per channel power and is a few hundred cheaper than the Marantz SR6014. I doubt you will hear a difference and you could save.

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It's great the wife is into it. It's better than having to sneak the hardware in the backdoor.

My experience with B&W is they tend to color the music. Sometimes the coloration works for a track, other times it's too much for me.

 

[ryanosaur]

I made a comment much earlier in this thread about B&W being flawed speakers. This set of measurements by JA from Stereophile shows the flaws, as does this set from AH. Again, I'm not saying they don't, or can't, sound good: many people love B&W. However, It seems you heard "it" today. I heard it, too, when I auditioned some B&Ws.

 

[SimplyEpic]

I'm betting that coloration was what I couldn't put my finger on. You guys probably hit the nail on the head. Basically taking songs I know and throwing something off with the coloration of the speaker. Since I have the week off I am going to try to audition some speakers at a few other places if I can get in. Here's hoping I can find a winner soon.

 

[ryanosaur]

I'm betting that coloration was what I couldn't put my finger on. You guys probably hit the nail on the head. Basically taking songs I know and throwing something off with the coloration of the speaker. Since I have the week off I am going to try to audition some speakers at a few other places if I can get in. Here's hoping I can find a winner soon.

Be patient.
Something tells me, if you can find them, you may really like the Monitor Audio Silver series. I've also heard some very good things about PSB, though I never got to listen to any.
...But my Monitor Audio Silver experience left me very impressed with their quality and overall performance.
Paradigm and Revel also get a lot of praise; two other brands I was not able to gain exposure to. Lastly, if you can, Focal has some great speakers, too.

 

[SimplyEpic]

I'm glad I have been taking my time with this. It's been an excellent journey so far. Getting to hear the SVS subs was a great find especially seeing what a change in the settings makes. They had both the 4000 and 16 ultras and I like the 4000's better with the way they were configured and they definitely seem to have enough punch for my space with running dual. I will find out for sure once they are delivered and I get everything setup. Since I am doing some flooring work this weekend they won't be delivered for another 2 weeks or so but I am patient lol. Put out a call to a couple more boutique shops to see if they have anything to audition and waiting for a call back now.