Nad d 3020 and fluance sig series 3 way

[manther]

Would these be a good pairing?

 

[KenM10759]

Not likely. The Fluance SIgnature speakers in a 3-way design all appear to be floorstanding speakers. The NAD D3020 (I used to own one) is a small 30 watt per channel amplifier. It'll work, but won't go particularly loud with 88dB sensitivity speakers.

What are you using the speakers for in terms of music or movies, how loud do you want, how big is your room and how far from the speakers will you sit?

You should look for a used NAD C356 BEE or similar to get much out of those.

 

[manther]

Thanks. It will be for music. Medium room that is open to other rooms, separated only by columns. I'll be about 12 feet away mostly. But will also crank it up and walk around a large house.

I have an onkyo tx8555 that I can use for the speakers, but I'm thinking I'd like to try upgrading it. I also have a Dayton 12 power sub. Im going to try forgoing the sub when I get the fluances. I want "accurate" sound more than anything I guess.

 

[manther]

Besides the nad I'm also pretty interested in replacing my onkyo with this outlaw.

https://www.outlawaudio.com/products/rr2160.html

I want something I can play lossless files off a USB with a nice onvoard DAC, and nice onboard heaphone sound.

 

[PENG]

As KenM10759 alluded to, that won't be a good match for sure, but the little NAD can still work fine in a small room if you only need 70-75 dB average. To find out for sure, you can use the calculator to figure out the power you need to get the spl you desired from your listening position.

http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html

NAD did not provide the rated output for 4 ohm load (except for the IHF dynamic rating), so to be on the safe side, assume 50% of the 8 ohm output, that is, 2X15 W. Fluance specified impedance as "8 ohm compatible", so I would assume they are closer to 4 ohm nominal.

 

[PENG]

Besides the nad I'm also pretty interested in replacing my onkyo with this outlaw.

https://www.outlawaudio.com/products/rr2160.html

I want something I can play lossless files off a USB with a nice onvoard DAC, and nice onboard heaphone sound.

You will be better off with a 7.1 AVR-X3400H, and tell yourself a lie that it is a 2.1 receiver. Seriously, you won't regret, that AVR is exceptionally good for a 2.1 setup, especially if you believe in and will use Audyssey XT32 to dial in at least your subwoofer and the towers for the 15-250 Hz range.

 

[manther]

As KenM10759 alluded to, that won't be a good match for sure, but the little NAD can still work fine in a small room if you only need 70-75 dB average. To find out for sure, you can use the calculator to figure out the power you need to get the spl you desired from your listening position.

http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html

NAD did not provide the rated output for 4 ohm load (except for the IHF dynamic rating),so to be on the safe side, assume 50% of the 8 ohm output, that is, 2X15 W. Fluance specified impedance as "8 ohm compatible", so I would assume they are closer to 4 ohm nominal.

I think maybe I should move on from the cool little d 3020, because we definitely have party nights
where the system gets cranked up and is expected to fill up the bottom floor of a 5100 sqft house.

 

[manther]

You will be better off with a 7.1 AVR-X3400H, and tell yourself a lie that it is a 2.1 receiver. Seriously, you won't regret, that AVR is exceptionally good for a 2.1 setup, especially if you believe in and will use Audyssey XT32 to dial in at least your subwoofer and the towers for the 15-250 Hz range.

Thanks for the advice. Looks like it decodes flac files well out of the box. This is definitely something I need to take into account. As my audio hobby grows a little it is getting trickier.

Here's the room in question.

The EPI's and Sony will go to my bedroom. Onkyo donated to a nephew. And Like I said I want to get away from the sub. I feel like I never quite have to cut-over just right. Could just be that its a cheap sub. But I think its more than just that.

http://imgur.com/a/mhXuQKr

 

[lovinthehd]

Thanks for the advice. Looks like it decodes flac files well out of the box. This is definitely something I need to take into account. As my audio hobby grows a little it is getting trickier.

Here's the room in question.

The EPI's and Sony will go to my bedroom. Onkyo donated to a nephew. And Like I said I want to get away from the sub. I feel like I never quite have to cut-over just right. Could just be that its a cheap sub. But I think its more than just that.

http://imgur.com/a/mhXuQKr

Could be you didn't have tools like the Denon 3400 has for sub integration....

 

[bikemig]

You can pick up a refurbished Yamaha R N803 for $500 from AFL,

https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/yamrn803bl/yamaha-r-n803-2-ch-x-100-watts-networking-stereo-receiver/1.html

Yamaha music cast is sweet and it does airplay as well. Plus you can play off a usb stick and there are digital inputs if you want to add a chrome audio dongle.

 

[manther]

You can pick up a refurbished Yamaha R N803 for $500 from AFL,

https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/yamrn803bl/yamaha-r-n803-2-ch-x-100-watts-networking-stereo-receiver/1.html

Yamaha music cast is sweet and it does airplay as well. Plus you can play off a usb stick and there are digital inputs if you want to add a chrome audio dongle.

Thanks for this. You definitely have me now interested in network streamer type solutions.

Just got done reading a review. They had a lot of good stuff to say.

https://www.whathifi.com/yamaha/r-n803d/review

 

[bikemig]

Thanks for this. You definitely have me now interested in network streamer type solutions.

Just got done reading a review. They had a lot of good stuff to say.

https://www.whathifi.com/yamaha/r-n803d/review

I've been using music cast for a while. The app is rock solid and it integrates well with other streaming solutions via airplay or even google if you connect a chrome audio dongle via toslink. You can add nodes through the house if you want to stream music.

I'm using a Yamaha networking integrated amp, the WXA 50, and I like it a lot. I was considering buying a NAD amp for my bedroom set up but frankly the WXA 50 blew away anything NAD has at that price point. It has good power specs (55 watts into 8 ohms, 105 into 4) and it has superb networking features.

You can pick it up refurbished from AFL for $350, https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/yamwxa50ds/yamaha-wxa-50-musiccast-wireless-streaming-amplifier/1.html?gclid=CjwKCAiAiarfBRASEiwAw1tYv-44BMtITgdSbPsPI1UbZunM2-Pn-P0hA3Pzh3fKzCpmuLr2VVun8BoCb-cQAvD_BwE#!specifications

This is the link to my 2.1 bedroom set up with the yammy integrated networking amp,

https://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/bedroom-2-1-set-up.113022/

 

[manther]

So I decided to get a DAC and stream tidal MQA files with a spare macbook for now and focus on nailing down my speaker situation first.

That being said I got my Fluance signatures in and wow...

Really disappointed so far.

First thing is one of the speakers was DOA.
I cracked open the post panel in the back and it was a complete mess in there.
All the baffling had come unglued or someone ripped it off the cabinet walls.
The crossover board had been ripped off or fell off of it mounting point and pulled the
connections form all the post tabs.

Going to return that speaker for sure.


Second the speaker that works properly sounds muddy as hell.
I'm really used to playing my EPI's in pure audio mode.
In pure audio the Fluance sounds so muddy. There is no High or mids to speak of.
If I take it off pure audio or direct audio and pump up the treble it definitely wake the tweeter up
But I feel like the mid isn't where I want it, and I don't have an equalizer.
I'm hoping this is a break-in thing.
I always assumed if breaking in a speaker isn't a myth, it would be the woofers that really need breaking in,
not the tweeter or mid drivers.


On the plus side after adding a DAC into my system (AQ dragonfly red) and using higher res source media (MQA files off Tidal) I'm kinda falling in love with my 2 way EPI's all over again.
The highs and mid from that speaker are beautiful. The dac and the new source files seem to really wake up the system in general. Been playing with the sub a little more. I can generally find a modest setting thats pretty pleaseing for most music.


Just not sure what to do about the Fluances. Not too worried about the dud speaker... It happens, I'm sure they'll replace. I'm running the good one on constant music all day to see if this beaking in thing is real and helps this speaker.

Pictures of the bad Fluance internals.

 

[KenM10759]

It (failed new speakers) seems to happen to Fluance more often than others. This is another reason I happen to like KEF. Never gotten a dead anything from them, other than resonance dead speaker cabinets. When I got my R500's as no-box demo models, one was missing a little runner cap on the floor-leveling screw caps. KEF Customer Service had a replacement for this obscure little decorative piece sent to me the day I called, no charge. When I got my LS50's used, I didn't get the port plugs. Again, KEF Customer Service stepped right up with replacements, gratis.

Yeah, they cost more, but worth it IMO.

 

[lovinthehd]

So I decided to get a DAC and stream tidal MQA files with a spare macbook for now and focus on nailing down my speaker situation first.

That being said I got my Fluance signatures in and wow...

Really disappointed so far.

First thing is one of the speakers was DOA.
I cracked open the post panel in the back and it was a complete mess in there.
All the baffling had come unglued or someone ripped it off the cabinet walls.
The crossover board had been ripped off or fell off of it mounting point and pulled the
connections form all the post tabs.

Going to return that speaker for sure.


Second the speaker that works properly sounds muddy as hell.
I'm really used to playing my EPI's in pure audio mode.
In pure audio the Fluance sounds so muddy. There is no High or mids to speak of.
If I take it off pure audio or direct audio and pump up the treble it definitely wake the tweeter up
But I feel like the mid isn't where I want it, and I don't have an equalizer.
I'm hoping this is a break-in thing.
I always assumed if breaking in a speaker isn't a myth, it would be the woofers that really need breaking in,
not the tweeter or mid drivers.


On the plus side after adding a DAC into my system (AQ dragonfly red) and using higher res source media (MQA files off Tidal) I'm kinda falling in love with my 2 way EPI's all over again.
The highs and mid from that speaker are beautiful. The dac and the new source files seem to really wake up the system in general. Been playing with the sub a little more. I can generally find a modest setting thats pretty pleaseing for most music.


Just not sure what to do about the Fluances. Not too worried about the dud speaker... It happens, I'm sure they'll replace. I'm running the good one on constant music all day to see if this beaking in thing is real and helps this speaker.

Pictures of the bad Fluance internals.

FWIW that looks like they are stuffed with loose polyfill, not the type of material you line a box with. The crossover coming loose is not good of course....

 

[manther]

FWIW that looks like they are stuffed with loose polyfill, not the type of material you line a box with. The crossover coming loose is not good of course....

Yeah, at first thats what I thought, but I opened the other speaker and it is sheets of baffling glued nicely to the cabinet making a nice uniformed liner around all surfaces. It could be that the two cabs were just done differently. I dunno. Your right though it doesn't look like sheets of the stuff.

 

[lovinthehd]

Yeah, at first thats what I thought, but I opened the other speaker and it is sheets of baffling glued nicely to the cabinet making a nice uniformed liner around all surfaces. It could be that the two cabs were just done differently. I dunno. Your right though it doesn't look like sheets of the stuff.

Does it look like in the lined box that it's the same material at all? Like some thing that sandwiched the polyfil? Not a good sign that a pair of speakers would be constructed differently....unless that's part of the design which would be even weirder to me.

 

[manther]

Does it look like in the lined box that it's the same material at all? Like some thing that sandwiched the polyfil? Not a good sign that a pair of speakers would be constructed differently....unless that's part of the design which would be even weirder to me.

I'll check, and then take better pictures of both cabs and upload them.
Got an email back from Fluance, they are going to call me Monday.

 

[Kvn_Walker]

Fluance had a bad first run of those speakers (2016? I think). I believe those had miswired crossovers. Is there a chance you got one old one and one newer one?

Something I'm almost too embarrassed to admit- I had a pair of the Fluance Signatures earlier this year, powered by an old Denon receiver (bought real cheap because it had no HDMI). I sold them because I found the bass lacking. Well I didn't realize until after the fact that when I bought the receiver I never checked the settings, and the 80Hz high-pass had been on the whole time! So I never actually got to experience them properly. I hope you find them to be good speakers once all your issues are resolved. They need to sound as good as they look.

 

[manther]

Fluance had a bad first run of those speakers (2016? I think). I believe those had miswired crossovers. Is there a chance you got one old one and one newer one?

Something I'm almost too embarrassed to admit- I had a pair of the Fluance Signatures earlier this year, powered by an old Denon receiver (bought real cheap because it had no HDMI). I sold them because I found the bass lacking. Well I didn't realize until after the fact that when I bought the receiver I never checked the settings, and the 80Hz high-pass had been on the whole time! So I never actually got to experience them properly. I hope you find them to be good speakers once all your issues are resolved. They need to sound as good as they look.

These two speakers seems to be from different batches or runs for sure. The tweeters are noticeably different looking. I ended up returning the speakers. No choice really. Bought through amazon you return them in pairs. I wasn't thrilled with the sound of the one that did work. However in the speakers defense I also learned that these speakers need to be a little loud before they begin to shine. And my listening area has them too close to do that very often. I kinda wish I was keeping them because for a party speaker I bet they are awesome.