Narrow speaker decision, please help

[Davemcc]

Now, if what Dave offered above is true, then you have some enlightenment on the last question in the quote above. If it was me, I would try to avoid rear ported if at all possible.

The way it was explained to me, or at least how I understand it, is that the port is tuned lower than the low frequency extension of the speaker. This means that the port cannot be a cause of low frequency resonance when placed near a wall because there is no sound at the tuning frequency, if that makes any sense. The mounting brackets that come with the speakers leave only about an inch between the speaker and the wall, IIRC, showing that it's intended to be mounted that way.

 

[altaic]

I went to a local shop in Sarasota yesterday to audition the Era D4s. The owner of the shop was very knowledgeable and helpful. Apparently he used to work with one of the guys at Signal Path International, so he had a lot of stuff to say about the Eras. He also had a pair of Totem Winds and treated us to an amazing listening session-- now those are some insanely nice sounding floor standing speakers.

Anyhow, I was thoroughly impressed with the range and smoothness of the D4s (the Totem Mites came in a close second, but had a slightly less clean or maybe peaky upper midrange / lower treble that made some vocals seem a little nasal to me), so I picked up a pair of D4s, as well as a few sheets of Auralex Sonofiber acoustic batting. After sticking the batting up and tweaking the setup, they sound even better at home!

For their size, they are astonishingly capable at producing clean bass - they sound much larger than they are - and I think one could be quite content to run them without a subwoofer. The midrange and treble are smooth and clear, which makes them a pleasure to listen to for extended periods. I could listen to these things for hours and hours; they are just so easy on the ears.

Davemcc, thank you very much for the recommendation!

 

[just listening]

The D4's are a nice mini-monitor and for your situation a very good choice. The Mites need space. Both models have a very different sound from each other, that makes them appeal to different types of listeners.

Now make sure to give them a good 100+ plus hours of break-in time including turning up the volume when the wife is out, and enjoy the hell out of them.

 

[ribonzz]

I prefer the RBH MC, cause it's giving good sound effect and clear sound with a cheap price

 

[Davemcc]

Davemcc, thank you very much for the recommendation!

Thank you for taking the time to audition them. I'm glad to hear you enjoy them.

turning up the volume when the wife is out, and enjoy the hell out of them.

One word of caution before taking this last piece of advice. You didn't mention which receiver you are using. While the D4 will take a ton of power and still play very clear and powerful, they can be a demanding speaker power-wise, in terms of sensitivity and frequency variable impedance. Use some caution in turning up the volume very loud until you are sure that the receiver can deliver that power level without becoming harsh or distorted. Work up to higher volume levels gradually until you're sure the system is capable.

I don't mean to scare you or anything. Everything will be fine. Just don't push the envelope volume-wise without some care in checking that the rest of the system is equally capable. Common sense, really, is all I'm saying.

What receiver do you have?

 

[altaic]

Thank you for taking the time to audition them. I'm glad to hear you enjoy them.



One word of caution before taking this last piece of advice. You didn't mention which receiver you are using. While the D4 will take a ton of power and still play very clear and powerful, they can be a demanding speaker power-wise, in terms of sensitivity and frequency variable impedance. Use some caution in turning up the volume very loud until you are sure that the receiver can deliver that power level without becoming harsh or distorted. Work up to higher volume levels gradually until you're sure the system is capable.

I don't mean to scare you or anything. Everything will be fine. Just don't push the envelope volume-wise without some care in checking that the rest of the system is equally capable. Common sense, really, is all I'm saying.

What receiver do you have?

That's sound advice. Actually, the amp is a bit underpowered at 90W/channel and somewhat prone to overheating-- it's an Onkyo TX-SR603X. It'll eventually be replaced, but I'll be taking it easy in the meantime.

I've both warped and broken off the voice coils on speakers before due to clipping from inadequate power. I fixed all of them myself, but I'm a bit paranoid about making that mistake again.