Personal Speaker Quest

[Robof83]

Atm I'm trying to go out and listen to as many speakers as possible to get a good reference of what can be had at a given price. I am also very interested in speaker specifications such as on and off axis frequency response. Any graphs regardless of speaker price and manufacturer(including DIY) would be greatly appreciated. I wan't to learn as much as I can about what kind of sound I like and what price it can be had for.

For the past several months(my summer break) I have been auditioning as many speakers as possible. Most of them have been B&M auditions but I have heard a few ID company speakers.

Speakers I have auditioned are: Infinity Beta 20, Aperion Intimus 5B/5T, Polk M10/M20/TSi500/RTiA7, DT Mythos 1/5/BP7002, Behringer 2030p(Any graphs on these), a number of klipsch speakers, Totem Mites, Paradigm Mini Monitor/Monitor 7/Monitor 9/ Studio 10/ Studio 20/ Studio 100, B&W 684/683. I thank that's all but I could have missed some. Most of the speakers I have listened to have been below $1500, but I'm looking to remedy that.

One company/speaker I am particular interested in is Salk Sound and the HT3. I have been reading such great things about these speakers and their designer. I am very interested in hearing them. They exhibit superb on and off axis frequency response up to 60 degrees, here is a graph of the HT1(I couldn't find one for the HTR) http://www.salksound.com/ht1-freq.html. The frequency response of the HT3 is +/- 1.5db 34hz - well beyond 20khz(BTW, what other speakers exhibit this kind of response? I know the flagship model from YG Acoustics is slightly flatter, any others?). The cabinets are well braced and make up about 40% of the cost of the speaker. They even come in a fully active version.They are essentially a custom built DIY speaker and as such tend to have wait times. I would say this, the lot of seaton speakers, and the lot of JTR speakers available are the three that I am most interested in hearing.

I'll be going back to school here pretty soon so my auditioning will have to be halted, however I intend to resume my sessions once I get settled in. Anyone in the Houston/Lubbock/Surrounding Areas that would be willing to let me into their homes for an audition? In some cases, I may be willing to make quite a drive, although that would take ample preparation on my end.

Any suggestions on possible speakers/manufacturers I should listen to? Also, is there some place that posts reliable on and off axis frequency responses?

Thanks in advance

 

[Davemcc]

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=20721.0

 

[Robof83]

Wow, awesome first reply

 

[john72953]

Hi,

You're going about this in a most intelligent way and you are to be congratulated for that. Most people, other than perhaps those here and on other audio forums, buy equipment without really learning some very important details first. Those are the ones that end up not being satisfied once everything is setup in their homes.

Having said that, and this is in no way a critisism, please do not overemphasize the technical data specs/graphs when actually considering a final choice. I say this as your home has its own sound signiture and that will play a factor in the end result. So of the ones you decide, make sure you are able to take them home for an audition first.

Regarding the Salk Song Towers, I have yet to hear them myself, but the few owners that I do know all rave about them and couldn't be more pleased.

Good luck with it all! Most of all, enjoy the process!

John

 

[Robof83]

I definitely won't judge a speaker fully based on just specs alone but that will no doubt be a part. BTW I'm not looking to buy any speakers in the near future. My goal is to just get out there and here/see as many speakers as possible so that I will be more able to provide meaningful recommendation to others in the future.

I'm also very interested in hearing the Ascend Sierra-1.

 

[lsiberian]

I definitely won't judge a speaker fully based on just specs alone but that will no doubt be a part. BTW I'm not looking to buy any speakers in the near future. My goal is to just get out there and here/see as many speakers as possible so that I will be more able to provide meaningful recommendation to others in the future.

I'm also very interested in hearing the Ascend Sierra-1.

Nothing is more fun than giving speakers a listen it's better than ____

 

[jclune]

I'm on a speaker quest too! (A budget one.) Based on specs, reviews, comparisons, and graphs, I think I decided on getting 2 pairs of Behringer 2030p's and modding them via Wmax's mod.

What's your budget? To find info on the mod and graphs, search Behringer mod, in the "2031p" thread there is a link on the first page.

 

[Swerd]

Robof83

Have you been able to locate any Salk owners near you in Texas? If all else fails, email Jim Salk. He is glad to help out with that.

 

[Robof83]

Yeah, there are some in Houston I think, but I've been working pretty heavily lately trying to get money before I go back to school

 

[sokrman14]

http://www.quad-hifi.co.uk/ranges.php?sector_id=2

These are the speakers I chose, I listened to Def Tech, Polks, Vandersteen, B&W, Krix, Klipsch, Boston, Paradigm, and Vienna Acoustics (just too pricy for me). If you have a dealer in your area they are truly wonderful. Most people know Quad from the amazing Electrostats, but they have had a tradition loudspeaker for quite a few years now. They look beautiful too!!

 

[Robof83]

Which speakers in the performance series did you end up getting?

 

[Nuance AH]

Best wishes to you and your quest. As mentioned, you're certainly going about it the proper way. Remember to have fun!

Enjoy!

 

[Robof83]

Those speakers look ver nice BTW.

I found a FR graph on their website here http://www.quad-hifi.co.uk/downloads/L2%20Series%20Moving.pdf Very nice FR Looks like it's a pretty neutral speaker

One thing I don't understand and maybe someone more knowledgeable could explain to me is the Horizontal Directivity Charts at the bottom

 

[Swerd]

Those speakers look ver nice BTW.

I found a FR graph on their website here http://www.quad-hifi.co.uk/downloads/L2%20Series%20Moving.pdf Very nice FR Looks like it's a pretty neutral speaker

One thing I don't understand and maybe someone more knowledgeable could explain to me is the Horizontal Directivity Charts at the bottom

Those Horizontal Directivity Charts are polar charts. Imagine you are hovering directly above a speaker - with a bird's eye view. Straight ahead is 0° or the 12 o'clock position on the chart, 180° or 6 o'clock is directly behind the speaker, etc. Relative loudness is charted by the concentric circles - further away from center is louder and closer to center is quieter. You can see that at 100 Hz, the sound is essentially equally loud in all horizontal directions. The sound becomes more directional as the frequency increases to 250, 315, and 500 Hz.

In general, any cone or dome speaker broadcasts sound in a wide horizontal pattern when the wavelength of the sound is larger than the diameter of the source, the cone or dome. As the wavelength approaches the source diameter or gets smaller than it, the sound beams in a narrower pattern. This is like comparing light from a bare light bulb to the same light bulb in front of a curved reflector like in a flashlight. This is what these polar charts are showing.

Note that at 750 Hz, the sound becomes more omnidirectional again. This 12L speaker is probably a 3-way and at 750 Hz, the smaller midrange driver is making most of the sound. It's harder to guess from these charts, but I think the mid crosses over to the tweeter somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 Hz.

In case it isn't obvious, I'll say it straight out. In audio, wide dispersion sounds better than narrow dispersion. From Quad's literature, it seems they want to emphasize this feature in their speakers. I hope all this makes sense.

 

[Swerd]

Note that at 750 Hz, the sound becomes more omnidirectional again. This 12L speaker is probably a 3-way and at 750 Hz, the smaller midrange driver is making most of the sound. It's harder to guess from these charts, but I think the mid crosses over to the tweeter somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 Hz.

Oops ! The Quad 12L2 is a 2-way speaker. I should have looked that up first before trying to look so smart. Now, I can't explain why its dispersion at 750 Hz is wider than at lower freqs. That seems too low for a crossover point to what looks like a 1" dome tweeter.

 

[Robof83]

Thanks for the explanation. You did a good job and for the most part, it makes since.

 

[sokrman14]

I hope you get a chance to listen to the Quads. They have dealers in San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas. I don't know if those are too far from Houston, but if close enough they are definitely worth the drive.

 

[Robof83]

Those shouldn't be too far. I'll have to check that out.

 

[highfigh]

Atm I'm trying to go out and listen to as many speakers as possible to get a good reference of what can be had at a given price. I am also very interested in speaker specifications such as on and off axis frequency response. Any graphs regardless of speaker price and manufacturer(including DIY) would be greatly appreciated. I wan't to learn as much as I can about what kind of sound I like and what price it can be had for.

For the past several months(my summer break) I have been auditioning as many speakers as possible. Most of them have been B&M auditions but I have heard a few ID company speakers.

Speakers I have auditioned are: Infinity Beta 20, Aperion Intimus 5B/5T, Polk M10/M20/TSi500/RTiA7, DT Mythos 1/5/BP7002, Behringer 2030p(Any graphs on these), a number of klipsch speakers, Totem Mites, Paradigm Mini Monitor/Monitor 7/Monitor 9/ Studio 10/ Studio 20/ Studio 100, B&W 684/683. I thank that's all but I could have missed some. Most of the speakers I have listened to have been below $1500, but I'm looking to remedy that.

One company/speaker I am particular interested in is Salk Sound and the HT3. I have been reading such great things about these speakers and their designer. I am very interested in hearing them. They exhibit superb on and off axis frequency response up to 60 degrees, here is a graph of the HT1(I couldn't find one for the HTR) http://www.salksound.com/ht1-freq.html. The frequency response of the HT3 is +/- 1.5db 34hz - well beyond 20khz(BTW, what other speakers exhibit this kind of response? I know the flagship model from YG Acoustics is slightly flatter, any others?). The cabinets are well braced and make up about 40% of the cost of the speaker. They even come in a fully active version.They are essentially a custom built DIY speaker and as such tend to have wait times. I would say this, the lot of seaton speakers, and the lot of JTR speakers available are the three that I am most interested in hearing.

I'll be going back to school here pretty soon so my auditioning will have to be halted, however I intend to resume my sessions once I get settled in. Anyone in the Houston/Lubbock/Surrounding Areas that would be willing to let me into their homes for an audition? In some cases, I may be willing to make quite a drive, although that would take ample preparation on my end.

Any suggestions on possible speakers/manufacturers I should listen to? Also, is there some place that posts reliable on and off axis frequency responses?

Thanks in advance

One thing I'll tell you right now is that you need to limit the number of speakers you audition in a day. for a number of reasons. If you don't make detailed notes for various criteria, I guarantee that if you listen to too many in a short time and try to remember every detail, you will attribute some characteristics of one (or more) to other speakers. Another thing that can occur is that you and your ears can become fatigued if the SPL becomes excessive, for too long.

 

[Robof83]

Thanks for the advice. So far the most I've done in a day is four. I am taking notes.