Progressive Rock and Metal Home Audio Preferences?

[TICA]

Hello Everyone. Wanted to post a question that is frequently asked by Audiohphiles, especially ones that are new to arena:
Here it is and please feel free to comment and share:

insane music lover with a discerning ear on a lower budget. Play all types of music but my main love is heavy or more specifically Progressive Metal. I love bands like Porcupine Tree, Dream Theater, Symphony X, Liquid Tension Experiment, Flying Colors, Steve Wilson, Opeth, Rush, ok I think you get the point. Can someone please tell me what might be the best speakers for this type of listening. I love it loud and want to hear every nuance from songs like Dream Theaters Six Degress of Inner Turbulence. I could also use a suggestion on an AV receiver. Thanks on any feedback!

 

[j_garcia]

Good question, but budget could be a bit more well defined. In different price classes there will definitely be a wide variety of choices.

What I call a "inexpensive" speaker, my initial recommendation would probably be the Ascend CMT-340SE. In my listening they seemed to be well suited to rock, though they are even handed enough to handle everything. OK bass on their own, but will want a sub with them.

Budget speakers - Pioneer FS52s would be my default. Tweeter could be better, but bass is pretty decent and they don't complain when pushed hard. I run mine full range/no sub and have no real nits to pick with them for the price. To take those to the next level, the Affordable Accuracy upgraded versions of these by Dennis Murphy would be your next stop

The Infinity P163 bookshelf or P363 tower are not my favorite for everything, but I felt they did well with the sort of music mentioned. I listened to them with a lot of Porcupine Tree, Pink Floyd, and similar Prog. The 163s were not quite as good with vocals and fine detail as I would like, so for more subtle music, they probably wouldn't be my choice, but I also didn't expect a budget speaker to be perfect. I was able to push them to their limits where I actually achieved audible breakup with excessive levels when run full range. Crossing them to a sub will help with that.

 

[3db]

Do you have a dollar amount for your budget? Also, how big is the room you want to play them in and how loud do you want to play them?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

There should not be a speakers for jazz or rock. Accurate speaker will play anything. I agree with Johns recommendations, but "lower budget" needs to be defined a bit better for more accurate recommendations.
I would like to add EMPTek's R55Ti - while they a bit laid back, I am positive they will handle metal just as well.

 

[zieglj01]

Almost gone - I would for sure put them on a short list
MB Quart Alexxa S1 tower speakers - sold each
http://shop.mbquart.com/p/as-s1pb-single?pp=24

Receiver on sale till the 15th - Pioneer 1124
http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-VSX-1124-7-2-Channel-Network-Receiver/dp/B00ITHKJDO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415913702&sr=8-1&keywords=pioneer+1124

 

[theJman]

There should not be a speakers for jazz or rock.

Agreed; if it's a good speaker it will work for both types of music.

Another potential option are the Chane Arx line. They have bookshelf and tower speakers.

 

[JohnnieB]

Still no budget?
Well then, I'll throw in the Ascend Towers Raal. I have played e'thing from Rush to Five Finger Death Punch on mine and the sound has always been superb.
My room is 12x20 and I can easily reach 100db. Even at those levels the RAAL's never sound piercing or bright. The mids bring out guitar licks from jazz/blues to heavy metal with lifelike sound. The bass is tight and perfect for metal music.
For any music, I would suggest a sealed sub. The towers can reach higher db with a sub as it frees up the power for mids and highs. I cross mine over at 60hz.
That's my speaker pitch, good luck.

 

[dgm2112]

Do you have a dollar amount for your budget? Also, how big is the room you want to play them in and how loud do you want to play them?

say 1000 on speakers and 800 on a receiver

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

say 1000 on speakers and 800 on a receiver

Thanks for the overall $1800 budget - it's quite decent for stereo or 2.1 but i'm afraid at these prices spending almost half on electronics is counter-productive to overall SQ.
With that said, here is my recommended system:
Left/Right - http://philharmonicaudio.com/philharmonitor.html
Sub: http://reaction-audio.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/s-15-500w-sealed-subwoofer
or this one: http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/vtf-3mk4.html

AVR: Open box from amazon - http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00CALM2JY/ref=olp_tab_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used
Same 3 year warranty as new product.

If budget is tight you could skip/pospone the sub, since philamonitors rated to play down to 42hz, which below that only few musical instruments play (like Organs for example)

 

[zieglj01]

say 1000 on speakers and 800 on a receiver

HTD Level Three towers
http://www.htd.com/Products/level-three-speakers/Level-THREE-Tower-Speakers

HSU VTF-3 sub

Or, Outlaw Ultra sub
http://www.outlawaudio.com/products/ultra.html

Pioneer 1124 receiver
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_130VSX1124/Pioneer-VSX-1124.html?tp=179&awkw=96894510505&awat=pla&awnw=g&awcr=57217593145&awdv=c

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Pioneer 1124 receiver
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_130VSX1124/Pioneer-VSX-1124.html?tp=179&awkw=96894510505&awat=pla&awnw=g&awcr=57217593145&awdv=c

Just curious, why 1124 is better choice than X1000?

 

[zieglj01]

Just curious, why 1124 is better choice than X1000?

It was another option for one to look at - not a disagreement.

One could be happy with either Denon or Pioneer. I have no major brand preference
for receivers [and I have owned many brands].

 

[dgm2112]

I suppose your are correct but my buddy has Thiels and swares my music blew his speaker, so sound quality is most important but handling the demands of the music is as important. I will now exaggerate for my point. I don't need to hear the ping of a triangle being played in a 48 piece orchestra so much as I need the speakers to be able to handle the blistering crunch of a 7 string down tuned with double bass rolling with a nice crisp high hat being struck while Billy Sheehan solo's underneath it all.

 

[TLS Guy]

I suppose your are correct but my buddy has Thiels and swares my music blew his speaker, so sound quality is most important but handling the demands of the music is as important. I will now exaggerate for my point. I don't need to hear the ping of a triangle being played in a 48 piece orchestra so much as I need the speakers to be able to handle the blistering crunch of a 7 string down tuned with double bass rolling with a nice crisp high hat being struck while Billy Sheehan solo's underneath it all.

Your buddy is likely correct. Thiels use first order filters which would make them more vulnerable to that kind of abuse.

You have a point in that you need to consider the robustness of the design as well as SQ.

I'm not convinced that really good speakers do play that kind of music well. Usually that kind of music is mixed on speakers that in my view are far from good.

I don't understand that kind of music and don't design for it, but I am aware of what goes on in the mix and monitoring.

Reaction to that kind of music on my speakers varies greatly. Some like the detail and clean deep bass. I have a feeling some like artificial sizzle. For your budget you might want to consider Klipsch. They have sizzle and are robust.

In the end, I think you will have to audition with the music you like.

 

[ematthews]

Your buddy is likely correct. Thiels use first order filters which would make them more vulnerable to that kind of abuse.

You have a point in that you need to consider the robustness of the design as well as SQ.

I'm not convinced that really good speakers do play that kind of music well. Usually that kind of music is mixed on speakers that in my view are far from good.

I don't understand that kind of music and don't design for it, but I am aware of what goes on in the mix and monitoring.

Reaction to that kind of music on my speakers varies greatly. Some like the detail and clean deep bass. I have a feeling some like artificial sizzle. For your budget you might want to consider Klipsch. They have sizzle and are robust.

In the end, I think you will have to audition with the music you like.

If you are talking about progressive rock, you might want to check out Steven Wilson's Porcupine Tree or his solo work. He has some of the best recordings in the business. There are a lot of bands out there that are seeking him to remix their older albums. Yes is one of them just to name one. His recordings are insanely good. There is a You tube video out there with an interview with Steven that talks about how he mixes and how bad most modern day recordings are.
If you aren't talking about this type of music, just ignore this reply.