[Closed] What speakers have you got? (Part two)...

I have a pair of ATC SCM20s paired with a pair of Harbeth studio subwoofers (they are remarkably almost exactly the same footprint as the ATCs, so the subs sit on the ATC footplate and the ATCs on top of the subs). They work very well together powered by AVI 150W monoblocs.

I do still lust after a pair of ATC active 3 way speakers though. I've tried 50s here but they are just too damned big. maybe the 40s will make a nice retirement present.

Woppit...
Is that a dedicated music room you have there?? There's no way the wife would ever let me put sound proofing on the walls in our front room.

Speaker wise only a small set of Dali zenzers which suffice but are no match for the old Kefs.... again the wife hated them for being big a boxy so demanded small bookshelf ones.

Yes. Although I've never availed myself of the pleasures having what I believe many refer to as "the wife", I DO get the impression that ambitions towards a dedicated domestic HiFi space and the light of one's life, do not mix well... 😉

Holy crap... just googled those speakers ££££
Reminds me when I did an electrical inspection at an NHS consultants cottage and he had a full Linn set up. Speakers were nearly 60k a pair and he had 2 sets!!

Ah... It all adds up now.

Nice pair of Castle Edens here, helped along the way by a Naim Uniti 2. Speakers now nearing 20 years old, and apart from recently rattling their spiders loose which was a 20 quid fix, sounding better than ever in our new larger living room.

Heard a pair of Castle Clydes on demo at a HiFi show back in the day. Was impressed...

Meridian DSP5200 with Roon and MS200 - very simple setup which sounds incredible

Come on people, don't be shy. Let's have some pics! 8)

I've never availed myself of the pleasures having what I believe many refer to as "the wife"

Holy crap... just googled those speakers ££££

I still have the same Ruarks and a Wife(or two).

Heard a pair of Castle Clydes on demo at a HiFi show back in the day. Was impressed...

Yup, sounded good through the original Arcam Alpha9 I had driving them (which went pop). Sounded horrible through my old Alpha3, which simply didn't have the clout. I was worried the Naim might be too good for them, but on the contrary, it was the amp they needed.

Before I found somewhere to fix them (too much Naim 😆 ), I was looking at replacements in the $2-3000 category and you needed to go to the top of that range to match them. Would be interested in hearing a pair of those ATCs sometime. But, suspect I'll just end up sticking with the Castles or getting the local guy who fixed them to build me a custom set. His own are the only ones I've found to clearly better the Castles at a price point that's not eye wateringly daft.

Come on people, don't be shy. Let's have some pics!

I would, but it's dark and I'd have to tidy up...

The same Mission 773e I had in part one.

Main system; Proac SM100s on dem at the moment, going to try Russell K Red150s, Audionote ANE's and Heco Direckts.
Second system; Spendor S8e's, will be sold soon to be replaced with Yamaha 1000's for the all Japanese set up

System looks nice, the room looks like an accoustic nightmare.

Well it needed a comfy sofa, beanbag, window blind (there's a deep embrasure behind it) rug and of course the audio baffling on the walls.

When I moved in it was an echo box!

Perfectly fine now. 8)

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well I have several sets of LS3/5a (think more than pictured) and I think I am settled on them. (I don't run them stacked, that was just for the picture...).

My first job was at the BBC reseearch dept, next to some of the sound dept rooms, and I bought my first pair with my staff discount.

Always used Quad power amplifiers and not heard anything I like better, although swapped away from their mediocre pre-amps a while ago. Current amps are 909 monos.

Luckily don't like the 15ohm version of the speaker which is the one that goes for a lot more money 2nd hand, and my best pair are 11ohm and with external crossovers from cicable which reduce the THD by a lot and bring them to grade 1 monitor standards everywhere but the bass.

The bases are Stirling Broadcast AB-2s which give them a nice bass extension and timbre, and also designed by the same guy whio did the crossovers, and used to run Spendor (Derek Hughes).

I use a Music First TVC pre-amp which is excellent, and in the picture is also a Tact 2.2XP pre-amp, although I have never used the room correction function.

Not in that house anymore, now in a detached place after the divorce.

Will be adding a streamer to it soon once I have figured out which one or maybe I will run a PC with JRiver. Need a better DAC anyway.

the thin foam panels will only absorb some reflected energy above 12khz so will help with the hard reflective nature of the space but it looks like it will have horrendous standing waves forming due to the room being cubic and hard brick/tile.

Have you tried playing back a sweep sine wave? you might notice some big holes and spikes at some frequencies.

Thanks. The panels don't "absorb".

They disrupt the reflection of bass frequencies.

Also, the room is not cubic. The roof slopes left to right and extends back.

Generally, I use my ears for testing audio improvements although I daresay the "test bench" approach works well if that's your bag.

Got any speakers?

They disrupt the reflection of bass frequencies.

I doubt that they do much. I would think they would be better extended forward to catch first reflections and then put some of those tube traps in - but I am not an expert.

This is apparently a good, cheap setup for measuring a room :

https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-omnimic-v2-computer-based-precision-room-measurement-system--390-792?utm_source=Retail&utm_medium=Email_Newsletter&utm_content=390-792&utm_campaign=email110515A

And if you want a better mic with calibration look at the EMM-6 :

http://cross-spectrum.com/

I have the kit and ordered the mic but haven't got around to trying it - been too busy dating after my divorce and learning to ride my self-balancing unicycle 🙂

your ears and a sine wave wav that you can download is all you need,

music is my bag, I have had some experience with creating workable listening and recording spaces.

Spending a bit of time and relatively small amount of money on the listening space will be the biggest bang for the buck upgrade you can do,

consider that a very large % of what reaches your ears is reflected sound.

Seeing as you appear to have the luxury of a dedicated music roomseems a shame not to take advantage as you will not have to compromise a living space to get a great listening space.

Like I said...

Anyway, what speakers have you got? 🙄

Spending a bit of time and relatively small amount of money on the listening space will be the biggest bang for the buck upgrade you can do,

I like my LS3/5as as they are near field monitoring speakers and as such are a little less susceptible to room effects, within reason and those bass extenders moot that point a bit.

But at one point we had a sofa and two matching chairs with big cushions and I had the chairs either side of the speakers, so killing first reflections, and boy did it sound good.

This could possibly be a sneaky way of getting some WAF into your acoustic treatment.

We have a couple of high back and side sofas at work facing each other with just a small gap in between, and it is eerily quite when you sit in there.

ATC, PMC and Tannoy , nothing to do with music... 🙄

Those stacked LS3/5a's.....
🙂

Somewhere, a BBC sound engineer is revolving in his grave, making a noise like a rumbling Garrard.....
😀

Tannoy DC6T upstairs in the main boys toys room, pair of MA RS2's downstairs.

Happy with them.

I still have my Kudos C20 speakers.

A big change on the amplifier side though as I inherited my uncle's Unison Research S6.

It's my first valve amp and it sounds wonderful when combined with the C20 speakers.

I use my ears for testing audio improvements although I daresay the "test bench" approach works well if that's your bag.

To be honest mate, that just makes you seem a bit ignorant. Some folk are knowledgeable and experienced enough to be able to use their eyes too. The potential reflections in that room are entirely visible, even without seeing what’s happening behind the camera, and they make my ears wince. Is that a metal cabinet would be over your left ear? Listen to iffoverload, much sense being spoken:

Spending a bit of time and relatively small amount of money on the listening space will be the biggest bang for the buck upgrade you can do

Calm that room down a bit and you’ll start to hear your equipment more than the room. That’s why you spent so much on gear, right?

EDIT oops sorry, I have B&O Beovox MC 120/2 speakers in the living room. HTH

Got a pair of Kef Q5 and a pair of Castle Durham. Neither particularly spendy but they sound good enough to my ears. Both currently relegated to storage in the loft while we figure out what's happening with the house renovation 😥
Making do with various Yamaha MusicCast/Harmon Kardon surrounds at the mo. They're ok, but it's not the same as having a proper beard-stroking separates rack.

you’ll start to hear your equipment more than the room. That’s why you spent so much on gear, right?

No.

Last word on it.

LOL! - not in anywhere near the same league but I've just ordered a pair of these Wharfedales at a bargain £119!...

https://www.richersounds.com/hi-fi/standmount-speakers/wharfedale-diamond-220-blk.html

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...you'd probably break out in a fit of the shakes and a cold sweat at the thought of them Mr Woppit!

Mr Woppit, that looks like a very live room but if you like the music the system produces that's all that matters 🙂
I wouldn't be running power cables next to speaker cables though 🙁

Last word on it.

Echo?

I wouldn't be running power cables next to speaker cables though

Ah, there we go - the pseudo science 'audiophile' nonesense I was hoping for, finally.

not really plyphon, over the years I've done double blind tests with various friends and with some cables there is a difference whether it's +ve or -ve depended on the person listening.

Anyway back to the thread, what speakers have you got?

Mission 771s just came out of retirement and sound lovely plugged into my NAD amp and Rega record player.

No need for egg boxes in my house, our ears are nearly a hundred years old, altogether.

Although I've never availed myself of the pleasures having what I believe many refer to as "the wife"

Ya don't say. 😆

Spendor A6r with a REL Strata 111 to very gently fill in the very lowest frequencies

Original Acoustic Energy 109s paired with Rega P1 and Marantz CD5005 and PM6006.

Diana Krall is sounding luscious just now.....

These:

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[Before wool stuffing)

And this

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Through this

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As detailed [url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/the-hi-fi-build-hack-exchange-and-repair-thread#post-8702022 ]here[/url]

Now really run in and equalised, though I am just about to order a calibrated mic to make it all ruler flat.

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Amphion Argon 1's.

I've only heard Amphions once, but they were fantastic.
I do some work for the UK distributor - I really should call in a favour 🙂

Rega RS5s run from a Naim Uniti Star - Sounds excellent

[IMG] [/IMG]

Atc is round the corner from me. My old band mate puts things together there and texts me his handiwork as a tease. Bastard

The ATC factory is a great place.

The BBC monitors used to have a notch out in the midrange, rather than being ruler flat, in order to sound more realistic. That was in the day when they actually compared the speaker to a real presenter.

>notch out of midrange...more realistic

I can imagine that would work, there's a few ripples in my setup now and I quite like the way it accentuates certain overtones etc.

Not quite in the same range as the others but I've had a [url= https://www.whathifi.com/tannoy/hts-101-xp/review ]Tannoy[/url] 5.1 setup for a while and really like them, not much need for anything more. Had a pair of Tannoy floor standers for nearly 15 years and these save so much space and get a better sound. I don't listen to much music anymore but for the PS4 and movies it still makes me smile randomly. (surround is so much better than stereo!)

I have a pair of Rega Kytes purchased as a stop gap from STW's very own cynic-al

They're still going strong 7 years later.

One small difference here in Spain from the UK that I've discovered, is that the Spanish don't really do Hifi. Lots of "audio" but no UK-type quality.

Managed to track down the closest thing in this part of the world to a NAIM dealership - just one guy operating from his flat in Malaga and shipping from a warehouse. So no real demo facilities.

Also, I had to wait for ATC to deliver.

First time in my life that I bought Hifi equipment using reviews, recommendations and a listen at the dealer's place through his underpowered one-box system whilst trying to imagine how that would translate to my own setup...

It took a deal of organisation, travel, patience, guesswork and a small leap of faith (which, as you can imagine, was a first for me) but boy am I glad it all came together in the end.

😀

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and a laptop with Spotify on it. What do I win?

An ancient set of Monitor Audio 703PMC floorstanders. Currently packed pending my umpteenth house move!!

TurnerGuy - Member
The BBC monitors used to have a notch out in the midrange, rather than being ruler flat, in order to sound more realistic. That was in the day when they actually compared the speaker to a real presenter.

Many current 'Best Buy' speakers can't reproduce the spoken voice or a simple piano or solo violin piece
It never seems to get mentioned in the reviews.
I really like some of the current Dali models, but put a decent FM Radio 3 signal through them and they sound awful.

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A pair of these still doing great service tied up to an Arcam 8 and AV50.

Also picked up a full 5.1 set up, almost new and in perfect condition, of the AE Aegis for £200 a few years ago. Another "pick up only" bargain.

Not my pictures.

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Many current 'Best Buy' speakers can't reproduce the spoken voice or a simple piano or solo violin piece

Piano, violin, small scale choral, all much more complicated to reproduce. There isn't one speaker capable of handling all source material (well in my opinion).

Small comment on MrWoppit's setup. It looks like you have the stands on spikes on tiles. My inclination would be to remove the spikes and seat the stands on blobs of bluetac. Many will disagree.

and a laptop with Spotify on it. What do I win?

I have one of those, so nothing as I know what it sounds like...

Decent, but not hifi

Small comment on MrWoppit's setup. It looks like you have the stands on spikes on tiles. My inclination would be to remove the spikes and seat the stands on blobs of bluetac.

I hear what you're saying. I don't think the blue tack would survive - the ATC's weigh 17.8k each. Might see if I can source maybe some rubber grommets and give it a listen...

I nearly bought some shabby SCM 50As with a view to bringing them up to latest spec. Still sticking with the Kef 104/2s I’ve had for 20 years despite a number of CD and amp changes - Naim CDX/XPS/82/250.

I do think the price you can get these speakers for now makes them a bargain - if in good order.

Edit.

@mudshark, you’ve brought back memories of my old 104s-I bought some secondhand about 25 years ago. Still going strong in the hands of my brother. Great speakers!!

I have one Peavey TKO 115.
It has one fifteen inch cone and my funk will make you shit your pants.
What do I win?

andylaightscat - Member
not really plyphon, over the years I've done double blind tests with various friends and with some cables there is a difference whether it's +ve or -ve depended on the person listening.

Sorry - it's absolute tosh. From none other than Ethan Winer:

Speaking of myths, the common advice to always keep audio and AC power wires separate is also oversold. My test results aren't worth a separate web page, but if you're on Facebook you can see my report and audio example HERE.

http://ethanwiner.com/articles.html

After seeing a post in Lynn Fuston's Facebook group about keeping XLR wires away from AC power wires, I figured this is worth testing. And no surprise, it turns out to be a myth. At least for balanced wiring. I bundled a 25-foot microphone wire with an AC power cord, and wrapped them together in a circle (like a transformer) to maximize any potential transfer of AC hum into the microphone cable. Then I connected my Audio-Technica AT4033 microphone to my Mackie 1202 mixer and set the preamp gain to maximum (48 dB).

You can view the raw data on his Facebook post. If you'd like to argue with Ethan Winer, go ahead 😉

I don't want to argue with anyone just want to listen to music
Anyway I don't use balanced interconnects and I said I'd tested mains with speaker cables so if you want an argument at least try to address the facts 🙂

You also said:

there is a difference whether it's +ve or -ve depended on the person listening.

Which to mean says there was no conclusive results from your own tests - how can the result be both positive and negative depending on who's listening? Surely what you're trying to prove is that there is a negative result.

That's the very definition of inconclusive.

slowoldman - Member

Small comment on MrWoppit's setup. It looks like you have the stands on spikes on tiles. My inclination would be to remove the spikes and seat the stands on blobs of bluetac. Many will disagree.

I love playing about with this.

All totally subjective, on sprung wooden floors and the only tools I have for measuring floor and cab vibration are my hands, but...
Spikes seem to transfer the most energy to the floor.

BluTac, or even better, Sorbothane seems to transfer much less.
You can feel the difference by hand.

A granite board under the speaker makes a huge difference too.

Have ended up with Sorbothane pads between the speaker and the granite board, which sit on soft felt pads for ease of positioning.

Whatever you prefer will be a compromise between cab and floor vibration.

On an acoustically inert floor, spiking direct would seem to be the logical solution to reducing cab vibration, the floor being taken out of the equation.

What do you reckon?

Fat man valve amp with Acoustic Energy AE109's do I win the scum bag system set up prize?

Might see if I can source maybe some rubber grommets and give it a listen...

Squash balls cut in half are the de riguer solution, aren't they?

@mudshark, you’ve brought back memories of my old 104s-I bought some secondhand about 25 years ago. Still going strong in the hands of my brother. Great speakers!!

Were these the 104/2 speakers? I recently asked on Pink Fish Media what sort of price range I'd need to look at to get an improvement and was told I'd need to spend £4k so am sticking with what I have. I feel some decent Kudos speakers would appeal but think I'll wait until mine need refurbishing which I probably won't want to bother with.

I hope you're using directional Blu-Tac, you monsters.

Anyway, speakers.

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(not my photo)

Monster Cable.

Can we add that to the swear filter 😉

What do you reckon?

When money was easy and I didn't have 3 kids and a mortgage I gave a certain Mr Richard Dunn a lot of my folding stuff and by return he gave me a pre amp, two mono block amps plus two and a pair of these bad boys complete with a pair of stands that wouldn't look out of place in a Sheffield forge. Paired with an LP12, a Pink Triangle power supply and a pair of Audio Technica electrostatic headphones I managed to escape the stress of life on a regular basis.

[img] [/img]

And yes they are as ugly as you know what - not recommended for domestic bliss or style gurus but they are good and similar in design philosophy as the Linn Isobariks

I remember talking to Richard in the late 90s, you could buy the amps in kit form to save money and they'd also let you trade amps in for full money (IIRC).

Anyone heard any of the Naim Ovators? A couple on Ebay at the moment.

@mudshark

I think they were the /2 model. big passive bass drivers and some adjustable widget on the front??

Edit: Looking online they were the original 104s.

Tannoy eyris2 with cyrus2/psx and a linn karik CD. Sounds damn lovely

In an effort to spruce up my listening room I went to take total control over the conservatory.

Set it up properly afyer digging out my old Atacama SE64 stands

Bit more tidying and I'm there.

What an improvement.
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Nice.

did you start a new thread rather than continue the old one to get extra attention?

Interesting forum name.

Over-compensation, is it?