General Speaker Advice and Recommendations

Make use of? If you're asking whether the OSMTs are resolving enough to differentiate dacs, then yes. I've been using a Yggdrasil with my OSMTs for over 2 years.

 

Fulla 2 vs Modibit/Sys for JBL 305s?

 

@Silverion77 I am far from an expert but perhaps I can help point you in the right direction

The first thing that you need to consider is that HT and music reproduction prioritize different things. For example, reproducing the low end impact of an explosion in an action movie is different than reproducing the tonal variation in the bass line of a rock song. You will have to make some sacrifices in ultimate performace for either use depending on which one you choose to emphasis. I think that you will be able to make a great system within your budget, but it will be tougher to make a great system for both HT and music. If that were my goal, I would look at creating a music first system, and supplementing that with an HT specific subwoofer when you want the oomph for gaming/movies. I think bookshelf vs floorstander matters less in these circumstances.

The other thing to consider is placement and room acoustics. From your diagram it looks like you are using the 13x20 living room the short way. You will usually be better off setting the speakers on the short wall (13") and allowing them to project down the fullest length of the room (20"). I would at least consider changing the orientation of your setup.

After you figure out the placement, you can start looking at speakers designs. Some do better away from a wall, some do better nearfield, and some don't really care how you set them up.

If you want specific recommendations I am afraid I can't help you there. I find describing the sound that you want you will get you better advice. For example, "I want a speaker with great imaging, clean bass extension, a slightly dark sound signature, and excellent overall dynamics" is more useful than "Speaker me please". Since most of us are familiar with a variety of headphones, perhaps a useful starting point is picking a headphone you want to use as inspiration for the sound of the speakers. Be prepared that every speaker is going to be a compromise of strengths and weaknesses. You are best served to decide what aspects of sound you want to prioritize and what you are willing to trade off for it.

 

@Stapsy Thanks for the response.

I wish I could set up on the short wall but between the dining room on one end and a large window on the other, I'll have to make some concessions. At some point I may redo the basement and work in a nice room for a full system.

As far as sound signature, I'm definitely looking for a dynamic and punchy setup. I tend to be a pretty engaged and active listener and the EMU Teak's punch is my favorite part. As far as tonality, I have a pretty broad taste in music and in that vain a neutral approach is usually ideal. I certainly don't mind a slight midbass boost. Imagine is definitely a plus, especially with some of the HT aspects in mind. One thing I read in many reviews was that some setups required you to be dead center and any shift heavily affected the sound. Keeping that to a minimum would be ideal.

As far as bookshelves vs floorstanders, it quickly dawned on me as I stared at my dog that putting $1000 speakers on a stand is probably not the best idea. The last thing I want is him bumping those the wrong way resulting in both the speaker and floor being damaged xD.

Also open to potential DIY kits. I'm not well versed in designing, but willing to work through some building.

 

In hugely-generalised general...

Unless in love with a specific speaker, I don't see the point in small units on stands. Floorstanders take up the same amount of floorspace, are more stable, and [hopefully] provide the advantages of bigger-volume cabinets. Unless extreme, they also (in my humble opinion: many and their wives may disagree) make much nicer pieces of furniture.

 

The best speaker stands should be at least as sturdy as a floorstander. The entire idea is to give them a solid platform. You can mass load the base of the stands with sand or metal to make them even more sturdy.

As a rule of thumb, monitors sound faster and image better then floorstanders. The size of a floorstander cabinet gives you a more even FR and better bass extension. A floorstander is also going to give you more acoustic gain.

For a semi-nearfield setup with good off-axis response where the speakers and your seating position are tight against walls, I don't think floorstander vs. monitor matters that much. You need to find something that fits in that space and won't sound boomy due to the placement limitations. That might be a better fit for a front ported monitor and a sub.

Just to clarify, is your budget for amp + speakers?

 

While many monitors can benefit from loaded, overbuilt stands, this isn't always true. Any BBC monitor is a perfect example. Sturdy, yes, but not tree trunks.

 

The Harbeth designer uses Ikea stools if I recall correctly.

 

@Stapsy was thinking 1000-1500 each across the front 3 without amp, but that to me seemed like the "sweet spot". Ive had plenty of regret in previous buying situations where i realize what a couple hundred more can net. That said, I don't have the best judge on what a good starting amp costs.

The room itself has a fair amount of dissipation from the adjoining rooms. I may consider flipping the space and put the speakers on the larger wall to get it off the corner. As is i have about 3 ft from the top left corner.

EDIT: How much space should I have behind the speaker to allow for rear porting?
Some research suggests that I'll probably want a sub any way I cut it do to the typical 50hz drop off for most speakers I've been looking at.
I could go with a solid bookshelf (e.g. Sierra 2, Philharmonic, etc) and toss a solid DIY or other sub at them. I imagine the tonality will be right, but I imagine I'll be missing some dynamics from the towers.

 

Before I answer your questions, I want to state the big caveat that I don't have a lot of experience with speakers. Most of what I am telling you is to share my experience and research having been in the same position as you. There is no substitute for going out and listening to as much as you can.


Some drivers are more sensitive to amping than others. You could always go for something like a Schiit Vidar. Like most of the Schiit stuff I am sure it would provide a solid value for the price. I would budget about $500 for the amp.

Don't worry too much about the rules. I only mention them as a set of guidelines to work from. Sure it will be better for ultimate performance, but most people have to optimize for what they have available. Figuring out the placment of my speakers was an eye opening experience for me. There is going to be a learning curve when finding what works in your space. I spent 6 months fiddling with placement and have just recently started to explore adding in a sub.

There aren't many speakers that can evenly go down to 50hz. The ones that do are going to be big. Any of those bookshelfs are unlikely to make it to 60hz with any real authority. I think going with a sub might make it easier to get the bass response you are looking for. You can roll off the low frequencies in your speakers so you don't get odd back reflections and place the sub for optimal bass response.

Look through the speaker threads here and on Changstar for some inspiration. DaveBSC's pearls of speaker wisdom are hidden in the Changstar archives.

 

I like clarity, especially as my ears need more and more of it, and I am no bass head, but perhaps I like an old-fashioned-hifi sort of sound from speakers. Perhaps I'm an old-fashioned guy! Say, the big Tannoys that look and sound as if they are made for a mansion. Oh yeah... but I need a new house.

unless doing nearfield by bringing the speakers close to the desk with heaps of room behind them, like a huge studio control room, yes, floor standers are off the menu for this. I don't think I've even seen a floorstanding monitor. Oh, wait... I've seen pictures, and they are big!

 

I was pretty much sold on the voxativ ampeggio signature until I went to Melbourne audio show last month and heard the JBL 4367.
The 4367 was the highlight of the show for me and one of the best sounding speakers I've heard, it's also relatively affordable at about 8-9k usd second hand/demo price
I think I could bi-amp them with my studio and a class D amp for the woofer. At 94dbl I think the studio should be able to push it on its own, however my room is going to be about 250 square feet so the bi-amp might be the way to go.
Also want to hear the m2 rig, however I'm unsure if JBL pro gear is going to suit my needs.

If my room if finnished early next year I will pull the trigger, if its going to be later, I wait for LAAS to confirm I can't do better for 10-20k

Edit: Hoping someone can give me tips on what else might be worth an audition. Or talk me into/out of something.

 

Whatever suits your budget - do you have headphones and not Magni 3 to the Modi/Sys combo (which think about that - Magni with its pre-amp control for 99$, which makes it even more astonishing product for that buck can replace Sys in this equation, especially when Sys itself costs 49$).

 

for that price, i would also look into restored vintage jbl 4xxx as they are imho, better made and quite fine sounding compared to their modern variants, like this one...

http://blog.kenricksound.com/2013/01/blog-post_17.html?m=1

also afaik, 4367 does not have an active xover, it is biwireable and passively bi-amp-able but unless you are bypassing the passive one and getting your own active xover, biamping using two different types/make of power amps is inadvisable.

if you are after a more neutral take on the studio sound, also consider used atc scm-45 or scm 50.

 

dont mean to be pendantic... iirc, at least according to audio folklore, the japanese importer of harbeth (since the 80s) made an open framed timber stand that resembles a stool for harbeth that Alan Shaw used until he began using skylan stands (mdf stands)

he did use some type of stool to prop up the speakers for measurment tho.

the only advocate for ikea, again, iirc, were roy gandy and a few Linn/Rega dealers who believed that the ikea lack tables were a good alternative until you could afford proper (invariably sound organisation or mana) support

 

indeed, the bbc thin wall construction is ideologically opposed to mass loading, and ime, they do sound more lively on open framed stands made of metal or timber.

 

If you want to be pedantic at least be correct:
http://www.harbeth.co.uk/usergroup/...-home?373-Basic-facts-about-Harbeths-at-home=

 

Well stand itself as a category is like cables. You have people thinking you should have stands that are solid like a rock, then you have those that say stands should have slight give, then you have thick legs thin legs etc. This is one of the reasons why I'm just looking at floorstanders.

At least for Harbeth I think most would go for the thick stout stands, but then you have Alan Shaw saying "use whatever". LOL.

 

I just got my custom metal stands this week and i found for my monitor speakers there is a noticeable difference. The way i have it setup is they are filled with sand like the one you would use in a birdcage, they are directly on the floor, no spikes etc and then on top i have sorbothane to decouple the speakers.
Funny thing was one of the stands was not filled fully because i ran out of sand and there was an imbalance, semi filled stand had a bit rougher treble and it was harder to follow low bass notes. Balance was restored when both were filled the same.

Difference between my old metal stands with a wood extension(40cm) is quite noticeable, first of all i could lower the volume and xover on my sub from 65hz to 50hz, i can hear allot more definition in the low end, imaging and soundstage have improved and there is a sense of ease. The new stands are about twice as heavy(30-40kg a piece) and more stable, if i push the top of the speaker it barely moves 1mm with way more force then the speaker would ever produce on it's own.

I have a dedicated listening space though with quite extensive room treatment, makes it easier to discern improvements.

So count me as a believer in stands.. cables not so much though