Nearfields for audiophile listening?

Discussion in 'Speakers' started by sashafuckinggrey, Feb 27, 2016.

  1. jhaider

    jhaider Acquaintance

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    Earlier this week I went to a presentation of Adam's new S-series monitors at a local recording studio, Patchwerk. The S-series have DSP amps, and the three-way models use an interesting large-coil midrange that they market as a "come-dome" even though it's really a cone with a big dustcap.

    The three-ways were the first AMT tweeter speakers I've heard that I didn't instantly hate because of upper midrange compression. The vertically aligned one, S3V, was especially nice sounding. Very expensive, though: I think $6k for the pair or considerably more than natural competitors such as the Neumann KH310 or the upcoming JBL LSR708p. Adam's finish appears more rugged than the cheap paint on the JBL 7-Series and M2, though neither one is living room friendly.

    I also heard a less expensive 7" 2-way nearfield and a 7" 2-way toppled MTM nearfield, but not with my own music so I will reserve judgment.
     
  2. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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  3. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

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    Went to a Focal listening session at Musikmesse. They had all three of the Shape speakers laid out in front of me. The speakers were okay I guess, I mean - I am getting cynical even at my tender age of almost thirty. The room was treated, but still I could hear excess boom. Maybe I had to steal a mic from a nearby Earthworks booth and teach the Frenchers a thing or two.

    Overall - meh/okay. Looks cool tho if you're into drivers made from coke can bottoms and straw hats.
     
  4. Vorlon

    Vorlon self-important, pompous ass

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  5. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Thanks for the impressions. So you think those double passive radiators are just producing too much boom?
     
  6. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

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    Could be many things, really. As I was saying, the room was treated and speakers were a nice distance from the back wall, so most real life scenarios will have it worse. The boom wasn't as bad as I've heard elsewhere, but in this situation I expected to hear none of it. There was some harshness up high, which can be attributed to the audio interface they used for running them. I have had good experience with metal tweeters and woofers. Properly integrated no driver has no material taste, it just sounds like music.

    Maybe I'm just not impressed because the studio market is pretty saturated with decent near-fields. I'd get these on the basis of looks, because otherwise they didn't do anything unique I haven't heard elsewhere.
     
  7. strangecargo

    strangecargo Acquaintance

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    A few months ago I was on the search for some near-field speakers for the small desk in my bedroom. I came across the Dynaudio Xeo 2s, which turned out to be more or less the biggest speaker I could fit into the available space:
    [​IMG]

    I'm pretty happy with the result. They have a lot of trickle-down tech from the Lyd studio monitors, like DSP crossovers that you can tune based on wall/corner proximity, as well as some lifestyle features like bluetooth (which I don't use), remote control, and direct digital input (toslink). They sound pretty neutral and articulate, with surprisingly controlled bass extension. They're not very deep, and the rear ports actually fire downward, so wall proximity doesn't affect the sound as much as it could.
     
  8. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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  9. Mr Rick

    Mr Rick Acquaintance

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    I just picked up a pair of LS50s. They sound great in my 10' x 10' man-cave. I've also picked up a very nice pair of used Emotiva Airmotiv 5s. They have surprised me, I may break them away and run them with my DC-1.
     
  10. Riotvan

    Riotvan Snoofer in the Woofer

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    Anyone heard the Adam A77X? They seem interesting, fully analog and no class D, but reports of port farts(i don't listen loud though) and sounding harsh(maybe burn in) give me pause. But they look very acceptable in a living room situation as well.

    On the other hand there is the EVE SC307 but they're digital/class D which i'd rather avoid since i'm using Yggdrasil.

    The intention is to order something and try it at home, maybe some other suggestions? I would prefer to buy new due to warranty and the budget is €2-2.5k max for the pair. Preference is for a dedicated driver for the mids, and i'm a sucker for ribbons. But again i'm open to suggestions.
     
  11. synthwavefan

    synthwavefan Cluelessly Misogynistic - MOT - LH Labs

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    [​IMG]

    So I was looking for some desktop speakers instead of having to be exclusively tied to headphones in the bedroom. I was considering some either monitors or regular speakers. After digging around online, I found these offered by Rockville (who I guess does car audio). They claimed great price, manufacturer direct buy, great component and quality control with a 90 day return warranty. Figured for the price, I couldn't really go wrong. $156 altogether with the pads. They have other options (including stands) for more expensive but I'll hold off on stands for now.

    I had a choice between the 5" or the 6" models --- the 6" model was only $30 more. I asked my friend who's huge into speakers and he said I may as well go big or go home for $30. I COULD have got the 8" model but I felt that may have been overkill for my purposes. Plus I kind of wanted to keep these on the desktop.

    Initial impressions: cymbals and guitars on these are amazing. They have a real presence and weight to them. Cymbals sound jaw dropping. They sound thiiiiick. The decay is amazing. Obviously, it depends on how well it was recorded, but if you're listening to the Eagles, it sounds incredibly realistic, like they're right inside your speaker 2 foot away. Guitars have a shimmering quality to them. Really solid and weighty. They're really nice sounding.

    Vocals are very good - they sound really nice and natural. However, depending on the mix, vocals can be pushed a bit back for my liking. I actually EQ'd my music a bit to bring the vocals up in MusicBee. It's not that they're buried, but they're not as out front as I feel they should be. They're more in line with the instruments. Ex: Rush. But then you listen to something else like Drake/Ariana Grande and the vocals are fine. It's weird and it's very mix dependent and I honestly wish I could have a little more consistency. (probably should have gone for regular hi-fi speakers in that case?) These are not artificially tuned forward. These will display the music mix itself before the vocals (if the engineer seemed to have mixed it that way). It's actually slightly annoying, as I like my vocals forward sounding.

    Bass is deep and tight. LOTS of it. I actually turned the bass down to the -4db setting (not a huge bass head) and it still sounds plentiful for my purposes.

    I'm a little unclear on how I feel on the drums on these. I'm not sure if the drums I'm listening to just were recorded like ass [Moby Dick by Zeppelin], or if it's the speakers themselves. I've heard certain drums on certain songs sound really good on other equipment, but maybe that equipment was accentuating the drums. I don't know --- on some things, the drums sound amazing. On some they sound like cardboard. It seems to vary wildly by recording. I wish it was a bit more consistent. I'm still playing with it and breaking in the speakers, so that may change. I'm probably going to be experimenting with my other set in the living room [Wharfedale/Monitor Audio] to see if there's a difference. My guess is these speakers present exactly what's on the recording as it is, and don't massage it. (technically they're not supposed to, but coming from regular hi-fi speakers, slightly annoying)

    Modern pop sounds really good on these. Clean, clear, detailed, punchy. Older recordings are a mixed bag. Electronic sounds glorious (Mitch Murder).

    These have a very "hi-fi"-ish sound to me. These sound pretty rich with body. You may or may not like that in your studio monitors. I do.

    Detail: TONS of detail. You can hear (and I'm not exaggerating) every single thing in the mixes. The clarity is stunning. You can hear front to back, straight through. The transparency is ear sexxxing/eye watering. I was hearing some questionable mastering/recording choices on these that I wasn't even really hearing on headphones. (could have just been me paying attention though this time) These were keeping up and even out performing the detail level on my Senn 600s in some spots. They're champs.

    Build quality: solid. Like really solid. They look really sharp too.I'm used to hearing Wharfedale, Monitor Audio, JBL, Mackie, Tannoy, Audio Engine, Bowers and Wilkins, Martin Logan, Klipsch, etc. These are really good for the price you're paying. Like, really really really good. My friend came over tonight and spent about 2 hours listening to different music, and he was speechless.

    For anyone interested in the specs and information on how they build these and their hype page, you can visit it here: https://www.rockvilleaudio.com/apm6b/

    As soon as I get my cables, I'll be running these in balanced mode from my Geek Out 2A Infinity DAC/Amp. (right now they're running single ended)
     
    Last edited: Apr 13, 2017
  12. Riotvan

    Riotvan Snoofer in the Woofer

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    Anyone heard Quested? The S8R MKIII looks interesting and i've always been a fan of the British sound. Looks to have a Morel tweeter which i have good experiences with as well.
     
  13. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

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    Quested are one of the best in active loudspeakers.

    in active realm, there very few pro active speakers that are as Id call musical.

    forget Adam, Focal, Barefoot , Event or PSI if you want musicality.

    Quested or Geithain would be my pick if I had to use a active pro loudspeaker for music playback on a budget. im curious about sonodyne as well

    quested v2108 or s7/s8 series and geithain rl906 would be my pick for under 3k active pro loudspeakers
     
  14. Riotvan

    Riotvan Snoofer in the Woofer

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    Interesting, your opinion meshes with what i've been reading on gearslutz. Hadn't really considered Geithain yet but i will put them on the list.
    From what i have been reading in this thread: https://www.gearslutz.com/board/hig...i-vs-quested-vs-old-sonodyne-impressions.html Sonodyne seems to be interesting as well, closer to Quested then PSI sound wise. But it has ad/da with dsp which is something i'd rather avoid for fear of wasting my Yggdrasil.

    Gonna to have to see if the s7r is enoug for my space or i'd have to go the up to the s8r. V2108 is too rich for my blood at almost twice the price of the s8r.
     
  15. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

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    But it has ad/da with dsp which is something i'd rather avoid for fear of wasting my Yggdrasil

    yes, sonodyne offer only one model without DSP IIRC. id consider only the model without DSP.

    ok, if v2108 is too pricey, s7r or s8r are really excellent. bang for the buck is incredible! probably even more versatile then amphion one18 or ATC scm19/scm20

    any reason why youd go with the s7r over the s8r model? if you can, Id really get the 8 inch model.
     
  16. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Hmm, there's an S6 in California... http://www.ebay.com/itm/292079542207?rmvSB=true

    What do you define as "musical"?
     
  17. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    Is a proactive speaker one that chooses the music itself? ;)
    /badjoke

    As Armaegis says, this depends on the definition. But I doubt that this is the word that studio buyers have in mind. Perhaps they would use the word accuracy instead. I don't know, didn't get far enough into this world, or rich enough, to find out --- but it has always been a clean sound that I like from speakers in general. Oh wait, spent a few hours listening to some Genelecs, and that was blissful.

    Geithain had risen to the top of my dream list before I tore it up. But I was so fed up with not having been repaid the debt money that I would have spent on them, I didn't even bother to go and listen. Which, in retrospect, is a shame. I should have grabbed the experience, especially as I am not often in cities where it is possible.
    rl906s on my desk. That was the dream! And it still gives me a twinge.
    That would be an easier one for me: made in India. Might be (hope so) out of date now, but I was put off by reports of poor reliability, particularly a regularly-blowing fuse for which the company never found the cause.

    The professional world, where time really is money, has to have stuff that just works, and I don't have much patience with hifi kit that isn't going to.
     
  18. Riotvan

    Riotvan Snoofer in the Woofer

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    Well both have some pro's and cons for my particular situation. First of all there is a room mode at 60hz and with the s7r having a response down to 65hz i could set the sub i already have to 55hz and perhaps get away with not messing with EQ on the low end. Also i have stands that will work for the s7r already and i do have a decent 10" sub. And using a sub will let me switch it off and not bother the neighbors so much when it's getting late. But for stereo i think 2 subs are better then one. So price wise the s7r setup might be more expensive in the end.

    On the other hand with the s8r i would have a cleaner setup but i would have to do some eq to get the low end correct. I could just make some eq curves for what i want to do at any given time and i won't have to mess with sub placement. Not really a fan of messing with subs for music, getting it sounding right is allot harder then fixing some dips and peaks with eq. But with 2 subs there would naturally be less peaks and dips in the low end. But new stands are needed.

    I sit at roughly 2.5m away from each monitor and the room is about 5,75 x 3,5 x 2,5m but there is an open space leading to the kitchen. So if i add that space the room is bigger but i havent measured it yet, i think it might only matter for low end response needed to fill the room.
    Yeah after reading about the problems they are no longer contenders.
     
  19. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

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    personally, im tired of 6.5 inch based speakers. Dynamics and bass are just too limited. Since your room is large, unless you can highpass the smaller mains and run stereo subs, id get at least a 8 inch based speakers, especailyl since your sitting far from the speakers. So I would try to stretch to S8R!

    make sure to look at passive speakers in your budget. I think they can offer better bang for buck.
    in your budget, for passive speakers, id at least would want to try:
    new atc scm40
    harbeth shl5+
    Amphion argon 7ls

    dont underestimate restaured vintage speakers as well.

    as for your room, please do not get a speaker with reduced bass extension to compensate for bad acoustic.
    EQing room modes and acoustic problem is very tricky and will not replace proper acoustic treatment. I would recommend using Room EQ only AFTER sorting out the room acoustic problems.
     
    Last edited: Apr 16, 2017
  20. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

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    to me, musicality is how much a particular gear makes me listen to the music rather then analysing the performance of the gear.
    some speakers really draw me in the music, where other speakers make me less engaged in the music.


    HD650 is more musical then HD800 for example. P3ESR are more musical then KEF LS50. ect
     

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