General Speaker Advice and Recommendations

Discussion in 'Speakers' started by shotgunshane, Mar 7, 2017.

  1. direstraitsfan98

    direstraitsfan98 D2Girls v2.0

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    It was probably a vintage L100.
    [​IMG]
     
  2. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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    I want to get those some time. I did a project on Arnold Wolf, the designer of those and the Paragon, among other things.
     
  3. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

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    How much for the SCM40? It might be your best bet actually. There aren't that many closed enclosure speaker projects for DIY, this might be one of the more interesting ones.

    P.S. I still kinda agree with what I said 2 years ago in that quote. With that said, I'll never be able to outbuild and/or outdesign Kii Audio, Dutch&Dutch or Genelec.
     
  4. westermac

    westermac Friend

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    If you're pretty sure about the tweeter being the same you're probably on the right track with the Ti Series, as the were the only ones to use that tweeter aside from the pro 44XX line. Here's a big ass list of JBL models for that period. Good luck.

    The SCM-40 is listed at $3k but has been listed for ages so I would offer $2.5K. Thanks for the other suggestions, I will look into those as well! I've enjoyed the Genelec's I've heard but am not familiar with the others.
     
  5. crazychile

    crazychile Eastern Iowa's Spiciest Pepper

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    If the JBL ti series was the only series with a tweeter which looked like that, then the 120ti is the closest to what I remember....which obviously isn't much from ~25 years ago.
     
  6. AdvanTech

    AdvanTech Friend

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    I'm looking to get a 55" OLED for video editing/color grading duties, and am not sure where to put it. I currently have a wooden block QRD diffuser in between my speakers against the wall, and am wondering if it would benefit me to leave it there and just mount the screen to the wall directly above it (possibly angling slightly downward at me). Does this make sense in terms of trying to preserve the acoustics I have at the moment? Thanks!
     
  7. westermac

    westermac Friend

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    Minor correction, I forgot about the 'T' series which did use a titanium dome and mesh screen like the Ti Series. Perhaps you had the L80T (10" woofer) or L100T (12" woofer)? Hard to tell in photos but the driver was coated in JBL's proprietary "Aquaplas": https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s...dlautsprecher-top-zustand-/955496642-172-1479
     
  8. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

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    2.5$ is a very nice deal. Especially if it's the later curvy cab variant. The Zaph design I posted above will go lower, but it's fridge sized and DIY boxes have incredibad sales value.
     
  9. westermac

    westermac Friend

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    It looks to be the earlier rectangular cabinet. If I decide to demo/buy them I'll let you know. Thanks again!
     
  10. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

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    If you can look at the screen being in such a high position for however long you need to without straining your neck, by all means keep the diffusor in place. If the screen needs to take the place of the diffusor put a quilt or a duvet or a blanket over it.
     
  11. wormcycle

    wormcycle Friend

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    As the only thread I found on stereo subwoofers was closed in 2016 I have to post my question here.

    My speakers are Totem Hawks, vertically bi-amped with Bryston 2B LP PRO. I am playing with the idea of "upgrading" my stereo system and recently found a great price for two those subs :
    https://www.axiomaudio.com/ep-500-subwoofer and started obsessing about in a sense tri-amping my stereo.

    They have great reviews for home theater, not sure about stereo. What made me excited is that if you look at the back plate you can put those in front of the power amp. My idea is to use those two subs in front of the for the amp or a channel powering the Totem Hawk woofer. That would work as some kind of external crossover for the woofers.
    Is it even a sane idea?
    The alternative I am considering, much simpler and probably better, is to just buy two Vidars and be done with it.

    By the way Hawks are not big but they have excellent bass extension and control down to 32 Hz and you can feel it.

    [​IMG]
     
  12. ergopower

    ergopower Friend

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    You can run these from an amp, but it's high level input only, no high level output. That makes me think there's just a low-pass filter on the high level input so the subwoofer only plays within its range. The adjustable crossover at the top I believe is just for the line level input & output. I don't think you can drive the Totems from the Axiom. There are subwoofers that have high level inputs and outputs with an adjustable crossover, but this isn't as common as it once was since most people now use AVR line out or LFE out to drive subs.
     
  13. wormcycle

    wormcycle Friend

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    My apologies for maybe lack of clarity, I think I need a connection diagram, but let me try to explain better:
    Yes I am planning to use line input and output of ep-500. I would connect the DAC (Bryston BDA-2) balanced output, through volume control, to let's say left channel to the sub low level input. From there I would use low level output on the sub to feed the left input of the amplifier that powers Totem Hawks woofers. And the right channel the same. Horizontal bi-amping may be better for that than vertical.
     
  14. ergopower

    ergopower Friend

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    OK, what you describe is sane. Each Axiom is self-powered and is a line-level crossover to an amp driving a Totem woofer. I assume you have 2 x 2B LP PRO + external crossover if you're bi-amping the Hawks?
     
  15. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

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    DIY can easily be better than the Kiis man. I'd take a ton of diy designs over them. The Kiis are horrifically designed and use cheapo drivers (https://www.gearslutz.com/board/showpost.php?p=13226790&postcount=1367). Bass sucks and mids are mediocre. You could build a better speaker within the sonic limits of those drivers easily by not attempting to violate the laws of physics with electronic and digital trickery. Bad design is bad design no matter how hard Putzeys and co worked on it. They come nowhere close to sounding like real mains monitors or hifi towers.
     
  16. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Here's the thread and not that single post for proper context and followup: https://www.gearslutz.com/board/high-end/1048540-kii-three-have-you-heard-them-46.html#post13226790

    That guy says the Kii is the best speaker he's heard in literally his next post.

    Determining drivers by comparing a mockup render with stock photos is also not what I would consider a particularly accurate endeavour.
     
  17. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
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    People claiming that speakers are good as they compare favorably with a Focal Utopia or Genelec's DSP trickery applied in unknown rooms neither have what I would consider a particularly reliable pair of ears nor a reliable basis for comparison.


    That thread is full of shills, hypetrain bandwagoners who would be happy with anything, and dealers trying to defend their overpriced crad but the Kiis are some serious garbage, have mid-range issues, and the bass is lol.
     
  18. westermac

    westermac Friend

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    As my two channel setup gradually grows, so does the tediousness of powering everything down for the day. Is there any reason why it would be a bad idea to power amps on/off using a power strip/surge protector? I assume the relays would trigger as usual whether I'm using the power switch or cutting power on/off, but want to make sure there's no risk of damage.
     
  19. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    My only concern would be if you get a 'thump' sound depending on the order of powering up-down things.

    I do a bit but it's pretty mild so I got an ISOBAR Medical 6 plug unit to turn off my preamp and power amp since the switches are on the back.

    Would be really nice if there was a conditioning/filtering unit that had individual and isolated power on/off switches like a control board (if there is something like that it's probably way more than I'm willing to spend).
     
  20. MrTeaRex

    MrTeaRex His head's not fat, he's my brother!

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    Are your power amps class A and draw tons of power and/or create heat? Any reason not to just leave your setup powered up?
     

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