Nearfields for audiophile listening?

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

  1. Luckbad

    Luckbad Traded in a unicorn for a Corolla

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    Haven't had either of those at home yet. Most of the random small/cheap speakers I've tried are at least as bad or worse than my ancient Bose Companion 2s that I've sometimes thrown on the computer for my son to play Overwatch.
     
  2. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    I picked up a set of these a few months back: https://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/art-rm5-active-5-studio-reference-monitors-pair
    Key selling points for me were the slim form factor, and the fact that I could mount it on monitor stands. I currently have two double arm stands set up on a rolling desk, so I have two monitors in the middle and the speakers swung out to the sides. I generally like passive radiators, and these work well to give me plenty of whomp (and frankly I've got the room modes set to crank it all up anyways. I've heard better for cheaper, but the package of convenience the features and shape offer are worth more to me in this case.

    edit: ah I found my post on this...
    https://www.superbestaudiofriends.o...audiophile-listening.1466/page-49#post-252722
     
    Last edited: Oct 18, 2019
  3. yunie_

    yunie_ Acquaintance

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    my vidar and graham ls6 arrived.

    fantastic. mid-range is not as magical as harbeth, but it felt more balanced as the harbeth's vocal can sound quite nasal on youtube sometimes.

    bass is not as boomy as I've auditioned. something is terribly wrong with the set-up I've heard at the distributor.

    both look really well-made as well.

    for the eco guys out there like me,
    the vidar consumes less power than I've expected. I read that idle power is about 60W but I've measured 40W.
     
  4. yunie_

    yunie_ Acquaintance

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    @rlow you are right about vidar and atc. it's indeed a little bright. do you have any recommendation on any amp that may suit the atc better?

    or any recommendation on eq adjust that will lower the brightness?
     
  5. JayC

    JayC Resident Crash Test Dummy

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    I happened to read about the vidar being a little treble rough, and got one right after. I can confirm that the statement is true and it actually works well with my Harbeth P3ESR.. I was missing some edge from the treble and this gave it some back. That paired with my SVS sub and a bigger apartment (I just moved 2 weeks ago) makes the whole thing way more enjoyable than it has ever been before!
     
  6. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    Yeah it’s not that Vidar is “rough” I’d just call it a bit dry up top. And with a tweeter that isn’t exactly smooth normally, it’s a double whammy. Yes with a smooth tweeter, or something that’s rolled off, however it can actually be a good complement and provide some needed bite.

    @yunie_ I never really found and amp that completely satisfied me with the ATC treble. Find something that others suggest has notable smoothness/sweetness on the top end i’d say. The closest I think hit it for me was an Exposure integrated (3010S2 I believe). The other way to go is with Freya and some tubes with a smoother/softer treble presentation.
     
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2019
  7. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
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    Use the 300W ATC amp or buy the active models. ATC voices their speakers around their own amps, which are quite good. Much better than Bryston and class dick bullshit.
     
  8. Luckbad

    Luckbad Traded in a unicorn for a Corolla

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    Anyone who has ordered a pair of active monitors from overseas (probably Germany): What's the process for converting them to work in the USA? Do you generally have to flip a switch and install a different fuse? I'm looking at EVE Audio and HEDD monitors right now (the HEDD Type 05 I previously pulled the trigger on didn't work out in terms of ever getting here).
     
  9. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

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    If the speakers in question use an SMPS, then they should be compatible with a wide range of mains voltages without any changes. Linear supplies usually need a switch flipped.
     
  10. RobS

    RobS RobS? More like RobDiarrhea.

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    What happened to those busted Dynaudios? You're not getting those tweeters fixed?
     
  11. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
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    You can buy the relays yourself and put them in or have a technician do it and recap it while you’re at it.
     
  12. Mithrandir41

    Mithrandir41 Friend

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    The other way around perhaps?
     
  13. mrflibble

    mrflibble Friend

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    That is a shame that the HEDD speakers did not work out logistically for you. I have been looking at them recently, although I am not in a position to buy at the moment due to living away from home.

    The Eve Audio and HEDD speakers differ in that the latter do not use built-in DSP. Therefore there is no extra A to D conversion followed by a D to A conversion. Instead they have a "Linearizer" computer software plugin to flatten the speaker response. But you are probably already aware of this :)

    Speakers that have DSP and the associated A to D and D to A conversions (such as the Eve Audio) seem to me to make having a nice external DAC somewhat pointless. Especially Multibit since we are trying to keep the original samples. Would that be a logical supposition? It would be interesting to know how much the extra conversions affect the Multibit goodness.
     
  14. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

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    I copped them for $150 and feel like they were a steal at that price.
    They're definitely a tier down from the Vanatoo. And they don't open up like the T0 when you hook up a subwoofer.
     
  15. Luckbad

    Luckbad Traded in a unicorn for a Corolla

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    Got them from Guitar Center. They weren't willing to lower the price for selling me two broken monitors, so I returned them.

    Edit: The cutting out wasn't the only problem, either. Both tweeters had been pushed in and crinkled. Those would be a problem forever until I replaced them. At that point, it wasn't worth it.
     
    Last edited: Oct 30, 2019
  16. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
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    That’s typical guitar center bullshit and why you should never shop there. A new pair is still a good deal for 2k considering the amps in them.
     
  17. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    I listed to the IK iLoud speakers at a local music shop. I didn't feel they were anything to write home about from a purely sonic sense, but for a party box in such a small form factor they pushed good sound without turning into a crinkled farty box. If that's your use case, they're great. You can only cheat physics so much to get volume out of a small box, and the iLoud does a very good job at that.
     
  18. Luckbad

    Luckbad Traded in a unicorn for a Corolla

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    By the way, I heard a used pair of Mackie HR624MK2 at Sam Ash the other day. I'm not sure why Mackie gets a bad rap, but I thought they sounded pretty good. I liked them more than the Genelec 6.5" things they had set up.

    Might've bought them if the left monitor didn't keep cutting out.

    The setup is far from ideal in there, though. There's a fair chance I'd bring them home and find that they sound like crap.

    What's the deal with people hating on Mackie? Is it because they're made in China like most monitors these days?

    They had the super cheap MR524 and I didn't find them worse than the current gen JBL or KRK 5" offerings. The 6.5" MR624 could be a really good bargain (you can negotiate places down to $150 a piece easily).
     
  19. Psalmanazar

    Psalmanazar Most improved member; A+

    Pyrate Slaytanic Cliff Clavin
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    Drastic quality decline with poor QC, reliability, and a very inaccurate midrange. Mackies used to be half decent, fairly priced, made in the USA, and used Italian drivers. Then the company who went public, moved production to China, and they went down the toilet. Part of it was due to Behringer ripping off their designs for analog consoles, which were solid and reliable, to make totally disposable crap. But the quality of everything Mackie, the consoles, the monitors, and the pres basically hit rock bottom. Same reason KRK gets shit but Mackie makes worse stuff, they don’t have a prestige line to move tech down from, so gets more shit.

    Only the cheapest monitors are typically made in China and very few of them are usable. The JBL LSR 305 is clean enough for many tasks and instruments. The current KRK cheapie 5” is okay too. There are zero monitors you can’t complain about very basic functionality things (audible resonances, hiss, amps, detail, or headroom) made in China right now.

    Yamaha HS8 are probably the most common cheap monitor in music production right now and is made in Indonesia where Yamaha makes cheap guitars. Yeah they are totally unusable for many tasks but they sound way better than the Chinesium as a whole. The KRK V6S4 is the only Chinese made thing I’ve used and even heard of that sounds better and is more useful than HS8 (305 and Rokit 5 exceed HS8 at a few tasks) and that thing hisses like a cobra despite sounding better when cranked than the KH120 and A7X. Super annoying shit. I actually like the Rokit 5 more because no hiss.
     
    Last edited: Oct 30, 2019
  20. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    I liked the Mackie HR series way more than the (HM?) series that replaced them. I think my preferences just seem to lean towards sealed or passive radiator type monitors.

    Mackie had a huge following for their original SRM v1 PA cabinets. Then as Psalm mentioned they moved their production to China (and rumour has it they moved into the factory that Behringer left behind because the QC was too shoddy even for them) and the SRM v2 cabinets had so many failures that it tanked the reputation of the company. They've since fixed all that with the v3's, but no one trusts them anymore.

    Their reputation for reliable and tank-like mixers is probably the only thing that kept them afloat.
     

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