General Speaker Advice and Recommendations

put the mic at the listening position and move the speakers few feet around while measuring every step and find the smoothest response...

 

Thank you very much for this text. Do you guys think a Eddie current studio or aficionado could drive any of those speakers in the reveal?

 

None except maybe the Devores, but given their sensitivity is only rated at 91 dB it’s probably not a great match either. Defer to others that own those amps.

The rest are all either too inefficient or challenging loads with their lower impedance.

 

Original Dynaco A25 set for a seconday rig with 20 WPC amp expecting to listen after hours at about 60 dB. Yay or Nay?

 

plenty of power
but do you like the original dyanco a25 sound?

 

As I have seen it described but I have never heard them. Do you think they would be well driven at 60 dB? The whole point of the second rig is to play during Quiet Hours at the apartment complex. Right now I am running the 3 inch fostex bass reflex kits.
EDIT: I want to clarify my concern. You know the sound when a speaker is underdriven and have to turn it up to make it right? to get full range? My concern is they will sound like that until I get up over 60 dB and into neighbor bothering range. Its easy to drive the 3 inch Fostex into (their version of) full range at low volumes.

 

i dont quite remember the A25 sounding particularly good at low volume. normally, higher efficiency sound decent at low volume

 

purr1n How are the Salk Speakers? Which ones have you heard and how do they compare compared to the others Salk Sound speakers. Thinking of purchasing a pair.

 

I passed on the Dynaco A25s and ruled out some Dynaco A10s and bought a pair of Fostex P1000-BH 4" Full Range Back-loaded Horn.
I think going from the 3 inch FE83 EN s to the 4 inch FE103 EN would probably be enough to satisfy the need to upgrade, anything extra I get from the (not ecstatically reviewed) cabinet/horn design is gravy.

 

We really shouldn't still be using metal coned speakers in 2020. It's been over 15 years now since the German audio forums identified their temporal deficiencies

I guess it doesn't really surprise me much that speaker designers ignore the time domain since a frequency response graph is the only measurement customers have taught themselves to read.

 

Yeah, everything is a tradeoff.

I guess I'm just not happy with the tradeoffs the market has chosen over the last 25 years. Overall, speakers sound much less natural then they used to, but extend a lot lower and measure flatter.

 

interesting choice. I use a pair of fostex fe127 in fonkens cab in the kitchen. no bass though, but it will have lots of mid magic. A25 would add much more bass but less mid detail and dynamic. you need a sub with the 4 inch wideband but no highpass if you really listen at 70db.

 

I've also got the Fostex P1000-bh, and let me second that recommendation on subwoofers. These guys barely get down to 100 Hz without wall reinforcement so you're probably going to want to flesh them out with a small, quick sub.

I've made do with a pair of 12" el-cheapo monoprice subs & some eq, but crossing them over this high is still a struggle. There's a flatpack kit on madisound for a 10" open baffle sub that might do better, or maybe even an 8"?

 

I catch myself trying to make this more than it is meant to be often. It's a second system meant for 60 to 70 dB so i can listen at 5 am when I am cooking breakfast or late night reading online in my apartment. It is 18 feet away from my JBL 305P MKIIs and LSR310S sub. I hesitate to call it background music that I am going for, I would like for at least some aspect of the reproduction to GRAB my attention sometimes but I think I will be fine with the missing bass. Working in vacant apartments I just listen to my LG V40. All the music is in my head already, sometimes just a little hint of sound will activate it. BUT... https://www.fostexinternational.com/docs/products/PM-SUBmini2.shtml#content-3-tab-tab .

 

a 5 inch woofer is not a sub lol

something like a rel t5i would integrate easy with the fostex

 

I appreciate your opinion but it would not integrate. It does not have line level in and out RCAs. It is also 125 watts vs my 20 amp integrated main.

With the Fostex I can crossover the feed to the horns variably from 60 to 150 Hz and at 50 watts it is unlike to overpower my 20 watt amp feeding my (future) horns. Secondly bass is what will get me in hot water with neighbors at 5 am. If I NEED anything it will be a bit of mid bass fill in.

I did get a kick out of listening to a track with a bass solo and hearing nothing at all out of the 3 inch Fostex s. Most of the music I listen to is pretty light on bass and especially the music I want to hear at 5 AM before breakfast or late at night winding down before bed.

 

my fonkens fostex fe127en goes surpringly low tbh. my measurments show down to about 50hz. add room gain and its quite impressive for a 4 inch woofer. maybe try first the fostex then decide if you even need a sub. but really, a 5 inch sub, i wouldnt bother and just use the fostex 4 inch as is.

 

Thanks purr1n for the really good explanation.

As far as the research goes with the Salks, for less then $6000, the Salk Sound Song 3 Beat seems to be the one to go for.

From Audiocircle I hear from Jim Salk himself he evaluates the speakers as follows:
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High-frequency treble performance - all Song3 models are pretty much the same in this regard.

Low frequency bass performance - Song3 Encores play deeper, all others the same.

Midrange performance - this is where most of the differences are. In order of detail...

Song3-A
Song3 Encore
Song 3
Song3 BeAT (very close to Song3)

In order of "smoothness" and "warmth":

Song3 BeAT
Song3
Song3 Encore
Song3-A
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So it seems for my flavour to find a speaker for simply enjoying the music without scouring over the details the Song3 BeAT is the way to go to compliment my studio monitors which are detailed oriented.

I would still like substantial detail and for enjoyment whether audio friends in general prefer the
ATC SCM 19 to the Song3 BeAT. I haven't heard either one but it is a curious comparison if others would like to chime in. I know the ATC SCM 19 serves a lot of people well for that price range.
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Someone, either in this community or some other place also commented that the Song3 BeAT tweeter is less coloured than that of the Be Focal headphone and has a sweeter sound and more delicate than the Be diaphragm compression drivers. I do like the idea of a more delicate sound in the treble region as oppose to more unforgiving studio monitors for a change.

I am trying to understand when someone commented this:, I paraphrase:

"The Audio Technology drivers are usually amazingly well behaved and encourage the use of simple xovers."

In regards to cross overs, and the Audio Tech Drivers, would they refer to the built in speaker x-overs already embedded in the design or something else? I pasted that in a word document, but can't trace out where I found that comment.

If I do manage to decide on the BeATs I am looking to pair it with two Aegirs and the Freya+ I am hoping that the Aegirs match the amplification nicely.