Nearfields for audiophile listening?

Take a Eminence driver, it's usually above 95db/watt across its useful range, and costs under $70. Add a driver for the tweeter horn and crossover, but you should be able to do a pair for under $300 each, which fits your budget before wood. This build will allow some modification to the brightness by small change too crossover components. If you build a speaker you will think carefully before you sell it...

 

I have these (O300Ds). They are super nice. Very resolving, very clear in the mids but not at all forward, maybe very slightly U-shaped. Smooth and non-fatiguing. Sweet spot is very wide. They are definitely not full-range - I hear them as flat down to a bit below 40hz then falls off a cliff - but bass is of good quality (I like sealed box bass). They are not kind to bad sources - any treble hash will be quite apparent. Right now I am feeding them direct from Yggdrasil and it is pretty incredible.

I got mine in the UK. It's a shame they are so expensive stateside. In the UK you can get a brand new pair of KH310s for like $3000US.

 

I'd say that's a slight exaggeration. I don't think anyone is expecting small monitors to be "full range", 3-way or not. They are "full range enough".

Measurements show they play well below 30hz at -10dB, something that bog standard 8" reflex monitors simply can't achieve, due to the inherent rolloff.
http://www.neumann-kh-line.com/neum...ng_discontinued-monitors_studio-products_O300

Of course room gain can help etc. G8050's played pretty good 30hz here (they are tuned surprisingly low so maybe exception here..). But the O300's were soo clean (at low volumes)..

 

I totally agree that they do extremely well for their size. They are certainly "full range enough for my neighbours".
Interesting measurements. In my setup I can hear fundamentals at about 35hz but can absolutely not hear fundamentals at 30hz.

Yes, this. Sealed box with lots of amplification. Sounds great.

 

Is it possible you have a room null around 30hz? Probably more than likely... I dug out some of my old measurements which show good output under 30hz here..

 

I'm leaning towards the blh fostex box as it's inexpensive and different from what I'm used to. I could pull a sub or traditional two ways from my home theater to compare.

What other 4" drivers would be worth trying out in that box? Markaudio, dayton?

 

I am using a pair of KEF X300A's with a 12" SVS subwoofer and calibrated with Dirac Live software for near field, although not from a desk but listening distance is somewhat less than 2 meters. It's a nice combination that delivers full range, dynamic, spacious and detailed sound, even on low SPL's. System price about 1.800 euro's.

 

I auditioned the Technics SB-C700 today. Anyone else heard them? I thought they had some great qualities, but their placement in the shop I went wasn't doing them any favors. I may just go with those if another audition with them placed a bit better addresses my concerns with them.

 

could be possible but, most time most rooms have room gain from 100hz and below most of the time most likely. i thinks nulls be there if the room is weird shape. living rooms is more common due to more openings say to the kitchen,dining area or something else so the low frequencies have longer distance to travel and dissipate. it could just be possible that the speakers are incapable of reproducing anything below 35hz as well. most speakers can't reproduce frequencies below 40hz without hitting high distortion. that's where multiple large separate woofers come into play to take care of the infrasonic information if needed if want low frequency tracking and ultra low distortion.

 

Heard the Harbeth P3ESR today. I think I prefer those to both the Kef LS50 and the Technics SB-C700 (these make me think of HD800s with better bass, punch, and smoother highs in a way).

What else in the vein of the P3ESR should I look at (diy with easy cabs ok)?

 

I have the Genelec 8330 for about a year, so I can chip in with a recommendation for these bad boys.
My listening area is my medium-small living room which doesn't have much sound treatment. Before the 8330 I had ATC SCM10 active and prior to that Genelec 8020, with both of these I had issues around room placement, I just couldn't get them to sound balanced because of room modes (even worse when on desktop). With the 8330 SAM I feel for the first time like there's not much to worry about, which can be a bit of a downer concerning my upgraditis, ok, perhaps the digital source which at the moment is an M2Tech hiface 2. There's also scope for upgrade with one of their SAM subwoofers if one requires more bass.
Don't be fooled by the 8330 size, they have a trick up their sleeve; place them near wall/corner and their room correction will take care of the room modes with the added benefit of a more extended bass that goes beyond what would normally be expected- they reach down to about 35hz (-6db) on my room without any mid bass bloat. Their imaging is excellent, instruments and vocals float in front me, dynamics and all the other stuff is very good if not class leading. I don't think there's anyone else doing what Genelec are with their SAM series, considering their relatively affordable prices - knowing how much value there is in the Gennies (network/DSP/DAC/Amplifier) I'm cynical when I see IEMs that are selling for the same price.

Just to add; there's a lot of talk about the Genelec sound on Gearslutz forum which is reported to be a little U shaped with fatiguing treble and bass - I can report it's not the case with the 8330, they might use same drivers as their non-dsp counterparts but that's about it. If there's a characteristic I'd say they're a like chameleon; feed them quality and they will reward

 

OK I did a bit of investigating. Hekeli you are completely right, there IS bass response on the O300Ds down to around 30hz (low B) where it is maybe -10db or so. I can't hear much below that. The reason I couldn't hear down to 30hz before is that it is over the other side of a whacking great node in my room just below 40hz with loads of gain. But once I account for that I can hear response down to 30. Not bad going.

 

Gearslutz are for pro's ,but pro's too have preferences.
Sure Genelec has a house sound, but then so does every other manufacturer, Focal Dynaudio, etc.

 

Gearslutz are a mixed bag, from hardened, elder pros, some of whom invented parts of the history of audio recording, to guys making noises in the bedrooms.

I haven't visited there in a while, but the criticism that I recall of Genelec is that some consider it too nice. Which might make it more appropriate for home listening by those who dislike what, from the other side of the fence, they see as a cold, analytical sound of pro monitors.

 

I had some ELAC b6's in this week. They were quite good I thought. Pretty neutral with a focus on the mids. I expected a stronger bass response but it could have been placement and shit room conditions/treatment.

 

Indeed. The views from there does not really carry more weight than for me than someones opinion on the more "consumer" side. Although there are some really smart pro's too, who actually know what they are talking about. For me the Genelecs have always been pretty colorless. The " house" sound carries through from the smallest to the biggest ones. I have not heard and tested all Genelecs, but quite a bit of them. They are robust, and have good variety of flexibility.

 

I agree - I used 8020s for a while, they can sound a little more "fun" than others I guess, however their SAM series have no sound at all to them, there's no romance (which for some isn't necessarily the best thing)

 

Maybe look for their larger offerings.
I listened to one that had 8'' bass-mid, can't remember the model.
I liked it, very natural tone. Similar in a way with good hp-s, as no serious coherency issues across fr range, but more realistic tone and presentation.
Imo bested a more expensive wide-bander (Vivo VS20) that was in the same shop at coherency and tone and pretty much everything else with a pentode amp.

 

Genelec claim that their tuning is so precise that one can always replace individual speakers or mix and match sizes. They say (when I last looked) that the only difference in sound between a bigger and smaller speaker is base extension and maximum volume.