General Speaker Advice and Recommendations

So, im toying with the idea of a subwoofer and it seems like the best way to go is to get a crossover and then an active sub (for convenience, since it ends up with one less thing to plug in/turn on/buy).

Am I on the right track? And do you guys have recommendations for stuff I can start off with looking on the used market?

 

To add a sub to a full range speaker, does something like a REL R-305 pair well (for an Omega, Moth, Fostex, etc)?

 

Svs13 ultra and it's about to get a new driver so you can snag the old model cheap.

 

Do you need a crossover? (Are you trying to get more out of your amp, or keep your full-range speakers from bottoming out?) If not, most active subs have a low-pass filter built in, so no need for a crossover.

I run my Maggie 0.7s without crossover, paired with a PSA 15" powered sub.

 

The argument for small speakers is that a smaller baffle allows for better coherency (more like a point source), and better imaging. Of course, at the expense of bass response. For myself, I prefer smaller units because I don't want speakers to visually dominate a room.

 

It depends. There are many big speakers with a very 'point source' alike sound. Of course fullrange driver excell at this and so do concentric drivers. But i.e. now I'm rolling with Trio10 Voxativ by PAP. Here Voxativ's transducer handles mids and highs whereas two 12' drivers do bass and the outcome is VERY coherent.

 

Yeah, I was looking at the crossover because I didnt want to speakers trying to cover what the sub was going to do.. But then it seems to get too messy for now so unless I find something relatively cheap/small for the crossover, I might skip it

 

So I'm attempting to complete a nearfield 2.1 or 2.0 setup. I have a few speakers coming in (Sierra Luna, KEF Q100, Elac UB5, and maybe some others) and I've decided to go with passive speakers this time and I'm planning on just putting one beside each monitor connected to a STA 200 or Vidar (depending on which one I prefer more).

I'm wondering about the placement of larger speakers as for example:



The KEF Q100 is huge compared to the Sierra Lunas and would take a ton of space on my table and possibly be too close for me to hear it properly (is this even a thing?). I guess what I'm asking is for larger bookshelf speakers do I need to put them on a stand away from the table to utilize them effectively?

Also is using a speaker amplifier with bookshelfs just overkill for a nearfield setup compared with just using some generic stereo receiver or even just going back to active monitors?

 

I am looking to upgrade my speakers on my Vidar/Freya system. I currently have the Elac B6’s and I am looking for increased clarity and better imaging. I have a medium sized room and don’t have space for floor standers right now, so I’m looking for bookshelf speakers to put on a media cabinet.
Budget is about $1000. I’m thinking Sierra 1, 2 or LS50’s.
Right now the LS50’s are $900/pair on Amazon (including rebate). Obviously the reviews point to the LS50’s, but I don’t put much credence in mainstream reviews. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

 

Absolutely not. Active speakers are fine, but for passive speakers you need a speaker amplifier. Good speakers will reward using a good amplifier and they will tell you all about if if your amplifier is mediocre.

 

Overnight Sensations MTM. Serious. The smaller MTs compare favorably to the LS50's imo, and only really loses out a bit on imaging and bass extension. The MTM will be more efficient and will have better bass extension.

The mini philharmonitors are an option too, especially the sealed version if you're going to put it inside a media cabinet. But that's if you're willing to deal with ribbon tweeters.

 

You know I loved those Overnight Sensations I heard at the NYC meetup in Nov 2016. I never knew about these MTM builds! Wow, thanks! I just ordered the kits from DIY Sound Group.

 

Had a short listening session between the KEFs Q100, Sierra Lunas, and the LSR 30X (was curious how the only pair of speakers I own compared).

My initial conclusion is sort of the same conclusion as when I first heard the LSR 30X, I ended up being more impressed with the LSR 30X than feeling like the Sierra Luna was that much better than the LSR 30X. The KEF Q100 sounded very nice as well although I think the LSR 30X is better maybe.

To me (early impressions) is that the Sierra Luna does things better than the LSR 30X but none of the things it does better makes me think its worth the price difference between the two. That and the differences don't cause me to ultimately enjoy the Sierra Luna more than the LSR 30X. The only highlight to me of the Sierra Luna so far is that the build quality is impeccable but that doesn't really factor into what I'm looking for.

I feel like there is something wrong with me. Maybe after listening for a longer amount of time I will change my mind. But then again, I also bought the LS50Ws and returned them after I felt that the sonic difference between them and the LSR 30X was not big enough for me to keep them.

I might try describing what I'm hearing later on but I always find that I have trouble connecting audio word descriptions with what I'm hearing.

At this point, I really want to try the new JBL 705Ps and see if they can take me away from the LSR 30X

 

Value clearly matters to you, and it seems even more so than sound quality. Compared to the $280/pair LSR 30X, everything else will seem like a poor value. I don't know why you're even thinking about the 705P, which are $1000 each — total 7x the price of the LSR 30X. I'd predict that it would be a little better but you wouldn't accept the 7x price difference. The best strategy may be to relax and enjoy your current speakers and upgrade somewhere else.

BTW, what is your amplification? The Lunas are low sensitivity (83.5 dB) and may require a good amplifier.

 

Currently using a Nuforce STA 200 (just received it yesterday) with a Schiit Vidar coming in (on backorder unfortunately). A Bifrost Multibit DAC is used along with a Schiit Sys as a preamp.

I don't think value is the issue I am facing currently, I am completely comfortable spending more money as long as I feel like the improvements are worth it to me, in fact I was just so blown away when I first got the LSR 30X that I was immediately curious what sounds I could experience by throwing more money at the issue. I just feel like the improvement in sound quality I hear so far is too minimal as I'm not sure maybe I'm the only person that feels this but the improvements I hear in the sound don't increase the enjoyment I get from the speakers (when I bought the HD 800 to replace my LCD-2's, I felt like the improvements enriched and made me enjoy listening to music to such a level that I kept it and sold the LCD-2s).

But these are just early impressions so they may change as I am pretty used to the JBL LSR 30X (brain burn in?) but we shall see (hear some things about amplifier burn in too?).

 

Don't put too much stock in burn in, changes are subtle usually. If you really don't like something it won't magically change into something you love. Maybe you just like a flat and uncolored sound so maybe try some other studio monitors? We have a great thread on it..

 

Far as I understand it the two issues you could run into would be driver cohesion and volume limitation.
First won't come up with coaxials, it performs as a point source regardless of your distance. Standard multi-ways are going to have a preferred seating arrangement & distance generally where the drivers are equal distance to you.
Second is something caked it audiophile terminology I barely understand, not all speakers play nice at lower volume listening which you'll be doing up close. With a halfass understanding of the engineering the only factor I get is that the speakers might be tuned for higher excursion or they're compensating for thermal based dynamic compression that comes when you're putting more power through them and heating the voice coil.

 

So I got in some cheap acoustic foam pads from Amazon and propped the Sierra Luna's up onto the table where my desktop goes, before I had them on a coffee table in a living room when I was comparing them with the LSR 30X. The speakers sounded better than before (maybe just due to the acoustic foam pads?) although I don't have the LSR 30X on hand with me currently to compare. After listening to the Sierra Luna for an afternoon I am starting to notice some larger differences and I forgot the fact that the Luna's only extend down to about 60 Hz while the LSR 30X can extend down a lot further. This maybe why I thought the LSR 30X sounded much better than it actually was?

Anyways I will listen some more and than when I get the chance to go back home I can compare them to the LSR 30X directly again. I am incredibly squeezed for space so the Sierra Luna's are becoming more and more attractive to me for use as nearfield monitors on my desk as I think the monitors the size of the KEF Q100 and the LSR 30X might be a bit too big. Been perusing the other Nearfield Monitor thread for speakers that are a similar size to the Luna's but haven't found anything, if anyone has a recommendation for speakers the size of the Luna, please let me know.

Here is a picture of my setup: (I feel like the Sierra Luna is the perfect size for now, probably need to cut those foam pads to a smaller size too.)

 

Due to the dispersion pattern of a ribbon it's crucial that they are on ear level. Even more so than normal tweeters but i would do it there as well. Get something to raise them they look way too low.

 

I'll spam here by posting our speaker that we displayed at the yearly HIFI show here in the Philippines.