Nearfields for audiophile listening?

Nice result. Genelec were on my dream list for a long time. Had a demo of their digital-input speakers, with their room-correction software, a few years back, at a hifi meet. Have also heard their tiny "computer" speakers: nothing that size should sound so good... but the problem is the price.

I will always regret having missed out on a decade-old-but-unused pair of Genelecs. That's not the current groovy shape, but a previous incarnation, which some people say sounded better. I even had the local distributors willing to check them out for me. Absolutely no excuse: I just didn't go for it.

I think that Eve speakers was started by someone who left Adam?

 

Yeah Adam cofounder... supposedly they are supercharged Adams without port farting.

RCF Mytho 8 was one candidate too, on sale here for 1600e. But hard to audition, noone uses it, probably bad resell value.. though the current discount looks great.

 

Eve SC307. Simply awesome soundstage and presence. Very clean tight bass that actually has got some slam, while 8050's have more of a subwoofer rumble presence.

Gennys are no doubt great too, but Eves enveloping sound simply give me goosebumps and make me dance in my chair.

Someone will get cheap 8050's soon. HD800's are going too, no need for them anymore.

Until my 30 days return period is over, I'm still open for suggestions in 2000€ range.. though I don't think there's many candidates left that can be auditioned easily or found on second hand markets.

PS. I fired up the M-Audios last time for fun. Sounds weird. Woofer not working on one. I guess what you get what you pay for eh lol.

 

There is always the SC208 which is supposed to go lower than the 3-way.
Have you heard the Event Opal's?
I've heard the Sceptre S8 and quite liked them, but I was hungover/still drunk from the night before so I dunno...

 

Pretty much everyone seems to agree SC3xx has better mids imaging etc. I have no problem believing that and it goes deep enough, so doesn't seem enough reason to try out the SC208. 2x6.5" has more area than 8" anyway, so perhaps better slam, transients.. just thinking aloud..

Never seen used Opals here, way off the budget as new. I've only heard they may break very often.

 

@Hekeli
In my opinion, my Yamaha HS8 is far superior to my balanced HD800 in every aspect of the sound: imaging, bass response, timbre and tonality. You should consider this speaker if what you seek is phase accuracy(though coaxial might be better here) and very neutral sound.

 

I've owned my Opals for about 2 years now and they have been really good to me. I don't listen to them on the regular as most of my listening is via CIEM (UERR) but when I do turn them on I still like what I hear.

You can hear them (in glorious iPhono mono ) in this video I made a couple weeks ago:

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10157087321975198

 

But how about the dynamics? HS8 and the HS80M are well known for dynamically restrictive amplifiers (mostly the soft clipping circuit).

 

I don't have any issues with dynamics on mine. When I first demoed them at the DJ audio shop, the staff there blasted the monitors really loud(cinema explosive levels). The first to clip(distortion) were the Adam A8x and Eve Audio SC208, The HS8 did no exhibit any kind of distortion when pushed really loud. The other monitor that did not clip was the KRK Rokit 8. But the sound signature of the Rokit 8 wasn't up to my taste with it's more U shape sound. All other Coaxial based monitors were pretty bass weak when compared to two way designs.

At home, my HS8 has the assistance of the Furman PFi 16(15 for United States) power conditioner with it's 45amp peak power reserve capacitor, I never felt the HS8 has any kind of dynamics issues(given that my Yggdrasil dac is one hell of a dynamic dac), my Audio-gd master 9 preamp(with ample power reserves) could also be the reason why I don't have any dynamic issues.

 

@Madaboutaudio

I'm a bit sceptical that a "cheap" pair of monitors would satisfy my needs. The Yammys are like 550€ a pair? Certainly there must be some tradeoffs. Everyones smiten about LSR305 too, had them few years ago but couldn't stand the sound, something was peaking, poor bass etc - that's when I got KH120's instead.. a leap in much listenable direction (but I do hate ports farting bass in your face now!). But hearing how the SC307 perform here, no way I would satisfy for any less clarity and headroom.

 

@Hekeli

It may seem that the HS8 are cheaper than the rest of the 8" monitors, but these HS8 are not your "made in china" copycats. The HS8 is based on a legendary studio monitor, the NS10(this time with much improved bass, better tonality). The HS8 are designed to be honest/natural/accurate/non-colored sounding speakers.

Do take time to read up on HS8's predecessor, the NS10:
http://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/yamaha-ns10-story

I am just quoting one example here, but there's really plenty of reviews/comments on the internet where the audio mastering/engineering people praise the HS8 as the go to monitor to know if your mix sounds good or not, e.g. if it sounds bad on the HS8, it will sound bad on everything else.

https://audiosex.pro/threads/help-choosing-8-studio-monitors.19671/page-2

Other reviews:
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HS8/reviews

The only few flaws I can think of as an owner is the power switches are located at the back and the speaker does have hiss if you stand very near about 3 inch from the speakers.

 

The problem is that I'm not mixing or mastering, I'm trying to enjoy music.. you can find as many subjective quotes that one can't enjoy such utility monitors. But I have seen many people saying how "hifi/non fatiguing/enjoyable" EVE's are. Or K+H O300's for example, which I owned before. Heck some say Genelecs make everything sound good - I guess it's a good thing?

If hypothetically something like HS8 is not enjoyable, can one maybe EQ it radically like we do with HD800? Is the speaker technically competent enough? People like HD600, but I'm sorry it simply isn't technical enough to handle deep lows / busy stuff etc, regardless of whether it shows diana kralls warts or not. I'm pretty sure the same kind of distinction could be made with cheap vs expensive monitors, atleast when comparing the best examples between their price points. I'm sure HS8 is nice, but is it still a HD600?

I've used all the bass/high etc dips and switches on all the speakers I have here, to try make them sound similar and/or the best fit for my room. Regardless, they still have quite distinct personalities and I seem to like Eve. It's an impossible task to listen everything, just have to filter it down from hundreds of opinions. Perhaps I'll still check few local shops if they have anything on demo, hard to judge stuff on some random shop though.

 

Like I said again, HS8 is superior to HD800 in every aspect, even when it comes to plankton and top notch(vs other studio monitors) when comes to accurate imaging. HD650 isn't even close to HS8's performance, as the HD6x0 all have the same sennheiser veil that hides away plenty of plankton.

As for bass:

Also I recommend investing recoil stabilizer for your studio monitor/near field speakers, these will help with getting a more stable/tighter bass & imaging.

If you are seeking the most enjoyable music experience out of speakers and not for mixing music, then I am afraid you might have to look pass all these studio monitors and look at audiophile bookshelf speakers e.g. B&W 685, KEF Q300, Monitor Audio RX2 or go DIY route like some of the SBAF people are doing. Audiophile speakers tend to hide some of bright nastiness in music(like wearing light shades on a sunny day to cut on glare).

Even so those audiophile bookshelf don't have big enough drivers to handle low end bass, you have to invest in a sub woofer if you go that route or skip everything and go to straight to the floorstanders.

I do have an old B&W 802 series 80 floorstanders with 150w/channel class A amp at my living room which I seldom use due to the excessive power usage. These do really create a wall of bass that can be felt physically and they are also truly organic sounding in the mids and have silky smooth treble to the highest frequency(zero harshness).

 

aren't yamaha ns10's consider box speakers that are used only for bad recording? i know lot of people hated the ns10's(reason why i passed on them more then several times on them) but, i never had personal experience with them though... i still though probably never buy a pair unless it was cheap enough to give them a try..

 

Have zero interest in separate amps'n'stuff. I'm not sure if you got my message that these Eve's are f'ing fantastic and I enjoy them immensely - they are a keeper already.

I was simply asking before generally if there is something else I should consider. Adam A77X could be slightly different flavour and fun to try.. but front ports no, I don't want a farting hairdryer. Also I don't see any qualities in a bog standard cheap 2-ways tool like HS8. Maybe it would surprise me, probably not. Pretty sure the AMT on these Eves feed as much if not much more plankton than it.

 

I guess the reason why you are enjoying the Eve so much is because of the ribbon based(AMT) tweeters. These tend to disperse a wider stereo image and sound more detailed than traditional dome tweeters. It's all in the matter how much plankton/detail you seek, It's like spices on a dish, some prefer more, some less.

One of the reason why I didn't go with something like the Eve is not with the sound of the AMT driver but with the internal DSP electronics which does additional Analog to Digital conversion if you feed it with analog source. Doesn't make sense as my Yggdrasil DAC has already done (one of the most) accurate Digital to Analog conversion out there right now.

 

The HS8's predecessor was the HS80M.

I've got to take your word that you hear no compression from that speaker, however it's a widely accepted flaw. It won't clip, but it will compress the dynamics. See more here: http://groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=60620.0

Perhaps something worth exploring.

For those wondering, there are also Op amps and 'lytic caps in the signal path as well. Going active seems like a step backwards as a good speaker might end up with a mediocre amp due to cost constraints.

 

don't ribbons have a narrower dispersion? that's why they're used for near-field and if larger space is needed don't they line array ribbons to make up for it's lack of sweetspot? far as i know domes have the widest on axis and off axis dispersion...only proper horns and drivers is only other thing out there that can have a better on and off axis dispersion/polar response when properly done.

 

AMT tweeters have better dispersion and a broader sweet spot compared to their ribbon cousins. Although the speaker waveguide design as well as driver surface area plays a critical part.

 

I asked this over in the LS50 thread but didn't get any response. Do you guys have any recommendations for very small speakers that can literally fit in a small bookshelf? No more than 7 or 8" high.