Nearfields for audiophile listening?

That’s only Burzum and it still sounds better than most metal because it was done by a professional in a professional studio in the heyday of the music biz

 

Lame sounding. Weird midrange to treble crossover. Poor power handling. The BM6a and BM15 are the good ones. The cores might be good but are overpriced.

 

I can easily agree that stuff recorded years back sounds far less post-processed and flat than now. But had no idea that this applies to black metal as well. Will need to investigate older Burzum then. I'm no die-hard fan, but in my teenage years I had my fair share of Storm's Oppi fjellet. The whole album was great.

 

btw, what makes you choose the harbeth shl5+ over ls59? is it just because of ls59's treble? I was personally very impressed by shl5+ and thought that the speakers is as good as it gets. nice mid, tight bass, airy highs.

but it is just way too big for my setup. if ls5/9 is almost as good, i will try to arrange for home demo.

 

There’s more than just port size that goes into how fast or taut a driver will sound. The Spendors have a bit larger driver and also higher sensitivity. The Dynaudio Special Forty have the same size port and driver but sound significantly faster and tauter.

The Grahams are actually the lowest sensitivity speaker I’ve ever owned, even lower than the SCM19s. You can get the Grahams to tighten up quite a bit in the bass by getting them much further out into the room and putting it with amps that have solid low end grip and speed. This can get them to the point where they’re “passable” to my ears, but they’ll never be good in low end speed/impact. Pulling them way out also rolls them off earlier so you can get more from a sub. Otherwise I really would never recommend them for close to walls without blocking the port.

For the S400, I have my doubts - maybe, but definitely don’t point them at you - the waveguide seems to add a lot of directivity to the point where you can localize the tweeter if you’re too close. And by pointing them way off axis I would be concerned you’ll kill the top end (which is already really bordering on too smooth).

I wish I could actually put them together into one speaker - the S400 for the low end and lower mids, and the LS6 for everything else. They each have their strengths.

That’s cool, I’ll be interested to hear your impressions. Would love to hear the SE version next to my standard version to see if the price difference is warranted. Did you get the raw Nordic Oak version? That veneer looks AWESOME.

One warning, they take a ton of time to break in and to get to the point where the drivers seem to fully relax and integrate (particularly the woofer of course).

He’s probably right. What are you running for amp? Something like the JOB 225 or Kinki Studio amps would probably be great at low volumes, but the Vidar really doesn’t do wonders at low volumes.

Yeah I emailed Mads about the active Buchardts and then he told me about the separate amp they were planning to launch specifically for the S400. It’s an interesting move to sell a separate amp specifically tailored for your speakers. Although it’s DSP controlled it doesn’t actually replace the crossover in the S400s it’s just “optimized” to work specifically with the one that’s already in the S400, sort of like Devialet SAM I guess. It also has a low volume optimizer mode as well. Pretty limited market for that amp though, I don’t know how that would make sense from a business perspective, esp like you say, since many people prefer to match their own amp based on sound preferences. The only thing I can think is he’s licensing/sourcing the amp from someone else and then just tailoring the DSP for the S400.

 

@rlow speaking of the Graham ls6, I am looking to get exposure 3010 s2 for it as there is a piece available used in my country.

Have you tried your 3010 with the ls6? Is it better than the vidar you own?

 

ls59 vs shl5plus: the harbeth was more involving, better midrange magic and goes deeper. at the end i just thought the harbeth was a more musical/pleasant listening experience. I could have lived for a long time with the shl5plus, but i did find tthem a bit too bright and i wasnt convinced about the value proposition. from what I understand, im not the only one complaining about excessive brightness with the shl5plus and the shl5plus annversary apparently addressed that.

never heard the harbeth 30.2, but it uses a soft dome tweeter vs the metal tweeter in the shl5 and i have a feeling that they might combine the harbeth mids with smooth treble

 

Oh, I'm quite sure that the Signature Edition's substantial price premium (+45%) can't be justified by performance. The upgrade is modest — cabinet is a little heavier and stiffer, and crossover made from higher grade components. The price difference mostly comes from being a limited run of 25 built in Denmark (not from their manufacturing line in China). Yes I am getting the raw Nordic Oak, which was one of the attractions for me. The standard S400 may be a much better value but the SE is still within my budget and I'll be satisfied as long as it delivers the sonic goods.

I currently have a Heed Obelisk PS power amp (long story how I got there). At a conservative 50W @ 8 ohms, it is at the low end of Buchardt's power recommendation, but should be adequate for nearfield and my 10x15 room. Mads said he hasn't heard the Heed himself, but others have told him that it matches well with the S400. I'll see how it works out.

Yeah, not sure that the integrated amp makes sense from a business perspective, especially because many will choose to go with their active speakers instead. The Nordic Oak Signature Edition initially sold out pretty quickly but I noticed that it's available again, probably people switching their order to the active speakers.

 

I didn’t own the 3010 when I got the LS6 no. But the 3010 was very, very similar sounding to the Vidar/Saga, I would say maybe a bit sweeter/wetter on the top end and just a bit bouncier and more rythmic in the bass, but also maybe a touch higher noise floor compared to the Vidar/saga (which is exceptionally quiet and clean actually, at least with the speakers I’ve used with it, which have not been high sensitivity). It was almost a tossup between the 3010 and the Vidar/Saga with my old speakers - I would imagine it will be a good combo with the LS6.

 

how nearfield is your nearfield?

and please post photos! I'd love to see the veneer on the speakers since it doesn't appear to be too 'premium' looking on the webpage

 

I'm surprised that the shl5plus is considered bright, but then again I have never demo it substantially to know.

the shl5+ actually is very very value for money in Singapore. I can get it for around USD3300 used from Malaysia (3 hours drive from Singapore) and Harbeth always sell easy.

I am kind of scarred by my harbeth 30.1 experience with the overly nasal sound that I wouldn't want to risk getting 30.2.

will be going to audition the graham ls5/9 later.

 

well, since I have the vidar, seems like getting the 3010 is kind of a sideway move instead of an upgrade.

 

My setup is an equilateral triangle, 4 feet on each side. I will need to experiment with positioning because the speakers will have a window fairly close behind them. "Raw Nordic Oak" definitely has a raw look with dramatic wood grain. It will be quite a contrast to the very refined looking rosewood Harbeth P3ESR I'm currently using (acquired recently; I will be comparing these two sets of speakers).

The S400 SE was due to ship at "end of January", and I have just received the shipping notice!

 

Ah right forgot about that. Yeah I think so personally. What preamp do you have again? Also, what are you trying to achieve with an amp change? And what’s the rest of your chain?

 

interested in what you have to say, since we pretty much are in the same listening condition leaning against wall and being around 4 feet to speakers. I too have the falcon ls3/5a which is roughly the same as your p3esr. by numerous reviewers, the buchardt is not suitable for our listening habits. too close for drivers to integrate and the passive radiator still needing some room to breathe.

 

yunie, you no longer have your right monitor in the corner next to two adjacent walls? Did you ever get a measurment mic?

 

I use the benchmark dac2 hgc as dac/preamp which you previously commented that the highs may get a little bright for my ATC along with vidar. you are essentially right about that.

i have good results for the vidar with the graham ls6. The 3010s2 that i'm looking at is the amp, not the int amp. I was just tempted that a used one is up for sale at roughly USD700 and its front power switch makes it infinitely more convenient than the vidar's switch at the back. heard good things about exposure 3010 with BBC speakers as well, so that's why I'm asking.

but oh well, since its more sideways, I'd rather not get it.

 

I still have the right monitor at the corner, but am gonna move my table around so it no longer is trapped in that corner.

I can live with that corner for now with my sock-stuffed graham ls6. but it is less ideal for my atc and ls3/5a.

I did not get a measurement mic even though I have a friend that can lend me his sonarworks mic but I just can't bring myself to spending $300 on sonarworks.

I used equalizer APO as recommended by someone here. tuning 100hz down by about 3db works wonder but I have since stopped using it. I have this feeling that the equalizer will mess the fidelity up even though I can't hear or prove it. Just a psychological thing perhaps.

 

anyway I've demo-ed Graham ls5/9. didn't hear enough to convince that it is better than the LS6 I am having.

the bass is not as tight as I hope it to be. difference is day and night when compared to the sealed box Audio note AN-K. The bass on special 40 with the big port is still much better than Graham's and much more comparable to sealed box speakers.

 

Yeah it ain't cheap but that application does look pretty slick. I'd ask to borrow the mic from your buddy and do a measurement once you move your table. I'm curious what the results look like before correction.