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>Helpful links
How to pick your speakers - digitaltrends.com
Where to place your speakers - arqen.com
Recommendations - whathifi.com
Have a question? Include
>budget
>room size
>intended purpose e.g. music, movies, gaming, as well as the type e.g. rock or jazz, action movies or games with a lot of explosions
>country
>new or used?
>find speakers on kijiji, look like towers
>pretty good price, can't find much info though about specifics
>go to look at them, they're a lot smaller than I expected (big bookshelves/small towers)
>already drove 20 minutes, and the speakers are only $100 so I buy them anyway
>kinda regret it now
oh well. i just want that one good solid pair of speakers that I can keep for 5+ years and not feel like I'm missing out
Am I the only one who is disappointed with the quality of new "audiophile" turntables? It seems to me that they would be considered entry level at best back in the 70s and 80s. I bought a vintage Yamaha that was top of the line back in 1982 for far less than the current entry level audio technica turntable. It has more features than it too.
Currently I have a pair of Dayotns B652 with a cheap amp, want to upgrade, got 2 options
Stay in 2.0 and buy a pair of somewhat expensive speakers, like ELAC UB5, SVS Prime,JBL ES20 or the Martin Logan 35XT
or buy a receiver and go 5.1, put my daytons as rears and buy a pair of : JBL Arena 120 as fronts and a Arena 125C as center, a pair of Bic America FH6 and for center a FH6-LCR, a pair of Klipsch R15M and a 25c for center
My budget is around 675 - 700 usd
Room size 4 x 4 mts
Music ( Anime OST´s some rock and EDM) and gaming FPS
Mootxico
All new
>disappointed with the quality of new "audiophile" turntables
if I'm being 100% honest, I've personally never used or even heard a new turntable. I think the reason modern stuff is shittier is due to a few things
1. the death then resurgence of vinyl, meaning most people buying new TTs are young and dumb
2. added "features" like USB output means that less attention is paid to other areas
3. ignorance. why charge $100 when you can charge twice that? anyone who knows better won't buy it anyway, but the ten idiots that do make up for it
my initial suggestion is to disregard 5.1 and stick to stereo. there's obvious some benefit in having surround sound for games, but only you can decide if it's worth it either way, I recommend that you don't mix and match speaker types (e.g. JBL fronts with Dayton rears), as it'll have a different sound signature
what you could do is grab a decent 5.1 receiver and then some main bookshelves. and later down the line you can grab a second pair for the rears. the Klipsch R15Ms you mentioned are pretty good (and one of the few pairs you listed that I've heard)
Thanks m8, gonna grab the Pioneer VSX531 and and the klipsch and matching center and keep the daytons as rears, then after 6 months pick another pair of Klipsch´s
no problem. just be aware that surround sound receivers will never sound as good as an equal value stereo. that being said, it'll be good enough for most tasks
if you're willing to look at other brands, Polk is pretty good as well. I mention them because you can probably get Polk towers with 6.5" woofers and still be in your price range. meanwhile the Klipschs will only have a 5.25" woofer. of course you could always add a sub, but again, those can be expensive
Are early ARs actually good speakers? I've been looking for other speakers after having had the chance to get a pair of Paradigm 7SE Mk3, but one of the woofers was dead. Did I fuck up by not buying them? Any other brands to look for? I saw a pair of Allison CD8 for cheap as well.
how are the q acoustics 3020? i'm thinking on buying them mostly for gaming and movies
also, do i need a DAC for this kind of uses, in my country (chile) i can get the Behringer UCA202 at a reasonable price
I was using a 5.1 logitech for soo long, ended up buying a set of Swan M10s recently, and damn they sound much cleaner. I also adjusted my mobo eq and they sound and punch even deeper, very nice for 100 dollars
Can we talk about sounds cards too?
Plenty of nice turntables out there, not being able to compete with used gear isn't exactly suprising.
ARs are very good, but as with any speaker, do research on the specific model. paradigm 7ses as well are great, but a replacement woofer is gonna run anywhere from $20 to $50, so that's obviously a price you'd need to include. if the speakers were cheap then yeah you might've fucked up, but in my experience, paradigms are relatively common, and 7ses regularly go for $200 in decent condition
what kind of speaker do you want? tower or bookshelf? accurate or coloured? punchy or restrained?
>q acoustics 3020
supposedly the best speakers in their price range. your computer has a built-in DAC, but you will need an amplifier to power the speakers themselves
with subwoofers, due to their frequency, you can place them on the ground, incase you want to free up some room. congrats, enjoy the improved fidelity
talk about anything you want. I just hate that Sup Forums doesn't have speaker threads, but has every other kind of tech
Well, I have an Asus Xonar DGX. I know it is cheap but I needed a digital output on my MB. I'm intrigued on how it works (I tried google but I'm dense) and how the passthrough is better or not.
Best bluetooth speakers for under £45?
pls no hate
thanks, would the smsl sa50 be enough to power the Q acoustics 3020 for a small apartment?
that's a sound card, which has a DAC, which converts digital signals from your motherboard to analog signals, so you can output that to an amplifier. an amplifier takes a weak signal and amplifies it so it can power speakers
it goes Motherboard (digital) -> Sound card (analog, weak signal) -> Amplifier (strong signal) -> Speakers (sound)
>50w per channel
oh absolutely. I'd be surprised if you used more than 10watts honestly. I used a Lepai for my university setup for a few months, and that thing barely put out 7W/channel
Well, I get it to hook up a pair of Behringer MS40 so I have it on passthrough, as I understood:
MB -> analog output -> optical cable -> MS40 Dac.
I guess I'm doing it right.
those speakers are powered, so they have a built in amplifier, see pic related
I think I'm getting posters confused
I am thinking of getting Beyerdynamic Dt 990 pro 250 ohm and cheap dac, is it worth?
No you're not. I know they're powered. That's why I though the DAC on MS40 is better than on XDG.
>Behringer UCA202
oh okay, I think I know what you mean. your sound card outputs an analog signal already, so no, you won't need a separate DAC
Are those chink BM-800 okay?
Watch some samples from youtube
Yeah, my mobo (asrock pro4) doesn't have analog output, so I need one, which makes DGX come to me, and hook it up to MS40.
Because, I can't compare their DAC "chips" right?
It's not bad for entry level if you have an ok USB interface. I'd still go for an at 2020 or a 2035. You can also cheaply mod the bm 800 pcb to significantly increase sound quality.
I had a thought last night and it might be stupid, but
if I had two speakers that were exactly the same in every way, except
>speaker A: 4Ω, 90dB sensitivity
>speaker B: 8Ω, 87dB sensitivity
will they tax the amp equally?
Buy Tannoy Reveal 802s.
>will they tax the amp equally?
If the sensitivity is based on output from 4 Vpk signal, current draw is still different.
>Beyerdynamic Dt 990 pro 250 ohm
It's a V-shaped headphone. The treble can be a dealbreaker without EQ.
>and cheap dac
Amp.
Go for it, just keep the caveat in mind.
Living in an apartment and currently have a 2.0 setup. Majority of my listening is music but I'm transitioning to more TV/Movies. Is 5.0 (probably not doing a sub in an apartment) worth it? What I'm worried about is I'm going to have to get a receiver which is going to be worse than my 2.0 amp for stereo. What about just doing 3.1?
Here's my setup:
>Klipsch Cornwalls
>Marantz PM8005
I know you didn't ask, but I wouldn't use Cornwalls in home theatre. I feel like they'd be slow to respond to dynamic sounds
Pioneer, Energy, and Monoprice all make good cheap surrounds, and with a $250 5.1 receiver, you should be able to keep your cornwalls just for music
That's my ideal scenario is to have a dedicated music setup and movie setup but I don't really have the space.
For a dedicated 5.0 setup, I'm looking at either the ELAC UB5 or B5/B6 w/matching center. Are the UB5 worth the price increase?
for home theatre I really doubt it, since you won't be focusing on the video as well, rather than just the audio
>doesnt have analog outputs
so it doesnt even have a headphone output?
fuck you, retard
>tfw first real hifi setup I heard was Paradigm 9SEs, and now I'm obsessed with finding a pair for myself
they're not even that expensive, but it's hard finding a good condition pair
UB5 is pretty awful, especially when compared to the B5/B6
This acts more like a midwoofer, its suggested to be center on a desk according to other users. Luckily it fits right in without taking up too much space. It feels nice on my legs through the wood haha
Anyone else use powered reference monitors for general listening?
Should be plenty of people out there that do.
I never quite grasped why they weren't so popular for home audio.
>whathifi
posted this to the catalog without realizing there's an audio general here. deleted the thread so I'll post my question here
I have a 1980's stereo system something like pic-related but less elaborate (CD player, tape deck, turntable connected to receiver connected to speakers). It's a great sounding system, but I am looking to replace the physical media component with something entirely digital. Basically, I've lost interest in the collecting aspect of CDs, vinyl, etc. What would be the best component to get for this? Should I just get a cheap laptop with a large storage capacity and connect it to the receiver?
yeah that'd work, or you could buy a Chromecast Audio and stream it off your phone/desktop
I love my older equipment, but I wish I had wireless/bluetooth connectivity on my systems
why do my powered studio monitors get so hot, when theyre not even being used? It used to stay cool at idle and only get hot under high loads but now its warm and stays warm (still doesnt throttle at low-medium temps so im still using them)
Audio is coming from a 16bit/44khz usb mixer and fed back into another mixer channel for eq, this creates an endless shrinking feedback loop, its inaudible feedback but could that have something to do with the heat?
i would if i had the money to buy something marketed as reference.
>have a set of Paradigm 9s
>the woofers are boomy, but have no depth (excursion I believe)
if I were to swap in newer Paradigm woofers with more excursion, but leave everything else the same, would it work fine?
I mean, the replacement woofers alone would probably run me north of $100. at that point, would it be better to just sell my pair and buy a newer 9se, maybe a v3?
I started recording onto cassette tapes again.
why?
>vinyl gives a pure analog sound and its quirks make it unique
>digital files give portability and clarity
>cassettes are neither as convenient as digital nor as pure as vinyl
It is just comfy to make mixtapes off the vinyls.
And when recorded well on quality tapes the sound is the same as any other medium.
There is something nostalgic about only having the songs/tunes with you that you prepared.
And I fucking hate phones/mp3-players for listening, and CDs succ.
Yep, Got some MAudio BX82's. Sounds good, man.
best 2.0 setup including receiver for $1500?
Powered speakers + a mixing table with XLR out.
I just received a shit stack yesterday, I'm in yurop so it was an overseas delivery.
I'm saying shit instead of Schiit, because I prefer my motherboard audio to its sound.
>mids are a lot more pronounced
>sound separation is better
but
>I lost highs and lows
>no OS-wide EQ to correct it
>my music now sounds like shit
Any suggestions on how to give the sound a V shape would be much appreciated.
You're fucking retarded.
>not having any fucking highs and lows whatsoever for electronic music is fine
You're fucking retarded.
>blaming a dac/amp for not coloring your music for you.
Keep it up buckaroo
Do you speak english?
Answer the question or fuck off in silence!
Yeah, but obviously you don't.
This is what you do. If someone says your shit is lacking something, you attack the concept why that desired feature is necessary at all, and still claim your shit is superior, by declaring the feature it doesn't have unnecessary.
Questioning the usefulness of the feature I need, but your piece of overhyped shit doesn't have, so you can claim that your shit is still superior without that feature is not a valid argument, it's pure elitism of the worst kind!
People like you disgust me!
This is a thread where people ask for solutions to a problem, not for your opinion whether you find that problem relevant at all.
Offer a solution to the problem or just fuck off!
The purpose of a dac and amp is to provide a perfectly flat signal.
You can adjust your fucked sense of frequency response by using different headphones. Or get an equalizer.
Sell your schiit stack to someone who knows their shit so that someone worthy can enjoy it.
>by using different headphones
Yea, right, the solution to address your unbalanced shitty sound signature with recessed lows and highs is to just can all the fucking equipment I already have that functions as an ADC, and replace them with ones that produce V shaped sound.
No, I won't replace any speakers or headphones I already have to address the shortcomings of the DAC.
>use an equalizer
I just... no comment.
The schiit stack is flat, not 'n' shaped. I highly doubt you know much about audio at all.
And there's nothing wrong with using a parametric equalizer, but usually that's for adjusting flaws in your speakers, not giving every song nigger bass and piercing highs.
hey guys im new here
i have Genius SW-G2.1 2000
what have 2speakers and one subwoofer = 45 W
>no OS-wide EQ to correct it
Set up your own. Windows has a simple and no-cost solution, you just have to work a little more on other platforms to do it.
>usually that's for adjusting flaws in your speakers, not giving every song nigger bass and piercing highs
In a sense, the correction is what we're doing we are doing here. But you've gone and forgotten the most popular use of PEQ.
I'm just about to buy a Luxman C-120A preamp to bring my early 80's Luxman Ultimate Fidelity series collection one step closer to completion.
Is that one of those accelerometer feedback speakers?
>Luxman C-120A preamp
Measuring it?
nice, how does it sound? I've heard it's better than Logitech
fuck bud, Luxmans are so beautiful
my friend's dad has a ~70s Luxman integrated amp that sat in a corner in his basement for years. I was so close to buying it for $200 (price my friend quoted me, when he thought it was unused), but his dad wanted to keep it. now my friend uses it and god damn it sounds so good and just looks so clean. it has a nice wood finish, and he got a DUAL tt that matches pretty well with it
how heavy is yours?
so i have this old marantz pm 151 amp that i was thinking of using with my pc, but i'm not sure what speakers to get. i was looking at the q acoustics 2010i, any suggestions? around £100 is what i can afford
are you willing to buy used? I'm sure the used market in the UK is a bit worse than north america, but £100 used is probably worth £300 new
can you post your local gumtree? I can have a quick look for you
the speakers you posted seem okay, but they're gonna have virtually no bass
yeah i'll buy used, just checked gumtree and there's pretty much nothing, so i'll look on ebay
obviously it's your choice, but used is the way to go for audio imo. unlike computers, audio changes pretty slowly. I'd reckon speakers from 10 years ago use the same cones and woofers as speakers today (maybe not with higher end stuff though)
add in the fact you want a starter set of speakers, you may as well spend half as much money to see if you even want to spend the full £100
i'll see what i can find, time to research stuff since i don't know much
>Is that one of those accelerometer feedback speakers?
Yes.
>Measuring it?
Yes, and likely hacking it to improve performance as well.
All pre-Alpine Luxman gear is glorious. The L-120A pictured is about 15 kg. The M-120A/C-120A combo is perhaps 18 kg combined.
one of these just popped up for sale on my local craigslist. pretty charming 80s design desu
about to try and fix some rubber surrounds
wish me luck
the test speaker before I try on my main ones
applied, pretty bad application by me but oh well
Musician here, been using a 15" monoprice active pa speaker as a gigging amp for my keyboards and synths for about a year. This thing is a badass keyboard amp for $160. sounds fucking gnarly with piano/organ/bass sounds. I used it on my electric drums for a while but it didn't quite have the heart stopping bass drum and floor tom sounds I was looking for, probably need a sub for those. Definately has enough low end to overtake my grand piano when I'm using upright bass sounds.
monoprice.com
Right now I just have one but I'm about to buy three more
forgot pic
it has a 50Hz lowend, which is fine in itself, but yeah, it's probably why you're not feeling the bass as much as you should from a 15" woofer. I'm betting the excursion is pretty small, and the small plastic cabinet definitely doesn't help the sound
>as much as you should from a 15" woofer
PA woofers are meant for efficiency first and trade extension for pressure output. Low mass and such.
>I'm betting the excursion is pretty small
Cutoff frequency has more to do with the stiffness and mass of the suspension than the excursion. Maybe not that much limited, considering the poster never mentioned anything about limited SPL.
>Yes, and likely hacking it to improve performance as well.
How are you going to hack it?
has anyone built their own speakers before? obviously just the cabinets
What kind of speakers do you want to build? Parts Express has some kits, and a lot of parts.
At what point are motherboard's built in sound chip good enough for casual daily listening? I have one with a Realtek ALC887 chip, is it worth getting an external DAC, or sound card?
I recently moved to a new apartment, and I have a big TV in my living room, but no proper audio setup.
I want something strictly for movies, a 2.1 system that later on I can maybe expand into an 5.1
my budget is roughly $700
I was thinking about getting a pair of JBL LSR308 with an LSR310S, or a Klepsch 2.1 setup, I don't really know
any suggestion?
>bought some tower speakers the other day to replace my (big) bookshelves
>wanted more "effortless" bass (read: more/bigger woofers)
>get them home, set them up
>the same, if not less, bass as my older speakers
how the fuck can a larger cabinet speaker with two 8" woofers have less bass than a smaller cabinet single 8" speaker?
FUCK. pretty strong buyer's remorse. I'll probably sell them at a loss in a few months (they have some minor rubber surround damage I didn't care about when I bought them, but others will care about)
can someone post some good speaker testing songs? ;_;
without doing any real research, I believe the LSR308s are powered monitors, and as such, you can't really used them in a 5.1 setup
you'd be better off grabbing a 5.1 receiver for $250 and spending the rest on towers. then later on you can add a sub and rears. towers should give enough low-end even without a sub, in an apartment at least
For bass guitar, I love Paolu Nutinis' 'Looking for Something'. General lows, the organ in Also Sprach Zarathustra. Oomph bass: Daft Punks' Contact (not the first 'drop' around 1:25, but the second, around 1:55), or Ivan Torrents' 'Awak3ning' (you'll know when, awesome buildup).
General soundstage I really like 'Child in Time' from Deep Purple, or Queens' 'I want it all'.
I uploaded em for you: dl.dropboxusercontent.com
>blogpost
Pic is my current setup. I got into audio about 2 years ago, I listened to music before of course, but thought better speakers were all about power and being loud/bassy.
Started out with Philips Fidelio X2 headphones, still have & use those, very happy with em.
Then about a year later I decided to invest in some speakers, went for bookshelves because I shared a house and we had neighbours, so big towers were no option. Passed on a set of Cambridge R50, still regret not buying those...
In the end I went to a local audio dealer to test a set I thought I'd like. I did like em, but then the dude switched to these babies (Tannoy Revolution DC6), and I was blown away. 50% over budget, no regrets. He also opened my eyes about amps. I never expected there to be such a clear difference between brands and types, being able to switch between em on the go really helped. €900 Yamaha got its ass handed to it by the one I took home, a basic model NAD for €400.
Sooner then planned I had to move to a new (current) place, with no neighbours, so I started the search for a sub to go with my bookshelves, and decided on the REL Q200E.
I thought I was done buying audio stuff for a while, but I noticed a buzz so I'm probably gonna need a DAC. And there is the itch for a tube amp, but that's long term, I don't make enough money to buy shit like that on a whim.
without reading your post, is that a NAD? fucking love how simple they are. mine is rated at like 75W, but damn she can do probably 100W no problem
and thanks, I'll check those songs out
>I thought I was done buying audio stuff for a while
I say this everytime I buy a new pair of speakers or an amp
it's a very clean set-up, nice man
Yeah, NAD 316BEE. I'm really surprised at the output, I never could really understand what x amount of power would do. You always here those big numbers being thrown around, and this amp has 50W per channel, and my speakers are iirc 75W rms.
At ~60% they are as so loud you can't hold a conversation in the corner of the large living room, the sub thundering about like Thor himself, without losing any of the quality, you are just bathing in the music.
And, at the same time, at whisper volume, they still sound crisp, with she sub being every so subtly present. I love it.
Cheers man, I'm very happy with it too, especially considering the craphole I'm coming from. All we need now is the new super comfy full electric sofa to get delivered, and I can go old-fart mode in style.
>and thanks, I'll check those songs out
& please let me know how the test turns out and how you like the songs!
mobo equ is absolute trash
guys if you have a good enough dac most things sound good like spoitfy also buy a big ass sub it makes everything sound better
Anyone here ever tried using an Objective2 as a preamp?
d-do you sit on your sub?
the first song was probably the best sounding. I listened to Daft Punk, but not the 2nd bass song. my speakers definitely don't put out a ton of bass unless I turn my amp way up. kinda disappointed, but I'll give them a few more weeks and decide what to do then
personally, the songs I've traditionally used have been
>Sade - Is It a Crime?
>Elton John - Funeral for a Friend
>Pink Floyd - Echoes (the whole song) or One of These Days
>Rush - La Villa Strangiato
none of these songs have boomy bass, but I feel like they have a variety of sounds