SPEAKER THREAD

Where does the speaker setup sweetspot exist where you get maximum sound quality without becoming a pathetic 'audiophile' manchild that spends too much for negligible/imaginary difference?

>I want the best sound but I'm too weak to accept criticism that will never happen just because my speakers would be placed in a specific position that would allow for optimum sound directivity

Might as well just have them facing straight.

I think you may have missed the point of the thread.

I did not intend do communicate the actual physical setup and spatial location of speakers, but rather the price/components/style that go into building a 'setup'.

Just get some Klipsch refrence bookshelves. They look badass and sound great and no one is going to say anything since they're dont have 2 tweeters and 3 midrange drivers or anything like that that give off a snob vibe.

I inherited these and I must say: wow. I'm spoiled.

Any reasonable speakers that don't require external power?

JBL lsr305.

I inherited pic related too, old yamahas seem to be extremely good. Theyre absolutely huge though

Can anyone tell me anything about them? Tried looking it up but cant find anything - i think theyre ~1980s, yamaha ns7373.

just a decent set of studio monitors.

a pair of jbl lsr 305s, a good looking preamp, a good dac, and hd600s is all you'll need to have good speakers and good headphones without looking like a fucking retard. for the preamp id use a schiit sys just because its cute and the name of the company is funny, and a monoprice mda is 100% all anyone would ever need out of a dac under 100 dollars. not that speakers are super sensitive to dacs though, lol. you may want to eq the 305s if you want to crank them, they can get a bit sibilant at higher volumes but thats because theyre fuck flat and thats the point of studio monitors. a mini dsp is perfect for that, crank shit to niggerbass levels if you'd like because the 305s are pretty durable in that regard. for a sub, get whatever is affordable from daytona or man up and build your own. if youre a poorfag then get shp's, theyre shit and theyre a meme but theyre pretty fantastic at their price point. if you want innacurate but fun, then try to track down a pair of t50rps and get them modded into argons. semi closed, decent looking, and they sound like someone's pouring honey into your ears and fucking them. no one will judge you or call you an audiophile or whatever, you are just a sensible person that cares about their audio experience at home.

>powered

>lazy

you buy these at a garage sale for $10 and call it a day

No thanks

Any good entry-level pro audio monitors should do the trick.

My favorite is a pair of PreSonus Eris E5 speakers, but the KRK Rokkit speakers are decent, too (more boomy, less clinical, still good). Only $300 for a pair, accpts balanced and unbalanced inputs, doesn't need an amp. Pair it with a nice dac that outputs balanced and you too can nitpick shitty studio recordings. I use a Steinberg UR22 (works with ALSA out of the box on any kernel from the last couple of years).

If you need more bass extension, you can always add a sub to your setup later.

imho studio equipment is always a better deal than audiofool shit. You get way more for your money.

I mean I fixed up a couple of mid-90s wood panel speakers with busted tweeters and bad woofers (replaced them with some decent ones my uncle had gotten at his coin shop back when he bought it) and used those when I was a broke college student

Nice find, user.

I have the Pre Sonus Erin's and can confirm they get the job done.

I'm back to using my floorspeakers again, from my "bookshelf" speakers.
So much better soundstage.

Should have a new sub arriving in the next few days too.

As for the sweetspot, around 1000-2000usd depending on what you want.

I wouldn't recommend floorstanders to poorfags/apartmentfags with small, untreated rooms.

This. I have some Yamaha HS5's, HD600, and a Schitt Fulla 2 and it's all I'll ever need audio wise. Top quality and easily gotten for $700, less if you want to go used.

>analog cables

You're going to get shit results irregardless.

>75Hz-
Trash.

Spending about $1000 on the speakers (B&W 685s2 is one of my favourites) and $1000 on the amp will get you a fantastic bookshelf-size speaker system.

It's diminishing returns from there onwards.

t. 5-year hi-fi store worker

Yamaha HS7 are standard good shit

Those are pretty good, but there smaller, self-powered studio monitors on the market now that will best them for $300-$500. PreSonus Eris E5 or Yamaha HS5 speakers are going to best them. Spend ~$600 for a pair of Yamaha HS8 speakers and you'll forget all about your floorstanders.

I went with PreSonus Eris E5 because I have limited space in my room.

All of the speakers I listed above are self-powered and accept balanced or unbalanced inputs. Saves you money you would've thrown at an amp, allowing you to get a nice audio interface.

If you're room is decently sized and you aren't mixing tracks, just stick with what you have. I wouldn't trust any retro speakers or amps though for doing a good mix. Too much distortion.

Why use speakers when you can use headphones? I really don't get the point. Headphones are cheaper, give you better audio quality, better positioning, and privacy.

Those aren't speakers they're reference monitors

this, don't buy edifier unless you run a million dollar studio

> wants quality sound
> uses unbalanced cables

or you could get any entry-level to mid-level studio monitor by Yamaha or PreSonus and get a reference-quality amp for free. KRK ain't bad, either, but I prefer Yamaha and PreSonus.

two completely different approaches to reproduction audio that can't be compared at all, both have their flaws

Said no sound engineer ever. Spatially headphones are garbage and hyped low end if they are closed backs

Headphones are not always that comfortable. Especially when you've been sitting with them all day. Having a decent sound setup for when you're tired of wearing headphones, or when you simply want to be free from the cord is nice. Both have their uses.

agreed. or HS8 if you're feeling spendy and have a good room.

HI fi employe means dick. You don't spend anytime analyzing or working with frequencies like engineers

>spacially shit.
NAD VISO HP50 sets are just under shit-tier, but also cost $300
>hyped low end, closed back
see my friendly NAD VISO HP50 set. pic related.

Still not trustworthy enough to mix on, but pretty damn close (mostly because I can't afford a *NICE* headphone amp).

My pair of headphones costed $300 (same price as my PreSonus Eris E5 monitors) and I still need an expensive amp to realize their full potential.

Plus, depending on how you wear *ANY* pair of headphones on your head, the frequency response can change quite drastically.

M3-8

Best DAC?

rme adi 2 pro

Is that expensive of a DAC really necessary?

Can you not run Eris E5 on a cheaper DAC without issue? Or even the risk of ''interference'' on the MoBo itself?

My initial internet research seems pretty divided on DACs.

>I still need an expensive amp to realize their full potential.

Why exactly does a headset that requires only 37 mV to reach 90 dB SPL need an expensive amp? What full potential is unlocked?

i want to restore my turntable console, it has the original speakers and atleast one is blown. its from the 70s. i don't know if i should take it to a specialty repair shop to fix the needle and speakers, or just diy.

Tell me if I'm an idiot or not:

I'm thinking about buying:
• PreSonus Eris E5
• XLR connectors

That's it. No DAC.
If I hear whines from onboard, then I'll consider a cheap one. I'm not seeing anything that justifies the purchase of such a device. I only read vague, emotional testimony from "audiophiles'' and the subsequent BTFO destruction of their bullshit. If you can educate me otherwise, I am open to it.

All I want is a quality 2.0 (eventually 2.1) setup that isn't complete dogshit for my apartment that will last me years. I play video games and listen to music occasionally. $300 seems pretty reasonable to me to have an enhanced audio experience without the horseshit.
I figure I can play games with great sound and fill my room up with music when need be with this equipment. If I'm wrong, kindly correct me.

Don't bother with the XLR connectors, just use the unbalanced RCA inputs. Sounds good otherwise.

You're going to have a pleb experience

Paying about 1/5 of what you need to, idiot.

>play video games
>no dac

if those speakers are powered, you will be getting interference from other electronics. constant buzzing no matter what, if theyre plugged in at all theyll be buzzing. if you plug that shit into a computer with a gpu in it then you will hear buzzing based on your mouse movements and how hard your gpu is running. please, for your own sanity, get something cheap and well shielded. i recommend a monoprice mda, if you can make it work with xlr or whatever other connection the speakers accept. the fiio e10k i deal with right now does not solve this issue. my girlfriend's nfb-11 reduces the buzzing to inaudible levels but itll always be there unless you get your own power line like a crazy jap.

>fill my room up with music
>45+35W
these are made for closest near field listening, nothing more
don't expect overwhelming volumes, especially not in any room that's not tiny

50w in an apartment is easily enough to get the cops called

depends what you want.
in my opinion mostly depends on whether you want a subwoofer. if you do want a sub prepare to stretch your anus for quality or just buy a computer speaker setup with a sub, they're not that bad.

Fretting about sound quality on a home theater setup is silly as fuck to me, that shit is mixed and mastered totally differently and you should just get a home theater in a box

As a musician I'm willing to spend some serious money on my sound system for my keyboards etc. because I'm in control of the sounds, and if my monitors can't deliver that to me its a major weak point. If your music is all prerecorded and you're not even in control of mixing it I don't see why you would even bother spending anything more than whats necessary for clean sounding speakers with amps that don't hiss or buzz. like $300 for a living room setup imho

im an audiophile but I know about diminishing returns

How are you listening to analogue sound without a DAC?

I had the same thing with my Rokit 8s. I fixed it by buying a USB audio interface and putting it between them and my computer. Bought a Scarlett 2i4 I think is the model. Was on sale for $130. I had tried new sound cards, cables, etc. but that was the fix.

is there a thing as optical input speakers?
isnt quality lost when you go from optical to a DAC for speakers?

for example i use the ps2 optical out

Why don't you read the very next line?

Can confirm this. PreSonus is serious value for the money.

there's speakers with digital inputs and their own DAC built in which makes sense if they're doing some DSP correction anyway. These usually use AES/EBU (compatible to coaxial spdif) so you'd have to convert the optical spdif first

Thanks for the info

Optical is one of the best ways to transfer digital audio.
Also most of the time it has dedicated hardware in the computer to take care of getting it to optical or Spdif.
Then you need a DAC/reviever to handle the signal to make it analogue for the speakers/amplifier.

r these good

The old dome tweeter truth series were a direct clone of a genelec design and pretty good for the price. No idea about these ribbon ones though as Behringer is hit and miss as all chink shit

b-but b-behringer is german

Not at all, Behringer is known as the epitome of cheap shit flooding the low end market and that only recently changed with a few higher end Behringer labeled products like the deepmind which is only possible because of the 'music group' company owning almost everything now

I have a pair of Polk T15's and a Lepai LP2020TI and I'm perfectly happy with this setup for my computer.

Can someone tell me why I'm stupid

>yamaha ns7373

I can't find anything on a handful of Japanese sites.

but the drivers and the configuration of those look suspiciously like some common Matsushita drivers found in many late 70s to mid80s 3-way home cabinets by Sansui, Technics/ panasonic, and others.

depends on how much hipster cred the cabinet is worth.

Can't wait for the end of October to move into the new flat so I can try out cute boxes.

NO SOUND STAGE

My vanatoo T0 have no issues.

who /abovethepovertyline/ here?

The bigger, the better.
What's the imaginary difference? Bigger more powerful speakers produce louder sound. It's as simple ask that.

Audiophile meme shit is niche speakers.

I am see

what gear is all that? is that an svs ultra sub you've got?

na its a focal 1000 sw
focal 807vw speakers
Vincent 331mk power amp
Vincent 31mk pre amp
Vincent cd-s7dac

damn, that's a pretty nice setup. I took a risk and got an emotiva preamp and 5 channel power amp. couldn't be happier. plus it's hard to find clean power as cheap as they sell it

really need to upgrade my subs though. I've been thinking about getting a couple of matching hsu research vtf-15 mk2 subs or building my own huge sub and using it as a coffee table. really want new towers though. I've been eyeing zu audios lineup, but haven't pulled the trigger yet

my sub is a beast also not pictured is an isotech powerboard and gold plated power cables I love my sub so much so much power

You don't need an expensive DAC or interface. Couple the Eris with a Behringer interface and you're done.

I've been curious about bi-amping.

I guess I want to have a bit more control over the choice of tweeters and woofers.

That's a thing right?
Speakers designed with just the tweeters or woofers.

I completed my setup last week, now I have yamahas hs5 + an hs8s sub and a scarlett 2i4

couldn't be happier

I inherited a speaker system. They're labelled "SN-400". Can't find anything on google.
They're about 30 years old.

Still need to move them to my place. Are they any good?

>That's a thing
Fortunately it's not.
Bi-amping is for avoiding a passive crossover and being able to use a superior active one instead and not for replacing components in a way that bypasses 99% of a speakers R&D effort of controlling the driver/cabinet interaction.
Build a speaker from scratch if you want to experiment with different drivers, but be aware that it needs lots of calculation, measurement and testing to get anything worthwhile.

>1000$ on an amp

Yeah, you sure seem to be a hifi worker alright.

Not you.

what are priorities

If you're on a budget, then the Edifers in the OP are really very nice (about $100 AU) and pretty easy to buy at any PC shop.

abacus is good stuff, also check out the schanks prisma 2 if you're into german engineering bending the laws of physics with tiny speakers, it's a similar design with some twists

r1600tiii are better at very similar price. Slightly better sound quality and have tilted construction, you save up on pads or stands.
That's pretty big since people mostly just place those on desk and end up with high frequency driver playing way below their ear line. Alternatively you can always put those on some stacked up books, but that shit looks ghetto as fuck.

Hey guys was thinking of picking up some Kanto YU2 just for general use, mostly so the gf can hear something on the computer when needed. I have a pair of HD650's that I use all the time, no speakers at all right now. YU2's good enough for just miscellaneous use?

almost as overpriced as audioengine
don't even bother with 3" drivers

I don't want amps or any shit like that. I have a small DAC with RCA outputs, and a small headphone amplifier with preamp RCA outputs as well. Desk space and space period is limited.

check out mackie mr5 and similar
there's lot of stuff right at the $200 mark that's a lot better

Thanks that's a bit cheaper.

NIGGERS

>schanks prisma 2
Looks very interesting but waaaay outside of my budget but still it's interesting how they jacked so much shit into this somewhat small speaker. Did you try abacus yourself? Good thing they offer test package so I will definitely order one.

Thanks breh

klipsch 150$ speakers. forget their exact name, but you don't need an amplifier for them and are likely the best speakers you don't need an amp for.

other then that, you are looking at the 1000-2000$ range for 2.1 or 5000$ range for 5.1 without going used

The good part is the speakers and set up will easily last 20+ years, the downside is you have to spend 1000-5000 $ when headphones of equal quality are in the 200-300$ range.

most headphones no matter how low the requirements to drive them are, benefit from some form of amplification.

I have a pair of sennheiser 598's, honestly I forget they are on my head more often than not.

Is the JBL LRS305 still the go-to entry level option?
I just want something good enough for music and movies but also that i can analize audio with.