Looking for the bookshelf speakers with the decent bass that would sound nice in 17'x 12' room. Listening preference: Smooth/Uptempo Jazz; Acoustic Jazz and Ambiental music. So far I am using Focal 807W Speakers and the NAD C356DAC. Good sound, just missing "that" lover bass (hate sub woofers). I really like how NAD sounds, especially after I replaced the stock Pre/Amp jumpers. Nice open highs. Or, should I try Floor standing speakers. Thank you in advance on yours opinions.
((("zd , How do you know all of this to be true ? Are you an audiophile savant?"))) Maplegrovemusic If you do this long enough you realize ZD is just making an simple observation with coherence. An honest full range speaker like he owns will have the advantage of a smoother bass in room response this allows upper frequencies to sit on a better foundation allowing the music to be more dimensional. Most Mini box monitors have no foundation and are dicked up at two frequencies Mid bass and Treble as a balancing act, this in combo with the box lends male voice to sound nasal by comparison. This is why i would guess ZD doesnt listen to Bookshelves.
As we all know there are no absolutes here and to me that is the only thing that is common sense. To say that an active speaker can't compete with a passive with a separate amp in the same price range is nonsense and border line dillusional. The same flawed logic could be applied to buying an integrated amp vs seperates.
If a designer of an active has spent the time to mate an amp that sounds good with them then he is taking the guess work out of the equation. Who cares if its not an ayre its more about synergy. The forums on every audio site are full of threads dealing with the subject of matching speakers with the correct amp. Obviously this is a point of frustration for many people in this hobby. In fact judging by the sheer amount of gear bought and sold on here it appears as if more people than not struggle to achieve it across the board.
If the op auditions a pair of actives and likes them who are we to say he or she isnt getting good sound? The recommendation was just another option for the op to explore.
You like vandies as do many others for the various reasons you have stated on other threads. I dont care for them and the amount of other people who dont like or own them far out weigh those that do. That doesn't mean you didnt make a solid recommendation and I think the op should definitely check em out.
Aplogies for the rant I just think there is a lot of opinion expressed on here passed off as fact and it does this site and the members a disservice. Apologies for the misspellings as well I'm typing this on my phone.
"There's not that many high end powered speakers. Regardless, all of the ones I have listened to are overpriced for the SQ that they deliver. I have yet to hear actives that can compete realisticly with well matched separates costing the same or less. To be fair, I most likely have different taste's than most. For example, I like Ayre for solid state. There's no active speaker that has an amp like that inside of it. But what I find amazing about all of this, is how everyone is so careful to get just the right amp, preamp and speaker combo, but for an active, whatever comes in the box is good enough. Everyone just goes brain dead. All common sense goes out the window.
Anyway, to answer your question, I've either owned or demoed the following. All of the Meridians. Audio Engine, All the ones that they sell in the music stores (JBL, KRK, Tannoy, Adam, Alesis etc.), PMC, ATC, Genelec, AktiMate. There's probably more, but that's all I can remember for now.
I should also mention that I'm referring only to fully powered speakers. Some speakers just have powered bass sections (Vandersteen, Genesis, etc). They can sound fine.
To sum up, regardless of the type of speaker you buy, active, passive, or partial, the selection process doesn't change. Buying an active speaker guarantees you absolutely nothing with regards to sound quality. And why should it? "
zd , How do you know all of this to be true ? Are you an audiophile savant ?
"04-12-15: Chrshanl37 curious to know what actives you have auditoned zd Chrshanl37 (Threads | Answers | This Thread)"
There's not that many high end powered speakers. Regardless, all of the ones I have listened to are overpriced for the SQ that they deliver. I have yet to hear actives that can compete realisticly with well matched separates costing the same or less. To be fair, I most likely have different taste's than most. For example, I like Ayre for solid state. There's no active speaker that has an amp like that inside of it. But what I find amazing about all of this, is how everyone is so careful to get just the right amp, preamp and speaker combo, but for an active, whatever comes in the box is good enough. Everyone just goes brain dead. All common sense goes out the window.
Anyway, to answer your question, I've either owned or demoed the following. All of the Meridians. Audio Engine, All the ones that they sell in the music stores (JBL, KRK, Tannoy, Adam, Alesis etc.), PMC, ATC, Genelec, AktiMate. There's probably more, but that's all I can remember for now.
I should also mention that I'm referring only to fully powered speakers. Some speakers just have powered bass sections (Vandersteen, Genesis, etc). They can sound fine.
To sum up, regardless of the type of speaker you buy, active, passive, or partial, the selection process doesn't change. Buying an active speaker guarantees you absolutely nothing with regards to sound quality. And why should it?
Actually I had heard "the Clue" Speakers in New York three years ago but they require special set up and there is no way that they would sound well in my living room. But it is very good suggestion. THANKS
"I think a floor standing speaker would be a much better way to go. See if you can audition a pair of Tekton Enzo xl's. They're very easy to drive and the bass is in a different league than what you have now. If for some reason, you don't like them, listen to some Golden Ear floor standers. The Triton 7 is very nice. That said, the Enzo's are hard to beat. You should like them"
Muzicat is right. I did not mention the budget. Maximum $4000.00. Thank you all on your effort to help. Again, I really like the sound of the NAD. But the NAD have weird Volume gain, probably because of the same load on 8 & 4 Ohms. With the sensitive speakers like Focals (92.5 db) I can turn the Volume knob up to Level 2 or 8 O'Clock position. After that is too loud.
"04-12-15: Roxy54 Topten, He knows very well what I was talking about. He just thinks that he is being funny as usual. I would be very surprised if he had ever even heard them. Bad puns and vitriol, he's an authority on both of those things though."
Correct. But here's the real joke.
"04-11-15: Roxy54 Users and reviewers speak well of "The Clue.""
You call that a recommendation? You can remove The Clue and put anything you want between those quotes. Its not all that difficult to find someone that will say anything about anything. So you can criticize me all you want, but at least I gave the OP a recommendation. You did not.
Topten, He knows very well what I was talking about. He just thinks that he is being funny as usual. I would be very surprised if he had ever even heard them. Bad puns and vitriol, he's an authority on both of those things though.
If you want a bookshelf with basically true, full range capability, then it's hard to beat the Alta Celesta/FRM-2. Some of the best speakers I have ever heard and serious bottom end for a speaker of it's size.
The Joseph Pulsars also have very a nice bass response.
Funny, all this discussion and no mention of budget. You can buy bookshelf speakers from $199 to $10,000. That includes a lot of models. How much do you want to spend?
For a bookshelf speaker try to audition some Dynaudio C1's. Quite a bit of lows for a standmount. Great mids and highs.
For a small floorstander the new Scansonic MB 2.5's are killer for the money. Note: make sure if you can hear the 2.5's they are broken in (at least 100 hrs and more is better).
Nad and The 1CI is superb together. The 1CI feature phase and time correct drivers, multi enclosure has it all over box speakers. The 38HZ bass extension just makes music more full and natural. Here is a review. http://www.tonepublications.com/review/vandersteen-1ci-loudspeakers/ JohnnyR Vandersteen dealer
You might try Zu Omen bookshelf speaker. I heard these running on 5 watts of power and the 10" drivers were putting out some nice kick drum bass. 97db sensitive.
I've had Paradigm reference Active 40's vs in Cherry veneer. Very good stand monitors with dual 6.25" drivers with 125watts to the two mid/bass drivers and 50 watts to the tweeter in each speaker. I ran no sub and the bass these speakers it out sounded like I had a 12 subwoofer. I wish they still made them today in the sig line they would be a keeper speaker.
In that size room I think towers would be the way to go. The Monitor Audio Silver series Zd542 mentioned are very good. I had an extended listening session with the Silver 8 about a month ago. I could live with that speaker. Great bass, open full mids and good highs.
I also recommend the Bowers and Wilkins 683S2. I've demoed them several times over the past few months. Great speaker! They have the same great attributes as the MA Silver 8. I prefered the the tweeter of the B&Ws just a bit more.
I demoed both the MA and B&W with Maratnz gear with 80-110 watts on them.
For your size room and the type of music you like the Harbeth P3ESR should be on your list. The Spendor 3/5 r2 is a close second. I have owned both and think they are both outstanding. http://www.hifizine.com/2011/12/harbeth-p3esr/
"Or, should I try Floor standing speakers. Thank you in advance on yours opinions. Topten (Threads | Answers | This Thread)"
I think a floor standing speaker would be a much better way to go. See if you can audition a pair of Vansersteen Model 1's. They're very easy to drive and the bass is in a different league than what you have now. If for some reason, you don't like them, listen to some Monitor Audio floor standers. The silver series is very nice. That said, the Model 1's are hard to beat. You should like them.
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