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College student stuck w/ bad speakers: advise pls

The more suggestions the better. The used market is only so large, so many I won't be able to try, but thanks in advance for your consideration of me, I truly appreciate it.

First, I'm not a seasoned pro or anything, but I appreciate good audio, especially live and have heard exceptional PA systems from Radiohead live, other bands in Millennium Park, live Chicago symphony, a pretty incredible new sound system inside my wood church (essentially a cathedral), another new system in another new church, etc.

I need a bookshelf speaker for my office to replace the wretched Paradigm Atom V3s I bought. I have an HK3480 and Polk R50s at home. No, the Polks aren't great, but I never said they were. All right, unimpressive right? I set up a MA S2 / Teac stereo for a friend last year and it was pretty incredible sounding to me.

OKOK the Paradigms are decent, but don't image or present a wide soundstage enough. They're way too laid back and I need a forward sound. Should I splurge on the Linn Tukans? I don't care if it's used, but it has to be below $375 shipped. I'm considering Energy RC-10's. Will I be completely disappointed with those? I only have a 30 WPC Teac DR-L700 with some famous Class D amp or something. It's decent and I liked a Teac CRH-227 with Monitor Audio S2s. I really don't think the problem is the amp, the speakers aren't what I'm used to. I could goto Saturday Audio in Chicago some weekend easily, and check out the MA equipment. Please advise. Thank you!

P.S. The speakers need to be able to play Radiohead. Bass doesn't matter as much as realism, soundstage, and imaging.

P.P.S. I'm a little bit skeptical of the laid-back attitude of B&W. Klipsch, Bose, Polk are out of the question. Dynaudio is way out of budget. The rest I can't easily audition here. I may bid on some Linn Tukans or else the Energy RC-10 I can get for $300 with a strong return policy, thoughts?
ferrariguru
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
OK, I stand corrected. I was working on reputation and the sound from a pair of Linn Indexes I have. Shouldn't generalize I know, but most folks agree that the british sound is typically a little laid back. anyways, sorry if I led you astray.
kbarkamian
647 posts
 
Ferrariguru,

A lot of good suggestions have been posted, and I don't have much more to recommend. I too find the Tukans very engaging and a fun speaker. My point for posting...

Are your speakers properly set up/placed? Imaging has a lot to do with room acoustics and placement.

Here's an article if you're interested -
http://www.audiophysic.de/aufstellung/beispiel_e.html

Are your stands mass loadable? If they're loaded, have you tried them empty? If empty, partially filled or full?

Have you tried reversing the polarity on your speakers? Do this by switching the positive and negative on the speakers. Leave the receiver side alone (or just switch the receiver side and leave the speaker side alone, whichever is easier). Make sure you switch both channels so they aren't out of phase. It won't damage anything. A dealer showed me this trick when auditioning a pair of speakers that were too laid back. It brought the soundstage a lot closer. YMMV.

If you don't have a lot of cash, you should try out the free stuff first. It may be what you're looking for or be acceptable enough to buy you some time to save up more money. It may not work out at all. But at the end of the day, you tried.

JR
ferrariguru OP
3 posts
 
Thanks for the updates on the Tukans. If I had a better amp and stands, you can bet I would try the Tukans with a sub in an instant. More suggestions are always welcome.

Kbarkamian,

Very informative on the speaker placements; I know the basics in that article, but for group listening, etc, it's helpful advise. Unfortunately, there is no way I'll be purchasing stands at this point in time. I would possibly consider it if I knew that there were no better speakers than these, but because of my experience with MA S2s, I know that to be false. The speakers are currently on an MDF desk which I'm positive is not the best place for them to be. They're actually not sitting directly on it and are vaulted on makeshift, but equal stands, which definitely sounds better. The room is about 13X11 ft. with what are 10-11 ft. ceilings. There is sitting room where I'll be listening with friends.

I'll be back at the very least in a few weeks and you'll hear what I've decided. I really don't want to keep these speakers but with football games, the Cubs in the playoffs, and my last year in school there's a small chance I will. The speaker grills aren't even removable, which I should have known! The Paradigms are good speakers which I'd rate 3.75/5 in performance, but but I know I can get something that sings better. The cable I'm using 14 guage I believe could be better I'm sure, but again, with the MAs that was used, the speaker definitely makes the biggest difference for what I want in this application.
racamuti's avatar
racamuti
362 posts
 
Silverline- Minuets (600.00 retail) They do most of what you want!
ray_babbit
1 posts
 
If your speaker placement requires your speakers to be placed extremely close to the wall you might want to keep leaning to buying some "Brit gear". Most european style speakers are designed to be close to the wall. For example Linn recommends that my full size floor speakers be placed 8-12 inches from the wall. If you are willing to do some looking around and can wait for a good deal you can often find Linn bookshelf speakers in a reasonable price range $150-450 One thing about Linns' is if you listened to a properly set up pair and liked them you should just buy them because trust me you will end up with them eventually!
Rainman
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