Totem
Need speaker suggestion for a larger room!
OK, out there - here's my situation: I'm a Hi-Fi guy that goes back to 1952 - Brooke, Meisner, Mc C-1, etc.
Stayed with the good stuff - Mc., H H Scott, Marantz up until transistors took over in the mid-60's.
One thing an another, I drifted from serious audio in the mid-80's and watched improving TV (!).
At an advanced age (84), wife and I are crawling back: Got a refreshed C-34 and MC7250 for signal
and a pair of decent M/L Ascents for transduction. LOVE the mid-range spacial effect! Bass, mid and low,
is disappointing.
For your consideration: Room is 26'L x 20'W x 8'H (4100+ cu. ft.) and "live"( some carpet and upholstered furniture), but much reflective wall area (glass) on either side; No help on opposite wall.
Unfortunately, aesthetics play a role: Speaker cabinet must be cream, black, or silver (!).
I'm a fan of Tannoy sound, if this helps (used to own a pair of 12' Silvers WAY back), but their cabs are all
Walnut, or similar. Also, don't need to go to 18 Hz - We're in a condo - so an HONEST 30 cps is perfect.
Music pref: Classical, 20's and pre- 60's jazz, Piano ensembles + vibes, Blue Grass, Tannoy demo CD's (!)
I'm hopeful some of you up-to date folks will help us uncover a few good speakers options. Our budget:
no more than $7,000.00. Oh - and good used examples are just fine. Probably preferred, given our budget!
Thanks a lot for whatever you can share!
Bo
Stayed with the good stuff - Mc., H H Scott, Marantz up until transistors took over in the mid-60's.
One thing an another, I drifted from serious audio in the mid-80's and watched improving TV (!).
At an advanced age (84), wife and I are crawling back: Got a refreshed C-34 and MC7250 for signal
and a pair of decent M/L Ascents for transduction. LOVE the mid-range spacial effect! Bass, mid and low,
is disappointing.
For your consideration: Room is 26'L x 20'W x 8'H (4100+ cu. ft.) and "live"( some carpet and upholstered furniture), but much reflective wall area (glass) on either side; No help on opposite wall.
Unfortunately, aesthetics play a role: Speaker cabinet must be cream, black, or silver (!).
I'm a fan of Tannoy sound, if this helps (used to own a pair of 12' Silvers WAY back), but their cabs are all
Walnut, or similar. Also, don't need to go to 18 Hz - We're in a condo - so an HONEST 30 cps is perfect.
Music pref: Classical, 20's and pre- 60's jazz, Piano ensembles + vibes, Blue Grass, Tannoy demo CD's (!)
I'm hopeful some of you up-to date folks will help us uncover a few good speakers options. Our budget:
no more than $7,000.00. Oh - and good used examples are just fine. Probably preferred, given our budget!
Thanks a lot for whatever you can share!
Bo
32 responses Add your response
Consider OHM Walsh www.ohmspeaker.com Massive "sweet spot" so many can enjoy the music from most any location in the room. |
This Spendor D7 should fit the bill! https://store.acousticsounds.com/d/94324/Spendor-Spendor_D7_Stereo_Speakers- |
Brookies you actually need a speaker-with very good deep bass as the size of the room will not give you the room gain that will reinforce the bass also you be further away you will lose spl. For 7k you can get a brand new pair of legacy audio focus signatues in any finish you like They are not too big nor too small They image very well and have excellent bass great clarity extenstion and speed. Dave and Troy Audio Doctor NJ Legacy Dealers |
In my room, which is larger than your own, I built a pair of Tannoy HPD 315's (12" Dual Concentrics), and installed them in custom 150 liter bass reflex cabs. Mine may be too heavy for you and your wife to handle without help, at 192 lbs. each. There are alternative methods and materials to my nearly two inch thick MDF cabs, to lighten construction considerably. I suggest you take a look on Ebay UK, and see what is available. You can then have enclosures built with any finish you want. I love my Tannoys, they will be with me for the rest of my life, and then be handed down to one of my children. Best regards, Dan |
There’s a black pair of Nola KOs at a deep discount. They’re an open baffle design so may exhibit a lot of the spatial characteristics you like about the MLs but with bass down to 30Hz. I think these would be a great choice for what you’re looking for. https://www.upscaleaudio.com/collections/nola/products/nola-ko-floorstanding-loudspeaker-pair Another great speaker that has excellent spatial characteristics is the Joseph Audio Profile. These can be found used for around $4000 or less used and I believe $7000 new. Here are some pix -- not very big but will fill your room with glorious sound, and I thought the black cabinets with silver drivers might work well with your decor needs. http://www.enjoythemusic.com/Capital_Audiofest_2016/Now_Listen_Here_Joseph_Audio_Rogue_Audio/ One more I'll throw out as a long shot because they're hard to find in the US, the Boenicke W8 is small but images like crazy, and in its ash finish it kinda looks like cream. https://www.audioemotion.co.uk/boenicke-audio-w8-10990-p.asp Hope this helps, and best of luck. |
TANNOY KENSINGTON GR floorstanders in ash black Very efficient speakers = easy to drive to boot. - 93db efficiency https://www.ebay.com/itm/163439030784?ul_ref=http%253A%252F%252Frover.ebay.com%252Frover%252F1%252F7... review https://www.whathifi.com/tannoy/kensington-gr/review Suggestion- go mate them up with quality build VAN DEN HUL speaker cables ...that’s what they are internally wired with. I would test drive an all VDH cable array with matched interconnects as high on my wish list. |
If you can wait as they are made to order, Salk makes awesome speakers and in whatever finish you want (super custom costs extra). All of these are efficient models (keep in mind pricing is before shipping): Song3-A Veracity HT2 Veracity ST Silk Tower Song3-BeAT Veracity HT2-TL Song3-Encore SoundScape 7F |
Without question, the SALK Song3 Encore's are the best speakers I have heard in your price range. I went to the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in Denver back in October and thought these speakers sounded better than a pair of $60,000 speakers I listened to. The Bowers & Wilkins Diamond series speakers for $30,000 can come close to reproducing this level of sound quality. Jim Salk sells direct and because he does not have to discount his prices to sell to retailers (middle men) he can afford to buy expensive drivers. His cabinet build quality is superior to anything you find. I just wish I had heard these before I purchased my speakers. My Paradigm Prestige 85F tower speakers are one year old and I wish I could find a way to sell them. Not sure what I could get from them. |
| Post removed |
+1 for Ohm Walsh, especially considering the live room, the plethora of cabinet finishes they offer, and you can't go wrong with the 120-day trial period that they offer. Ohm speakers break all conventional speaker "rules," so if you have reflective/live surfaces with no room treatment, that will likely help an Ohm speaker's sound quality! Plus you'll likely be under budget, even for a brand new pair of their largest speakers. As an over budget option, perhaps also take a look at RBH Sound's flagship options. For a large room, they list their modular SVTR tower pair for about $10k. (That's assuming you've got the amps for them, or for the same price go with the non-reference powered sub version.) The SVTR is a true full-range system (<=20Hz-40kHz!) But here's why else I suggested RBH: contact them directly or go through an authorized dealer and you may be able to work out a better-than-list deal, and they even have a 30-day trial period to boot (but you'll be out on the shipping charges!) Just my $0.02 based on my limited but ever-expanding experience. Check out Ohm's and/or RBH's websites if anything I mentioned intrigues you. Good luck and I hope you thoroughly enjoy whatever you choose! |
@broockies If you can't treat the room, all the glass on side wall will ruin the sound of any dynamic speaker. Dipoles will send most of the energy to front & back, not sides. With treatment behind the speakers whatever your preference of used Sound Labs, Sanders, Maggies or Quads would work far better. Since you already mentioned liking Martin Logans, that's what I'd suggest. Before going with recent Quads I'd read about the glue issues and repair expenses others have suffered through. Whichever you like, be sure the amp is a good match to drive it. Cheers, Spencer |
I'm a woodworker and recently completed custom cabinets for Tannoy HPD 315's. Islandmandan's custom cabinets were my inspiration and template. Although many details are different, the sound quality exceeded my expectations in every way. As with Dan, they're the last speakers I will own. I would welcome the opportunity to either share what I learned, show you the end result, and even build a pair to meet your needs if you're interested. |
Holy mackerel! I've no idea where to begin. Looks like I've opened Pandora's Box! I'll "do diligence" and seek out opinions on as many of these as I'm able. Can't personally audition even a few of them. No comments on my preamp/ amp combo? I'm acquainted with the properties of tubes (I have a 55+ year old pair of MC-75's in the cellar), but I like the sound of Gordon Gow's last designs: he seems to have respected tube(like) sound. |
I’m using Golden Ear Triton Ones in a room about the size as yours. With front and side firing woofers they convey the hall ambiance of classical music very well. They are easy to drive, since they have built-in 1500 watt woofer amps. Two newer models are also available in your price range. good luck! |
Broockies, my Tannoys work quite well with very disparate amp designs. I've used them with VAC PA 35.35, Plinius SA 100, Aragon 3002, and now Class D and an SET 300B. All have well, the last (and current) mentioned amps sounding the best out of all of them. The SET 300B is magical, the Class D is that with greater dynamics and better bass response. Regards, Dan |
Pardon the tardy response. My thanks to all that have responded. I'm at a loss which way to turn, as there were so many different suggestions. The most intriguing was from sbank. Does a fairly live room devalue cone or horn speakers? I would think bi-polars would suffer due to refections. I gather Tannoys shouldn't be considered. Best to all, Bo |
The problem isn't that a live room devalues cone speakers. It's that cone speakers disperse widely. That dispersion hits side walls and glass reflections will ruin sound of any speaker. Dipoles almost all the energy goes front and back. If the glass was behind the speakers, I wouldn't suggest panels. With dynamics(i.e.cones) think of the circles you see when you toss a stone in a lake. That's how sound from your cone tweeter radiates and hits your glass side wall which is super lively and needs to be adsorbed. Free standing panels in front of the glass at 1st and 2nd reflection points would help a TON. With dipoles(i.e. panels) think of the sound coming at you like a firehose with strong pressure. Most goes straight at you. Some bounces off floor or ceiling to a small degree(get a rug!). The glass side won't be involved in what you hear. Read the room setup page on Sound Labs' site for more insight including "Live End / Dead End" approach where you try to absorb much of the rear-firing energy and don't do too much at the end behind your seat. I am not a lone wolf on this kind of thinking. Where is everyone else who understands the setup of dynamic speakers vs. dipoles? Planar Depot or somewhere? Cheers, Spencer |
Once again - my thanks to all who have offered suggestions. I'm filing this thread for reference. Spencer's and sbank's comments seem logical as to my environment. If they're correct, looks like I'm best off with bi-polars, and if the later powered M/L models can deliver better bass, I should search in this direction. Experience teaches that 2 un-amped 10" woofers don't fill the room. Need 4, or maybe 2 -12 to 15 in. to move enough air. Perhaps amping is the answer. A WONDERFUL THREAD. BEST TO YOU ALL ! Bo |
