2. speakers
  3. 1124685638

Speaker choice, help please.

Hi,
I am thinking of getting a new pair of speakers. My current set is Sonus Faber Signum on its wood stands.
Conditions:
- Distance from speakers: 9 ft
- Distance between speakers: 8 ft
- Room dimention: 22' x 12' x 9'
- There are equipment rack and TV set between speakers
- Distance from front wall to speaker: 1' or less
- Front wall (facing me): usual apartment wall, no treatment is possible.
- Monitor on stand preferred (but can be flexible as long as it is not too big).
- Have subwoofer (REL Strata II, not III): need to change as well?

Now, given conditions above, I am looking for something with very wide and deep sound stage, and easy-to-disappear kinds + of course great sound. My kind of music is classic - violin, piano, orchestra - relatively warm side, and accurate from top to bottom is required if at all possible. Yes, I like Sonus Faber sound, but would like to have broader recommendation. Budget is not much of concern for now. Thanks in advance.
khokugo
gmood1
1,251 posts
 
Ken my speakers are 8ft apart..no problems. I've listened to 5 inch single drivers that were 10ft apart..no gaps.LOL
You have nothing to worry about in that area.You would be surprised with how wide the stage can be with some 4 inch drivers..probably amazed .If you haven't experienced it before , your in for a shocker!!

Infact you'll spend several days trying to figure out how the designer got so much sound out of one driver. I find it quite amazing ...that's why I'm constantly looking for and reading about the designs of these speakers.

I figured the FTAs would be too big. It was more for field trip experience.So you can get an idea of how some of these different implementations using a wide range driver sound.

BLH or backloaded horns have their strengths. They play a little louder before compression than the Transmission line designs.The BLH is also more efficient. The TL's are not as efficient but have much better low end response.In order to get the same low end response the BLH cabinets must be huge.

In your and my position the TL is where it's at. The cabinets aren't overly large but don't sacrifice low end grunt.As you look through the different types. Look up the prices on some of these drivers.You will quickly realize that a good portion of the cost of some of these speakers. Is attributed to the very high grade expensive drivers some of them use. We're talking $3000 just for a pair of drivers!!

Here's a good site to give you more to think about Full-range Driver & Loudspeaker Theory.
mauiaudioman
171 posts
 
Look into the Green Mountain Audio Callisto's. They do everything you want. You can see a review from Sixmoons.com here:
http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/gma2/callisto.html
khokugo OP
122 posts
 
Update.
I got Essence second-hand here. The coherence, musicality, and enjoyment of this single driver speaker is truly amazing. I know I may be missing real low bass as well as extreme treble, but so far I don't feel I am missing much. I got rid of subwoofer also. I like Essence more than Sonus Faber + REL combo, from musical enjoyment stand point. Really happy with less and smaller equipment. And another amazing aspect of Essence is they can be separated apart, I mean really apart. Almost 10ft apart, with listening position is just 8ft or less. Stereo imaging seems infinite, even though there are equipment rack and TV set in between. If only I can sit back further, I would try even further apart. Thanks, Jeff and everyone! Ken

PS: Sead of Konus is very kind to guide me through the set-up as well as other questions, although I bought them used. He was happy that I was happy. I think he is one of the friendliest manufacturers out there.

PPS: I put Symposiums's Svelt Shelves under the speakers. It give another notch, for sure. Anybody should try them.
213cobra
885 posts
 
Don't know whether I am too late with a suggestion. However, I have a system in a room almost exactly the same size as yours, with similar constraints -- speakers must be close to the wall behind them, room treatments not an options, relatively near-field listening position, etc.

I was planning on Sonus Faber Cremona Auditors at a time when I was also planning Cremonas in another room.

I bought Zu Druids for the 22' x 12' room and Zu Definitions for the other system. The Druid uses a full-range driver plus a supertweeter. There is no crossover -- the signal goes directly to the FRD and the supertweeter is on a high-pass network rolling in at 12kHz as the FRD naturally rolls off.

Zu's speakers are 101db/w/m efficient and the Druids specifically are 12 ohm. They are an 11"w x 6"d x 50"h column on a 12" x 12" base-plate, so their footprint is about what a standmount would be. They can be used very close to the wall and even corner effects are quite limited. You get uniform transient speed, clarity, definition and punch up and down the range from just under 40Hz to 22kHz or so. The Druids can deliver true high-end sound from any of several inexpensive, low power amps, and yet fully justify amplification 10X their cost. Anyway, if you haven't committed, Zu Druids will deliver what you're looking for in a form factor you can assimilate. They are well worth considering.

Phil
More to discover