Don't bridge.
which speaker to buy
my son has a mcintosh 7300 and 2002 which he want's bridge so he will have 600 watts per chanell. he likes his music loud. he likes hard rock music. what speaker should he have??? i told him that here on audiogon forum many like the klipsh speakers, old or new.
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Ifyou want loud in a speaker that will not Break go legacy focus https://www.legacyaudio.com/products/view/focus-se/ We sell many of the best loudspeakers on the market there are not a lot of audiophile loudspeakers that can play loud and can handle that kind of power Dave and Troy Audio intellect Nj Legacy dealers |
I like the JBL too but they have really gone up in price, Legacy Audio would be a great choice as well as Dynaudio and Martin Logan. I would not bridge the MC2300 because it will raise distortion levels and make the amp harder to listen at loud levels. I like Klipsch too, many of there models are pretty sensitive. Just get some speakers that are more sensitive like 90db or better and your 300watts X2 will be more than enough. Matt M |
These should work guaranteed to be deaf within a year. https://reverb.com/item/29845322-4x-yorkville-sa153-3way-2500w-speaker-4x-sa315s-active-subwoofer-4x... |
I know Klipsh might handle the power. However, you better like the high frequencies I would imagine they might have to large in size. A pair of REL S2 SHO's would be able to handle the low end because they are amplified. I will be curious to find out what this group comes up with. However, I think you should find out if they are dealers because they will want to sell you something. I would not purchase any speaker without auditioning them that's for sure. You also did not mention room size and price range. I am sure the knowledge in this group can be a big help. |
actually, my son doe's have a pair of klipsh speakers. i don't know what model it is. only reason he want's to bridge is because he has no funds to buy an amplifier to suit his needs. he want's to bridge to see how much louder his klipsh speakers will go. when i went to see led zeppilin at the forum in l.a. ca. back in the 70's, it was loud! i think he want's to hear his music that loud!!! |
Tekton. Eric makes his speakers to capture the dynamics of a live performance. Theres a video on you tube where he explains how he’d listen to live performances and then try to build his speakers to reproduce that style of dynamics. Most, if not all of his speakers use large paper drivers that look like pro audio drivers for the midbass and bass frequencies. |
First, I am a Tekton owner. I have a set of towers that I like very much. At one time I pushed many others towards Eric's products. I no longer do that. I no longer recommend Tekton. Not for a purchase new anyway. Though the Tekton speakers are quite good for the money I no longer feel that they are a good company to do business with. It does not matter how good your product is if you can not complete orders. Many have waited months (or more) for just the grills that were purchased with the original order. Some orders for speakers without grills are taking 6 months or more to be delivered. Emails are not responded to and phone calls go unreturned. It seems between his IRL project, racing interest and life in general Eric is no longer able to keep up. It doesn't matter how good a product is if your company is not there to support it. Here's where the "not for a new purchase anyway" part comes in. On the used market a 1 to 2 year old Tekton brings roughly 60% to 70% of original purchase price. I have seen them for less. I regularly watch the market because I WILL purchase used. You just have to decide exactly which one you want and watch for it. |
Just because he can bridge doesn't mean he should. For efficient speakers like Klipsch, he'll only be using a few watts at most before driving them to hearing damaging levels. It's good to have that extra headroom for dynamics, but bridging them is a dumb idea. If he goes for Klipsch, some of the more recent (III or IV) Heritage speakers would be the way to go in my opinion. Klipsch will do loud and will rock out, but they are not the most refined speakers out there and may play loud, but may not sound that great when they're really loud. I have owned and listened to a lot of Klipsch speakers and almost all of them hurt my ears at loud volumes. I had a pair of KLF-30s that I really liked but those are hard to find and they have issues with the cabinets ringing and falling apart. Legacy Audio as mentioned makes more refined speakers than Klipsch that can play very loud. I had some Focus 20/20s and those were beasts and sounded noticeably better than the KLF-30s at high volumes. I sold them eventually because they were just overkill for my space. They were hard to let go. I was considering some Zu Audio speakers recently but decided against it. I talked to a number of people about them and the consensus was that they do very well with low watt SET amps but aren't necessarily a good match with higher powered amps (I have 180 WPC tube monoblocks). I did not hear them and have no direct experience, so take that for what it's worth. The Tektons look "interesting". I'll just leave it at that. |
If your son wants his music that loud, then you're going in the totally wrong direction. Home audio hi-fi speakers can play only so loud. What your son needs is pro sound gear, which is engineered to play at much higher sound levels. If you're listening to it that loud, fine detail and nuance are totally lost. To my ear, some of the very most musical pro sound loudspeakers are those sold by Bag End. Look for a pro sound dealer at their website. The amps you currently have should work fine. Pro sound gear is typically more efficient than home audio. But if he really has to have more power, then he should go to the Musician's Friend website and get one of the big pro amps they have there. All this will cost much, much less than McIntosh and other audiophile oriented gear and do a better job for this application. |
I would also suggest Pro Audio Gear. Designed to "Rock and Roll" large venues. Suggest NOT Bridging. Back in my days most pro speakers were 4ohm. Amplifiers that are bridged do not like driving 4 ohms loads. I would guess there would be 8 ohm speakers available now. Buy 4 (2 pairs) of speakers. Drive each speaker with the two amplifiers in regular stereo mode. Here's one thing your son can try right now to get his spl jollies. And not spend a cent. Move his Klipsch speakers into a bathroom or closet. Both speakers at one end and sit on the other end. Or each speaker on opposite walls and sit in the middle. Conveniently, might be the toilet. He may need it. CD player straight into the 7300, set the Gains to 11 and Rock'n Roll. I do not condone listening of any music at high spl levels. Every rock concert I went to in the 70's, left my ears ringing. And notice it's effects now. Might be old age. But definitely didn't help. |
SVS ULTRA’s I have the piano white bookshelves and I absolutely love them. They list for $1k but will compete with speakers 3 times the price. Ask any owner. I started with SVS Prime bookshelves and they are only $500 for the pair and they are quite good and will completely satisfy 95% of the people out there, for sure. I just purchased a $2550 pair of QUAD Z2s for a great price of $750 used only 4 months and they are beautiful in there own but I only got them because it was such a great deal I could not pass them up. Don’t let anyone tell you to buy one speaker over another unless you can try them out for yourself. Everyone has different sound tastes. I have had a lot of different speakers and the SVS’s have been my favorite overall. Best Buy has them to hear. Check them out, and keep an eye on Craigslist for them in your area. Dogger |
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If your son listens at louder than 95 dB SPL he will have no hearing to listen with by the time he's 60. Maybe he will be satisfied with that for the years of ear shattering music but in the end he will regret it. Take my word for it as a former very loud listener. No mater how little distortion there is it will ruin his ears. |
To the OP. As I mentioned on your " pro's and con's of bridging " thread, your son has 2 different Mc amps, and bridging them for use as a stereo pair, will not give him a matched system. Sonic differences between the 7300 and 2002 exist. Also, as his father, you should talk him out of blowing up and destroying his hearing. I listen loud, but always use caution, and to get to " live amplified " levels in a typical living room, is not easy, nor wise. |
I have Crites speakers(similar to Cornwall). I also have subs. I can play this so loud you will cry uncle and clarity is still there. Kick drums have serious impact and will scare you if not ready. Yet this system will play vocal and acoustic recordings very nicely. Used Klipsch speakers are easy to find. The Cornwall is 104 dB efficient. The Forte is about 100dB. Whatever you buy, if you can afford it, also buy a sub or two. This will improve clarity, impact and bass quality if setup correctly. But as others said, your ears CAN suffer. You could use one of the amps you have on subs and one on speakers but would need a crossover Bridging is not recommended or needed; especially with mismatched amps |
