Young audiophile metal head looking to level up speaker choice


Hello Audiogon,

I'm a pretty new to the world of audio and looking to make a signifiant upgrade from my first self purchased speaker, the Q Acoustics 3030i.  I was encouraged by an audiophile friend to join Audiogon and post a question regarding what speaker would be best.

I decided to pick up a much nicer amplifier last year, upgrading from a Cambridge AXR85 to a Rogue Sphinx V3. This 2024 I am wanting to make a similar upgrade to my speakers.  I wanted a more dynamic amplifier and found the Cambridge to smooth when combined with my Q Acoustics.

I have my own listening room but it's rather small 11ft x13ft.  I listen to mostly heavy metal/rock music at 70-85 decibels.   I have looked at been cross shopping the Buchart S400 mkII, Dynaudio Evoke 20, Zu DWX, Arendale 1723 - but have also heard good things about vintage Usher speakers..

Thanks for your consideration and advice here.

cheers

killingforcompany

Showing 2 responses by deep_333

Heavy metal is a difficult genre to get speakers for. You need speakers that can slam like a mtfr, have significant sound power levels in the upper bass, lower mids, mids, no phase shift between the bass drivers to midrange driver...and so on.

For example, a Schweikert 55 works good for heavy metal, dense orchestra with electronic elements, etc, in larger rooms. It can be a wallet abuser without good deal on used, too big for your room..

As you come lower in price, the Borresen X3 at 11k/pair would work good for your genre. It may/may not work/could be pushing it on room size depending on how many other things you have in the room.

As you go lower in price for your small room...well...just bring the speakers real close in nearfield, about 4ft from you and get a pair of Yamaha HS8 powered monitors with the 8 inch bass driver (only 800 dollars/pair, very affordable!). Add a KEF KC62 microsub, 1500 dollars.

(P.S. The motherload of metal albums/music you listen to got done on Yamaha monitors over the ages. The HS8 is the newer "special" version after their hifi speaker guys and proaudio guys started talking to each other a bit. You should be in good hands.)

 

@csmgolf I would like to stay under 3k.

I have been researching the Polk SDA speakers, and it looks like I can find some at around 1-1.5k . It’s a really underrating vintage speaker...

@killingforcompany The Polk L800 SDA typically goes for 6k per pair. Here’s a pair for 3500 (42%off) with a 2 yr warranty from Polk. Even if you sold it one day, you'd cut even. Don’t miss out man..this is easily the best speaker Polk ever made.

https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/polkl800-brwn/polk-audio-legend-l800-pair-10-3-way-floor-standing-speakers-brown/1.html

The older SDA polks were kinda crappy in comparison to the new L800 (took them a minute to perfect the tech).

You also need to place the L800 a lot closer together than typical speakers (not too far apart from each other), which would work quite good for your smaller room.