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Speaker advice for listening to Blues music

Hi, new to the forum, and hoping I can get some help finding the right speakers... I'm a Blues guitar player and have a dedicated music room for my guitars/amps. I usually spend time playing my guitars and recently decided to setup a decent system for listening to my Blues music. I first started with a Marantz integrated (PM8005) and some Kef R300, source is a Marantz ND8006 and I mostly play FLAC files from a NAS, but also started streaming from Spotify and now trying Tidal. This setup was great at first, very revealing, but found the R300 were not the right speakers for the kind of music I listen to, but they were great for some Jazz and did well with good recordings, which most of my Blues recordings weren't, specially live albums. I also found them to be a little boomy in that small room (12' X 12'), so I moved them to the living room instead and added a matching center, they're perfect there.

Next came the LS50, read so much about them I had to get a pair to try. Wow! I still can't believe what these small speakers can do, the details I hear, soundstage, imaging, it's all there. But, just like the R300, since they're so revealing they're horrible with my favorite Blues recordings. It's great to listen to excellent recordings and enjoy the music these speakers are making but I want to enjoy MY music, the Blues greats I've been listening to for over 30 years. If it sounds great in the car then I should be able to find the right gear to duplicate at home, right? On some good Blues recordings it sounds excellent, but most of my favorites aren't good recordings.

Since I only play my guitars through old Fender amps I figured I should replace the Marantz integrated with a tube amp, so next came the PrimaLuna integrated. I wanted to get a "warmer" sound and hope it'll fix the issues I was having with most crappy recordings... I want to hear BB's beautiful guitar tone and crank it up, without hurting my ears. Both Kefs were too fatiguing to listen to. And on most live recordings guitars sound way too thin and bright, not what I'm used to hearing. A good example is Albert King's Wednesday Night in San Francisco, that Flying V can be painful to listen to after a couple of minutes! Not so in the car or even just using headphones and my laptop. I understand that it's because the system is more revealing, but is it possible to have both, revealing and musical so that one can enjoy the music they love? The PrimaLuna did help and it's staying, I like what I'm hearing so far, and I get to play with tubes, something I enjoy doing already :)

Right now I'm breaking in some Wharfedale Denton 80th, I wanted to try something with a soft dome tweeter, something less fatiguing than the LS50. I'm at 70+ hours so far and they're sounding much better, not as fatiguing, but something is missing... I prefer the LS50's soundstage and details, but they're both not that great for electric guitar. The Dentons are more forgiving but I don't find them musical and they don't disappear like the LS50s do.

So what are my choices? Do I stick with bookshelf, try some floor standing? What about single driver speakers (Omega, Zu...)? Are those the answer to what I'm looking for? I need something more forgiving, musical, efficient so I can crank it up when I feel like playing along some times... I want the guitar to sound full and not thin and bright. It's a small room and not a lot of space due to my guitar gear. My budget is also limited, would like to keep it under $2k, I already have a hobby and don't want this to get out of control :)

Forgot to mention, I also have a Rel sub, so not too worried about the low end. Sorry for the long post and thanks for any help!
cedarblues
cedarblues OP
32 posts
 
I'm in the Tampa Bay area, is that close to you?
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
cedarblues,

Its natural to focus on the speakers but I doubt the problem you're hearing will ever be fixed with speakers alone. You may not even need to change your speakers. In fact you could probably use some really crappy speakers and yet still achieve the sound you want. Because, like you said, the same music sounds good in the car. So is it the car speakers? I don't think so.

Notice it got better with the Prima Luna? Because the Prima Luna is in the chain, and everything in the chain matters. All of it, every single bit of it, is contributing to the problem. Which also means every single bit of it will have to contribute to the solution.

You want full, not thin and bright. You want tubes. You already know that. You have some great speakers. You have a great amp. Feed them a great signal and they will reward you with great music. All kinds. Whatever kind you want. 

You already know the amp took you in the right direction. Now all you need is to take everything else in that same direction.

Speaker cables, interconnects, and power cords are the place to start. The problems you want to address are thin and bright and a fatiguing hardness at volume. I never heard anything like that with any of the wire from Synergistic, but the same cannot be said of much of the rest of what's out there. So you definitely want to be looking into that. But there are things you can do to help that are dirt cheap too. Even seemingly insignificant details like where the cables go are contributing, each in their own small way, to what you're hearing.


austinbob
235 posts
 
Personally I think you might be barking up the wrong tree. Yes, tube amps overdriven distort pleasantly. But the real issue may be room and reflections. I use a Lyngdorf with Room Correction and it really helps. Or simply trying diffusers/absorption panels and traps correctly. 
cedarblues OP
32 posts
 
Thanks for the suggestions! I'm open to trying different cables in the chain if it helps, but don't want to end up spending too much just on cables, so what dirt cheap things can I try? I understand cables are important, but speakers make the biggest difference IMO, in audio and in my guitar amps. From my experience I know what good guitar cables do, but at the end everything has to come out of that speaker in the amp. Magnet type, cone, voicecoil, it all affects guitar tone, and after all these years I know how to get rid of harshness in guitar tone, but I'm clueless when it comes to audio... and that's why I'm focusing on speakers.
david_ten
5,480 posts
 
Can you help me understand why your car stereo is a reference, despite your being a Blues Guitarist? Thanks.
I'm not sure I understand your question? It's not really a reference, listening to Blues guitar in the car is just easier on the ears, compared to what I was hearing from the Kefs. I want to enjoy listening to music without it being fatiguing and would prefer not hearing a bright/thin sounding guitar tone.

Given you play guitar live (amplified) I would have expected references and comparisons to live playback, tonality, timbre, realism, etc.

If it sounds great in the car then I should be able to find the right gear to duplicate at home, right?

did well with good recordings, which most of my Blues recordings weren't, specially live albums

@millercarbon has proffered good advice in his post (above).

I doubt the problem you're hearing will ever be fixed with speakers alone. You may not even need to change your speakers.

There is so much that can be addressed. One example: FLAC off of a NAS for the recordings (at issue) that you love. 

I'd err on the side of establishing a system that presents GOOD recordings naturally and 'live with' the poorly recorded material.
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