BIG or Small?

[Anonymous]

I think another way of putting it regarding the M&K's, or Genelec's, Procellas etc. is that they won't flatter bad recordings, but will excel at playback of good recordings, simply because of their accuracy. Like David said, they fall into the category of studio monitor rather than a hifi speaker.

If I was going down a dedicated HT route with acoustic design and treatment, I'd go for monitors rather than Hi-fi Speakers.

 

[Frank Harvey]

If I was going the hi-fi speaker route, it'd be KEF Reference of course

 

[Anonymous]

FrankHarveyHiFi:
If I was going the hi-fi speaker route, it'd be KEF Reference of course

And hey - you did !!

 

[Frank Harvey]

I meant 'hi-fi' as in using hi-fi speakers for AV

 

[Anonymous]

Just to go back to tvspec's OP and certainly not wanting to get in to a Bose discussion.

I've had the Bose AM's for 10 years now and anyone that's ever heard them always comment on how great they sound. I have a larger than average lounge and they are very loud, the neighbours have complained before now and the floors of the upstairs bedrooms vibrate even when I have the amp at low volume.

So are they loud enough and does the "sub" go deep enough - absolutely yes.

I am not saying that they are better than this speaker or that speaker and indeed I have some KEF's in another room and they sound great too. Just wanted to put the record straight.

Are there better sounding speakers out there that offer better value for money - apparently yes if this forum is anything to go by and I'm going to hear some soon alternatives soon.

 

[tvspecv]

EDITED BY MODS - please do not discuss moderation.


yes wovian is right i did`nt just mean bose but the other big names aswell in tiny packages can they do the business aswell as the big boys?

 

[Anonymous]

for 3 mk 150's and the ss150 surrounds it will cost about £4500 - and the atc 19,3c3,7's will be about £3000, are the mk's £1500 better than the atc pakage? thanks dave.

 

[Anonymous]

Knightout wrote:

......when the music is incidental, background, so sort of ok with tv and movie sound tracks.

Interesting post which I enjoyed reading, but I have to take issue with the line above....

'Movie sound tracks' and 'incidental' / 'background' shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence!

Bob.

 

[Anonymous]

willieeckslyke:Knightout wrote: ......when the music is incidental, background, so sort of ok with tv and movie sound tracks.

Interesting post which I enjoyed reading, but I have to take issue with the line above....

'Movie sound tracks' and 'incidental' / 'background' shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence!

Bob.

If you want action movie soundtracks with explosions that blow your socks off, dinosaurs stomping around that make you feel as well as hear the earth shake. Then yeah it is not incidental which if you have neighbors they maybe pointing out. But if you watch TV soap operas or film and tv dramas, thrillers, romance where the background music and effects add ambience, or competition shows where the sound of the crowd adds atmosphere. Then its incidental/background your main interest is in what people are saying on screen. Normal speech is about 60dB or less, for intelligibility you ideally want speech to be 15dB louder than background noise, so the background music and effects are usually going to be about 45dB or less, conclusion you do not need masses of volume or deep bass for movies and tv when witty speech rather than spectacular explosions are the main attraction

 

[Frank Harvey]

fowler:for 3 mk 150's and the ss150 surrounds it will cost about £4500 - and the atc 19,3c3,7's will be about £3000, are the mk's £1500 better than the atc pakage? thanks dave.

I'm usually comparing how much better the MK's are than more expensive speaker packages.....

 

[Anonymous]

FrankHarveyHiFi:
fowler:for 3 mk 150's and the ss150 surrounds it will cost about £4500 - and the atc 19,3c3,7's will be about £3000, are the mk's £1500 better than the atc pakage? thanks dave.

I'm usually comparing how much better the MK's are than more expensive speaker packages.....

wow thats quite a compliment, i'll be sure to audition the mk's when im ready with the cash! thanks for your time david much appreciated.

 

[Frank Harvey]

No problem.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

fowler:FrankHarveyHiFi:

fowler:for 3 mk 150's and the ss150 surrounds it will cost about £4500 - and the atc 19,3c3,7's will be about £3000, are the mk's £1500 better than the atc pakage? thanks dave.

I'm usually comparing how much better the MK's are than more expensive speaker packages.....

wow thats quite a compliment, i'll be sure to audition the mk's when im ready with the cash! thanks for your time david much appreciated.

Hi fowler

I compare ATC's engineering integrity, performance levels and overall performance potential to how much better they are than many other costly speakers (for two or multi channel use).

SCM Studio Control Monitor - their massive state of the art drive units are mostly taking things in their stride. The lower it distorts the more natural it sounds.

ATC inspires confidence.

Thanks for your support.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Anonymous]

MUSICRAFT:fowler:FrankHarveyHiFi:

fowler:for 3 mk 150's and the ss150 surrounds it will cost about £4500 - and the atc 19,3c3,7's will be about £3000, are the mk's £1500 better than the atc pakage? thanks dave.

I'm usually comparing how much better the MK's are than more expensive speaker packages.....

wow thats quite a compliment, i'll be sure to audition the mk's when im ready with the cash! thanks for your time david much appreciated.

Hi fowler

I compare ATC's engineering integrity, performance levels and overall performance potential to how much better they are than many other costly speakers (for two or multi channel use).

SCM Studio Control Monitor - their massive state of the art drive units are mostly taking things in their stride. The lower it distorts the more natural it sounds.

ATC inspires confidence.

Thanks for your support.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft
hi rick,i take it you think the atc's are better? have you heard the mk's? what do you think? iv done some reasearch and the mk's are highly rated for cinema - wich is what im after, iv got my hifi system seperate.thanks

 

[MUSICRAFT]

fowler:MUSICRAFT:fowler:FrankHarveyHiFi:

fowler:for 3 mk 150's and the ss150 surrounds it will cost about £4500 - and the atc 19,3c3,7's will be about £3000, are the mk's £1500 better than the atc pakage? thanks dave.

I'm usually comparing how much better the MK's are than more expensive speaker packages.....

wow thats quite a compliment, i'll be sure to audition the mk's when im ready with the cash! thanks for your time david much appreciated.

Hi fowler

I compare ATC's engineering integrity, performance levels and overall performance potential to how much better they are than many other costly speakers (for two or multi channel use).

SCM Studio Control Monitor - their massive state of the art drive units are mostly taking things in their stride. The lower it distorts the more natural it sounds.

ATC inspires confidence.

Thanks for your support.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

hi rick,i take it you think the atc's are better? have you heard the mk's? what do you think? iv done some reasearch and the mk's are highly rated for cinema - wich is what im after, iv got my hifi system seperate.thanks

Hi fowler

I am aware of the M&K philosophy and the audio presentation of their products as i have worked at dealers that stocked the products.

As to ATC, amongst the many things that i have learnt about them over the years is that, ATC designs and manufactures some the finest and most accurate monitors in the world. ATC has kept to it's aim of building loudspeakers and electronics which employ the most effective of modern engineering principles. They don't respond to competition, instead they respond to advances in technology that enables them to improve their products. Their goal is to make loudspeakers as near perfection in performance as possible by having the lowest possible distortion.

ATC tackles distortion by building their own massive, precise and technologically advanced state of the art drive units.

Ime whether it is a movie or music soundtrack the ATC speakers will reproduce them in a neutral, uncoloured, natural and powerful manner. I have been listening to Terminator Salvation and Pirates of the Caribbean (At World's End) today through the Chord Electronics SPM3005 power amp and SCM40's. Needless to say it was sounding awesome.The lower it distorts the more natural it sounds.

Thanks for your support.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Frank Harvey]

MUSICRAFT:I am aware of the M&K philosophy and the audio presentation of their products as i have worked at dealers that stocked the products.

Just out of interest, may I ask which dealers these were? There aren't many dealers for MK out there, especially in the Midlands.

Regards

David

 

[Anonymous]

I'm really wondering about my ATC system of SCM19s, C3C, SCM11s & C1 Sub. I'm really interested in the views of people on this M&K 150 vs ATC Concept 3.

 

[Anonymous]

Beta4Me:I'm really wondering about my ATC system of SCM19s, C3C, SCM11s & C1 Sub. I'm really interested in the views of people on this M&K 150 vs ATC Concept 3.

MK all the way for movies

The 150s are like no other speaker the first 5.1 package i own was a Sonus Fabers package around 7years ago i heard my first MK package which was the 150s and i have never looked back if you want your movies to sound attacking and detailed then its the best package out there

Last year i listened to the Kef system that was on show at What hifi which cost around the 40k and to me it did not come close to what the MK does for movies,music it might be better but i am a movie man 24hrs and i want the best just compare gun shots the three i use for friends to show of the system are

Dark Knight (The opening)

Hurt Locker (All of it the best audio mix i have heard)

Fight Club (The end)

So i can not see how the ATC can come close as looking at the cost it is around the same as my old Fabers and if you compare the three scenes then you will just but the over packages that cost 10times more

MK all the way

 

[Anonymous]

So NOT what I wanted to hear. Oh well. I still love my ATCs. I just hope I don't hear an M&K system anytime soon and regret my expensive purchase. I look forward to my 9.1 ATC system: 19s (fronts), 11s (sides & rears), 7s (front height), C3C (centre), C1S (sub). Mmm...delicious...

 

[Anonymous]

FrankHarveyHiFi:
fowler:for 3 mk 150's and the ss150 surrounds it will cost about £4500 - and the atc 19,3c3,7's will be about £3000, are the mk's £1500 better than the atc pakage? thanks dave.

I'm usually comparing how much better the MK's are than more expensive speaker packages.....

So M&K Studio 5 + pair of SS150s (7.1) [£8045] vs ATC Concept 3 + SCM19s (7.1) [£4948 (£3097 less than M&K)], which would win for multichannel music, stereo music and for movies? Would the small-ish sub be the letdown in the ATC? If the M&K is better for movies, is it 60% better than the ATCs?

Thanks!

 

[jokerpaulonline]

[

Hi Andy you say

" It amazes me that some buyers spec their speakers 'blind' on the basis of our reviews, no matter how many times we try to point out the variables involved. I've long advocated the notion that a good system includes both the kit and the room, and that no-one should attempt to specify the former without at least some consideration towards the latter."

My question is when you go into a shop to listen to different speakers, how can you tell which are going to sound the best in your home?

Speaking for someone that is looking at buying his first system and dont know to much about home cinema systems and the difference between what systems would sound better in my room size is the reason why we look on WHF for reviews on what to buy.

If you could give any other hints then would be appericated

 

[Frank Harvey]

J.J.GITTES: Hurt Locker (All of it the best audio mix i have heard)

I've got The Hurt Locker on order, looking forward to that one. And we use the Dark Knight in our AV demos

 

[Frank Harvey]

Beta4Me:I'm really wondering about my ATC system of SCM19s, C3C, SCM11s & C1 Sub. I'm really interested in the views of people on this M&K 150 vs ATC Concept 3.

Is your system to be purely AV or music as well?

The MK's are designed to reproduce movie soundtracks, and so have a diffrent presentation to normal hi-fi speakers. This is something I have found that they do amazingly well, and haven't yet found a hi-fi based AV package to match up to them as yet. Don't get me wrong, your system will be great, and it will fair better with movies than many other packages will. It's something you really have to hear for yourself, because there are some people that just don't get on with them. I wouldn't say they're an aquired taste exactly, as the first time I heard them I was gobsmacked (well, second time, actually) and have never looked back since.

Beta4Me:So M&K Studio 5 + pair of SS150s (7.1) [£8045] vs ATC Concept 3 + SCM19s (7.1) [£4948 (£3097 less than M&K)], which would win for multichannel music, stereo music and for movies? Would the small-ish sub be the letdown in the ATC? If the M&K is better for movies, is it 60% better than the ATCs?

The ATC's would win for multi channel music, they're designed for music. The SCM11's are a fantastic speaker, without competition as far as I'm concerned. Price-wise, they're similar to MK 750's, which don't have the build quality of the SCM11's, but their 'voicing' in comparison is like chalk and cheese. There are a number of reasons for this, which I think I might blog it on our website so I have easy access to it rather than writing it out all the time! Keep a look out for that, I'll do that some time this week.

The 750 or 950 system along with a DSPZ7 is an amazing system, and one which I find unbeatable at the price point. A home cinema bargain as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Frank Harvey]

jokerpaulonline:[ My question is when you go into a shop to listen to different speakers, how can you tell which are going to sound the best in your home?

Speaking for someone that is looking at buying his first system and dont know to much about home cinema systems and the difference between what systems would sound better in my room size is the reason why we look on WHF for reviews on what to buy.

If you could give any other hints then would be appericated

There are many variables that will affect how speakers will sound in your own room. This will be the speakers themselves, and how they react to room placement, and the construction of the room, the equipment they're partnered with, how clean your mains is and also whether you have old wiring, the varying supply from your local power station, the cables you use, you frame of mind, whenther you've had an alcoholic beverage, whether the light is on or off, etc etc.

Sealed cabinet speakers are far easier to implement into a room than ported speakers, because they are affected less by room boundaries. MK follow this design method as it is something THX decided on when setting up the THX standard, along with the fact that smaller speakers are also easier to impement into any room with far less problems than larger speakers. This is why movie mastering studios use sub/sat systems to master movie soundtracks. If you just unboxed an MK speaker package and placed it into a room and started using it without any setting up or tweaking, it would fair a lot better than a large hi-fi speaker package based on big floorstanders. Much more care is needed for floorstanders, especially ported ones.

For people who are upgrading their speakers, they can take them along to a dealer's demo room to compare to possible replacements. Hearing your own speakers in the dealer's room gives you an idea of how the two rooms differ - it's just a case of mentally applying those differences to speakers you try in comparison. If you're still not quite convinced by the ones you feel are the best, you could always try them in your own home. Obviously this is easier for hi-fi speakers than AV speakers.

 

[Anonymous]

TBH

I did not have a clue about what I was looking at, so got the 9.1 for front which has amazing reviews, and my amp was amazing for the price at 250.00 and my rears I heard in RS.

I bought blind and never looked back, but I am no expert, as this is my first system and have nothing to compaire it too.

I would like floorstands, but not possible as have a fireplace in the middle of my room, and the way the set up is.

But I am happy with my choice and will upgrade my fronts when I can, and get a better amp for video upscale when funds allow