Boston A26 more bass

gasolin

Well-known member
I have as you can see a nad d3020 van den hul clearwater,isoacoustics stand a boston a26, when i play edm the bass is okay, also when i use the bass boost/eq that gives a boost of +6 db (which i think is just around 100hz not the deep bass) it 's easier to get closer to the amps limitations (distortion) if i play medium loud and activate the bass eq/boost (max overall spl with the amp and speakers are perfect for my room and taste).

Had the krk rokit powered 5 g3 (5" woofer) and feel that the krk's have as much bass or more then the bostons, atm i listen to wimp hifi and duran durans's notorius (remastered) and the sound is very clear and open,slightly bright,i feel that for the kind of music that duran duran makes and there is on the notorious album, i miss a bit more bass and generally i don't feel the bass for the size is deeper then most bookshelf speakers.

I can return the speakers and get my money back, don't want a subwoofer,expensive and difficult to adjust, i want all the midrange and bass comming from the same "main" speakers with the same sound, with no crossover problems if my boston A26 play full range (i don't think theres and electronic crossover in the nad d3020 for main speakers).

If i want speakers with more bass what speakers should i look at, i don't want big speakers and to pay more then what dali zensor 3 costs (they are a bit to big for my desk and stands)
 

davedotco

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gasolin said:
I have as you can see a nad d3020 van den hul clearwater,isoacoustics stand a boston a26, when i play edm the bass is okay, also when i use the bass boost/eq that gives a boost of +6 db (which i think is just around 100hz not the deep bass) it 's easier to get closer to the amps limitations (distortion) if i play medium loud and activate the bass eq/boost (max overall spl with the amp and speakers are perfect for my room and taste).

Had the krk rokit powered 5 g3 (5" woofer) and feel that the krk's have as much bass or more then the bostons, atm i listen to wimp hifi and duran durans's notorius (remastered) and the sound is very clear and open,slightly bright,i feel that for the kind of music that duran duran makes and there is on the notorious album, i miss a bit more bass and generally i don't feel the bass for the size is deeper then most bookshelf speakers.

I can return the speakers and get my money back, don't want a subwoofer,expensive and difficult to adjust, i want all the midrange and bass comming from the same "main" speakers with the same sound, with no crossover problems if my boston A26 play full range (i don't think theres and electronic crossover in the nad d3020 for main speakers).

If i want speakers with more bass what speakers should i look at, i don't want big speakers and to pay more then what dali zensor 3 costs (they are a bit to big for my desk and stands)

Modern popular music has most of its energy in the bass regions, dance and other 'bass driven' music even more so. It is hard to be precise, but there is probably as much power below 200-300Hz as there is from 300Hz up to 20kHz.

Engaging the bass boost control (+6dB) is exactly the same as turning your amplifier up by 6dB and remember, to increase the level by 6dB you are using 4 times the amplifier power.

No wonder you are getting close to the amplifiers limits.

Buy a bigger amplifier.......
 

Broner

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davedotco said:
gasolin said:
I have as you can see a nad d3020 van den hul clearwater,isoacoustics stand a boston a26, when i play edm the bass is okay, also when i use the bass boost/eq that gives a boost of +6 db (which i think is just around 100hz not the deep bass) it 's easier to get closer to the amps limitations (distortion) if i play medium loud and activate the bass eq/boost (max overall spl with the amp and speakers are perfect for my room and taste).

Had the krk rokit powered 5 g3 (5" woofer) and feel that the krk's have as much bass or more then the bostons, atm i listen to wimp hifi and duran durans's notorius (remastered) and the sound is very clear and open,slightly bright,i feel that for the kind of music that duran duran makes and there is on the notorious album, i miss a bit more bass and generally i don't feel the bass for the size is deeper then most bookshelf speakers.

I can return the speakers and get my money back, don't want a subwoofer,expensive and difficult to adjust, i want all the midrange and bass comming from the same "main" speakers with the same sound, with no crossover problems if my boston A26 play full range (i don't think theres and electronic crossover in the nad d3020 for main speakers).

If i want speakers with more bass what speakers should i look at, i don't want big speakers and to pay more then what dali zensor 3 costs (they are a bit to big for my desk and stands)

Modern popular music has most of its energy in the bass regions, dance and other 'bass driven' music even more so. It is hard to be precise, but there is probably as much power below 200-300Hz as there is from 300Hz up to 20kHz.

Engaging the bass boost control (+6dB) is exactly the same as turning your amplifier up by 6dB and remember, to increase the level by 6dB you are using 4 times the amplifier power.

No wonder you are getting close to the amplifiers limits.

Buy a bigger amplifier.......

Don't think that would solve all of his problems, as they seem to be limited not only by the amplifier but also by the choice of speakers. It seems that Gasolin wants a loud and bass-rich sound from small speakers without adding a subwoofer, for relatively little money.

@Gasolin You might have to compromise here. Buying a more powerful amplifier is necessary, but it might not be enough for what you want. I know that you have listened to some of the speakers at your local dealer. Were you happy with the level of bass then?
 

gasolin

Well-known member
davedotco said:
gasolin said:
I have as you can see a nad d3020 van den hul clearwater,isoacoustics stand a boston a26, when i play edm the bass is okay, also when i use the bass boost/eq that gives a boost of +6 db (which i think is just around 100hz not the deep bass) it 's easier to get closer to the amps limitations (distortion) if i play medium loud and activate the bass eq/boost (max overall spl with the amp and speakers are perfect for my room and taste).

Had the krk rokit powered 5 g3 (5" woofer) and feel that the krk's have as much bass or more then the bostons, atm i listen to wimp hifi and duran durans's notorius (remastered) and the sound is very clear and open,slightly bright,i feel that for the kind of music that duran duran makes and there is on the notorious album, i miss a bit more bass and generally i don't feel the bass for the size is deeper then most bookshelf speakers.

I can return the speakers and get my money back, don't want a subwoofer,expensive and difficult to adjust, i want all the midrange and bass comming from the same "main" speakers with the same sound, with no crossover problems if my boston A26 play full range (i don't think theres and electronic crossover in the nad d3020 for main speakers).

If i want speakers with more bass what speakers should i look at, i don't want big speakers and to pay more then what dali zensor 3 costs (they are a bit to big for my desk and stands)

Modern popular music has most of its energy in the bass regions, dance and other 'bass driven' music even more so. It is hard to be precise, but there is probably as much power below 200-300Hz as there is from 300Hz up to 20kHz.

Engaging the bass boost control (+6dB) is exactly the same as turning your amplifier up by 6dB and remember, to increase the level by 6dB you are using 4 times the amplifier power.

No wonder you are getting close to the amplifiers limits.

Buy a bigger amplifier.......

Not saying i reach my amps limited (distortion) playing medium loud because i don't use the bass eq, if i did use the bass eq i would get closer to my amps limited playing medium loud , therefor if i could get some 88-89-90 db sensivtive speakers that has more of the bass (not just a boost around 100hz) i get when using the bass eq with my bostons, i will get more bass without using the bass eq.

I don't have a problem how loud the amp,speaker combination is playing loud pop, rock music and loud edm isn't a problem, it's loud and lot's of bass,just with some pop,rock music i wouldn't mind having a bit deeper,louder bass (not just more bass around 100hz)
 

gasolin

Well-known member
Broner said:
davedotco said:
gasolin said:
I have as you can see a nad d3020 van den hul clearwater,isoacoustics stand a boston a26, when i play edm the bass is okay, also when i use the bass boost/eq that gives a boost of +6 db (which i think is just around 100hz not the deep bass) it 's easier to get closer to the amps limitations (distortion) if i play medium loud and activate the bass eq/boost (max overall spl with the amp and speakers are perfect for my room and taste).

Had the krk rokit powered 5 g3 (5" woofer) and feel that the krk's have as much bass or more then the bostons, atm i listen to wimp hifi and duran durans's notorius (remastered) and the sound is very clear and open,slightly bright,i feel that for the kind of music that duran duran makes and there is on the notorious album, i miss a bit more bass and generally i don't feel the bass for the size is deeper then most bookshelf speakers.

I can return the speakers and get my money back, don't want a subwoofer,expensive and difficult to adjust, i want all the midrange and bass comming from the same "main" speakers with the same sound, with no crossover problems if my boston A26 play full range (i don't think theres and electronic crossover in the nad d3020 for main speakers).

If i want speakers with more bass what speakers should i look at, i don't want big speakers and to pay more then what dali zensor 3 costs (they are a bit to big for my desk and stands)

Modern popular music has most of its energy in the bass regions, dance and other 'bass driven' music even more so. It is hard to be precise, but there is probably as much power below 200-300Hz as there is from 300Hz up to 20kHz.

Engaging the bass boost control (+6dB) is exactly the same as turning your amplifier up by 6dB and remember, to increase the level by 6dB you are using 4 times the amplifier power.

No wonder you are getting close to the amplifiers limits.

Buy a bigger amplifier.......

Don't think that would solve all of his problems, as they seem to be limited not only by the amplifier but also by the choice of speakers. It seems that Gasolin wants a loud and bass-rich sound from small speakers without adding a subwoofer, for relatively little money.

@Gasolin You might have to compromise here. Buying a more powerful amplifier is necessary, but it might not be enough for what you want. I know that you have listened to some of the speakers at your local dealer. Were you happy with the level of bass then?

Havn't had the opportunity to listen to the Boston A26 when i bought them, i got them for a good price, 200£ for a new pair, normal price about 290£ , had read the whathifi review

I have heard the zensor 3 (to big) , it had the bass the zensor 1's is missing (i have a pair of zensor 1's for my tv).

If we say my boston speakers are zensor 1's then i would like something like the zensor 3's, that would be the difference i would like to have without using a subwoofer or the bass eq, not something like a 12" 500 watt subwoofer instead of a 8" 200 watt subwoofer
 

davedotco

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Broner said:
davedotco said:
gasolin said:
I have as you can see a nad d3020 van den hul clearwater,isoacoustics stand a boston a26, when i play edm the bass is okay, also when i use the bass boost/eq that gives a boost of +6 db (which i think is just around 100hz not the deep bass) it 's easier to get closer to the amps limitations (distortion) if i play medium loud and activate the bass eq/boost (max overall spl with the amp and speakers are perfect for my room and taste).

Had the krk rokit powered 5 g3 (5" woofer) and feel that the krk's have as much bass or more then the bostons, atm i listen to wimp hifi and duran durans's notorius (remastered) and the sound is very clear and open,slightly bright,i feel that for the kind of music that duran duran makes and there is on the notorious album, i miss a bit more bass and generally i don't feel the bass for the size is deeper then most bookshelf speakers.

I can return the speakers and get my money back, don't want a subwoofer,expensive and difficult to adjust, i want all the midrange and bass comming from the same "main" speakers with the same sound, with no crossover problems if my boston A26 play full range (i don't think theres and electronic crossover in the nad d3020 for main speakers).

If i want speakers with more bass what speakers should i look at, i don't want big speakers and to pay more then what dali zensor 3 costs (they are a bit to big for my desk and stands)

Modern popular music has most of its energy in the bass regions, dance and other 'bass driven' music even more so. It is hard to be precise, but there is probably as much power below 200-300Hz as there is from 300Hz up to 20kHz.

Engaging the bass boost control (+6dB) is exactly the same as turning your amplifier up by 6dB and remember, to increase the level by 6dB you are using 4 times the amplifier power.

No wonder you are getting close to the amplifiers limits.

Buy a bigger amplifier.......

Don't think that would solve all of his problems, as they seem to be limited not only by the amplifier but also by the choice of speakers. It seems that Gasolin wants a big, bass-rich sound from small speakers without adding a subwoofer, for relatively little money.

That is actually not that difficult to arrange. It just requires the OP to think clearly about what he wants and the most effective way to get it.

Very cheap option, Music Store in Germany are selling ESI Unik 08 active monitors for just €256. Massive bass output, ribbon tweeter, a little larger than the A26 but not huge, problem solved.

There are loads of other options too, Yamaha HS7, Adam F7 etc, etc. You just need to be clear about what you want and what you are prepared to give up to get it.
 

davedotco

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gasolin said:
Not saying i reach my amps limited (distortion) playing medium loud because i don't use the bass eq, if i did use the bass eq i would get closer to my amps limited playing medium loud , therefor if i could get some 88-89-90 db sensivtive speakers that has more of the bass (not just a boost around 100hz) i get when using the bass eq with my bostons, i will get more bass without using the bass eq.

I don't have a problem how loud the amp,speaker combination is playing loud pop, rock music and loud edm isn't a problem, it's loud and lot's of bass,just with some pop,rock music i wouldn't mind having a bit deeper,louder bass (not just more bass around 100hz)

For a given speaker, (drive unit and enclosure) you can have bass extension or sensitivity. You can not have both, laws of physics, I'm afraid.
 

Broner

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davedotco said:
Broner said:
davedotco said:
gasolin said:
I have as you can see a nad d3020 van den hul clearwater,isoacoustics stand a boston a26, when i play edm the bass is okay, also when i use the bass boost/eq that gives a boost of +6 db (which i think is just around 100hz not the deep bass) it 's easier to get closer to the amps limitations (distortion) if i play medium loud and activate the bass eq/boost (max overall spl with the amp and speakers are perfect for my room and taste).

Had the krk rokit powered 5 g3 (5" woofer) and feel that the krk's have as much bass or more then the bostons, atm i listen to wimp hifi and duran durans's notorius (remastered) and the sound is very clear and open,slightly bright,i feel that for the kind of music that duran duran makes and there is on the notorious album, i miss a bit more bass and generally i don't feel the bass for the size is deeper then most bookshelf speakers.

I can return the speakers and get my money back, don't want a subwoofer,expensive and difficult to adjust, i want all the midrange and bass comming from the same "main" speakers with the same sound, with no crossover problems if my boston A26 play full range (i don't think theres and electronic crossover in the nad d3020 for main speakers).

If i want speakers with more bass what speakers should i look at, i don't want big speakers and to pay more then what dali zensor 3 costs (they are a bit to big for my desk and stands)

Modern popular music has most of its energy in the bass regions, dance and other 'bass driven' music even more so. It is hard to be precise, but there is probably as much power below 200-300Hz as there is from 300Hz up to 20kHz.

Engaging the bass boost control (+6dB) is exactly the same as turning your amplifier up by 6dB and remember, to increase the level by 6dB you are using 4 times the amplifier power.

No wonder you are getting close to the amplifiers limits.

Buy a bigger amplifier.......

Don't think that would solve all of his problems, as they seem to be limited not only by the amplifier but also by the choice of speakers. It seems that Gasolin wants a big, bass-rich sound from small speakers without adding a subwoofer, for relatively little money.

That is actually not that difficult to arrange. It just requires the OP to think clearly about what he wants and the most effective way to get it.

Very cheap option, Music Store in Germany are selling ESI Unik 08 active monitors for just €256. Massive bass output, ribbon tweeter, a little larger than the A26 but not huge, problem solved.

There are loads of other options too, Yamaha HS7, Adam F7 etc, etc. You just need to be clear about what you want and what you are prepared to give up to get it.

Considering that Gasolin feels that the Zensor 3 is already too large compared to the A26's, I wonder how he would feel about other speakers with 7 or even 8 inch woofers. Something's gotta give :). If the OP however can accept the dimensions of the Unik 8's I guess he might just have a winner that goes deep and loud enough.
 

gasolin

Well-known member
davedotco said:
Broner said:
davedotco said:
gasolin said:
I have as you can see a nad d3020 van den hul clearwater,isoacoustics stand a boston a26, when i play edm the bass is okay, also when i use the bass boost/eq that gives a boost of +6 db (which i think is just around 100hz not the deep bass) it 's easier to get closer to the amps limitations (distortion) if i play medium loud and activate the bass eq/boost (max overall spl with the amp and speakers are perfect for my room and taste).

Had the krk rokit powered 5 g3 (5" woofer) and feel that the krk's have as much bass or more then the bostons, atm i listen to wimp hifi and duran durans's notorius (remastered) and the sound is very clear and open,slightly bright,i feel that for the kind of music that duran duran makes and there is on the notorious album, i miss a bit more bass and generally i don't feel the bass for the size is deeper then most bookshelf speakers.

I can return the speakers and get my money back, don't want a subwoofer,expensive and difficult to adjust, i want all the midrange and bass comming from the same "main" speakers with the same sound, with no crossover problems if my boston A26 play full range (i don't think theres and electronic crossover in the nad d3020 for main speakers).

If i want speakers with more bass what speakers should i look at, i don't want big speakers and to pay more then what dali zensor 3 costs (they are a bit to big for my desk and stands)

Modern popular music has most of its energy in the bass regions, dance and other 'bass driven' music even more so. It is hard to be precise, but there is probably as much power below 200-300Hz as there is from 300Hz up to 20kHz.

Engaging the bass boost control (+6dB) is exactly the same as turning your amplifier up by 6dB and remember, to increase the level by 6dB you are using 4 times the amplifier power.

No wonder you are getting close to the amplifiers limits.

Buy a bigger amplifier.......

Don't think that would solve all of his problems, as they seem to be limited not only by the amplifier but also by the choice of speakers. It seems that Gasolin wants a big, bass-rich sound from small speakers without adding a subwoofer, for relatively little money.

That is actually not that difficult to arrange. It just requires the OP to think clearly about what he wants and the most effective way to get it.

Very cheap option, Music Store in Germany are selling ESI Unik 08 active monitors for just €256. Massive bass output, ribbon tweeter, a little larger than the A26 but not huge, problem solved.

There are loads of other options too, Yamaha HS7, Adam F7 etc, etc. You just need to be clear about what you want and what you are prepared to give up to get it.

yamaha hs7 dosn't have enough bass and i know it's best to use a monitor controler,volume knob to adjust the volume with, the one i have (t c electronic level pilot )is just so noisy when i turn the volume up and down and a decent one from goldpoint is just so expensive.

Feel that most active speakers have have some kind of weak white noise from the amp, some more noticeable then others and that annoys me if it's to loud, haven't had any of this problem with separate amp and speakers, studio monitors are also made to be neutral, to have a flat frequency response where a bump in the bass is not allowed.
 

skippy

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When I was going for actives for my main setup I was thinking of a volume controller, but after advice from WHF members I just use the Sonos to control the volume and it works with no issues.

I didn't think I was going for a monitor purely for bass reasons, but hearing Focal cms 50/65's, 7" Adams and others, then to demo a pair of Genelec 8050's (8"), it was any easy decision, the higher end had a lot more clarity, but the bass was amazing.

At home I've had to turn the LF down a couple of notches to fit in with room and to feel comfortable to listen to. I wasn't listening to them at crazy levels, but when I first brought them home I swear the amount of bass was actually making me feel slightly nauseous, I don't know whether it was purely down to the long duration of listening or just the amount of bass, but trimming them down rectified this...
 

Blackdawn

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I think the BA A26 are very good budget loudspeakers and I find the bass perfectly good. I prefer them to the Monitor Audio BX2. Maybe try moving the speakers closer to the wall or moving your listening position further back nearer the rear wall (away from the speaker). Remember they are not monitors for up close listening but HiFi speakers. Also I couldn't see you mention your source? What type of files and how do you play your music through your amp? Are the EQ settings on your PC?

I would say if you want close-up music listening then the small active monitors like the ones mentioned are the best option for you. I wouldn't discount the Zensor 3 or Cambride Audio Aero 2s if you still prefer passive HiFi speakers.
 

gasolin

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skippy said:
When I was going for actives for my main setup I was thinking of a volume controller, but after advice from WHF members I just use the Sonos to control the volume and it works with no issues.

I didn't think I was going for a monitor purely for bass reasons, but hearing Focal cms 50/65's, 7" Adams and others, then to demo a pair of Genelec 8050's (8"), it was any easy decision, the higher end had a lot more clarity, but the bass was amazing.

At home I've had to turn the LF down a couple of notches to fit in with room and to feel comfortable to listen to. I wasn't listening to them at crazy levels, but when I first brought them home I swear the amount of bass was actually making me feel slightly nauseous, I don't know whether it was purely down to the long duration of listening or just the amount of bass, but trimming them down rectified this...

I don't have a sonos and a pair of genelec 8050 (way to big for a normal sized desk) cost about 2470£ new, even for 1000£ or € they are over my budget http://www.thomann.de/gb/genelec_8050_bpm.htm. They are also in a different league 8" woofer and 110 db with peak power of 120 db it wouldn't surprice me if they can produce alot of bass so even edm cam be mastered at high levels.

I don't mind active speakers, the Adam A5X i had (1 week) before my curent system i just didn't like, mabye a bit to polite and have 2x2 small (bass ports) hairdryers at high levels i didn't like, though the top was nice to listen to for longer periods and it was loud.

Theres a difference when air comes from a 5-7 inch woofere and 1-2 (pr speaker) small front bass ports or just the woofer itself with a rear bass port, so i am not so much into front ported speakers.

Have thought about trying Adam A7 before i bought my current system and also if i don't like the nad d3020/boston A26 combination, but it has front bass port (surpose to be very good) and a bit white noise when theres no music, which i don't seem to here from my small nad d3020 and denon dra f109 (small reciver) with zensor 1. A small monitor controler is also very expensive if i want a good one, can't stand the noisy level pilot (volume up and down) and the stereo image problems at low levels (channel balance problems), then i thought a dac that can be used as a preamp, someone had a beresford 7520 for sale, he responded to me very late because he was on a holiday and at that time have bought my current system)

(Before the Adam A5X i had the new krk rokit powered 5 g3 for a few month(still have them), then my x still wanted to buy my lap top for a very good price(she has payed me and gotten my laptop), i quickly found out i wanted to spend the money (+ some extra) on new speakers,sound system for my pc, cause the krk 5's arent perfect and i like to listen to alot music every day,a midbass, lower midrange that was a bit to loud (although the bass was deep 45 hz), the upper midrange lower tweeter is not clear enough,in a comparison test on youtube the krk sounded dull and had a hug walley from under 2000hz to over 4000hz. (that's why the krk's are so pleasant to listen to a high levels)
 

gasolin

Well-known member
davedotco said:
Broner said:
davedotco said:
gasolin said:
I have as you can see a nad d3020 van den hul clearwater,isoacoustics stand a boston a26, when i play edm the bass is okay, also when i use the bass boost/eq that gives a boost of +6 db (which i think is just around 100hz not the deep bass) it 's easier to get closer to the amps limitations (distortion) if i play medium loud and activate the bass eq/boost (max overall spl with the amp and speakers are perfect for my room and taste).

Had the krk rokit powered 5 g3 (5" woofer) and feel that the krk's have as much bass or more then the bostons, atm i listen to wimp hifi and duran durans's notorius (remastered) and the sound is very clear and open,slightly bright,i feel that for the kind of music that duran duran makes and there is on the notorious album, i miss a bit more bass and generally i don't feel the bass for the size is deeper then most bookshelf speakers.

I can return the speakers and get my money back, don't want a subwoofer,expensive and difficult to adjust, i want all the midrange and bass comming from the same "main" speakers with the same sound, with no crossover problems if my boston A26 play full range (i don't think theres and electronic crossover in the nad d3020 for main speakers).

If i want speakers with more bass what speakers should i look at, i don't want big speakers and to pay more then what dali zensor 3 costs (they are a bit to big for my desk and stands)

Modern popular music has most of its energy in the bass regions, dance and other 'bass driven' music even more so. It is hard to be precise, but there is probably as much power below 200-300Hz as there is from 300Hz up to 20kHz.

Engaging the bass boost control (+6dB) is exactly the same as turning your amplifier up by 6dB and remember, to increase the level by 6dB you are using 4 times the amplifier power.

No wonder you are getting close to the amplifiers limits.

Buy a bigger amplifier.......

Don't think that would solve all of his problems, as they seem to be limited not only by the amplifier but also by the choice of speakers. It seems that Gasolin wants a big, bass-rich sound from small speakers without adding a subwoofer, for relatively little money.

That is actually not that difficult to arrange. It just requires the OP to think clearly about what he wants and the most effective way to get it.

Very cheap option, Music Store in Germany are selling ESI Unik 08 active monitors for just €256. Massive bass output, ribbon tweeter, a little larger than the A26 but not huge, problem solved.

There are loads of other options too, Yamaha HS7, Adam F7 etc, etc. You just need to be clear about what you want and what you are prepared to give up to get it.

Good price for the esi unik 08 thoman.de has them for 186€ each but isn't it a speaker they don't make anymore, it's at b stock speaker at thomann. de and they don't have any new ones
 

davedotco

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Gasolin.

I am really not sure what to say here, you have been given some good advice which you largely ignore and chose to make changes by choosing seemingly random products from the WHF 5* list.

You were advised not to use your monitor controler and not to use XLR type connections but you went ahead and used them anyway, almost certainly the cause of the background noise issue you mentioned earlier.

You had an issue with port noise, invariably caused by excessive cone movement at sub bass requencies, but rather than address the issue by simply removing the sub bass that the speaker can not reproduce, you strike of at a tangent buying completely different equipment.

The NAD/Boston setup is a perfectly decent combination but not what you need, you clearly want a set up with a substantial bass response and if you want to keep that bass under control, then the active option is easily the most effective at this sort of budget.

If your volume requirements are not to high then a smaller 5 or 6 inch model will give you what you want, providing you use a little eq, download a 1/3 rd octave graphic for your media player and use that to boost the 50-100hz range whilst also cutting the very deep bass. This will give you all the body you need whilst avoiding the port noise you mention. All pretty simple, though it does require a logical and thought through methodology.

If you want to keep the speakers quite small, take a look at the Equator D5, onboard DSP gives bass that is more extended than the norm for a speaker of this size, add a little eq as detailed above. If you want more and a generally more exuberent sound the Unik 08 will get it done, though they are a bit big for a desktop. Musik Store are doing a 'run out' at the €256 price mentioned, these are new units and great value. A few months ago, UK hi-fi store Purite Audio were showing these as the new 'big thing', highly recommended and generally well recieved at about £450, twice the price of the ones in Musik Store.
 

Broner

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davedotco said:
You had an issue with port noise, invariably caused by excessive cone movement at sub bass requencies, but rather than address the issue by simply removing the sub bass that the speaker can not reproduce, you strike of at a tangent buying completely different equipment.

Out of curiosity: I also hear just the tiniest bit of noise. I always keep volume knob of the the A5X's at the center position and adjust the volume with the Sonos controller. Works perfectly. The noise is still there when there is no signal and is invariable from it. It only changes in volume when I start playing with the volume knob on the speakers themselves. It's not annoying at all, since I need to place my ear right next to the speaker to hear it, but it's there and it wasn't there with my previous setup.

Like I said, it's not annoying at all, but I believed it was also perfectly normal. Please tell me that I'm right to believe so.

@Gasolin Out of curiosity: do you use the speakers as desktop speakers? You mentioned before that you could feel wind coming out of the A5X's. I hope you also take care of your ears. Please be careful with nearfield listening at high volumes.
 

gasolin

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Broner said:
davedotco said:
You had an issue with port noise, invariably caused by excessive cone movement at sub bass requencies, but rather than address the issue by simply removing the sub bass that the speaker can not reproduce, you strike of at a tangent buying completely different equipment.

Out of curiosity: I also hear just the tiniest bit of noise. I always keep volume knob of the the A5X's at the center position and adjust the volume with the Sonos controller. Works perfectly. The noise is still there when there is no signal and is invariable from it. It only changes in volume when I start playing with the volume knob on the speakers themselves. It's not annoying at all, since I need to place my ear right next to the speaker to hear it, but it's there and it wasn't there with my previous setup.

Like I said, it's not annoying at all, but I believed it was also perfectly normal. Please tell me that I'm right to believe so.

@Gasolin Out of curiosity: do you use the speakers as desktop speakers? You mentioned before that you could feel wind coming out of the A5X's. I hope you also take care of your ears. Please be careful with nearfield listening at high volumes.

Yes i did use my A5X and use my bostons on my desktop(only have on pair of speakers on my desk) with the 155 isoacoustics stands, this hairdryer thing only happens when i play loud edm like tiesto and music like on this page http://www.trance.fm/#/home.html at high levels, which only happens a few times because the adam A5X is pretty loud.

Feel most active speakers have white noise, where separate amp,speakers dosn't, i also considered this speaker http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/elac3/1.html BUT Upon power up one encounters background noise which in a quiet room is audible from two meters away (i have less then 1 meter ,3 feet to my speakers)

I had Yamaha HS8 for a mabye 6 month or a bit more, i sold them and got the krk's, the yamaha's where just to big, couldn't place them how they should have been placed for best sound, they where also loud and had lots of bass,although i have read someone measue it only to goe down to 47 hz, 8" actives as well as passive speakers are to big for my desk.

Theres also this burn in time for a speaker where the first week you might not notice the cons and pros and have to get used to the new sound, then after a week you might notice little things you like or don't like about the sound.
 

davedotco

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Broner said:
davedotco said:
You had an issue with port noise, invariably caused by excessive cone movement at sub bass requencies, but rather than address the issue by simply removing the sub bass that the speaker can not reproduce, you strike of at a tangent buying completely different equipment.

Out of curiosity: I also hear just the tiniest bit of noise. I always keep volume knob of the the A5X's at the center position and adjust the volume with the Sonos controller. Works perfectly. The noise is still there when there is no signal and is invariable from it. It only changes in volume when I start playing with the volume knob on the speakers themselves. It's not annoying at all, since I need to place my ear right next to the speaker to hear it, but it's there and it wasn't there with my previous setup.

Like I said, it's not annoying at all, but I believed it was also perfectly normal. Please tell me that I'm right to believe so.

@Gasolin Out of curiosity: do you use the speakers as desktop speakers? You mentioned before that you could feel wind coming out of the A5X's. I hope you also take care of your ears. Please be careful with nearfield listening at high volumes.

First of all it is usually possible to hear a faint hiss from the tweeter of an active speaker. This is noise from the amplifier being passed to the tweeter without the usual attenuation that takes place in the crossover of normal speakers. This should normally by audible only very close to the speaker, within a foot or so.

If the noise varies with the speaker volume control, then it is not speaker noise but noise on the input, either from the source or from the cables. Computer audio (I include Sonos in this) are susceptable to noise leaking to the output from power suplies and digital processors, whether this is audible or not depends on the noise level of the digital source itself and the susceptability of the dac to suppress, or not, this noise.

You may recall that I spoke about cabling some time ago, connecting consumer hi-fi to pro-audio type equipment can cause noise issues, this is to do with driving a balanced input with an unbalanced source and the way that the ground is implemented on the different items in the system. In essence, driving a balanced input with a single ended one requires the 'unused' phase of the input to be well grounded, failure to do this correctly can lead to noise, usually a slightly rough, 'raspy' kind of hiss.

If your hiss is relatively smooth and soft and inaudible at more than a foot or two away from the speaker then I would not worry.

BTW. If you tell me exactly how your setup is connected, I might be able to offer some tips for noise reduction if you think it is an issue.

On my own very inexpensive system, hiss can be heard from the tweeter with the ear about 2-3 inches away, I listen at a distance of 12-13 ft, so there is no issue, for me anyway.
 

Broner

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Nah, don't think it's an issue. It's way too soft for me to hear from where I'm listening. Anyway, I will make a photo of the cable-mess and I will post an exact and short description of the setup in the other topic, so that if anyone who sees something that can be easily improved, s/he can comment on it.
 

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gasolin said:
this hairdryer thing only happens when i play loud edm like tiesto and music like on this page http://www.trance.fm/#/home.html at high levels, which only happens a few times because the adam A5X is pretty loud.

To be honest, if you are playing them at volumes where the air is coming out of the port with such force that it bothers you, you are listening to them way too loud and I'd be more worried about damaging my hearing than the air blowing in my face.

I also suspect that the reason you are playing them so loud is because you are trying to get them to recreate the low bass that makes dance music such a visceral experience. davedotco has given you lots of good advice. You are really going to need to decide what you want to compromise on when you want both small form factor but deep (or at least punchy) bass.
 

gasolin

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Atm i don't have any noise probelm with an amp and speakers, i did have more when i used active speakers.

I also suspect that the reason you are playing them so loud is because you are trying to get them to recreate the low bass that makes dance music such a visceral experience.

I never turn my bass up using the eq in my mediaplayer on the amp or on the active speakers, for a long time my krk rokit 5 g3 where -2 and later -1 in the LF.

Only had the Adam A5X for 1 week and the top is very comfortable to listen to even at high levels, i played alot of different music and tested how loud they are (never reached the point where there was distortion), some of it was edm like tiesto and the danish artist trentemoller, playing loud there was some port noise and the hairdryer effect, i wasn't playing nearly as loud as a rock concert or like the boys on youtube do with there thx logitech speakers, trying to play bass i luv you as loud as possible .It's just like testing a car at high speed, you do want to test it at high speed before you buy , even if you almost never driver that fast ;)

My nad and boston combination is just perfectly loud, thought i might not be able with 2x30 watt in 8/4 ohm and 2x65 watt peak in 8 ohm to play loud enought, but a good sensitivity of 89 db and high dynamic power from my amp is enough to play loud.
 

davedotco

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gasolin said:
Atm i don't have any noise probelm with an amp and speakers, i did have more when i used active speakers.

I also suspect that the reason you are playing them so loud is because you are trying to get them to recreate the low bass that makes dance music such a visceral experience.

I never turn my bass up using the eq in my mediaplayer on the amp or on the active speakers, for a long time my krk rokit 5 g3 where -2 and later -1 in the LF.

Only had the Adam A5X for 1 week and the top is very comfortable to listen to even at high levels, i played alot of different music and tested how loud they are (never reached the point where there was distortion), some of it was edm like tiesto and the danish artist trentemoller, playing loud there was some port noise and the hairdryer effect, i wasn't playing nearly as loud as a rock concert or like the boys on youtube do with there thx logitech speakers, trying to play bass i luv you as loud as possible .It's just like testing a car at high speed, you do want to test it at high speed before you buy , even if you almost never driver that fast ;)

My nad and boston combination is just perfectly loud, thought i might not be able with 2x30 watt in 8/4 ohm and 2x65 watt peak in 8 ohm to play loud enought, but a good sensitivity of 89 db and high dynamic power from my amp is enough to play loud.

Then I am tempted to ask, what is the problem?

I think you need to be quite specific about what it is that you want, if you are happy with what you have then fair enough, but the thread title suggests you want more bass....... :?

Have you tried a software equaliser? You need something quite precise, a 1/3rd octave graphic is what you need, 18-21 bands. You are only going to need the bass section, cutting the very low bass 20-40hz and boosting the region 40-150hz or thereabouts. Google is your friend.
 

gasolin

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Just so at the place where i bought my boston a26, they have this boston subwoofer http://www.whathifi.com/shop/boston-acoustics-asw250-subwoofer%20$n84368.xhtml for only 187£ with delivery, which is a great deal and thinking might consider a subwoofer, in this review they say it's not that musical . What's you opinion on that? http://www.digitaltrends.com/speaker-system-reviews/boston-acoustics-a-series-review/2/

Does the boston A26 play full range when i connect a subwoofer to my nad d3020 amp? My zensor 1 is playing full range with a sub and a denon dra f109, i don't mind it beacuse it's only for my tv, but on a good hifi system i am not such a big fan of having the main speakers playing full range with a sub. It's also gives better sound and mabye even higher spl having a crossover at 80-100hz for the boston a26's

davedotco i have asked in a computer forum if theres any eq that works with all sound (like youtube and wimp hifi "spotify losless") there isn't one, and i havn't seen one, don't like thes fancy ones with all kinds of stuff i don't need to adjust.

Just a little more bass, the bass eq on the nad d3020 i think is about 100hz that's not deep enough (not 100% shure it's 100hz) and i don't not how Q is (if it's 100 hz +/- 10 hz or if its from 50-150 hz, it just don't sound as if it a deep bass boost)
 

davedotco

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gasolin said:
Just so at the place where i bought my boston a26, they have this boston subwoofer http://www.whathifi.com/shop/boston-acoustics-asw250-subwoofer%20$n84368.xhtml for only 187£ with delivery, which is a great deal and thinking might consider a subwoofer, in this review they say it's not that musical . What's you opinion on that? http://www.digitaltrends.com/speaker-system-reviews/boston-acoustics-a-series-review/2/

Does the boston A26 play full range when i connect a subwoofer to my nad d3020 amp? My zensor 1 is playing full range with a sub and a denon dra f109, i don't mind it beacuse it's only for my tv, but on a good hifi system i am not such a big fan of having the main speakers playing full range with a sub. It's also gives better sound and mabye even higher spl having a crossover at 80-100hz for the boston a26's

davedotco i have asked in a computer forum if theres any eq that works with all sound (like youtube and wimp hifi "spotify losless") there isn't one, and i havn't seen one, don't like thes fancy ones with all kinds of stuff i don't need to adjust.

Just a little more bass, the bass eq on the nad d3020 i think is about 100hz that's not deep enough (not 100% shure it's 100hz) and i don't not how Q is (if it's 100 hz +/- 10 hz or if its from 50-150 hz, it just don't sound as if it a deep bass boost)

My personal view is that cheap subwoofers just make things worse. There are some decent models about but they tend to be pricy.

Generally speaking using a subwoofer will not filter the main speakers, the Boston certainly does not though some pro models, the Adams for instance do. The general concensus is that leaving the main speakers full range sounds better but filtering out the low bass gives higher power handling.

Like most amplifiers the bass eq on the D3020 will be pretty broard, in an ideal world you want something that is a bit tighter than that and does not boost the sub bass, which causes all kinds of issues. I am not a Windows user so do not know the details but there are a number of downloadable EQ programs available on the net.
 

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