Extremely warm and Tubey bookshelf speakers

[newlash09]

Do they even exist. Ive lately realised that all my boxes and speakers are extremely neutral ( except the concept 40's, but they are stuck in my HT) And that was what I wanted as a matter of fact. But I guess iam growing old now, and lust lush rich Tubey vocals.

The pairing of PMC and devialet is actually sounding quiet bright. I did mitigate the problem a bit by reducing the toe -in. But it is still bright. I wouldn't blame the setup straight away, as the room is totally bare. And I plan on adding acoustic treatment in the near future.

Insider9, being the helpful Samaritan he has always been, has seen my room graphs with REW and concurs that my room is bright and needs treatment. Besides the graph was so bright, that it made the bass look non existent. ( Thanks a lot again Insider9 , no one usually takes that time and trouble )

Are there any bookshelf speakers out there that can sound lush, rich, gravely and Tubey at the end of a parasound or a devialet amp.

Actually both the parasound and devialet presently have their hands full. The only amp I have left is my old bluesound powernode gen1 that my sister had returned last week. This is a measly amp of 25W into 8 ohms. And it would be a near field setup in my guest room. I would ideally like to use it with these extremely warm speakers for some very warm vocals. Is it possible at all, without adding tube amplification.

Thanks for your time and suggestions

 

[CnoEvil]

Spendor Classic and Harbeth. The Harbeths are bit livelier, but still with that glorious BBC midrange and no fatigue...in fact they both like a powerful, neutral amp.

Another brand of thin walled speakers that could work, is Audio Note.....especially if they need to be close to a wall or corner.

If you lived in NI, I have some unused Celestion SL6 kicking about, which are simply incapable of sounding forward and bright.

 

[newlash09]

Spendor Classic and Harbeth. The Harbeths are bit livelier, but still with that glorious BBC midrange and no fatigue...in fact they both like a powerful, neutral amp.

The harbeths were infact what first came to mind after reading your impressions in the ' out with the new , in with the old" thread'.

But I also remember that you had mentioned that the harbeths need power. But my spare bluesound powernode only has 25W at 8 ohms and 45W at 4 ohms.

I won't be listening at ear splitting volumes as it will be a near field setup for very intimate late night listening just for vocals. Do you think those 25W can drive the harbeths to mid level volumes. I will never exceed that I guess

Or alternatively is there is an all in one integrated that can sound Tubey with normal speakers.

I have always gone for integrateds as I don't have floor space for seperates . Do tube driven all in one's exist like the parasound halo integrated and devialet with inbuilt DAC's and amp's.

Thanks

 

[CnoEvil]

I edited my last post...so Audio Notes would fit the bill....and IIRC generally Spendor are more efficient than Harbeth, so might work as well.

 

[insider9]

Thanks for your kind words. Newlash how important are the looks? You seem to have enjoyed some large speakers in the past how about some vintage Tannoys?

 

[newlash09]

Looks will be a non issue, as I will dismantle my entire setup before I leave on my next overseas trip. So anything will do.

@ Cnoevil : thanks for clarifying that you edited your post. I went back up after posting a reply, and was wondering if I skimped on reading your reply in full.

Audionote finally came to India last year with a big bang. They have a full fledged setup with treated audition rooms in Mumbai. I can audition them if they can work with the powernode

 

[newlash09]

My favourite dealer has given me the below prices which are much below market price for some big tannoy speakers :

1. Kensington gr - 10000p
2. Turnberry gr - 4200p
3. Stirling gr- 3900p

But unfortunately all are way above what I can spend for a third system.

And if I had that kind of money, I wouldn't pair them with a bluesound Powernode either

 

[chebby]

Another brand of thin walled speakers that could work, is Audio Note.....especially if they need to be close to a wall or corner.

Oh yes.

 

[insider9]

I'd really suggest a second hand pair of old speakers. Are there any on the market? Old and hopefully cheap. 20 year old or more. Ideally closer to 30. So far my oldest pair was 1988 and I loved them.

I somehow think what you're looking for is no longer made. At least not by many manufacturers. And those who do it charge a premium.

 

[newlash09]

Will be off for a audition then to Mumbai

Audionote have a confusing setup in India, in that they have several levels of components. I guess I would start with level 1

 

[newlash09]

I'd really suggest a second hand pair of old speakers. Are there any on the market? Old and hopefully cheap. 20 year old or more. Ideally closer to 30. So far my oldest pair was 1988 and I loved them.

I somehow think what you're looking for is no longer made. At least not by many manufacturers. And those who do it charge a premium.

There are old speakers cropping up in my local audio forums from time to time. Are there any makes or models I should especially look out for.

The audionote if they can work close to a wall, seem like the ones to go for , that is if they are not power hungry

 

[insider9]

I've heard Audionote speakers this year and liked them. I'd still go with a pair of old Tannoys over them myself. If you can find a pair of Urei. Too many to name. Lindsayt would be the person to ask, as I'd speculate in most cases.

 

[CnoEvil]

....that is if they are not power hungry

They are designed to work with their flea-powered SET amps.....in fact, if you hear a full AN System, you might just sell everything and get one. *music2*

 

[Macspur]

Do they even exist. Ive lately realised that all my boxes and speakers are extremely neutral ( except the concept 40's, but they are stuck in my HT) And that was what I wanted as a matter of fact. But I guess iam growing old now, and lust lush rich Tubey vocals.

The pairing of PMC and devialet is actually sounding quiet bright. I did mitigate the problem a bit by reducing the toe -in. But it is still bright. I wouldn't blame the setup straight away, as the room is totally bare. And I plan on adding acoustic treatment in the near future.

Insider9, being the helpful Samaritan he has always been, has seen my room graphs with REW and concurs that my room is bright and needs treatment. Besides the graph was so bright, that it made the bass look non existent. ( Thanks a lot again Insider9 , no one usually takes that time and trouble )

Are there any bookshelf speakers out there that can sound lush, rich, gravely and Tubey at the end of a parasound or a devialet amp.

Actually both the parasound and devialet presently have their hands full. The only amp I have left is my old bluesound powernode gen1 that my sister had returned last week. This is a measly amp of 25W into 8 ohms. And it would be a near field setup in my guest room. I would ideally like to use it with these extremely warm speakers for some very warm vocals. Is it possible at all, without adding tube amplification.

Thanks for your time and suggestions

Newlash, have you tried adjusting the tone controls on the Dev? to curb the brightness a bit?

Mac

www.realmusicnet.wordpress.com

 

[Singslinger]

The warmest bookshelf speakers I've ever listened to are the Wharfedale Dentons, which are not expensive at all and have a beautiful retro appearance.

After that I would agree with previous recommendations to consider Spendor and Harbeth.

 

[insider9]

I was just about to ask about tone controls on your Devialet. Mac already did. How can you co figure it? Id be more than happy to send you a set of filters based on your measurements. You would be shocked with the difference. Both speakers and amp are more than capable.

 

[newlash09]

....that is if they are not power hungry

They are designed to work with their flea-powered SET amps.....in fact, if you hear a full AN System, you might just sell everything and get one. *music2*

How did I forget that they were designed to be ultra sensitive

Will surely audition their level 1 book shelves next time iam in Mumbai

Thanks a lot for that valuable suggestion indeed.

 

[newlash09]

Do they even exist. Ive lately realised that all my boxes and speakers are extremely neutral ( except the concept 40's, but they are stuck in my HT) And that was what I wanted as a matter of fact. But I guess iam growing old now, and lust lush rich Tubey vocals.

The pairing of PMC and devialet is actually sounding quiet bright. I did mitigate the problem a bit by reducing the toe -in. But it is still bright. I wouldn't blame the setup straight away, as the room is totally bare. And I plan on adding acoustic treatment in the near future.

Insider9, being the helpful Samaritan he has always been, has seen my room graphs with REW and concurs that my room is bright and needs treatment. Besides the graph was so bright, that it made the bass look non existent. ( Thanks a lot again Insider9 , no one usually takes that time and trouble )

Are there any bookshelf speakers out there that can sound lush, rich, gravely and Tubey at the end of a parasound or a devialet amp.

Actually both the parasound and devialet presently have their hands full. The only amp I have left is my old bluesound powernode gen1 that my sister had returned last week. This is a measly amp of 25W into 8 ohms. And it would be a near field setup in my guest room. I would ideally like to use it with these extremely warm speakers for some very warm vocals. Is it possible at all, without adding tube amplification.

Thanks for your time and suggestions

Newlash, have you tried adjusting the tone controls on the Dev? to curb the brightness a bit?

Mac

www.realmusicnet.wordpress.com

From what I saw in the devialet configurator...I had two set points for bass and treble that I could tweak in the tone controls.

And being a newbie I didn't know where to set the treble point. So I set it at 9khz, which was where my REW graphs showed to be spiking. But I could be completely wrong. If there is a more apt point, where I should set the treble eq point, then please let me know. I would love to tame this brightness. with neutral speakers and a neutral amp...it is all getting a bit too much actually.

Thanks for your help in advance

 

[newlash09]

The warmest bookshelf speakers I've ever listened to are the Wharfedale Dentons, which are not expensive at all and have a beautiful retro appearance.

After that I would agree with previous recommendations to consider Spendor and Harbeth.

There are lots of wharfdale dealers in my place. And wharfdale are a hugely popular brand in my place . But I've never heard of their Denton series ( there jade series is hugely popular here too ) Are these a new addition or a old series. Thanks.

 

[newlash09]

I was just about to ask about tone controls on your Devialet. Mac already did. How can you co figure it? Id be more than happy to send you a set of filters based on your measurements. You would be shocked with the difference. Both speakers and amp are more than capable.

Unfortunately the devialet doesn't have full peq. But just two eq points for bass and treble with unknown 'Q' value.

But I could always use Dirac live with a custom target curve to feed devialet air into my amp.

Please let me know, if there was a way to tune the curve to make it sound warm. The more warm the better

 

[insider9]

Easy to find out the Q on your Devialet. Just take a measurement with tone controls off and then with them on. Leave it at 9kHz and cut by a large amount. Send me these and I'll let you know what can be done. As long as Q is large enough 2 EQ points could be enough.

 

[Infiniteloop]

I’d add Sonus Faber to your listening list. Particularly older examples like Concertos or even better, Cremona monitor M’s. Neither of these speakers are capable of sounding bright. The Monitor M’s, in particular with a Devialet, are a joy.

But this is an itch you’re going to have to scratch at some point. Try a Valve Amp.

 

[Vladimir]

Warm and tubey gets boring fast.

 

[CnoEvil]

Warm and tubey gets boring fast.

....and right there you have identified the potential problem.

It's all about balance, enjoyment, musical taste and understanding your sound preference....and what you mean by Tubey, as Tubes need not be dull and overly warm - but exciting and natural.

 

[insider9]

It's all about balance, enjoyment, musical taste and understanding your sound preference....

Amen to that