HELP me to avoid bright sounding speakers

[Tibor]

I want to replace my KEF IQ 3 speakers because of top end brightness and lack of warmht.I need a new standmount speaker, the price must be under 250 font. I have NAD amp and cd player, I do not want to upgrade the electronics in this moment. I prefer classical music and jazz.
 Can you recommend me a standmount speaker lacking top end brightness or harshness
 Thak you for advice

 

[Anonymous]

Usher S-520 for £330 new are meant to be good. B&W 686 for £280 new.

 

[Anonymous]

Bright sounding brands, for me are:

- Entry-level series from Focal. I used to own the Cobalt 806, and although they were very fast and dynamic, I could not live very long with them, so after three months I sold them.

- Triangle. That horn loaded tweeter is really hard to tame.

- Paradigm.

- Klipsch. Absolutely unbearable.

- Opera Mezza. I know it has been well reviewed on WHF, but I sold them after two months. I used them with an EL84 tube amp (EL84 tubes are known for their sweetness), but at high volume, the brightness was disturbing.

For me, Tannoy is the best brand for classical music. Tannoy's are always very organic, and they respect the armonic structure of acoustic instruments. However, some of the new models have a certain HF brightness. I'm talking about the Sensys DC and Eyris DC, which I have owned. However, the Eyris without DC (now discontinued) was one of the most soft sounding speakers that I have had. But it also was very, I mean very polite.

For less than 250 I would think of Tannoy Fusion (or Mercury custom, as they call it now), or Wharfedale Evo2 - 8 or 10. I own the Evo2-10 and its soft dome tweeter is really soft. Integration between drivers is also excellent, the sound is very coherent.

The AE Aegis Evo 1 had also very soft HF. I don't know about the new Neo 1.

I would say, in general, that a good soft dome tweeter is always less "obvious" than a metal dome. Of course you have metal domes which are really soft, but at entry level prices that's hard to find. It also depends greatly on the crossover however, not only the tweeter.

I have also auditioned at home the Castle Richmond and Durham. The Durham especially is very soft.

Regards,

Rodrigo

 

[Tibor]

Thank you very much,yourÿlist it was a great help for me, you have a great experience in speakers world.Tannoy Eyris is over my budget, Castle Richmond I cannot buy in my country
It remains 5speakers , whichÿcanÿbeÿgoodÿforÿme, I suppose

ÿÿ- Usher S 520 (very good for classical music, but lack deep bass compared with similar sized bookshelf speakers for example M. Audio ,Wharfedale, A. Energy)
ÿÿ- Wharfedale Evo 2 ÿ8
ÿ- Acoustic Energy Aegis Neo one
ÿ- Tannoy Fusion 2 (good,isÿnotÿbrightÿ but unexciting to listen, very polite)
ÿ- Monitor Audio BR 2 (has a metal twenter, but I suppose is not bright)

I would prefer Monitor Audio, altough many say thatÿit is not for classical music.
What is your opinion? Which speakerÿfromÿfiveÿspeakers would be the most suitable for classical music?

 

[drummerman]

I doubt that any of those speakers are a significant upgrade to what you have. Consider instead adding a good, small subwoofer. It should sort most problems out.

 

[the record spot]

WHat cable are you using? Both interconnect and speaker - I was halfway to selling on my new CD player, which lacked bottom end, until I swapped from van den hul's The Name interconnect to Nordost Blue Heaven. Suddenly, bass aplenty without sacrificing the tonal qualities already present. Cost? £80 and that was on approval from my local dealer.

Might be worth your while to try some different cables out (in my case going from silver to copper solid core) for both your speakers and interconnects and seeing how it goes.

 

[Anonymous]

Tibor:

- Usher S 520 (very good for classical music, but lack deep bass compared with similar sized bookshelf speakers for example M. Audio ,Wharfedale, A. Energy)
- Wharfedale Evo 2 8
- Acoustic Energy Aegis Neo one
- Tannoy Fusion 2 (good,is not bright but unexciting to listen, very polite)
- Monitor Audio BR 2 (has a metal twenter, but I suppose is not bright)

Which speaker from five speakers would be the most suitable for classical music?

It's true that neither of those will be an upgrade, but they can solve the problem you have now, which is: you don't like your speakers!

I've had many speakers in my short audiophile life (don't ask me why, hehe), ranging from GBP 150 to GBP 2.000. Just to name a few: Tannoy Definition 500, B&W CDM9NT, Tannoy Eyris DC1, Sensys, Mercury, System 800, 600, JM Lab Cobalt, Mission M31, M52, DLS R55, Paradigm M5, M7, Epos M12.2, M5, ELS3...and the list goes on. And obviously have auditionned a lot more, even very expensive high end stuff (MBL, Avantgarde, etc.).

And one thing I've learned is you may like a small and humble GBP 200 monitor, and dislike a GBP 10.000 highly regarded tower speaker. So, the most important thing is that your speakers sound "right" to your ears. Everybody has an idea of what a "correct", "natural" sound is. This varies from person to person. It's just a question of finding which speakers sound correct for you.

And I've heard speakers which sound "right" to me, at low prices. They may not be perfect, nor high-end, but I find them natural and enjoyable. The speakers serve a purpose: listening to music. You don't need a million dolar speaker to enjoy music! A properly designed, and most importantly, a properly voiced entry-level speaker can communicate the music in a satisfying manner. It may not be able to shake walls, nor reveal all the micro-information on the record, or do all the audiophile pyrotechnics of a high-end speaker. But it can be enjoyable, and let you focus on the music, rather than the system.

You can find such a speaker at almost any price.

For example, for me, the Wharfedale Evo2-10 gives me as much musical satisfaction as the B&W CDM9NT that I had last year (and these cost 2K).

Of the ones you name, to my personal taste, the Tannoys and Wharfedale are the best for classical musical, followed closely by the AE (if they sound similar to the Aegis Evo).

I haven't heard the Usher, but I've never heard/owned an American or Canadian speaker that I liked. As for the MA, it's a very good speaker, but for me its voicing isn't as natural as the Tannoy's or Wharfedale's.

IMHO, of course. In the end, the best thing you can do is listen for yourself.

Oh, and BTW, I don't like the iQ3 (which I had briefly at home this year) either.

Regards,

Rodrigo

 

[Anonymous]

I see there bi-wireable. try turning the tops down?

instead of using the wire links, use a resistor. You want your speaker cable plugged into the bass section. Link the neg bass terminal to the neg tweeter terminal as normal. Link the pos bass terminal to the pos tweeter terminal with a resistor. This will damp it down and slighly thicken the midrange. Get the resistors from the likes of maplin. ceramic wire wound ones are ideal. get a couple of value's to play with. A 4.7ohm and a 2.2ohm. Get them in any wattage just about. 3watt or above. About 15p each i think.

if you get two of each value you can arrange then in ways to get other values. we can talk about this later if you find the values chosen are not quite right. If they are right, then you will need one for each speaker and can bin the other two. Its a cheap experiament if you pass a maplin store

 

[batonwielder]

Above recommendations are spot on. I listen to classical music only and still haven't found anything better than the Wharfedale Diamond 9.1's in the budget range. Warm and clear, they get along with many different electronics. Highly recommended.

 

[drummerman]

Half the problem with small speakers is they are often using the same drivers, sometimes just less of them, in a smaller cabinet than models further up the range. Example Rega R1 and R3. Same with Kef iQ3 and 7/9. Sometimes the smaller ones sound better, often they don't, as the case with both the above imo. Both Rega R3 and iQ7 still are rather bass tight and both benefit from a sub so I would imagine that to be even more the case with the iq3.

Sure you can experiment with toning tweeters down via various methods but you most certainly end up with a flat, lifeless sound ie. no treble or bass extension or limited loudness. Better to keep what you have and build on it. The extended bandwith will benefit music, dynamics, midrange and treble. Try it if you can before changing sidewards though you may ultimately decide to do that.

 

[up the music]

Valid comments re adding subs and avoiding silver cables. A change of speakers may work too.
I once tamed an overly bright pair of tweeters by blu tacing a layer of toilet paper in front of the dome. Not very pretty with the grills off, but worth a try.

 

[mattc76]

I had some horribly bright MS902i's and upgraded to B&W 686's (I also have a NAD amp). They are much warmer to listen to yet still very detailed - I think Jazz (particularly) sounds superb on them as does classical. The only thing to bear in mind with the 686's is that apparently they need a lot of power to get them sounding good but with my NAD amp (80w/chan) they sound amazing!

 

[Tibor]

Thank you , I think you are right, a sub 400ÿeuro speaker can be very good, if you like the sound. For me is the most important to avoid listening fatigue. My KEF IQ 3 sounding very real, with precision, but has a bright top end unbearable with for exampleÿaÿ violin concerto
I suppose the KEFs and the speakers made of Germany has generally a precise, bright sound. I had once a Wharfedale Diamond 8.1, which was not bright at all, but I replaced with KEF IQ3, wich has a biggerÿandÿdeeperÿ soundstage with better precision, more realistic, but a little bright at top end.
I read about the Wharfedale EVO 2 10, that is not for classical music, because of overdominanting bass, but and dont know, I have no possibility to try

 

[Tibor]

Thank you, but I have no spaceÿfor subwofer

 

[Tibor]

ÿÿThank you, I have Profigold cables. Is very expensive to try different cables, which cost a lot of money, and I think expensive cables are more revealing and probable not reducing brightness

 

[Tibor]

ÿThank you,I will try it

 

[Tibor]

ÿThank you, I think the Diamond is very good, but I suppose the bigger Wharfedale EVO 2 ÿ8 or 10 is more sophisticated with deeper bass and higher resolution, they cost 100-150 more than the Diamond

 

[Tibor]

I liked it my KEF IQ 3 s, the only problem is its bright top end. I think there are lively sounding speakers without top end harshness

 

[Tibor]

ÿThank you the Bower is over my budget

 

[drummerman]

Well, we tried ...