Need advice on speakers

[parlo72]

Hello,

I recently tried out some KEF R500s and in the shop they sounded fantastic, great detail with controlled and balanced bass. The dealer suggested I try them at home for a weekend. I was glad I did. When placed in my home the detail was jarring and the bass was over powering. This may be because of different amps (in the shop Arcam A19, home Arcam Solo), but I susspect its more likely the placement and room size and shape. One of the speakers has to go against a side wall, there's no where else for it to go.

So what other speakers in the same price bracket should I be looking at. Ideally ones which aren't too picky about placement.

 

[Infiniteloop]

This is a tricky one as all speakers will sound different in different rooms.

What I would do is see if your dealer would agree to letting you hear the R500's with the A19 in your home.

It's the only way you're going to know if your current Amp disagrees with the R500's.

The other thing you might consider is the furnishings in your listening room. This can have a massive effect too. I found this out to my benefit when Mrs Loop decided she wanted American style hurricane shutters in my listening room instead of heavy curtains. - I thought it was going to be a disaster and that the sound was going to be too bright. It absolutely wasn't and the sound of my system improved massively.

 

[matt49]

I recently tried out some KEF R500s and in the shop they sounded fantastic, great detail with controlled and balanced bass. The dealer suggested I try them at home for a weekend. I was glad I did. When placed in my home the detail was jarring and the bass was over powering. This may be because of different amps (in the shop Arcam A19, home Arcam Solo), but I susspect its more likely the placement and room size and shape. One of the speakers has to go against a side wall, there's no where else for it to go.

So what other speakers in the same price bracket should I be looking at. Ideally ones which aren't too picky about placement.

I think your room has two (quite separate) problems.

One is the bass. You probably have a bass mode. The first thing to try is moving the speakers away from the front wall or moving your listening chair forwards/backwards. If these don't work, you may have to try some digital room correction. Or use speakers that are lighter in the bass and don't excite the bass mode to the same extent.

The other problem is high frequency reflections off the side wall. You could try hanging some absorbent material on the side wall in front of the speaker. This might reduce the 'jarring' effect.

 

[davedotco]

The answer is simple.

To much speaker for the room and the amplification.

Heavyweight speakers need careful placement in suitable rooms and quality amplification.

You have neither, buy something else.

 

[Al ears]

I can only agree with davedotco. Obviously completely wrong speakers for your situation. There are not many speakers that will cope well with being near a side wall. It also sounds like the R500's are simple too big for your room. You will, at the very least , need a speaker that is front or bottom ported to tame that bass a little.

As a suggestion I would say Neat Motive 2's or heavily discounted Neat Elite SX (can be had for £1349) might be a good start with your Arcam.

I'd go back to the dealer, explain the problem, and find out what other makes he stocks / suggests.

It may well be that a decent standmount design is what you need.

 

[Gazzip]

The R500's are rear ported so if pushed against a side wall and close to the rear wall will spell trouble. You could try something like the PMC Twenty 21's which are a transmission line design with front ports. These or similar will give a great LF even when pushed close to a rear wall. Dealing with the mids and HF dispersing straight in to that side wall is a toughy. As somebody else said something soft hung hung on the adjacent wall may help to deal with the standing waves. You could Also try a little toe-in and play with the amplifier's balance to compensate. You really need to experiment until you get it right. The salient point is that you should ditch the R500's if positioned like that close to a side wall.

 

[Covenanter]

The Kef manual recommends minimum distances of 9"(225mm) from the back wall and 39"(1m) from side walls. If you can't achieve that then these are the wrong speakers for you.

Chris

 

[BigH]

The answer is simple.

To much speaker for the room and the amplification.

Heavyweight speakers need careful placement in suitable rooms and quality amplification.

You have neither, buy something else.

Yes agree, those Kefs are too large and many Kefs need space. I would go to other extreme and try something like Neat Iotas which are suitable for wall mounting.

 

[mond]

I spent ages researching bookshelf speakers that work well in corners or against a wall and these are some of the ones that stood out for me;

Audionote , any model will work well but I opted for the AN-K (sound best in a corner if possible)

My Audio Design, My1920 - although this has a rear port it will appartenly work well against a wall

Audiosmile Kensai, these look like a great option and also work near wall

Also possibly the Spendor bookshelf speakers or Harbeth would probably work near a wall - I can't remember the model numbers off the top of my head

 

[Al ears]

I spent ages researching bookshelf speakers that work well in corners or against a wall and these are some of the ones that stood out for me;

Audionote , any model will work well but I opted for the AN-K (sound best in a corner if possible)

My Audio Design, My1920 - although this has a rear port it will appartenly work well against a wall

Audiosmile Kensai, these look like a great option and also work near wall

Also possibly the Spendor bookshelf speakers or Harbeth would probably work near a wall - I can't remember the model numbers off the top of my head

Are you saying that OP should ditch his floorstanders for standmount speakers?

His R500's are floorstanders and i would assume he is looking for floorstanding replacements, hence my suggestions.

All of your suggestions are good but the OP would have to factor in good quality stands which sort of cuts down his options with a budget of £1499. (So your Audiosmiles are out of budget somewhat, and so probably the AN-K's)

 

[mond]

Sorry, not familiar with those speakers, just assumed (wrongly) I suppose. I have only used stand mounts in the last 20 years so forget sometimes that others don't.

at least if he does take the standmout option he will have some ideas now

!!