Please help - AE Aego T vs QAcoustic 1010i 5.1/2.1(on onkyo 605)

[admin_exported]

Hi,

I need some expert help. I've read all the what hifi reviews for the abovementioned speakers. Plus I spent a couple hours in a shop listening to the two sets of speakers. My main concern is when using them with music (I'm happy equally with movie performance from both). My issues are as follows:

1) I perceived the 1010is to be less clear than the Aegos. Aegos were more crisp and had better treble.

2) I percieved the Aegos to have much less midrange than the Qacoustics and had less warmth.

I bought the 1010is and am now playing more different types of music that I like to listen to. I find that some tracks the instruments seem to blend into each other too much. I still have the option of swapping the 1010s for Aego Ts, but that option won't last for long.

A few questions:

1) Is it possible that I could get the Aegos and adjust some crossover settings (maybe output higher frequencies to the sub) and other settings on the amp to enable more midrange to come through? (I didn't change the amp settings in the shop because I didn't know much about that stuff until now - I still know very little)

2) Are the Aegos better speakers than the Qaccoustics from audiophiles opinion? (they don't get compared in what hifi because one is style and one is traditional)

3) How about another option of my getting one of the larger Qaccoustic speakers to go at the front that have a slightly clearer sound? Would that impact the overall 5.1 sound because there would be imbalance?

Really appreciate your help.

Thanks a lot in advance,

Chris

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry had to bump this as I have a limited time on how long I can hold these speakers before getting a swap... Any thoughts at all? I tried to make the subject and content have all the info neccessary I could think of, let me know if I need to change the subject or content to get more responses.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[hifikrazy]

Since none of the experts here have responded, I'll give it a go before your timeline runs out.

OK, what you hear with the two different speakers makes sense. The Aegos are smaller speakers, so they won't go as low as the QAcoustics. That means that the subwoofer has to help out more with the midrange, which isn't really what subs are designed to do well, so I don't think any amount of adjusting of the crossover settings would bring much improvement. However, do make sure that you've set the crossover high enough so that you're not experiencing a hole in between the highs and the lows (which might explain the reticent midrange). Smaller speakers like the Aegos would usually be expected to sound thinner and brighter, and appear to be more crisp as you described, but may not be as natural sounding.

I would stick with the QAcoustics because you have the preferred option of listening to music without the sub turned on as it's a "full range" speaker (an option not available with the small Aegos, unless you enjoy all your music to sound like they were sung by chipmunks). Just turn on the sub when watching movies. Depending on the size of your room, larger QAcoustics speakers up front may be a good idea, as you would definitely be able to listen to them without the sub on, while the smaller bookshelf speakers may not go deep enough. There won't be any imbalance because your center and front speakers would still be from the same model range. Just try listening to music with the front speakers only... If there's sufficient bass, stick with the bookshelfs. If not, change them to bigger bookshelfs or the floorstander from the same model range. Don't expect the bigger QAcoustics to have claerer sound. In fact, too much bass often makes the sound less clear and transparent.

 

[Anonymous]

Many thanks for replying. I like music to have bass so I'm using the fronts with the sub (turned double bass setting on on the amp to achieve this). The two Qacoustic speakers don't have enough bass on them to satisfy me so I put the sub on. I listen to a lot of rnb and chill out music and house and pop. On the aegos when you say the the crossover high enough what do you mean? Set it to 150 Hz? or set it to 50Hz? In the shop when I listened I didn't change the crossover settings.

Thanks again,

Chris

 

[hifikrazy]

Probably somewhere between those two settings you mentioned. Adjust the crossover so there is a bit of overlap from where the satellite speakers start to roll off. So assuming that they can only go down to 80Hz, you may want to set the sub to something like 90Hz or 100Hz.

 

[Anonymous]

Do you think it is possible that if I do this with Aegos (with the sub on if I use your settings) I can get a more full sound which is close to the fullness of the Qacoustics but with more clarity?

Also, what do the what hifi editors think about this whole thing? In a way even though the speakers are under different headings in their magazines, I guess there are many people like me that would like a comparison between style and traditional directly. As a side note the AEs are generally 600 now which puts them in the same price range as the Qaccoustics, maybe magazines should start comparing things by real world prices rather than RRPs?

 

[Ketan Bharadia]

Hi,
In my experience the Q Acoustics will give you the better overall sound. If you find that you need more bass try the smaller floorstander in the range, it's called the 1030i. That said, it's well worth playing around with the subwoofer setting before you change anything. Try a 70-80Hz crossover first and see what happens. If you want a greater impression of bass go up to around 100Hz, and if you find the bass too intrusive back it off to 60Hz.

 

[Anonymous]

When you say overall, are you meaning overall of music i.e. different types of music?. I'm posting specifically for music. Are you saying with the Qacoustics and Onkyo Amp you will get better music than with Aegos and the Onkyo? I.e. even though the Qacoustics are less clear it is impossible to get a more rounded sound from the Aegos with the Onkyo Amp?

When you say set the sub woofer cross over to 70-80 are you also implying that I should turn off the speakers as full speakers and set a similar crossover setting in the Onkyo Amp?

Thanks,

Chris

 

[Anonymous]

Any idea? Does my question make sense, if not please let me know and I'll try to reword.

 

[Anonymous]

well I ran out of time and I didn't have enough info so I just took a chance and I changed the speakers for the Aegos because the messiness sometimes of music using the 1010is was a bit annoying. Now instead I have a thinern sound and a problem with the subwoofer making a buzzing noise when I'm not playing anything - anyone know if there is something I need to do to fix that buzzing noise?

Aside from that I'm thinking of giving up having a smallish 5.1 surround system that also is good for music. I may try to get some B&W685 speakers and also hook them up to Onkyo 605 amp. I think I can do that on Zone 2... Any thoughts on that?

Cheers,

Chris