quest for speakers

[stpierre76]

Hi all, I don t really know how to explain what i am looking for but i will try the best i can. We have finally finished designing our new house and therefore looking at speakers to suit(lounge room gives onto big deck and hoping music will flow from lounge to deck).However, i don t tend to sit in one spot and listen to my music for hours like i use to(courtesy of marriage, kids and work). I tend to be up and down, left and right most of the time.therefore i need speakers that produce a wide soundstage(m not sure if soundstage is the right word),where there is not really one sweet spot. As an example, i recently tried a pair of martin logan and indeed they sounded superb whislt i was sitting down in the designated chair but if i moved too much to the left or right it altered the sound a fair bit and once i got up it was a lot worst. My question is are there any high quality speakers that will let me enjoy my music pretty much anywhere within vicinity of them (even sitting on the deck)or that does not exist.Speakers are meant to be listen to whilst sitting down in one spot? regardless of source/amp(as will upgrade to suit what ever speakers) can anybody point me in the right direction so that i can start auditioning.as far as standmound or floorstanders am not fussy, either way suits me.placement wise i can accommodate speakers between 0.5m to 0.8m from back wall(no immediate side wall).Budget is ideally between2000 and 4000 quids but willing to go to 5000 if its the only solution. sincerely yours.

 

[Anonymous]

Have a look here: http://shahinianacoustics.com/

 

[ID.]

Generally pay attention to the parts of reviews that talk about off axis response, whick (AFAIK) is how they perform when you aren't in the sweet spot. Usually it is down to tweeter performance as this is much more directional for the human ear. My PMC DB1i have good off axis response, although I'm not sure if the floorstanders with the same tweeters have the same qualities.

 

[chebby]

Bang & Olufsen Beolab 9. They are active speakers so no need for any seperate - power - amplification.

They received 5 stars from WHF (April 2007) and, due to their design, they specialise in effortless power and excellent sound-staging abilities.

I have heard these and their bigger (Beolab 5) 'brothers' at our nearest B&O showroom in Chichester and they are awesome in scale and imaging.

They may be over your budget in terms of just speakers (about £6k), but if you allow for the fact they have their own amplification, then this may bring them back into budget.

 

[ID.]

Bang & Olufsen Beolab 9. They are active speakers so no need for any seperate - power - amplification.

They received 5 stars from WHF (April 2007) and, due to their design, they specialise in effortless power and excellent sound-staging abilities.

I have heard these and their bigger (Beolab 5) 'brothers' at our nearest B&O showroom in Chichester and they are awesome in scale and imaging.

+1

Regarded as having good off axis response. The Beolab 5s I heard were certainly phenomenal in that and many other respects. Still, there is a limit, so depending on the shape of the room and how much it opens onto the deck, no matter how good the speaker is there will probably be some compromise to the soundstage.

 

[stpierre76]

Hi all and thanks a lot for replying.I would not even have thought about B&O speakers but will definately give them a go.Same as pmc, although must admit they were on my list but the floor stander so not sure about off axis as mentioned..
thanks again

 

[shooter]

Not sure of you room size stpierre76 but i would consider the Totem Mani II Signatures. Wonderful sounding speaker that would work with your situation. They don't need a sweet spot to sound wonderful, i can walk all around my room with no particular sound degradation. Mine are slightly toed in as the are 12 ft apart in a 6m x 8m room, they fire down the room.

The only placement tweaking i done was near wall, it took some time to get it spot on, inch back and forth till i had enough bass to compliment the middle and high's.

Have a look in 'My 2 channel system' for pic's and if your in the Oxford area your welcome too a listen.

8)

 

[Anonymous]

The AVI ADM9.1T work well in this respect. When I heard them at Nick21's last year before buying I was quite surprised at how well they work when not sitting in "the sweet spot". They have very sharp, pinpoint imaging so I guess that helps too.

 

[CnoEvil]

Hi St Pierre I would have a look at the Kef Reference series. Due to the nature of their tweeter/mid range arrangement,they are far less directional than other makes. They also have boundry compensation for bass and trebble, which allows them to be as close as 9 ins to the back wall. Good luck with your search.

 

[Anonymous]

Have a look at the Shahnians as I said. They're designed to work particularly well off axis. If not, then the B&Os as have already been mentioned.

 

[BenLaw]

ATC are notoriously good at off-axis presentation. Given that budget allows and you're willing to get amplification to match, I would highly recommend ATC SCM40s

 

[Anonymous]

I have to agree with Iggle I never sit in the sweet spot but outside the left speaker and about 4m away, they fill a room with sound remarkably well! Nick

 

[chebby]

Hi all and thanks a lot for replying.I would not even have thought about B&O speakers but will definately give them a go.

I was looking around and found that the Bang & Olufsen Manchester store has Beolab 9 speakers @ £5000 (£1400 off) as part of their March Sale...

http://beostores.bang-olufsen.co.uk/greatermanchester-kingstreet/prices

I'm not sure where you are (in relation to your nearest B&O store) but it may be worth getting a listen then reserving a pair.

(I have no connection with B&O. Just a fan.)

 

[stpierre76]

Hi guys,
thanks for that wealth of info.Very interesting indeed.

Shooter69 thanks for your input and audition invite but i live in australia,so just a little far. .However, i did consider the totems as heard some very good thiongs about them but guess what?no dealers in australia.unbeleivable....

Igglebert, also thanks for your advice and to be honest i had even considered the avi range, but will investigate them.

Chebby thanks for the link but i doubt if i bought those i the uk and have them shipped here it d be a bargain .here the B&O gear is way out of range.Seems no ones as adjusted the prices even though the dollar is way higher...makes me angry

As for everybody else thanks again and please keep the advice coming.
I jsut had another thought:Let s say that instead of having one pair of speakers with wide projection, would i be better up buying 2 pairs of cheaper speakers that work well near rear wall such as atc 40, may be totem standmounts(the one) and spead them out over the house so that i always got a good music dispersion thru out the house.
M sure i can get 2 pair of quality speakers for 4000 pds(like 2 atc40...)
please feel free to insult me if this seems like a totally stupid idea. :bigsmile:
sincerely yours

 

[the record spot]

You might find that for the sound quality you would be happy to listen to and live with, £4000 would be more than enough and you could achieve that for significantly less. Just 'cos you have a budget doesn't mean you have to blow it! If I was shopping around from fresh, I'd be shortlisting active speakers all over the place and trying them out.

I don't own any, traditional set-up for me currently and there aren't any active floorstanders I could go for just now (Meridian have some at about £18000 or something which is a tad over my budget). I'm happy with my choices as they stand just now, but actives do offer as good a solution from traditional separates - not all will work, but certainly the likes of Acoustic Energy's AE22 A, the Genelec range from the 8030A upwards and several others, including the ones Igglebert and Nick have mentioned are all worth a look. Some are clearly designed for the recording or production studio and hence are unlikely to work in the home (there is such a thing as too neutral a presentation...!), others will fit seamlessly.

For traditional passive speakers, Vienna Acoustics, XTZ (definitely worth a shot), Opera, Usher, Martin Logan...depends what you like/want and so on. The usual suspects around here would be PMC, ATC, KEF, Monitor Audio and a few others and I mention the ones I do off the top of my head to give you some alternatives!

 

[Anonymous]

Since you live in Australia I wouldn't consider any speakers that don't have a local dealer, which I think discounts both AVI and Shahinian, though the latter have distributors in NZ.

If you want to run four speakers off the one amp that also limits your options - don't really know any amps that do that except for AV ones, and they're not renowned for their sound quality. However, Genelec do offer an option to put several of their smaller speakers in one room, presumably running off one preamp. I'm a little vague on this as I've heard the setup in several shops here, but have not seen how they do it. I also wasn't convinced about the sound quality, but it does give you wide dispersion.

Maybe you'll have to live with the problems of listening off axis.

 

[stpierre76]

Hi grottycash, and thanks for replying.As far as multiple pair of speakers I was not thinking of using a av amp but more a stereo amp with pre out so that i could connect another matching amp to power second pair of speakers elswere in the house/deck.
I was even considering putting a pair on the deck(which is covered) and have a custom cover made for them so that when not using the outside area, i can have the speakers coverd and safe from elements.You r probably thinking m a lunatic right now...

Record shop, thanks for your advice and I appreciate your effort and input.I hope i did not come across as flaunting my money and saying i can afford 4 to 5000 quids and that s what m sticking with...Definately not me.Just saying that m fed up of swapping gear every copuple of years because i did the mistake of being to tight and impatient at time of purchase.this time, i ve got about 8 months before house is built so it will use that time wisely to audition speakers that suit my needs.I agree with you that it s not because that i spend 5000quids on a pair of speakers that they will meet my needs and sure i can find something equally as good for less, hence me posting here to get as many ideas as possible.
sincerely yours