Speaker advice please.

[sparks68]

Obviously I'm not aware of your taste in sound ,but for under £200 on average give the Mk2's a listen (seems to be average price for used looking) Mk 3's well if they are indeed an improvement, not just cheaper to make and trading on a name (as these things can go ) I would (after a few pints) fight you for em at sub £300 !! *good*

 

[Vladimir]

Considering you fancy druid speakers. *biggrin*

 

[sparks68]

Challenge accepted it is !

 

[steve_1979]

*clapping* Added as a signature ,Steve .............. *biggrin*

I've found you a new forum profile picture to go with it.

"Droppin' phat beats I am."

 

[Deleted member 108165]

I have the worst shaped room Doug.I don't think I will find a nice neat formula to use to set the speakers up.It is my living room so there will be compromises made . On the plus side I live alone so no kids ,wife etc to worry about much shortening the list of compromises I have to make. As I said ,I will sort a pic (when ive tidied up).

No one's room is ideal and we all have to compromise. Do a google search for Cardas Room Setup Guide and download their pdf file - it's a good starting point. If you set-up your speakers using their strict measurements on the first two pages then I guarantee that you will be blown away by what you hear. However, it is totally impractical for most of us to keep our speakers in this position permanently. The closest I managed to get was using diagram F and this is the formula I currently use in my lounge, I still occasionally get bass bloom but I have to live with it.

Plus, as Vlad has already said, get those tweeters at ear level in your seated position. As your Ruarks have raked fronts then use a laser pen to see where they're pointing. It's a lot of faffing around but it will pay dividends in the end.

Yep, I liked the BX2's but I like my PMC's soooo much more

. I also no longer have a wife and had no kids, but I also like a useable lounge.

 

[sparks68]

I decided on Van Damme Blue Series 2(core) x 6.00mm Speaker Cable in the end . I managed to get 10 metres for £50 new ,a good deal I think. I'm experimenting with Bi wiring right now,just because I have 2 sets of cables to use .

First impressions though are that it somehow seems to move the soundstage forward and seems to much improve the treble,really brings it out and forward , a bit much for me I think.On the Ruarks's I feel it almost seperates the sound of Treble and Bass ,makes me feel there is a hole in the mid range ?

I seem to be getting sucked in deeper and deeper now to the chase of my own systems sound perfection !*crazy*

 

[Vladimir]

Another good man lost to the audiophile abyss. *unknw*

 

[sparks68]

Hi Vladimir .

I'v not given up on speaker posistioning . Took me a while to decide on cable and the lengths I had were too short to move around properly. Now I have the length I need and have added plugs I can get to it properly . I thought I had it about right and then added the Bi wire ,everything then changed . So starting again . I still cannot say for sure whether I can hear a difference or improvement using Bi wire .

My mind or ears play tricks on me I think I have it ,then listen the next day and ,well it's not quite right. It does'nt help listening to different stuff either .Seems ok one minute ,change the music and I think that I hear one speaker over the other ,nightmare. Its a pity there is not a set up cd produced , so you could play a balanced tone and know it was the same on left and right channels.

I constantly think that the left speaker is playing slightly louder and clearer than the right . Given the right is on a wall with a fireplace and chimney breast on it, I wonder if that is not soaking up sound. I then remember the speakers age and you saying that maybe the capacitors could do with replacing.

Soooo many variables !!! *crazy*

 

[sparks68]

I had no idea Blood pressure effected peoples hearing . I did skip a couple of days meds recently (I have high blood pressure ) maybe that explains some of the discrepancies in my listening .

What a knowledgeable chap you are , I'm sure that your freinds and you have some great conversations .

 

[Vladimir]

Amplifiers have channel imbalance up to 6dB sometimes. Room modes and slight differences of sound reflection arrival add more difference in channel SPL. Stereo is recording with two microphones to get two channels and each channel has different SPL and sonic material playing. Everytime you move your head slightly or stand up and come back to sit down you change the previous sonic picture. Humans have audio memory no longer than few seconds. Human perception is focus dependant and sometimes you may focus on things that you havent before and think you are now hearing them for the first time. Human metabolism constantly varies and our hearing is related to our blood pressure levels. Everytime we change something we build expectations and the human mind is very much prone to halucinations, also known as placebo effect.

Or maybe bi-wiring (simply doubling on wire) changes things. Our hearing and expectations tells us there is a difference. Osciloscopes, microphones, double blind tests and scientific theory tells us there isn't. Who do we trust?

I wonder why no one in the professional audio industry bi-wires speakers. Hmm...

 

[Vladimir]

We are flawed organic beings with finite capabilities and technology enhances them, not the other way round. No shame in admiting our ears are not golden.

All my friends have their own obsessions, none with hi-fi though. When they talk about phones or computers they drool while pronouncing 'GTX' in the graphic card name. They can quote 500 (to me) meaningless performance specs per minute about computers and smartphones. To them Hi-Fi is boring and trivial.

 

[sparks68]

You just shattered my world ,I truely believed I was perfect and everything else was flawed ! I need to go and lie down for a bit ! *nea*

 

[Greg W]

not sure if anyone knows but why was D500 28 kg cf D70 (637) at 17 kg?

Seem v similar speakers. Thank you! I think D500 came after 637?...

 

[JDL]

Hello all

Whilst I appreciate much if not all to do with equipment and sound is subjective I would appreciate some opinions and ideas please .

I recently upgraded ? my amp and cd player. These were to replace units purhased new in 1988-89 which were:

Amplifier:

Pioneer A-117 amplifier around 35w output.

Cassete Player: Pioneer twin cassete player (long since defunct) .

Speakers :

A pair of 70 w pioneer speakers model CS-117 these are floor stand or stand mounts I think would be the term. Or v large bookshelf standing 55cm tall ,27 cm wide 22cm deep if you prefer 21"x10 1/2" x8 1/2" they are 3 ways.

I have also been using an Pioneer DVD player bought new in around 2003 to play cd's

I have an old Technics turntable kicking around to good quality at the time.I used to buy albums new, play them once recording them at the same time then re sleeving them and storing them.

So, I recently bought a new Marantz cd 6005 and used Marantz pm 6004 Amp. I connected it up and was tbh gutted , the Marantz combo sounded well "Thin" is the best way I can think of to describe it . Very clear,great detail but "Thin" .

I spoke to a couple of shops . I was assured speaker technology had come along in leaps and bounds and up to date smaller bookshelf speakers would surpass my old ones by miles.So having read the reviews I bought a set of MA Bronze BX2's . (Thank god for internet purchases and 14day return policy/law)

The BX2's lack the detail and high end sound in the treble and the base is not there either ,I'm not a bass junkie mind you but I do like to know it is there .

I'm kinda stuck now,unsure which way to go .

I think ultimately I'm looking to acheive a fuller sound than I'm getting but keeping the detail in the treble .

Has anyone with more experience of Marantz equipment an Idea of what type of speaker I should be looking at,be it new or seconed hand .What rating wattage wise also to get the best from the 45w amp and am I going to have to be looking at only 3 way speakers and forget 2 ways all together ?

I think a secondhand pair of B&W 602 S3 might suit your needs quite well. These are not expensive on the secondhand market. You'd be very hard pushed to find a better sounding speaker at this price point. They're not small. But, superb detail, nice depth. I've been through several sets of speakers thinking newer would be better. It wasn't. It took me a lot of messing around with modern small bookshelf speakers, none of which sounded as good as they did.
Just my opinion though, others will probably disagree.

 

[Al ears]

not sure if anyone knows but why was D500 28 kg cf D70 (637) at 17 kg?

Seem v similar speakers. Thank you! I think D500 came after 637?...

Please do not dig up ancient threads. If you have a question start a new thread.

 

[Al ears]

I think a secondhand pair of B&W 602 S3 might suit your needs quite well. These are not expensive on the secondhand market. You'd be very hard pushed to find a better sounding speaker at this price point. They're not small. But, superb detail, nice depth. I've been through several sets of speakers thinking newer would be better. It wasn't. It took me a lot of messing around with modern small bookshelf speakers, none of which sounded as good as they did.
Just my opinion though, others will probably disagree.

This thread was ancient until revived by someone who is making a habit of it for some reason.