Suggest to me some active speakers please.

[avole]

http://www.cobra.fr/son-haute-fidelite/enceintes-hifi-sans-fil/dynaudio-xeo-4-set-noir-mat-paire.html

 

[thewinelake.]

You haven't specified how many watts you want.

 

[luckylion100]

http://www.cobra.fr/son-haute-fidelite/enceintes-hifi-sans-fil/dynaudio-xeo-4-set-noir-mat-paire.html

How attractive that is depends a lot on where the OP is located in the world I'd imagine...

 

[avole]

You are still. You can fly or get the train to Paris. I wouldn't wait long, though, the French intend to apply visa charges to the Brits.

 

[davedotco]

http://www.cobra.fr/son-haute-fidelite/enceintes-hifi-sans-fil/dynaudio-xeo-4-set-noir-mat-paire.html

Their price (€1698) includes the old style Hub, UK price is £1350, speakers only plus £199 for the Hub or £299 for the more flexible, more up to date Connect.

Still over £1500 though and you will need stands. Depends how flexible the OP can be.

Personally I can't stand the little display module perched on top, but others might not mind.

 

[luckylion100]

You are still. You can fly or get the train to Paris. I wouldn't wait long, though, the French intend to apply visa charges to the Brits.

but personally as I'm based in the UK it would be a major concern and inconvenience if something went wrong with them. Flying or catching the train adds to the total cost, hardly worth the effort. Personally I think I'd rather give a slight saving a miss and have peace of mind re the warranty. Like I said, it depends where the OP lives.

 

[avole]

Personally, I'd go talk to the UK dealer and do some bargaining. I'm sure they'd come to the party ! Davedotco's point about stands applies to all the bookshelf speakers mentioned so far so is a bit of spin.

That shop I linked to, by the way, has a section devoted to wireless speakers, and is well worth a visit. If you have a look further back in the link you'll see a stack of models, some of which aren't as yet on sale in the UK.

 

[DocG]

But if you mean active as in "speaker with active crossover", and could be open to assembling the speaker yourself, I would definitely have a look at the Linkwitz LX mini, or the LX 521 if you have the space (but few people do). They sound better than everything else I've heard... And I've heard quite a lot.

Hi oivavoi10,

We should have met earlier (why didn't you join before?)... It looks like we have a similar taste in speakers, though I'm less experienced than you. But big horns, actives, Don Keele's CBTs... Yeah!

I hadn't heard of the Linkwitz speakers you refer to, but they look brilliant. Anyway, too late as I've just bought all the bits for my new set-up...

My question: if you had to pick a single quality that makes the LX521s shine, what would it be? Active? 4-way? Open baffle? Quality drivers? Or is it really all of the above (a synergy thing, so to speak)?

 

[steve_1979]

Somebody on here mentioned them once. Or twice.

There's been a continuous output all week.

 

[steve_1979]

*acute*

 

[oivavoi10]

But if you mean active as in "speaker with active crossover", and could be open to assembling the speaker yourself, I would definitely have a look at the Linkwitz LX mini, or the LX 521 if you have the space (but few people do). They sound better than everything else I've heard... And I've heard quite a lot.

Hi oivavoi10,

We should have met earlier (why didn't you join before?)... It looks like we have a similar taste in speakers, though I'm less experienced than you. But big horns, actives, Don Keele's CBTs... Yeah!

I hadn't heard of the Linkwitz speakers you refer to, but they look brilliant. Anyway, too late as I've just bought all the bits for my new set-up...

My question: if you had to pick a single quality that makes the LX521s shine, what would it be? Active? 4-way? Open baffle? Quality drivers? Or is it really all of the above (a synergy thing, so to speak)?

Hehe, thanks, nice to meet you too, DocG!

And I'm actually not THAT experienced personally. I haven't tried out that many setups in my own home. But I've tried to audition quite a lot of systems in the last couple of years, as I grew impatient with setups that didn't satisfy me (and that included most of what I heard). So I wanted to see if there was something out there that really could tick all my boxes. May I ask what your new set-up will be?

The LX521... Hm, they sound good along most of the conventional parametres of hifi of course. Good dynamics, clarity, spatial presentation of sound, etc. But what really makes them shine in my opinion is that they have this extreme "airiness", that is very pleasant. It's like they're not speakers. The sound just is there, in the room, and the speakers don't draw attention to themselves at all. In some regards they can be compared to omnidirectional speakers, if you've had the chance to audition any. The difference from omnidirectional speakers, though, is that they're much more focused in their stereo image. I think it's largely because they are dipoles, and the very original baffle design that Linkwitz apparently spent quite some time developing. But they need a fair amount of air and space in order to really function properly.

The other designs I think are comparable in quality to my ears are - yap - the CBTs and really big horns. Here I think it comes down to personal taste. The CBTs and big horn systems are more in your face. The music comes straight at you. They have more in common with traditional forward-firing speakers. I suspect that whether one ultimatly prefers the LX 521, the CBTs or big horns (if one has the space!) is down to what kind of presentation one prefers - airy and room-filling, or forward and direct. I also suspect that the LX 521 might be somewhat better with the kind of music that Linkwitz often listens to - orchestral and live music etc - while the CBTs and big horns might be somewhat better with dry studio music, rock, pop, hiphop etc.

The LX mini are also very good, but IMO not quite up there with the LX 521. They are somewhat less "airy", and have less vertical dispersion. With the 521s, you can stand up and down and always be inside the soundstage. With the LX Mini, the soundstage is somewhat more narrow vertically. But they are less picky about room and placement, and I think they might suit the taste of even more people than the LX 521s.

As for me, I'll probably move to a new house in a year from now, so I'm holding off any speaker purchase till then. But I'll probably go for either LX 521 or CBTs, in some incarnation or the other. I've also heard very good things about the Klipsch Jubilee speakers, from sources I trust, but never had the chance to audition them myself. They seem much more living room and spouse friendly than most of their brethren in the big horn family. They were apparently designed to be the top of the line speakers from Klipsch, and were the last speaker pair that Klipsch himself oversaw before he died. They're made to be active, and need external amplification and crossover. But for some reason, Klipsch then decided to only market them as cinema speakers for the pro market. So they can be difficult to get hold of. And they are more expensive than the LX 521 and the CBTs. But based on what I've heard from people who I know share the same taste as me in hifi, I think they deserve to be up there in the same pantheon

 

[davedotco]

Personally, I'd go talk to the UK dealer and do some bargaining. I'm sure they'd come to the party ! Davedotco's point about stands applies to all the bookshelf speakers mentioned so far so is a bit of spin.

That shop I linked to, by the way, has a section devoted to wireless speakers, and is well worth a visit. If you have a look further back in the link you'll see a stack of models, some of which aren't as yet on sale in the UK.

The regular advertised price for this model, in the UK is £1350 plus £199 for the Hub. About €1780 at current rates. Less than €85 difference and that is without the dealer giving a discount which he may or may not.

Stands for speakers of this standard are not inexpensive, their price needs to be taken into account.

Just one point though, can you explain what your definition of a wireless speaker actually is, I am a little unclear on this point?

One further point, the dealer referred to above sells the Dynaudio XEO range, as far as I can tell they are the only active speakers on offer.

 

[radiorog]

Thanks everyone for your inputs, I really appreciate them. I have many questions and responses to put down, but not the spare time at the moment, but will get back in the next couple of days. I'm in Edinburgh, I have a dynaudio dealer here, and would def like to hear the dm10's, and anything else I can get my hands on. I liked your joke Steve, so no need to apologise.

By good bass, I think I mean a bit of both, extension and punch, maybe a happy medium, or is that greedy? But I don't like the sound sounding thin, or lean. Just something to add warmth,realism, and oomf when appropriate. Ideally something that will go deep, that you can feel in your insides. Anything on a par with my dm2/7's in the bass would be ideal.

I won't be using a computer, just my tablet, and I don't think a dongle will make my tablet easy to use, so I think they are out of the equation.

Speak soon!

 

[lindsayt]

You can do a LOT better than the bass from your Dynaudio 2/7's.

Whether you actually go ahead and do so is entirely up to you as speakers are such a highly personal choice.

 

[radiorog]

You can do a LOT better than the bass from your Dynaudio 2/7's.

Whether you actually go ahead and do so is entirely up to you as speakers are such a highly personal choice.

What would you suggest? And do you mean passives, or actives?

Cheers.

 

[DocG]

And I'm actually not THAT experienced personally. I haven't tried out that many setups in my own home. But I've tried to audition quite a lot of systems in the last couple of years, as I grew impatient with setups that didn't satisfy me (and that included most of what I heard). So I wanted to see if there was something out there that really could tick all my boxes. May I ask what your new set-up will be?

Similar story, actually. While waiting for the new house to be ready, I learned a lot on the forum here, and I had plenty of time to audition too. Having experienced what panel speakers do (Magnepan 1.7 was my first eye opener; The ML Ethos was equally impressive), I wanted to thread some more unknown ground. The Avantgarde Duo Grosso and the Quad ESL 2912 were both very addictive too, but too big for our living room (as was the 1.7). Looking for omni's, I could only demo the smallest Duevels (the Planets): interesting but overall sonically lacking (though still excellent VFM, IMO).

Where did you get to hear Don Keele's CBTs? Closest I could get, was the JBL CBT 100. Which helped me understand what CBT is about, but was no hifi alternative (no bass; didn't do 'subtle'). And I was not brave enough to buy the Don Keele kit blind. *smile*

In the end I summed up what I craved, and which were the limitations. I ended with: a DEQX HDP-3 (DSP for crossover, driver and room correction -- ex demo), a Lucid 8 channel AD/DA (second hand), 4 channels of NC-400 NCore-amplification (kit) and a pair of Magnepan MMGs (which I might at the eleventh hour swap for the .7s -- just spotted a pair second hand), to be reframed in solid wood. And a sealed, 100 L Rythmik subwoofer (kit), to be disguised as a stool, matching the rest of the lounge. And since I needed a soldering iron for the amps, I'm making the cables too (Canare starquad, Neutrik XX-series and Speakon, Viablue sleeves).

How about that!

EDIT: the funny thing is that I didn't demo a single component -- let alone the whole set-up, in my room -- beforehand. *biggrin*

 

[avole]

Personally, I'd go talk to the UK dealer and do some bargaining. I'm sure they'd come to the party ! Davedotco's point about stands applies to all the bookshelf speakers mentioned so far so is a bit of spin.

That shop I linked to, by the way, has a section devoted to wireless speakers, and is well worth a visit. If you have a look further back in the link you'll see a stack of models, some of which aren't as yet on sale in the UK.

The regular advertised price for this model, in the UK is £1350 plus £199 for the Hub. About €1780 at current rates. Less than €85 difference and that is without the dealer giving a discount which he may or may not.

Stands for speakers of this standard are not inexpensive, their price needs to be taken into account.

Just one point though, can you explain what your definition of a wireless speaker actually is, I am a little unclear on this point?

One further point, the dealer referred to above sells the Dynaudio XEO range, as far as I can tell they are the only active speakers on offer.

You're not a technical person, are you? I'll start a new thread since you may not be the only person who doesn't know what a wireless speaker is, though the fact you don't surprises me.

There's also wikipedia if you can't wait

 

[davedotco]

Personally, I'd go talk to the UK dealer and do some bargaining. I'm sure they'd come to the party ! Davedotco's point about stands applies to all the bookshelf speakers mentioned so far so is a bit of spin.

That shop I linked to, by the way, has a section devoted to wireless speakers, and is well worth a visit. If you have a look further back in the link you'll see a stack of models, some of which aren't as yet on sale in the UK.

The regular advertised price for this model, in the UK is £1350 plus £199 for the Hub. About €1780 at current rates. Less than €85 difference and that is without the dealer giving a discount which he may or may not.

Stands for speakers of this standard are not inexpensive, their price needs to be taken into account.

Just one point though, can you explain what your definition of a wireless speaker actually is, I am a little unclear on this point?

One further point, the dealer referred to above sells the Dynaudio XEO range, as far as I can tell they are the only active speakers on offer.

You're not a technical person, are you? I'll start a new thread since you may not be the only person who doesn't know what a wireless speaker is, though the fact you don't surprises me.

There's also wikipedia if you can't wait

No need of a new thread, just tell me what you think defines a wireless speaker?

I'll give you a hint, true wireless speakers, such as the Dynaudio XEO, need only a mains lead, very different from the array of speakers in the French dealer ad, which all (apart from the XEOs and a couple of all in ones) need interconnecting cables to operate, so by definition, are not wireless.

Wireless connection from a source using Airplay or Bluetooth is simple enough but unless the speakers themselves use no connecting wires, they are not wireless.

That is my definition, what's yours?

 

[thewinelake.]

How much power might a typical "wireless" speaker consume over an average week, I wonder? Maybe 10W and 10 hours, so 0.1 kWh. A battery of 1kWh is slated to be $100 by end of 2021. That would last for 10 weeks. So maybe a truly wireless speaker that one charged up every couple of months by plugging into the mains overnight might be possible at modest cost. I wonder if that'd be of any interest in the. market place?

 

[Dave_]

Personally, I'd go talk to the UK dealer and do some bargaining. I'm sure they'd come to the party ! Davedotco's point about stands applies to all the bookshelf speakers mentioned so far so is a bit of spin.

That shop I linked to, by the way, has a section devoted to wireless speakers, and is well worth a visit. If you have a look further back in the link you'll see a stack of models, some of which aren't as yet on sale in the UK.

The regular advertised price for this model, in the UK is £1350 plus £199 for the Hub. About €1780 at current rates. Less than €85 difference and that is without the dealer giving a discount which he may or may not.

Stands for speakers of this standard are not inexpensive, their price needs to be taken into account.

Just one point though, can you explain what your definition of a wireless speaker actually is, I am a little unclear on this point?

One further point, the dealer referred to above sells the Dynaudio XEO range, as far as I can tell they are the only active speakers on offer.

You're not a technical person, are you? I'll start a new thread since you may not be the only person who doesn't know what a wireless speaker is, though the fact you don't surprises me.

There's also wikipedia if you can't wait

No need of a new thread, just tell me what you think defines a wireless speaker?

I'll give you a hint, true wireless speakers, such as the Dynaudio XEO, need only a mains lead, very different from the array of speakers in the French dealer ad, which all (apart from the XEOs and a couple of all in ones) need interconnecting cables to operate, so by definition, are not wireless.

Wireless connection from a source using Airplay or Bluetooth is simple enough but unless the speakers themselves use no connecting wires, they are not wireless.

That is my definition, what's yours?

If you're going to go down the route of pedantic point scoring, then you're wrong too!

A 'true wireless' speaker would be something like the myriad of portable, battery powered Bluetooth speakers available on the market.

If its got a mains cable hanging out the back, it ain't truly wireless...

 

[davedotco]

Personally, I'd go talk to the UK dealer and do some bargaining. I'm sure they'd come to the party ! Davedotco's point about stands applies to all the bookshelf speakers mentioned so far so is a bit of spin.

That shop I linked to, by the way, has a section devoted to wireless speakers, and is well worth a visit. If you have a look further back in the link you'll see a stack of models, some of which aren't as yet on sale in the UK.

The regular advertised price for this model, in the UK is £1350 plus £199 for the Hub. About €1780 at current rates. Less than €85 difference and that is without the dealer giving a discount which he may or may not.

Stands for speakers of this standard are not inexpensive, their price needs to be taken into account.

Just one point though, can you explain what your definition of a wireless speaker actually is, I am a little unclear on this point?

One further point, the dealer referred to above sells the Dynaudio XEO range, as far as I can tell they are the only active speakers on offer.

You're not a technical person, are you? I'll start a new thread since you may not be the only person who doesn't know what a wireless speaker is, though the fact you don't surprises me.

There's also wikipedia if you can't wait

No need of a new thread, just tell me what you think defines a wireless speaker?

I'll give you a hint, true wireless speakers, such as the Dynaudio XEO, need only a mains lead, very different from the array of speakers in the French dealer ad, which all (apart from the XEOs and a couple of all in ones) need interconnecting cables to operate, so by definition, are not wireless.

Wireless connection from a source using Airplay or Bluetooth is simple enough but unless the speakers themselves use no connecting wires, they are not wireless.

That is my definition, what's yours?

If you're going to go down the route of pedantic point scoring, then you're wrong too!

A truly wireless speaker would be something like the myriad of portable, battery powered Bluetooth speakers availableon the market.

If its got a mains cable hanging out the back, it ain't wireless...

Can't argue with that.

I have seen one or two battery powered (two piece stereo) speakers that make a half decent stab at quality but the issues are truly immense.

I did preface my answer with the caveat that a power cable would be needed but wireless technology is a lot more complex and flexible than people think.

The Dynaudio wireless setup is a lot more sophisticated than it apears, they had to invent their own proprietory digital transmission and processing setup to resolve the contention issues that so limit the use of Airplay and Bluetooth.

I am very taken with the Dynaudio system, I would love the small Focus XD setup, but I can not justify £4k plus just to listen to Spotify, which these days is my primary source.

 

[oivavoi10]

And I'm actually not THAT experienced personally. I haven't tried out that many setups in my own home. But I've tried to audition quite a lot of systems in the last couple of years, as I grew impatient with setups that didn't satisfy me (and that included most of what I heard). So I wanted to see if there was something out there that really could tick all my boxes. May I ask what your new set-up will be?

Where did you get to hear Don Keele's CBTs? Closest I could get, was the JBL CBT 100. Which helped me understand what CBT is about, but was no hifi alternative (no bass; didn't do 'subtle'). And I was not brave enough to buy the Don Keele kit blind. *smile*

In the end I summed up what I craved, and which were the limitations. I ended with: a DEQX HDP-3 (DSP for crossover, driver and room correction -- ex demo), a Lucid 8 channel AD/DA (second hand), 4 channels of NC-400 NCore-amplification (kit) and a pair of Magnepan MMGs (which I might at the eleventh hour swap for the .7s -- just spotted a pair second hand), to be reframed in solid wood. And a sealed, 100 L Rythmik subwoofer (kit), to be disguised as a stool, matching the rest of the lounge. And since I needed a soldering iron for the amps, I'm making the cables too (Canare starquad, Neutrik XX-series and Speakon, Viablue sleeves).

Wow, cool! I think you will get an EXCELLENT system. I forgot to mention panel speakers in my post above... That's also a speaker type I like very much. Haven't demoed that many of them, but the couple I've heard have been excellent. And you've definitely done the right choice in the amplification department. All the hardcore DIY people I know who really take this hobby seriously are using NCore amplifiers, with no exceptions, so that says something.

I heard the CBT pair when I was visiting a friend of mine in the US who had them. Turned out he was heavily into hifi. He had the parts express speakers. I think that these speakers could be made even better though, if they'd been designed with even higher quality drivers (Selah Audio makes a CBT speaker that I think might be even better, but haven't heard them). But when it comes to filling a room in a completely even manner, they're almost unparalleled, I think. Edit: I think they ARE unparalleled

Congrats again on your new system! I'm sure you'll enjoy it mightily.

 

[DocG]

Congrats again on your new system! I'm sure you'll enjoy it mightily.

If I don't blow it (my soldering skills are at toddler level)... *smile*

 

[oivavoi10]

Congrats again on your new system! I'm sure you'll enjoy it mightily.

If I don't blow it (my soldering skills are at toddler level)... *smile*

I soldered for the first time yesterday. Needed to replace my tweeters. I was quite sure I was going to blow up everything, but it was surprisingly easy. A good instructional video I found helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdbFduodOuo

 

[DocG]

Congrats again on your new system! I'm sure you'll enjoy it mightily.

If I don't blow it (my soldering skills are at toddler level)... *smile*

I soldered for the first time yesterday. Needed to replace my tweeters. I was quite sure I was going to blow up everything, but it was surprisingly easy. A good instructional video I found helpful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdbFduodOuo

Cheers for that! All help heartily received! *drinks*

I need to split the power supply wiring to the amp modules (two NC-400 modules per power supply). That makes 24 2-on-1 splits that need to be soldered. And then some XLR-connectors and SC-binding posts. And 10 XLR-cables... By the time I'm done, I'm a pro! (or gone crazy, having inhaled to much lead *crazy*)