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speaker rig w/sound quality and finess of some first class headphones: cost ?

post #1 of 21
8/30/05 at 2:40pm
Thread Starter 
..I'd like to know the price range speaker rig that has the quality and refinement of some high quality cans ( I refer to hp-2 as this is my higher end gear at the moment as I imagine I'd be very happy to have a speaker setup , speakers+amp , that sound delicate solid and do music as hp-2 )

I'm asking approximatively the price range .
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post #2 of 21
8/30/05 at 2:54pm
My opinion:

I prefer my speakers over my 650+GS1 rig.

Cost?

Martin Logan Mosaic = $2000
Rotel RB1070 = $700
GS-1 as preamp = $750

This is not including source since both use the same...

So, in my case, $3450 vs $1250 (both retail).
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post #3 of 21
8/30/05 at 2:58pm
Thread Starter 
thanks.
exactly , i didn't mean to call in source and Ics.
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post #4 of 21
8/30/05 at 5:30pm
I am going to go against the grain here as their appears to be a belief that in order to reach the sq of a good headphone rig you must spend multiples of that in a speaker rig. I simply do not agree with that premise. I believe you can rival many $1000 to $2000 plus headphone rigs with speakers around $1000 and an amp between $600 and $1200. There are many brands that would fit the bill. I have experience with System Audio speakers, in particular the SA705 booksheves which retail for $1000 and with a nice ss or tube integrated sound wonderful. There are many other brands that would also fit the bill, such as Amphion Helium's, Totem Acoustics, and many others.
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post #5 of 21
8/30/05 at 10:36pm
I agree that you can put together a very good speaker rig for about 1000 that rivals the details you can hear on a very good headphone set while beating it in soundstage.
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post #6 of 21
8/30/05 at 10:49pm
It's not a fair comparison, because headphones and speakers are completely different methods of reproducing audio.

Headphones and speakers accomplish two different tasks. Headphones are meant for quiet situations, space concerns, and portability. However, some people find them to be better methods of sound reproduction than speakers (how? I don't know). Most people will take the speakers and say that they are best to accurately reproduce the media as if you were there at the recording studio. That is the only purpose of a pair of hifi speakers, after all.

With that in mind, I don't think it would take most people much money at all to say that they prefer the sound of the speakers over the headphones. If one is buying speakers in the first place, it is most of the time because the things that people accomodate for by buying headphones aren't an issue. They have a semi-acoustically-fit room, they don't have noise concerns all the time, and they want to listen to music in one room of the house, at home, and they want the way of listening to music which makes the most realistic sound.

In many cases, I'd take a 500 dollar speaker system over a 500 dollar headphone system, even though the actual dynamic extension and such may not be as fantastic in the speaker system. At least with the speakers you are getting a soundstage wider than your head, and the "you're there" feeling is what I love most about speakers.
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post #7 of 21
8/31/05 at 12:33pm
[QUOTE=AmanIn many cases, I'd take a 500 dollar speaker system over a 500 dollar headphone system, even though the actual dynamic extension and such may not be as fantastic in the speaker system. At least with the speakers you are getting a soundstage wider than your head, and the "you're there" feeling is what I love most about speakers.[/QUOTE]

I agree with that aswell. Ever since I got my speakers I just don't listen to my cans anymore. The only thing they get use for is gaming and maybe once a week or lesss I will give em a listen.
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post #8 of 21
8/31/05 at 12:41pm
Thread Starter 
I have a speaker rig too which i use ..
I'm asking what kind of sum I have to spend to reach right tonality of instruments , micro and macro dynamics / micro macro details , correct stage ( not super stage ) , balance in frq.s ..

refined things that nice headphones paired with nice amps do ..
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post #9 of 21
8/31/05 at 5:36pm
Good speakers sound better than headphones. Plan on spending at least a grand a side. Really good speakers aren't cheap. A general rule of thumb is that half of your system budget should be spent on speakers. A lot of mid-priced amps are actually overpowered today, so you don't have to worry about wattage as much as you did back in the 70s and 80s.

See ya
Steve
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post #10 of 21
8/31/05 at 6:06pm
Spendor...which model would depend on the size of your room and associated equipment. Their smaller models in a small room probably will sound the best.
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post #11 of 21
8/31/05 at 7:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aman
With that in mind, I don't think it would take most people much money at all to say that they prefer the sound of the speakers over the headphones. If one is buying speakers in the first place, it is most of the time because the things that people accomodate for by buying headphones aren't an issue. They have a semi-acoustically-fit room, they don't have noise concerns all the time, and they want to listen to music in one room of the house, at home, and they want the way of listening to music which makes the most realistic sound.
I disagree a bit with you guys. While I'm sure with a just-right setup like you describe speakers are great, most people don't have such a room...and I personally don't much like the idea of a 'listening room' even if I had the space. It's so distant from reality to me... Furnture arrangement, acoustics, reflectivity of the sound, placement of the listener in the 'sweet spot', etc. all come into play and make it feel like a hospital to me. Also I live in a loft with 20' cielings and the only doors are on the bathrooms...needless to say speaker setups resonate and boom all over a place like this.

I much prefer my headphones for music. With my HD650's at a reasonable volume it's almost like speakers - I can hear things around me and even talk to people. Granted on old jazz recording with heavy L/R separation it leaves something to be desired even with a crossfeed, but modern recordings are fine. But I have about a $1000 headphone setup, I'd be amazed if a similar sounding speaker setup could be had for 'about $1000' like you guys have mentioned.

But I couldn't bear the thought of watching a movie through headphones (I even read on flights - I don't even do it there!), but that's a whole different story. For movies I bump my Marantz 5.1 like a madman

--Illah
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post #12 of 21
9/1/05 at 12:21am
One thing I forgot to mention. If soundstage is important to you, go for the old style box speakers, rather than the satillite systems. Getting those satillites to mesh properly with the subwoofer isn't easy sometimes. Also, I have yet to hear tiny satillite speaker that don't severely compromise the evenness of the response. If you plan to go multichannel, get all four speakers of the same model at the same time.

See ya
Steve
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post #13 of 21
9/1/05 at 12:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigshot
One thing I forgot to mention. If soundstage is important to you, go for the old style box speakers, rather than the satillite systems. Getting those satillites to mesh properly with the subwoofer isn't easy sometimes. Also, I have yet to hear tiny satillite speaker that don't severely compromise the evenness of the response. If you plan to go multichannel, get all four speakers of the same model at the same time.

See ya
Steve
Oh yeah, for sure. For home theater if you use a sattelite system they usually compensate for the lows with a big sub, and then you get big power from 20-125Hz with a sudden drop off to tinny midbass 125Hz+ (note that frequency responses are estimates). A 'real' speaker should be pretty compentent to at least 80-100Hz and the sub can handle the bottom end, and if you use an SPL meter you can balance the levels so that they transition smoothly.

Except, in a violation of high-fi law, I purposely run my sub 5-10 dB over what it 'should' run at for a little extra kick When it's perfectly balanced only a well mixed Hollywood type flick will sound 'big', but TV and electronica/hip-hop needs a little extra help (I usually turn down the sub for acoustic music on the very rare occastion I don't use my head-fi setup otherwise it's way boomy).

--Illah
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post #14 of 21
9/1/05 at 12:58pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Illah
Oh yeah, for sure. For home theater if you use a sattelite system they usually compensate for the lows with a big sub, and then you get big power from 20-125Hz with a sudden drop off to tinny midbass 125Hz+ (note that frequency responses are estimates). A 'real' speaker should be pretty compentent to at least 80-100Hz and the sub can handle the bottom end, and if you use an SPL meter you can balance the levels so that they transition smoothly.
Depends on your satellite system, of course, but in general the low end would be closer to 40 than 20 on a boxed set...

/N
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post #15 of 21
9/1/05 at 1:28pm
Thread Starter 
I'm searching stereo ( 2ch. only )
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