[mmmmcheese]

I am actually looking for speakers AND an amp together at around $1000 I would like it to be closer to about $800-$900 but we'll see what turns up.

 

[tyrion]

You can pick up a Jolida JD102B on headfi and a pair of $500/$600 speakers like the SA505's.

 

[Aman]

You people are funny - only recommending to others what you guys have personally slaved hundreds/thousands of dollars to yourself.

The speaker world is almost limitless, and the situations and opportunities expand almost by the month. mmmchese: I highly recommend, once again, that you buy speakers that have an auditioning period.

It is unfortunate that you do not live near an area that is fit for housing hifi audio stores. This means that you do not get the opportunity to hear the speakers before you buy them.

What this means is that you have to either buy through reviews (and audio reviews, particularly speaker reviews, are often times terrible and cannot be trusted) or buy blindly. Either way, you are not safely purchasing these speakers. Speakers are an investment, and you should be as sure as possible that you like what you are buying.

Because I don't recommend buying from places like Worst Buy or Circuit City, or other chain stores like them for that matter, my best advice to you would be to buy directly from a manufacturer that offers a trial period to see if you like the speakers or not. I do not think that anything Klipsch has to offer, even in their Reference series, will satisfy your needs in regards to either Beyer DT770 bass OR Grado mids. Though, Klipsch speakers ARE indeed as bright and fatiguing as Grados

Some speaker builders that have trial periods are Axiom and Ohm Acousics. Certainly do not limit yourself to these two brands -- there are hundreds of companies out there that will allow you to have a trial period. Look for speakers around the 700 dollar range, and an amp around the 300 dollar range.

Oh yeah, and for your tastes, I would not recommend buying a Cain & Cain Abby speaker. Crossoverless designs in general would probably not suit your sound preferences.

Hope this helps.

 

[blumenco]

Yo guys and gals, perhaps i am biased, but abbys are the real deal. grados and abbys are in fact very similar tonally and presentation. and oh yeah, sonic impact and single strand cat5e is killer with them. a good cd player or other source is a must, however, just like with headphones.

most audio meat-heads just don't get it when you tell them to not spend a whole lot of money on cables and to try a 10 minute diy project instead. they would rather buy tuning blocks and line conditioners off the internet, and piss away their passion to the whims and fancies of crooked marketing execs and reviewers. should you always feel obligated to incorporate their 1000 dollar new flavor of the week? who cares! blah!

BTW please try not to insult folks without knowing them, their product, or sharing their passion. true, set amps are not for everyone, but they are for more people than you might think. it is a highly addictive and musically pleasing sound, especially with single driver or other high efficiency designs. it is a hugely growing movement that is very grass roots based. aint nothin wrong with that.

peace out,

Clark

 

[Aman]

Bluenco: I think you are biased, actually.

What people do not realize is that they will always endorse products they already own. They should take it from somebody that has heard many good speakers and maybe even owns multiple pairs of speakers.

I don't fall into the latter category, but I've demoed a lot of speakers. Let me say this: My best friend's father owns a pair of Cain & Cain Abbys and in my humble opinion they sound too narrow!

They simply do not extend far down enough in either direction, and the interesting formfactor of the speakers is not going to help it, like many people think. Instead, if you want the bass that mmmmcheese wants, you will want a speaker with a dedicated crossover to give you that extra punch, definition, and clarity. I highly recommend that you hear speakers for yourself -- you really cannot buy blindly.

I'll say that again:

DO NOT BUY BLINDLY! BUY WITH A MONEY-BACK OPTION OR DEMO SPEAKERS YOURSELF!

There is absolutely no other way to do it properly. Though, I'll give you some starter points:

Do not listen to crossoverless speakers like Abbys
Do not listen to bright speakers like Klipsch speakers
Do not listen to polite speakers like B&Ws

Those house sounds will be stuff that will directly go against what your wants are. You want speakers that are pure, accurate, clear, and exciting, it seems.

 

[Gopher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aman I highly recommend that you hear speakers for yourself -- you really cannot buy blindly. I'll say that again: DO NOT BUY BLINDLY! BUY WITH A MONEY-BACK OPTION OR DEMO SPEAKERS YOURSELF! There is absolutely no other way to do it properly. Though, I'll give you some starter points: Do not listen to crossoverless speakers like Abbys Do not listen to bright speakers like Klipsch speakers Do not listen to polite speakers like B&Ws Those house sounds will be stuff that will directly go against what your wants are. You want speakers that are pure, accurate, clear, and exciting, it seems.

Dude!

I understand that they aren't for you, but who the hell are you to tell him not to even audition a speaker because you didn't like them? There could be a hundred reasons why the abbys you heard don't sound good to your ears, including genunine dislike for single driver speakers. But that room, amplification, choice in cabling, power situation, and whatever other variables you want to throw into the mix aren't his--more over, if he has a dealer near him why are you blanketly prohibiting him from establishing his own tastes and quite possibly scratching it off of his own list.

Also, I wanted to respond to your theory on biases. I've heard things which I have not had the pleasure of owning which I have enjoyed very much and recommended to others. At the same time I have owned many things (as is evidenced by my incomplete profile) which I've hated DESPITE them being flavors of the month (i.e. JD-100A, G08) and have advised others against them.

I believe owning gear (or atleast auditioning it!) is a much more effective way of passing on meaningful suggestions to others, then blanketly barring individuals from even auditioning certain speaker designs...

then again, what do I know?

FURTHERMORE: If you see my signature you'll notice I am actually very familiar with the Grado sound and have OWNED the following products:

Headphones: SR-60, SR-80, SR-200, SR 225, RS-1, HP-1
Amps: RA-1, HPA-1
Phonostage: PH-1
Cartridge: Platinum Reference (5.0mV)

I think I have a RIGHT to comment on speakers Grado lovers might enjoy...

 

[britishbane]

I've got to agree with Gopher, how can you tell someone to limit what speakers they go and listen to? The only whay dude is going to find what speakers he likes is to go out and listen to a variety of speakers. Cain and Abby, Klipsch, and B&W all make fine speakers. They certainly arent my cup 'o tea but they might be someone elses and who am I to say that their taste sucks?

 

[iamsmrt]

Personally, I own two pairs of Paradigm Active 20's. Since you wanted the amp and the speaker to be under $1000, I thought this might be a good start because I've purchased each pair in the last month for under $800 shipped. Sadly, I've never listened to Grado cans yet but for very high quality bookshelf speakers that had an MSRP of $1600, these are phenomenal. Here is a link to the Paradigm PDF listing the specs:

http://www.paradigm.com/Website/Comm...tive_Specs.pdf

From what I understand, the sound is +/- 1 dB down to 50 Hz and down only 3 dB to 36Hz. Personally, I think that's amazing for a bookshelf speaker and from what I've read that kind of extension from a bookshelf is due in large part to the benefit of using active speakers. Here's the Paradigm link to their archived reviews:

http://www.paradigm.com/Website/Comm...hiveIndex.html

The Active series have sadbly been discontinued now but are an amazing value. Running them via XLR cables out of a Benchmark DAC-1 is a crazy value imho. I purchased one pair from insomniac here on head-fi who has upgraded to the Paradigm Active 40's so you might want to ask him on his perceptions of the Active series because he has been in the audio game for a lot longer than I have. The Active 40's were outta my price range because they tend to sell near their full MSRP of $2000 on the used market. Anyways, good luck on your hunt for speakers and just thought I'd throw in my two cents.

 

[ampgalore]

Buy the speakers over the internet. Don't like the sound. Return the speakers. Worse yet, pay a hefty restocking.

Another round of buy and listening and returning.

Another round.

By the time you know it, a couple of hundred dollars have gone down the drain on just shipping charges alone.


Better solution, go to your nearest hifi dealer, and have an actual free on site audition.

I would like to stress again that the SET sound is not for everyone. As has already been pointed out, it has a tiny sound, narrow soundstage.


And to golfer, crossoverless drivers still need to produce trebble frequencies, so a single woofer is trippling its duty for trebble, midrange, and bass.

Clipping will rip a crossoverless driver.

 

[Sleestack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mmmmcheese Hey guys, As you may know I am looking for a 2 channel speaker setup for my bedroom. I am looking for speakers with a sound signiture similar to Grados and the DT770.Most importantly te bass of the DT770. I have looked at these speakers. New: Buggtussel Mirac Onix RS550 Axiom M50ti Used: Onix RS750 Axiom M60ti Buggtussel Somu I am really leaning towards the RS550 or the Buggtussel. I really have no idea though. Could anyone give me somefeedback on these speaker or any speakers in the <$1000 dollar range. Also I need to find an amp to power what ever speakers I have. My dad sadi to look at some used Bryston, Dadvid Hafler, or possibly audire amps on ebay. Give me some feedback. I want to know about any speaker or amp that would work for me. Thanks.

I have spent almost $150K on audio equipment in the last 4 months. I have bought everything from high end (Classe and Parasound) to value oriented (Onix). Without reservation, I can say that Onix speakers represent a a great value. If you are interested in their line of speakers, I would seriously consider taking a look at their reference series. I use their Ref.3s and Ref. 1s. For $999 (limited time) you can pick up a pair of their Ref.1s and get an SP3 amp as well. It is an incredible deal. If you don't need the amp sell it and you will have a new pair of Ref. 1s for about $500.

 

[Aman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by britishbane I've got to agree with Gopher, how can you tell someone to limit what speakers they go and listen to? The only whay dude is going to find what speakers he likes is to go out and listen to a variety of speakers. Cain and Abby, Klipsch, and B&W all make fine speakers. They certainly arent my cup 'o tea but they might be someone elses and who am I to say that their taste sucks?

The house sounds of all of those speaker brands I mentioned contained sounds which are inherently known for qualities which are contradictory towards the ones this guy wants.

I thought I'd make it easier for him.

Take a chill pill, all of you.

 

[Wodgy]

I agree with Aman for the most part. The original poster asked for speakers with a sound signature similar to Grados and DT770s, often described as having "a subwoofer strapped to your head." While various speakers have their merits, the first speaker Aman was not recommending doesn't have bass like that (nor does it have treble like the DT770s). I'm not entirely sure why Aman said avoid Klipsch speakers though. They certainly have a bit of a Grado/DT770 sound.

The best advice though, as always, is to audition first before buying, even if you have to travel for four hours in each direction to get to the nearest hifi store. You'll be much happier this way. If you can get an in-home audition, so you can see how the speaker "lights up" and interacts with your room, that's even better.

 

[Aman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wodgy I'm not entirely sure why Aman said avoid Klipsch speakers though. They certainly have a bit of a Grado/DT770 sound. The best advice though, as always, is to audition first before buying, even if you have to travel for four hours in each direction to get to the nearest hifi store. You'll be much happier this way. If you can get an in-home audition, so you can see how the speaker "lights up" and interacts with your room, that's even better.

He kept telling me in his PMs to me that he wanted 'grado mids' and to me I don't think Klipsch has Grado mids - just Grado highs

And I agree completely with the botom paragraph. You GOTTA hear the speakers before you buy them.

 

[Wil]

Go hear some Vandersteen 1Cs. Retail price of 750 i think. Bang for the buck.

reviews here

 

[Aman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wil Go hear some Vandersteen 1Cs. Retail price of 750 i think. Bang for the buck. reviews here

I disagree. Vandersteens to me have a very flat presentation (or rather, very natural and balanced) and this wouldn't be exciting enough to warrant the purchase from a teenager who wants Grado mids

It certainly has plenty of bass, though.