[athenaesword]

so i've got about a grand to blow on speakers. If i go with active monitors, I'll do the Adam A7s, but some people have recently advised me to reconsider the consumer grade speaker route.

I'll be using them on a desk, with a computer as source. i'll be buying a Dac/amp as well but that's another consideration for another discussion.

I listen to a very wide array of music actually. rock/pop/country/bluegrass/soundtracks. I don't do metal or death music, but that's about it. I'm very willing to explore new music, but the latter 2 just haven't been my cup of tea. majority will be pop/rock/country though. I place quite heavy emphasis on soundstage and vocals. not too crazy about bass. as long as it's present and it's refined i'm good. I don't listen to much rap and heavy beat music so I don't really need the thump. I guess this means the mids and highs are more important to me than the low end.

hit me.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Look at Magnepan speakers. You should be able to get the MMG or MG12 new with your budget. You could probably get the 1.6 used around there, too. If you're into soundstage, vocals and detail, you really should have a pair of dipole planars (electrostats, ribbons, planars, AMTs). Nothing touches them for what you like - I've been listening to ribbons for years and got AMTs in August - and you'll quickly become addicted to their sound.

 

[athenaesword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif Look at Magnepan speakers. You should be able to get the MMG or MG12 new with your budget. You could probably get the 1.6 used around there, too. If you're into soundstage, vocals and detail, you really should have a pair of dipole planars (electrostats, ribbons, planars, AMTs). Nothing touches them for what you like - I've been listening to ribbons for years and got AMTs in August - and you'll quickly become addicted to their sound.

i just looked at some of the pictures. these don't look like they could possibly be used on a desktop.i'm looking for something more in the bookshelf sized region, that I can use with my computer

do you think I should consider active monitors in my setup or stick to consumer speakers?

 

[Oliver :)]

I was about to suggest a nice pair of Linn KATAN but I see they are about $400 above the given budget, at least new and in Euroland.

 

[obobskivich]

Genelec, in the ~$1k range I honestly really did enjoy the Genelec monitors

another good pair of speakers are the Vienna Acoustics bookshelves, forget what they're called (they all have such frilly names), bestbuy should have them (thats the only "ick" factor), which are also a great listen

 

[The-One]

hey athenasword, I suggest that you ask this in a more home theatre orientated forum, such as avforums.com (uk) or avsforums.com(us). in addition here is a good link with lots of reviews of consumer orientated speakers.

Hi-Fi Hi-fi-speakers Home cinema reviews, hi-fi reviews and TV reviews - from the experts at whathifi.com

The speakers in there are all passive. $1k at current exchange rate is roughly £650. Note that some activemonitor makes such as Dynaudio also make HT/Hi Fi passive models. Adam also makes a home version of it's speakers too.

I also notice you're browsing gearslutz lol

In anycase I suggest that you do go down the active monitor route, not least because i have very similar requirements as you and I'm gonna go for the adam a5s and the dacmagic most likely.

There's nothing against you from using consumer speakers, but you'll need to factor in cost, powered amp with dac choice, size etc

 

[punk_guy182]

If I were you, I would seriously consider getting floorstanding speakers. They are really worth it even if you listen to music at low volumes and you won't need a sub to hear the bass.

 

[Bones13]

I chose a pair of Tekton Fullrange speakers for my computer rig. You can get them and a T-amp amp for half of your budget. These are great for the type of music you listen to. For the 1K unpowered speakers, I chose the Monitor Audio RS6, they have reviewed well, and are voiced to my liking, these do not fit on a desktop, as they are floorstanders.

Do some searching for this type of setup - there are many different opinions and options.

Powered "monitor" speakers are known for their flat response, and are appropriate for their designed function. They lack of warmth, and intimacy that I was searching for for the jazz and instrumental music. I listen to vocals, and bluegrass a lot, among most other things.

 

[panda]

there's a ton of monitors in the 1k range. what type of sound do you like?

here are some of my favs:
silverline sr-15
proac 1sc
dynaudio contour 1.1
totem model 1
merlin tsm-m
linn kann ii

and my reference: atc scm-7

all of those speakers need plenty of power though to really open up.

 

[athenaesword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by punk_guy182 /img/forum/go_quote.gif If I were you, I would seriously consider getting floorstanding speakers. They are really worth it even if you listen to music at low volumes and you won't need a sub to hear the bass.

unfortunately, I've got no place to put them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bones13 /img/forum/go_quote.gif I chose a pair of Tekton Fullrange speakers for my computer rig. You can get them and a T-amp amp for half of your budget. These are great for the type of music you listen to. For the 1K unpowered speakers, I chose the Monitor Audio RS6, they have reviewed well, and are voiced to my liking, these do not fit on a desktop, as they are floorstanders. Do some searching for this type of setup - there are many different opinions and options. Powered "monitor" speakers are known for their flat response, and are appropriate for their designed function. They lack of warmth, and intimacy that I was searching for for the jazz and instrumental music. I listen to vocals, and bluegrass a lot, among most other things.

by powered monitor you're refering to active studio monitors? and unpowered you're talking about passive speakers? i'm not sure i follow what you're refering to, but yeah I can't use floorstanders.
Quote:

Originally Posted by panda /img/forum/go_quote.gif there's a ton of monitors in the 1k range. what type of sound do you like? here are some of my favs: silverline sr-15 proac 1sc dynaudio contour 1.1 totem model 1 merlin tsm-m linn kann ii and my reference: atc scm-7 all of those speakers need plenty of power though to really open up.

power meaning a good amp?

i mentioned my music tastes in the OP, and I'll reiterate here. I mainly do rock/pop, and very vocal heavy songs. I love highs so quite abit of my music has tonnes of highs, so the speakers I get can't be fatiguing, otherwise I'll have problems listening to long periods of time.

Those are some nice suggestions I'll definitely take a look at them when I go around hunting for auditions. any way to trim down the list though?

Quote:

Originally Posted by The-One /img/forum/go_quote.gif hey athenasword, I suggest that you ask this in a more home theatre orientated forum, such as avforums.com (uk) or avsforums.com(us). in addition here is a good link with lots of reviews of consumer orientated speakers. Hi-Fi Hi-fi-speakers Home cinema reviews, hi-fi reviews and TV reviews - from the experts at whathifi.com The speakers in there are all passive. $1k at current exchange rate is roughly £650. Note that some activemonitor makes such as Dynaudio also make HT/Hi Fi passive models. Adam also makes a home version of it's speakers too. I also notice you're browsing gearslutz lol In anycase I suggest that you do go down the active monitor route, not least because i have very similar requirements as you and I'm gonna go for the adam a5s and the dacmagic most likely. There's nothing against you from using consumer speakers, but you'll need to factor in cost, powered amp with dac choice, size etc

yeah I actually refered to one of your threads when I started looking for speakers, and it was one of the reasons why I was seriously considering active monitors. the other, was Warpdriver's thread with the MC15.

on another Hifi forum though, my idea of going with active monitors was bashed quite abit, and I was told to reconsider consumer speakers, not in an unkind way though.

lol yeah I'm soliciting advice on Gearslutz as well. but most of the dudes there don't seem to be interested in personal listening. rather, all their advice seems tailored to mixing and such. I don't do the latter, so I'm trying to take their recommendations with a pinch of salt. It's hard to avoid all the glowing recommendations for the Adam A7 though...

will check out AVforums.
Quote:

Originally Posted by obobskivich /img/forum/go_quote.gif Genelec, in the ~$1k range I honestly really did enjoy the Genelec monitors another good pair of speakers are the Vienna Acoustics bookshelves, forget what they're called (they all have such frilly names), bestbuy should have them (thats the only "ick" factor), which are also a great listen

will check those out too.

anyone have specific recommendations or comparisons with some of the mentioned models? the local dealers I have here usually carry only a couple of brands, and they're at different locations, so if I've got 10 brands to choose from, I'm going to have to run 10 places, so it might help if the list gets trimmed down =]

 

[panda]

in that case stick with silverline or proac. the silverline has a full bodied smooth sound where as proac is more of a vintage sound meaning non fatiguing.

but my fav for everything is the atc, and especially the highs, the tweeter is made by seas but i'm pretty sure their crossover has a big factor in its sound. easily the purest sounding speaker i've come across.

yes, proper amp is important with any speaker, but it's even more critical when you have inefficient speakers meaning they are hard to drive even though they are small monitors. but that can be another topic all together depending on which speakers you go with.

 

[alfie2902]

Depending on what your budget is for a Dac, pre & power amp,
Check out AVI ADM9.1's. I'm getting fantastic results with my 9's (earlier model)
Speakers, Dac, pre & power amp all in one, just add Toslink. Simple system that sounds superb!!

 

[athenaesword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by alfie2902 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Depending on what your budget is for a Dac, pre & power amp, Check out AVI ADM9.1's. I'm getting fantastic results with my 9's (earlier model) Speakers, Dac, pre & power amp all in one, just add Toslink. Simple system that sounds superb!!

well if you're talking about budget for dac+amp+speakers or dac+active speakers, i guess my total budget would be about 1.4k. I might stretch it depending on how much I can get for my Predator + TF10

Those look great! but would they perform well in a tabletop setup?

Quote:

Originally Posted by panda /img/forum/go_quote.gif in that case stick with silverline or proac. the silverline has a full bodied smooth sound where as proac is more of a vintage sound meaning non fatiguing. but my fav for everything is the atc, and especially the highs, the tweeter is made by seas but i'm pretty sure their crossover has a big factor in its sound. easily the purest sounding speaker i've come across. yes, proper amp is important with any speaker, but it's even more critical when you have inefficient speakers meaning they are hard to drive even though they are small monitors. but that can be another topic all together depending on which speakers you go with.

would you think it's a good idea then to go with active? since they have built in amps. I could save on that.

 

[panda]

with actives you're really limited in what you can get, and the ones i consider good are well above your budget including my own. it's easier to achieve the sound you want through separates.

the amp doesn't have to be expensive, for example a used mccormack dna0.5 can be had for around $500 on audiogon.
do you have a source yet or are you planning on getting a dac also?

 

[athenaesword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by panda /img/forum/go_quote.gif with actives you're really limited in what you can get, and the ones i consider good are well above your budget including my own. it's easier to achieve the sound you want through separates. the amp doesn't have to be expensive, for example a used mccormack dna0.5 can be had for around $500 on audiogon. do you have a source yet or are you planning on getting a dac also?

DAC too. it's starting to look like I should delay my purchase till I can afford more... the annoying thing about living in Asia is that shipping for 2nd hand items is usually ridiculously expensive, since they're mostly from the US.