A jump into the speaker-fi world!

[BattleBrat]

Look into Talon Audio for speakers, they are quite awesome, They aren't dead, but people think they are so their prices are LOW and they are a LOT of speaker. I switched from a SS pre amp to a tube preamp, I got the smoothness warmth and body I was looking for so QUIT THE TUBE BASHING!
I use Audio Research gear, I heard some Jeff Rowland gear and was impressed. I don't want to recommend anything without having tried it myself.

 

[Vinc]

Hehe, I hope that everyone is sorry for my wallet now!
Here's what I have now : Ps3 -> Naim nait 5i-2 -> some naim cable -> Proac D18! I shall change my source, but I'm really wondering if it will make that much of a difference...
Anyway, I'll probably buy some more movies/cds before upgrading my source!

 

[Uncle Erik]

Enjoy your new setup! ProAc makes wonderful speakers.

 

[cracky]

Hi Vinc,
 
I switched to speaker-fi last year, bought quite a few sets of speakers (anthony gallos, M&Ds, JL subs etc), dacs (antelopes, wyred, apogee etc), amps (threshold SA1, 10He, some class D & T, diy tube amps etc) , cables (power cables, cooper, silver...), power isolators, power filters. To me it was more like experiments than anything.
 
Anyways, I am now switching to active speakers. a lot of people do not consider active speakers as hi-fi grade, but I happened to talk to a few engineers who are working/used to work at some famous speaker companies, and, surprisingly, they all agree, for the same amount of money, active speakers should be a better choice due to hardware optimizations. In fact, they have actually created some very decent active speakers before but their marketing departments rejected because hifi shops do not like them (much lower profit margin by selling an all-in-one system). 
 
So if you are bored with your set up, please give active-speakers a try.
 
 

 

[endless402]

Quote:

Hi Vinc,
 
I switched to speaker-fi last year, bought quite a few sets of speakers (anthony gallos, M&Ds, JL subs etc), dacs (antelopes, wyred, apogee etc), amps (threshold SA1, 10He, some class D & T, diy tube amps etc) , cables (power cables, cooper, silver...), power isolators, power filters. To me it was more like experiments than anything.
 
Anyways, I am now switching to active speakers. a lot of people do not consider active speakers as hi-fi grade, but I happened to talk to a few engineers who are working/used to work at some famous speaker companies, and, surprisingly, they all agree, for the same amount of money, active speakers should be a better choice due to hardware optimizations. In fact, they have actually created some very decent active speakers before but their marketing departments rejected because hifi shops do not like them (much lower profit margin by selling an all-in-one system). 
 
So if you are bored with your set up, please give active-speakers a try.
 
 

ATC make great active speakers which are hi-fi grade. i believe there are certain PMC one as well.
keeping in mind both of these companies are studio monitor companies as well so you'll get a dynamic neutral studio monitor sound instead of a euphonic coloured sound

 

[Dr.Love]

If you want some nice sound go with a Quad pre 99/ Quad 909 amp, get a nice dac of your choosing and some speakers of your choosing, I'm using B&W 685's and it just sounds like music....beautiful music. I'm sure I'll upgrade my speakers someday, but I just don't feel the need to right now, everything sounds so good!

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

Anyways, I am now switching to active speakers. a lot of people do not consider active speakers as hi-fi grade, but I happened to talk to a few engineers who are working/used to work at some famous speaker companies, and, surprisingly, they all agree, for the same amount of money, active speakers should be a better choice due to hardware optimizations. In fact, they have actually created some very decent active speakers before but their marketing departments rejected because hifi shops do not like them (much lower profit margin by selling an all-in-one system). 
 
So if you are bored with your set up, please give active-speakers a try.
 
 

There are definite advantages to bi-amping and active crossovers, but that can also be done with a passive speaker, and there are considerable disadvantages to shoving an amp inside a speaker cabinet. Try for example to just fit the power supply of a BAT VK-600SE into a speaker.
 

 

[Vinc]

I just took a picture of my system
 

 

[Uncle Erik]

Looks great! How do you like those ProAcs?

I'm still enjoying the hell out of my fake ones!

 

[Subsequence]

I agree nice setup, maybe it's time now to start experimenting with placement? A lot can be gained from that allong with acoustics though the latter is often not practical in a living room enviroment.
The WAF goes absolutely down the drain when you start talking bass trapping in the corners and what not 

 

[DaveBSC]

I agree nice setup, maybe it's time now to start experimenting with placement? A lot can be gained from that allong with acoustics though the latter is often not practical in a living room enviroment.
The WAF goes absolutely down the drain when you start talking bass trapping in the corners and what not 

Yup, shoving a speaker in a corner like that is far from ideal. Those speakers also seemed to be positioned very close to the front wall, and with not much space in between (the big TV and stand only makes things worse). Where is the listening position? Ideally the speakers should be as far from each other as they are from where you sit. Getting them at least a few feet from corners and walls will also work wonders. If possible, also don't have them the near the same distance from the side wall as they are from the front wall. Finally, it appears they are positioned pretty much straight on. I would suggest experimenting with some toe-in. Start by having the tweeters cross at a point in space behind your head, and then increase the toe-in until the tweeters cross in front of you. See what sounds best.

 

[customcoco]

Quote:

Look into Talon Audio for speakers, they are quite awesome, They aren't dead, but people think they are so their prices are LOW and they are a LOT of speaker. I switched from a SS pre amp to a tube preamp, I got the smoothness warmth and body I was looking for so QUIT THE TUBE BASHING!
I use Audio Research gear, I heard some Jeff Rowland gear and was impressed. I don't want to recommend anything without having tried it myself.

aren't the talon much more expensive than the op's budget?

 

[Vinc]

I agree that the speakers should not be placed that way. However there are some constraint. I live in my mom's house (yes, I know, but I'm only 19 and a full time student!). I also watch a lot of movies, so I really want the tv there. By the way, there is a another couch on the right wall, so I'm not sure that moving le right speaker to the right would a good idea because the subwoofer would go directly into the couch.
The speakers are in a little angle from the wall, probably 5 or 10 degrees, but I'll surely try play with that angle soon.
The speaker's wire are a little short too, 6 feet inch, so I don't think I could move the speakers apart a lot more.
My friend's father shall come soon at my house with a good source (I play directly from laptop at the moment :S) and we'll try some different set up with my equipment.
 
Thanks for the tweeter tip, I'll definitly try that, and I think the listening position is about 9 feet away, it is exactly where the picture was taken from.
 
 
Hopefully, I'll buy a decent source soon! I'm not sure if I'll go vinyl or DAC (I don't have any vinyls yet, my amp doesn't have a phono preamp and my budget is about 900$ for everything). I'm also really wondering if I'll hear any difference with a new source, I'm doubteful about it as for now.
 
Thanks a lot at everyon who contributed to this topic.
 
@Uncle Erik : I really LOVE them. Everything in them suits me really good. There is a lot of bass, but it is good and tight bass, the drums sounds really real. The mids are also really impressive, I feel like the artist is right in front of me. I've the impression that I'm in a little private show with the artist. The only thing might be that I would like some more bass impact, I mean that I could feel it in the chest. I guess I could probably solve this issue with a sub or a more powerful amp later on. I've even tried them with some movies, and I didn't feel like I missed anything with them, except the bass impact.
 
The only other things that is a bit annoying is that I feel that they are not to their full potential because I don't have a decent source now and the listening room is not optimal. I hope to solve the latter issue in a few years when I'll have my own house.

 
Quote:

Yup, shoving a speaker in a corner like that is far from ideal. Those speakers also seemed to be positioned very close to the front wall, and with not much space in between (the big TV and stand only makes things worse). Where is the listening position? Ideally the speakers should be as far from each other as they are from where you sit. Getting them at least a few feet from corners and walls will also work wonders. If possible, also don't have them the near the same distance from the side wall as they are from the front wall. Finally, it appears they are positioned pretty much straight on. I would suggest experimenting with some toe-in. Start by having the tweeters cross at a point in space behind your head, and then increase the toe-in until the tweeters cross in front of you. See what sounds best.

 

 

[gregorio]

That would leave me with about 2000-2500$ for the speakers. I have a small room, so I'm heading toward bookshelves speakers.

Something which hasn't been mentioned much in this thread, except for the last few posts, is room acoustics. Room acoustics have a massive impact on the performance of speakers. If you have a small room to which you cannot apply any acoustic treatment, buying expensive speakers is a waste of money. It's like buying a Ferrari when the only roads you can drive on are dirt tracks. The Ferrari will look great but will not provide a driving experience much better than a car which costs a tenth of the price and you'll never have any idea of what a Ferrari is really capable of!

If possible, you will get far better results buying cheaper speakers and spending some of what's left over on bass trapping and/or other acoustic treatment. Depends on whether you are more interested in the equipment itself or more interested in how good it sounds.

G

 

[Vinc]

Well, I don't think that the ferrari analogy is really approriate. It would be more like having a ferrari with not so good tired. You would still get the driving experience, it would be much better than the car of a 10th of the price, but you wouldn't the ferrari to its full potential. Actually, when I tried the system in the store, it sounded a lot better than speakers half the price and when I tried the speakers at home, sure it was not as good as in the store, but it sure was better than the other speakers in the store.
 
Not to mention that I cannot apply any room treatement to the room as it is not my house. So I'm more interested in better equipement for the moment so when I move out, I'll only need room treatement instead of a new pair of speakers and room treatement
 
Quote:

Something which hasn't been mentioned much in this thread, except for the last few posts, is room acoustics. Room acoustics have a massive impact on the performance of speakers. If you have a small room to which you cannot apply any acoustic treatment, buying expensive speakers is a waste of money. It's like buying a Ferrari when the only roads you can drive on are dirt tracks. The Ferrari will look great but will not provide a driving experience much better than a car which costs a tenth of the price and you'll never have any idea of what a Ferrari is really capable of!
If possible, you will get far better results buying cheaper speakers and spending some of what's left over on bass trapping and/or other acoustic treatment. Depends on whether you are more interested in the equipment itself or more interested in how good it sounds.
G