[sesshin]

What forums out there are good for reading up on speakers and home stereo equipment the same way head-fi is with headphones? Looking for good discussions on speakers, amps, dacs, cables, etc..
 
Have been on AVS for a while but that seems more HT based than music. Audiokarma is good but more focused on rare and vintage equipment than new and easily obtainable. Stereophile is too high end. What else is out there that's good?

 

[jr41]

www.harbeth.co.uk/usergroup
 
Harbeth is a British Loudspeaker company who have a user group (forum) on their website. Normally I wouldn't recommend reading a manufacturer's forum, as it's unlikely to be a source of impartial advice, and there's little doubt the participants on the forum are Harbeth fans, but I find the forum generally to be quite objective and down to earth. The MD and designer, Alan Shaw, is a regular participant and an absolute gold mine of useful speaker design information, in my opinion. They don't talk much about other hi-fi equipment though, it's really only focused on the speakers.
 
There's something about the way this company runs their business which has got me totally hooked - their whole website is a fantastic resource for speaker enthusiasts, whether or not they intend to a pair of Harbeth speakers (though one day I do hope to own a pair!).

 

[Currawong]

The Harbeth forums are both very useful if you are interested in Harbeths and very useless if you aren't.  Basically all the common questions about Harbeths have been answered by the (current) designer, but since 90% of the stuff you might talk about, such as amp and stand matching isn't possible (the designer reckons both are unnecessary) there isn't a lot to talk about.

 

[cifani090]

The Klipsch forum in pretty good... wide variety of information

 

[Radio_head]

avsforum.com
 

 

[mark2410]

http://www.avforums.com/

 

[mark2410]

there is also a lot of chat on the what hi fi forums

 

[preferred user]

AUDIO KHARMA SPEAKER FORUM
http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=27
 
Lansing Heratige
http://www.audioheritage.org/vbulletin/
 
Klipsch community forums 
http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/
 
DIY Audio projects links 
http://diyaudioprojects.com/links.htm
 
And of course lets not forget
http://www.google.com/search?aq=f&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=google

 

[Uncle Erik]

I like AudioKarma, too, but I agree there's a lot of talk about vintage/exotic. Then again, I love that stuff, too.

Nelson Pass' DIY Audio has speaker discussion as do the Madisound Forums. But those focus a bit on the DIY angle. Though give DIY some thought. You can get superior performance on the cheap. Even if you don't want to build cabinets, you can order nice ones for several projects from Madisound.

Oh, Audiogon has a forum and Linkwitz has a good little forum for Orion/Pluto owners, but just for those speakers.

Though since you mention it, I wonder if Head-Fi might add a more detailed speaker forum or two. They're not headphones, but maybe it would work. We already have some speaker discussions here. New forums could possibly add a few more sponsors and be a good resource for members. Many of us use speakers, too. Anyone else have thoughts on this?

 

[chrislangley4253]

I would love to see head fi branch out into speakers. 

 

[Hellbishop]

Yes it would be great if Head-fi "officially" supported speakers. They already do a excellent job unofficially. I've gotten plenty of great advice on nearfield listening, bang for buck bookshelf speaker purchasing, dampening and isolation tweaks, dealing with neighbors and bass etc etc. And as Uncle Erik mentioned making it official could bring in sponsors.

 

[cifani090]

Quote:

Yes it would be great if Head-fi "officially" supported speakers. They already do a excellent job unofficially. I've gotten plenty of great advice on nearfield listening, bang for buck bookshelf speaker purchasing, dampening and isolation tweaks, dealing with neighbors and bass etc etc. And as Uncle Erik mentioned making it official could bring in sponsors.

This is Head-Fi, im not sure if speakers can fit on your head
 

 

[ocswing]

 
Quote:

This is Head-Fi, im not sure if speakers can fit on your head
 

Stax and AKG would like to have a word with you.
 

 

[chrislangley4253]

Grados are pretty much just speakers... with open enclosures on your head.. That's totally what the feel/look/sound like anyways. 

 

[Uncle Erik]

The K-1000 is an earspeaker, too. It even needs a speaker amp.

As for more detailed forums, I'll try to think of a way to bring it up since the forum is trending a bit towards all-purpose audio. Seems like a lot of people want computer speakers, many have home theaters, and two-way stereos seem to be gaining in popularity. I think Head-Fi is the biggest audio site out there )) so including more categories could make sense. Drawing in more members and sponsors would be a good thing.