[spyderx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by classicalguy /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm interested in the comparison between usher and atom v5. Ushers are more expensive too, which is also a consideration. How far from the back wall do you need to move the atoms to avoid the mid-bass bump?

I'm not sure, actually. I really don't have much of a choice in this setup for placement. I have them mounted on small stands that I made about 6" off the top of the desk. My desk is right up against the wall, and I don't really want to pull them too far away. Right now the back is maybe 4" from the wall.

On about 90% of music is sounds OK in my setup. But in some acoustic music (like Iron & Wine's new album) it gets a little mid-bassy. I know this is placement. Room is about 10x12. It's my office.

I'm going to play around with them later today. Will try plugging the port and measuring SPL with a meter on some test tones.

These really are great little speakers for around $275. I know the Ushers are more. I also looked at some other speakers that are quite a bit more expensive yesterday, but a little too large or rear-ported (Dynaudio, B&W, Focal). Really, I'm looking for something similar in size to the Paradigms, with a front port, and great sound.

I will probably bring the speakers with me this week when I audition a few others I have in mind to compare (including the Ushers).

 

[geestring]

so being rear ported definitely makes the bass muffled?
mine are about 2" away from the wall.

 

[Wodgy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by geestring /img/forum/go_quote.gif so being rear ported definitely makes the bass muffled? mine are about 2" away from the wall.

Being front or rear ported makes no difference at all, contrary to what people on a lot of forums say. The wavelength of bass frequencies causes them to wrap around the speaker.

What does make a huge difference is being too close to the wall. You're going to get a 6 dB bass hump if the speakers are that close to a wall. These are "real" speakers in the sense that they're designed to be mounted on a stand at least a foot from each nearby wall, preferably 1.5 to two feet.

If you need to mount speakers 2 inches from the wall, you'll get the most uniform bass by considering speakers designed for wall mounting, which don't compensate for boundary reinforcement.

 

[geestring]

do you recommend any wall mounted monitors that are equivalent to the atoms in quality and price?

 

[moseboy]

Do the Atoms not do it for you, geestring?

 

[classicalguy]

Interesting comment Wodgy. Is it true that it makes "no difference" whether front or rear ported. I mean, could the problem be amplified or greater with rear ported speakers?

One very interesting speaker that I've read about, but never heard in person, is the Acculine A-1, which uses a highly regarded b-g tweeter in a bookshelf apparently designed for near-wall mounting. It sounds thin if used as a stand mounted speaker (they have a new A-1R for stand mounting). Cost is $250 in cheap black vinyl wrap. It is rear ported, but it appears it can be used close to a back wall?

The Audio Insider - Home loudspeaker systems and reviews

Has anyone actually heard this speaker? The more expensive and fancier cabinet B&G version was favorably reviewed in stereophile.

 

[spyderx]

I should clarify my comment on the rear port. The speakers sound FINE when pulled away from the wall, but my setup has the speakers too close to the wall. I have speakers that are front and rear ported, they all sound fine in correct placement.

In MY setup, the front ported speaker doesn't have the issues of being placed close to the wall.

 

[classicalguy]

Spyderx: Interesting. I suspect that rear porting is more sensive to being against the wall, although I can't prove it.

Out of curiosity, what front and rear ported speakers have you tried?

 

[spyderx]

The bass port out the back so close to the wall amplifies the sound coming out of that port. Pull them away a foot or so, sound fine. But in my placement I need them closer.

I measured the speakers with a DB meter and a series of test tones. HUGE bump in the mid-bass region. Moved the speakers, fine. Replaced with some front ported speakers, fine.

I have some Usher s520 that I'm using now in my office, the Paradigm atoms sitting on my floor (not using), some B&W CM1 (not using) and some B&W 805 in living room.

 

[classicalguy]

spyderx: so what is the problem with the ushers in that setup - are they too big or something? I've never seen them in real life, but I thought they'd be similar in size to the atoms. Maybe not?

You're got a great collection of small speakers. I wonder if the front ported Infinities Primus 142s or 152s might not do the trick. I suspect they are similar to the Atoms but front ported, as both were designed using similar parameters (Floyd Toole'ss measuring systems). I ordered some 142s, but they are not here yet.

 

[soundboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by spyderx /img/forum/go_quote.gif The bass port out the back so close to the wall amplifies the sound coming out of that port. Pull them away a foot or so, sound fine.

That's my impression as well. In my small listening area, the backs of my speakers are approximately 12 inches from the wall behind them. Rear-ported speakers, such as a pair of Paradigm Mini-Monitors, always had trouble with such a position. Bass is always amplified and muddy up the sound. Front-ported speakers, such as my current Energy Connoisseur C-3, or sealed (acoustic suspension) speakers, such as my sorely-missed NHT SuperOne, don't have such troubles. In my situation, if the speaker position can be pulled out more into the room, the Paradigm Mini-Minitors could've sounded excellent. However, my situation hasn't change.

 

[spyderx]

The Usher S520 are working great in my home office. Going to sell the Atoms. Not sure what I'm going to do with the CM1, bedroom maybe, or sell. I have a Jamo setup in there right now that I like.

I'd love to get some bigger speakers in my living room (B&W, larger Usher, Totem), but... such is space. And I will take living by the beach in a small house over inland and a big house any day.

 

[moseboy]

So I've been home from college for a day now. This is the first time I've been home since all my gear has arrived. I went out earlier today and bought some speaker cable and I just got it all set up and running, so I figured I'd post on here. First of all, wow is the T-amp Gen 2 small. It sits right on top of my right Atom without hanging over the edge at all. Pretty amazing.... (Oh, and the Atoms in the rosenut finish are beautiful....)

So initial impressions of the sound: It's pretty apparent that the Atoms need to be burned in. They sound good, but they sound a little... "choked" in the mids to the upper-mids, which I completely expected. Surprisingly, I'm not noticing the mid-bass hump that has bothered others. Hope it stays that way. The bass obviously doesn't reach down as far as my Shure SE530's. They never will, and I don't expect them to. It still sounds very good for not having a sub. We'll see how the sound improves after some burn-in.

So on to the amp. First of all, as for the headphone out, I will never be using it. Straight out of my laptop sounds light-years better, which is unfortunate, but I can't complain too much, considering they really didn't need to throw it in there in the first place. I didn't expect it to work very well anyway because my SE530's have an impedance of 36 ohms. I did find it strange though that when I tried listening with them through the T-amp, even if the volume was completely off, there was a faint hiss coming through the right channel.... Kind of odd, but oh well.

Here is how I have it set up for use. First, I just have a 3.5mm to 3.5mm gold-plated cable going straight from my laptop's headphone out to the input on the T-amp, and then obviously my Paradigm Atoms are connected to the T-amp. At this point, this is how I find it easiest to control: I have the T-amp's knob between 11:00 and 12:00 and I control volume from my laptop. Question: Is this bad to do?? I remember asking a question a while ago about what volume I should have on my laptop when plugged straight into the T-amp, and I was told (by classicalguy I believe) to listen for "breakup." The problem is, even if I turn up my laptop volume to max, I still don't hear any breakup. Maybe I'm not listening for the right thing. Now, I don't just have my laptop volume sitting at max: I have it around 1/4 right now (with the amp still around 12:00, or 1/2). But will I eventually ruin the amp or my speakers from using them this way, and how can I tell if I'm going to? It seems to work fine for right now, but what do you guys think?

 

[jung]

Quote:

Originally Posted by moseboy /img/forum/go_quote.gif At this point, this is how I find it easiest to control: I have the T-amp's knob between 11:00 and 12:00 and I control volume from my laptop. Question: Is this bad to do?? I remember asking a question a while ago about what volume I should have on my laptop when plugged straight into the T-amp, and I was told (by classicalguy I believe) to listen for "breakup." The problem is, even if I turn up my laptop volume to max, I still don't hear any breakup. Maybe I'm not listening for the right thing. Now, I don't just have my laptop volume sitting at max: I have it around 1/4 right now (with the amp still around 12:00, or 1/2).

The amp's input impedance is much lower when its volume pot is turned up. So you can reduce the bass roll off, caused by the input coupling cap, by increasing the input impedance, by turning down the amp's volume pot, while setting the volumes on the computer to max.

But if your computer sound output is overloaded at the max volumes, then you have to turn down the master volume a little bit. If you don't hear any problem, then max is OK.

Another way is to set the computer master volume when you plug in your headphone. Then adjust the amp's volume pot when you listen through the speaker. This way you don't get nasty surprises when you switch from speaker to headphone, when you forget to turn down the computer master volume from max.

BTW, the software player's volume and the wave volume control should be set to max, or 0 db, to avoid truncating bits.

But if you use any DSP in the computer to change the sound signal, then you may need to turn down the digital preamp (before DSP) volume a little bit, to avoid clipping.

 

[moseboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jung /img/forum/go_quote.gif The amp's input impedance is much lower when its volume pot is turned up. So you can reduce the bass roll off, caused by the input coupling cap, by increasing the input impedance, by turning down the amp's volume pot, while setting the volumes on the computer to max. But if your computer sound output is overloaded at the max volumes, then you have to turn down the master volume a little bit. If you don't hear any problem, then max is OK.

Yeah, I just really don't hear anything wrong with the sound at max volume. It doesn't sound overloaded or anything. I just didn't know if I could theoretically ruin the amp (blow something internally) by throwing too much current to the input. I didn't know if it required line-level or something, and every time I would turn up the volume on my laptop, I would constantly be checking the amp/speakers to see if they were hot. I actually ended up e-mailing Sonic Impact about it, and they responded to my questions (kind of lazily):


"I recently purchased the Class T Digital Amplifier Gen 2, and so far it seems to be working great with my speakers. I have a few quick questions about the amp:

1.) When I tried using the headphone out on the right side of the amp (Shure SE530's), the sound quality sounded quite poor and I was hearing some hiss out of just the right channel. What was the headphone out designed to work well with (headphone types impedance, etc.), and why was I getting that hiss out of the right channel? could be headphone most product tested with standard earbuds

2.) Right now, as input for the amp, I have my laptop wired directly to it with a gold-plated 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable. Will turning the volume high on my laptop harm the amp, and how can I tell if I am doing damage to it? should not matter

3.) Is there a burn-in period for the amp before it sounds like it is meant to sound? depends on listener some people think it sounds fine out of the box

4.) About how far, relatively speaking, can I turn the knob on the amp before it starts delivering distorted power to my speakers? depends on speakers and recordings"


So yeah, I guess as long as it sounds fine, all is good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jung /img/forum/go_quote.gif BTW, the software player's volume and the wave volume control should be set to max, or 0 db, to avoid truncating bits.

Yes, I have my wave volume and my player's volume set to max.


The only problem I have at this point is I think I may have to get the high-frequency driver replaced on one of my Atoms. For a certain range of frequencies at medium volume, it buzzes slightly when the other doesn't. But it's not that big of a deal right now and plan on taking care of it this summer.