[Flex2d]

Hello, i have been driving myself bonkers with trying to find some new speakers for my pc audio setup. I have been reading and watching reviews after reviews and can't put my finger on what speakers to get. I have demoed the Adam t5v's and thought they were good until i heard the adam a7x. but the price difference is vast. I have then been looking at a passive setup and been considering the Kef r3's still more pricy but would also need an amp to drive them.. So my absolute limit is ideally £1000. But would settle for less . I used to make music as a hobby in a home studio so might dable going forward. I have also been considering the EVE sc207 HEDD type07, then there are the Buchardt S300 but yet again need an amp to drive them. Oh and i liked the look of B&W 607, but not sure if i could get to listen to them prior to buying.

So i guess i am looking for music game and occasional music creation.

The thing i liked about Adam7x was the clarity and cleaness of the bass and high end.

Music i listen to is varied from reggae to classical, indie , dance, all types really, acoustic and all.

All advice kindly welcome

Thanks

Daniel

 

[nvfan]

Nearfield a coaxial is ideal. Uniform, wide dispersion, good sound power/and neutral listening window. Ribbons have a directivity mismatch with cone woofers that lead to FR gaps in the lower mids. Kef LSX, LS50W, or LS50 + amp would be good nearfield. R3, and obviously Reference 1 if you can swing it

For traditional dome and cone, Revel M105 is the best measuring speaker I've ever seen (using industry default CEA 2034 measurements), and I would have to recommend that.

 

[Flex2d]

Thanks for the reply, so i have been looking around and was recommended a Yamaha as701 amplifier with Kef r300 speakers.
Any thoughts on this setup combination. quoted £1068 plus 5 yr warranty. Do you think this is a good setup?

Thanks

Daniel

 

[nvfan]

£1068 for both the R300 and Yamaha AS701 or is that just the price for the R300? If the latter, you should be able to negotiate a lower price with your dealer, the msrp is £1000 and those are discontinued speakers. I honestly wouldn't pay more than £800 on those speakers at this point...

Is this a nearfield setup? If so you probably don't need any more than the AS301s. In general you won't need more than a few watts of power so close to the speakers.

 

[Flex2d]

Hi that would be for both amp and speakers @ £1068, speakers are 599 and amp 469. Yes this would be for nearfield and also general living room use 6m X 4m.
I currently have a set of HD650 headphones coupled with a little dot mk2 headphone amp utilising a smsl idea DAC. and i love the sound that i get but would love to move away from purely headphone use. I got my old Alesis M1 mk2 active moitors out the other day and just loved the sound of speakers instead of headphones. sure different kettle of fish but then one of the speakers gave up so hence im looking for a quality sounding piece of kit. As the KEF r300 are reduced and got good reviews i am thinking it might be a good choice to go for. The other speakers i was looking at aare the B&W 606.

Thanks for the reply

 

[nvfan]

Well in that case, it's a pretty good price, so I would say go for it unless you can get a really good price on a pair of R3s.

B&Ws have a very tailored sound signature (extremely boosted highs and midbass) designed for much older listeners or people who have suffered some hearing loss and generally would cause listening fatigue for long term listening for a typical listener. They also aren't really designed for nearfield listening given the sound radiation pattern isn't a point source or as uniform as a coaxial driver.

 

[johnnyyukon]

Damn, for £1000, like, possibilities....endless. Paradigm, Klipsch, s**t. All the goodies.

 

[ostewart]

Well in that case, it's a pretty good price, so I would say go for it unless you can get a really good price on a pair of R3s.

B&Ws have a very tailored sound signature (extremely boosted highs and midbass) designed for much older listeners or people who have suffered some hearing loss and generally would cause listening fatigue for long term listening for a typical listener. They also aren't really designed for nearfield listening given the sound radiation pattern isn't a point source or as uniform as a coaxial driver.

Have you had a good listen to the new 600 series? (B&W have changed their tuning quite a bit from the models of old that were a little bass heavy with slightly harsh treble)

I own the 606's and have since September, the mid-bass is not boosted and they are very crisp, clean and clear. The top end extends really well, pair them with the wrong amp and they can come across a little bright, but paired with the right amp they offer up a very even and engaging sound.

 

[Flex2d]

nice are you running the 606 or 607? also what amp have you pair with them?
Thanks

 

[ostewart]

nice are you running the 606 or 607? also what amp have you pair with them?
Thanks

I'm running the 606's with a Keces E40.

I was powering them with the Keces S3 + S125 combo but it was a little too clinical, I found the E40 to have much better synergy whilst still providing plenty of power for them. I'm also using QED XT25 cables, when using the Keces S3 + S125 I was running Atlas Ascent 3.5 MKII to bring out a little more body, now with the Keces E40 + XT25 I am really happy with my setup.

 

[nvfan]

Nope, I havent heard the new 600s, but the 606 have been reviewed by Soundstage who use the NRC anechoic chamber for measurements. A 1" tweeter and a 6.5" woofer is a classic directivity mismatch though. A 6.5" would have to be crossed over at around 1500hz to match the dispersion pattern of a 5.25", however this increases the power handling required of the tweeter significantly so most companies who utilize such a design instead cross over high (3 or 4K) and trade off bass extension for a bit of directivity issues from 1-3K.

(on-axis): The frequency response is okay, it's better than older B&W designs but is still a bit janky.

(off-axis): Dispersion is very un-even, the typical tweeter "bloom" from 3-7k and gap in the 1-3k range when tweeter and woofer are not directivity matched.

(on-axis): Compare this to the Kef R1:

(off-axis)

 

[ostewart]

Nope, I havent heard the new 600s, but the 606 have been reviewed by Soundstage who use the NRC anechoic chamber for measurements. A 1" tweeter and a 6.5" woofer is a classic directivity mismatch though. A 6.5" would have to be crossed over at around 1500hz to match the dispersion pattern of a 5.25", however this increases the power handling required of the tweeter significantly so most companies who utilize such a design instead cross over high (3 or 4K) and trade off bass extension for a bit of directivity issues from 1-3K.

(on-axis): The frequency response is okay, it's better than older B&W designs but is still a bit janky.

(off-axis): Dispersion is very un-even, the typical tweeter "bloom" from 3-7k and gap in the 1-3k range when tweeter and woofer are not directivity matched.

(on-axis): Compare this to the Kef R1:

(off-axis)

Thank you for the great reply, and the graphs are useful. I understand the use of the R1 as a reference point, but they are substantially more expensive than the £550 606's which I got an insane deal on, when I got them. So for the price, I am really enjoying them

 

[Amish]

Hsu Research gets my vote. Best bang for the buck passive speakers IMO and will compete well against much more expensive speakers on and off the market.

Great speakers: http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/hb-1.html


Even better: http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/ccb-8.html

Just read reviews....

 

[ostewart]

Nope, I havent heard the new 600s, but the 606 have been reviewed by Soundstage who use the NRC anechoic chamber for measurements. A 1" tweeter and a 6.5" woofer is a classic directivity mismatch though. A 6.5" would have to be crossed over at around 1500hz to match the dispersion pattern of a 5.25", however this increases the power handling required of the tweeter significantly so most companies who utilize such a design instead cross over high (3 or 4K) and trade off bass extension for a bit of directivity issues from 1-3K.

(on-axis): The frequency response is okay, it's better than older B&W designs but is still a bit janky.

(off-axis): Dispersion is very un-even, the typical tweeter "bloom" from 3-7k and gap in the 1-3k range when tweeter and woofer are not directivity matched.

(on-axis): Compare this to the Kef R1:

(off-axis)

Like most B&W models, the 606 are crossed over at 4kHz

 

[PaganDL]

@Flex2d,

I suggest Genelec 8010 to start, feel free to also look at any other 8000 series monitor.

Something like Presonus HP 4 via an audio interface will help with easy physical setup for the actual audio chain.

I use these myself from a PC as part of my primary setup so there is no issue though the HP 4 helps run a passive system & the audio signal to the 8010s are via a monitor controller though you don't need one unless you want to.

As a final note, I suggest going to a pro audio to get potentially better deals for audio gear.

Hope this all makes sense, feel free to ask more.

Hope you have a great day !