[Speakersmoothie]

I heard that tower speakers can create the same level of details as IEMS/headphones.  Currently using Edifier r1700bt and they already seem perfect with the covers removed.  Can tower speakers really improve the sound quality tremendously?  Do you guys recommend any dedicated sound cards as an upgrade over Realtek 1150 (aka crystal sound 2)?  Thanks for reading.

 

[ProtegeManiac]

  I heard that tower speakers can create the same level of details as IEMS/headphones.  Currently using Edifier r1700bt and they already seem perfect with the covers removed.  Can tower speakers really improve the sound quality tremendously?  Do you guys recommend any dedicated sound cards as an upgrade over Realtek 1150 (aka crystal sound 2)?  Thanks for reading.

 

Tower speakers have a wider response than standmount speakers owing to the larger cabinets that can accommodate larger if not also multiple drivers and more internal air, plus in some cases, more complicated port designs.

 

The downside to tower speakers particularly when you have more than two drivers is that you end up with one more driver that might be out of alignment at closer distance, ie, you now have at least three drivers which might not all be equidistant to your head, and cause imaging issues. Some 3-way towers can very audibly image the bass to be coming from below if you're sitting closer than 1.5m away - no problem if you want the bass drum to play like it's on the floor, but even the double bass and cello and bass guitar can come from below as well.

 

Also in some cases when you're comparing a next higher tier standmount vs the lower tier product line tower, assuming the first has a midwoofer the same size as the tower anyway, the perceivable "slam" of the bass on the towers isn't always that much stronger than the standmount when you're sitting at the distance where there are no time alignment issues, since the amp has to work harder unless the tower has higher sensitivity. Strumming and plucking bass however might be more noticeably audible but chances are the higher tier standmount has better imaging also, so on top of earlier bass roll off, it's probably imaging the location of some bass range instruments better (ie farther to the back of the stage), making the overall presentation seemingly much lighter on bass.

 

In any case, it's not about plain detail, if anything it's only about more detail at the low end. If some towers extract a lot more detail it has to do with how flagship home audio speakers are towers, rather than a low end tower having more detail than all other standmounts apart from more bass. For one, if I have to choose between a multiple driver tower with lots of low end like the Focal 714 vs a standmount with a 7in midwoofer and a ribbon tweeter (flatter response in the treble region) like the Aurum Cantus Volla, I'd take the latter.

 

As for the standmount form factor multimedia speakers like what you have, I'd stick with it if it's on a desktop system, and even if I upgrade, I'd go with studio monitors rather than towers unless you'd upgrade the room too and sit farther back.

 

[Speakersmoothie]

Thanks.  My speakers seem to be perfect already for my needs since I'm much more delighted in the midrange and treble; the bass is sufficient and beautiful for close distance listening.  Maybe the greater details I read were only referring to the low ends.  The current speakers I have is 33w each, which requires significantly less power than the 80w per JBL LSR 305s I  returned due to sound issues.  Yet they produced much better clarity (maybe the pair I had was faulty, but I didn't wanna risk it a second time)  Would you recommend sound cards over onboard crystal sound 2 built into asus z97 pro motherboard?

 

[ProtegeManiac]

 
The current speakers I have is 33w each, which requires significantly less power than the 80w per JBL LSR 305s I  returned due to sound issues.

 
What sound issues exactly? Chances are the more neutral response curve of the JBLs is exacerbated into brightness by room acoustics. At minimum, and assuming that's the problem, you should have used the tweeter gain control to reduce their output relative to the midwoofers.
 
Those Edifiers and simialr models are warm out of the box and some have a similar kind of gain control.
 

  My speakers seem to be perfect already for my needs since I'm much more delighted in the midrange and treble; the bass is sufficient and beautiful for close distance listening. 

 

If you're happy with what you're using now I wouldn't look around. Try something out if it's relatively free (like, just the cost of going to a hi-fi show or a meet) once in a while at most. I had the HD600 since 2010 and haven't really had the motivation to get something else, well...except maybe the Duevell Venus and Sonus Faber Stradivari Homage (which are on a completely different class).
 

  Maybe the greater details I read were only referring to the low ends. 

 

If anything, if it referred to more than the low end, the listener was able to get it louder. Assuming the amplifier won't distort with the tower speaker, a 3-way tower will sound better at a louder volume vs 2-way standmounts because the midwoofer on the latter has to play everything, whereas in the 3-way tower, the midwoofer is on a bandpass crossover with a dedicated woofer. That means that if the amp isn't stressing on either, the 2-way will start distorting at the low end sooner, limiting how loud one goes, and once the 3-way tower goes louder than that, more of the top end is easily more perceivable.

 

  Would you recommend sound cards over onboard crystal sound 2 built into asus z97 pro motherboard?

 

Practically any soundcard with the output you need on top of the FL-FR output jack.