[Joe Bloggs]

What a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year this is

There were all those arguments about how many times more expensive a speaker rig has to be than a headphone rig to sound as good as a headphone rig, and it was said that a cheap headphone rig can always sound how many times better than a similarly cheap speaker rig...

Well, it doesn't have to be that way

I joined the world of speakers for the first time when I bought the Onkyo CR-305X minisystem. For $250 this package sure is great value! It packs a great CDP / amp combo with some decent speakers... (to my ears

) But bass was simply not there, of course...

Then I bought a Pioneer S-W200 subwoofer for $109 used. After some fiddling, it is blending nicely into my system. Although I have to admit that there is probably still a region in the midbass where neither the monitors nor the sub is picking up the load, the system still sounds anywhere from impressive to gorgeous

The best I've heard so far is Star Wars (the performance that came with the X-Wing vs TIE fighter game CD--actually a much better performance and recording than the 'Best Collections' CD I got)--you feel like you're really THERE. For the first time I saw / heard the orchestra as a coherent whole. And there was sound coming from the left, right, front (the front soundstage solidity is like nothing I've heard with headphones), above, below, and at the end of the last track, a bell tinkling right behind my head! The below-imaging was especially eerie, as I had my subwoofer below my speakers and at one point it sounded like everything was coming from the subwoofer, trumpets, violins and cymbals!

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Well, I was held back from owning a speaker rig before by a perceived lack of budget for a serious system and a non-music listening family. The latter was fixed by my brother and I both going into music (me going in all directions, him sticking to one and only one singer and making me thoroughly sick of her

), while the final investment in speakers was a purely serendipitous side-effect of looking for a budget solution to source and amplification for my headphones.

The side-effect looks to be overtaking the main effect now

It's hard to point out something where this lowly speaker rig is clearly inferior to my Senns or etys. Its detail retrieval is not that far behind the phones at all. Some details it misses / obscures, but other details pop up that I haven't heard before

It has some imaging problems in the low frequencies (now if I had the money to buy 2 identical subs...

) but overall it does a much better job of imaging anyway. Its faults in frequency response are no more serious than what my 2 phones commit in the same area.

All this for $360 total

That said, this system has also taken my headphone listening to a new level, with bass having improved no end. The Senns are now punchy, and much less laid back than before--listening to Iron Maiden with them used to be a real pain because it seemed like I could hear everything BUT the lyrics--the crashing cymbals and the (not very good) bass. Not anymore!

(To get the most out of the speaker amp or headphone out you really need to build the Impeder or the Grado headphone adapter

)

I guess my message here is to invest in a speaker rig if at all possible, and environmental and budget constraints be damned

It's incredible what sound you can get for so little money these days

And the speaker amp that comes with the system can complement your headphone listening too. You'll never need to worry about not buying phones that are 'hard to drive'--these speaker amps may not be the most refined headphone amps to be had, but they will not leave any phones wanting for power

And to my experience anyway, budget headphone amps pale in front of them

 

[Joe Bloggs]

bump

 

[chych]

Speakers are great, I've been getting into them myself as well and there are great values in there. I bought the Swan M200 multimedia speakers ($240) for my computer system and added a DLS 10" subwoofer ($100, cheap but good, from partsexpress) for ~$350 total and it is wonderful (source being an Audiophile 2496); not quite the accuracy as headphones but it has the "feel" headphones cannot provide.

In fact the parents recently asked me to build them decent sound systems so we got another set of Swans M200s for the home, with a pcdp as a source, and when positioned well, the sound is just wonderful (for the price anyway).

Just now my Dad offered to take my set of Swans M200s off my hands so I can move on to bigger things, so I've been eyeing an AudioSource Amp Two power amplifier (my MG Head would be a pre amp) and for speakers, Ascend Acoustics CMB-170

 

[Ctn]

Join the club

 

[becomethemould]

that is what my brother is arguing - add a sub to a low-fi stereo and will sound as good as a hi end system. why waste $2000+ when adding a $100 car sub and will sound just as good?

of course i dismiss his petty argument

but yeah it is good value...

 

[pearle]

I'm about to join the speaker club. I just auditioned the Paradigm Studio 20, PSB Image 4T and the RBH 41-SE.

The dealer I'm talking to is bringing in an Arcam AVR-200 receiver and I will be heading back to audition the speakers again once it arrives. Can't wait.

 

[pigmode]

My speaker system has a monetary value about 4 times that of my headphone setup. At this point the former supasses the latter in just about every category.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

Quote:

Originally posted by becomethemould that is what my brother is arguing - add a sub to a low-fi stereo and will sound as good as a hi end system. why waste $2000+ when adding a $100 car sub and will sound just as good? of course i dismiss his petty argument but yeah it is good value...

I agree with both you and him...