Head against the wall, external corner a foot away, speakers neither on or far from wall, small axial dimension, little to move sound out of axial into side, etc... The acoustics of the setup is poor and I would suggest performing an experiment to determine if this is the primary source of disappointment. To that end I would suggest temporarily placing the speakers along the left hand wall and experimenting with listening positions around 1/3rd and 2/3rds from the speakers. This will provide better symmetry, a longer axial direction, listening position away from a wall, and the two listening positions will have different direct/reflected sound ratios. It will of course temporarily block a door but is only a temporary experiment to help locate the problem and the extent to which it may be addressable within the room.
(Physically) downsized...need to pick new speakers (and maybe an amp)
- Thread starter cruster
- Start date
Head against the wall, external corner a foot away, speakers neither on or far from wall, small axial dimension, little to move sound out of axial into side, etc... The acoustics of the setup is poor and I would suggest performing an experiment to determine if this is the primary source of disappointment. To that end I would suggest temporarily placing the speakers along the left hand wall and experimenting with listening positions around 1/3rd and 2/3rds from the speakers. This will provide better symmetry, a longer axial direction, listening position away from a wall, and the two listening positions will have different direct/reflected sound ratios. It will of course temporarily block a door but is only a temporary experiment to help locate the problem and the extent to which it may be addressable within the room.
adamdea
You are not a sound quality evaluation device
I vote for the dsp and/or active speaker ideas. For £2500 you could combine both and get some pretty decent genelecs (maybe 8340As?). You then have a complete system needing only sources. The downside is that if you go down that route, there isn't all that much hobby left.
cruster
pfm Member
Thanks for this. I feel like if I get much closer, I'm basically trying to listen to the RS5s in nearfield mode, and I'm just not sure they excel there. If I go for some monitors that do work as nearfield, I can pull the couch out a bit, and pull the speakers a bit forward. It seems like it would make for the best configuration in that goofy room. Maybe I should let the electronics be, at least for now, and just worry about the speakers.
It would make a good starting point if ATC made active monitors. They don't (not in the commercial range that is usually under discussion).
I
Fair point, I get a little confused with their range.
djftw
Heterodox Member
Another vote for MiniDSP, I was very sceptical until I heard a friend's AudioNote Kit AN-Es using one as an active crossover and ordered one as soon as I got home. I have Rega Xels, which are effectively your speakers forebearer! I should mention that they also do a streaming pre-amp with all the DSP built in which I subsequently decided to order and has just landed at UK Customs. They do an integrated too, but sadly that only offers digital inputs.
Final thing I would mention, my room is an absolute pig and before the MiniDSP after extensive experimentation I ended up with a very unusual speaker placement, about six inches from the side walls and four feet from the back walls with quite a severe toe in, roughly 15 feet apart and each roughly 8 feet from the central listening position. This gives an amazing soundstage, and a bass roll off that stopped them over exciting that room. With the MiniDSP in place after some experimentation they have ended up back in that position with the MiniDSP also feeding a Rel Strata Sub, so now I have the best of all worlds, the amazing soundstage, the room no longer booming along at various frequencies around 50Hz, the sub perfectly integrated and not noticeably a separate unit except when BluRay movie effects get silly and everything near it starts vibrating! So have a good play with your positioning, even if it flies against convention, by definition convention doesn't work in unconventional spaces!
If practicalities really do dictate a move to smaller speakers the ones that spring to mind reading your description of your requirements are some of the Elac bookshelf speakers with Jet tweeter and aluminium midbass, I have heard both the wood bodied and and the aluminium bodied versions in some fairly small and awkward spaces and the spacial, bass, versatility with music and volume was all there for me. If you like the idea of actives I am told some of ADAM's monitors use a similar tweeter technology and are very highly regarded. I don't have any personal experience of them, but they might be worth looking at if you don't mind a less domestic look!
Final thing I would mention, my room is an absolute pig and before the MiniDSP after extensive experimentation I ended up with a very unusual speaker placement, about six inches from the side walls and four feet from the back walls with quite a severe toe in, roughly 15 feet apart and each roughly 8 feet from the central listening position. This gives an amazing soundstage, and a bass roll off that stopped them over exciting that room. With the MiniDSP in place after some experimentation they have ended up back in that position with the MiniDSP also feeding a Rel Strata Sub, so now I have the best of all worlds, the amazing soundstage, the room no longer booming along at various frequencies around 50Hz, the sub perfectly integrated and not noticeably a separate unit except when BluRay movie effects get silly and everything near it starts vibrating! So have a good play with your positioning, even if it flies against convention, by definition convention doesn't work in unconventional spaces!
If practicalities really do dictate a move to smaller speakers the ones that spring to mind reading your description of your requirements are some of the Elac bookshelf speakers with Jet tweeter and aluminium midbass, I have heard both the wood bodied and and the aluminium bodied versions in some fairly small and awkward spaces and the spacial, bass, versatility with music and volume was all there for me. If you like the idea of actives I am told some of ADAM's monitors use a similar tweeter technology and are very highly regarded. I don't have any personal experience of them, but they might be worth looking at if you don't mind a less domestic look!
Hoopsontoast
pfm Member
On the MiniDSP option, if you go for the 2x4HD version, it can be used as a Preamp/DAC as it has a remote control as well as a single pair of RCA inputs, as well as an Optical Digital.
Kostas
pfm Member
I'll second the active speakers suggestion, Dynaudio & Neumann have quality speakers in your budget. For passives, Dynaudio Special 40 (or any higher Dynaudio standmount you can afford second hand), Vienna Acoustics Haydn Grand. For amp, the XTZ EDGE that I use and know well. It has power to drive most speakers, the gain control is versatile and will match with any source or preamp. Modest price for what it offers and you can return it if you don't like it.
gerlando
Prog Rocker
cruster
pfm Member
I've never heard of Guru, but MAN is that a good looking set of speakers to my eyes. Thanks!