System recommendations - what next?
- Thread starter Pjhobson
- Start date
JezmondTutu
pfm Member
There is a difference between low bass and punchy bass though.
I've had a go at playing with speaker positioning, going much wider has improved the detail/space/separation in general, moving backwards into the alcoves has further improved bass, but it's not solved my perceived problem (which I will happily admit may not exist).
Given this is all subjective and personal, I will try and describe my experience. In a piece of music I can hear the kick drum loud and clear, but I don't feel it. Should I?
Given this is all subjective and personal, I will try and describe my experience. In a piece of music I can hear the kick drum loud and clear, but I don't feel it. Should I?
JezmondTutu
pfm Member
If that's what you want, maybe you should change speakers or add a sub. Or be happy with what you've got and just make sensible upgrades over time.
Tony L
Administrator
In fairness you are never going to feel a kick drum in the far field with a pair of mini-monitors. I love little Spendors, but they need to be thought of as an LS3/5A-alike, i.e. a speaker where you sacrifice extension for a wonderfully transparent low-level near-field listening experience. You can try bolting on bass with a sub, but I've never heard a sat/sub system that has worked/sounded seamless and I've heard a lot (I'm a bass player so probably a lot more critical than some). I suspect you either need to re-evaluate your bass expectations or get bigger speakers.
PS FWIW despite having a massive pair of Tannoy Lockwood studio monitors that really can do that 'feel it' thing and do it effortlessly I could quite happily live with my little JR149s upstairs as whilst impact is completely beyond them the bass information is still there. It all depends on mindset and context, but personally I do love little speakers and I'm sure I'd get on very well with your Spendors. Just try playing to their strengths, e.g. move them wider apart and further out into the room, put a really good recording on late at night, turn the room lights out and they should transport you right into the venue. Good small speakers listened to in the near-field can be quite magical IMO.
PS FWIW despite having a massive pair of Tannoy Lockwood studio monitors that really can do that 'feel it' thing and do it effortlessly I could quite happily live with my little JR149s upstairs as whilst impact is completely beyond them the bass information is still there. It all depends on mindset and context, but personally I do love little speakers and I'm sure I'd get on very well with your Spendors. Just try playing to their strengths, e.g. move them wider apart and further out into the room, put a really good recording on late at night, turn the room lights out and they should transport you right into the venue. Good small speakers listened to in the near-field can be quite magical IMO.
wylton
Naim and Mana member
I quite agree with Tony here. I happen to love Linn Kans, so I've maxed out on them by going active, with a passive Mk1 pair upstairs in the office system.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Purité Audio
Trade: Purite Audio
What listeners generally 'feel' is structural or air borne vibration causing resonance .
Keith
DevillEars
Dedicated ignorer of fashion
One common-sense approach is to identify all potential "changes to the system" (both in terms of physical placement of the current components and any potential component switches). This list can be helped by re-reading this thread and summarising the recommendations).
Once you've got these listed, the next step needs to calculate the cost of each "change to the system" and then sort the list into ascending order of cost.
Then start with lowest cost option (preferably a no-cost change) and try all possible permutations. (This is likely to be re-positioning of the speakers relative to each other and relative to the listening position - in which case use Google to track down reviews of your speakers and read what the reviewers have had to say regarding recommended positioning).
If, after a change, you are satisfied, then stop!
If not, then move up to the next lowest cost option and repeat until satisfaction arrives.
Once you start to consider any option with a cash outlay that concerns you, go visit your nearby audio dealers and ask them if they're prepared to assist you (with no guarantees of any purchase) and, if they don't seem too keen, you can always explore some form of consulting fee to recompense them for their time and, possibly, for some trial equipment).
If you get to the point where the cost factor exceeds your budget and with no resolution to your perceived problem, stop the process and learn to live with what you've got. (This helps keep one's marriage on the level...
)
Diving in and replacing a big-ticket item at the outset brings a risk that you wind up out of pocket and with little or no improvement for your money.
The decision on how you approach this process (and what you spend) is yours to make (and to live with). Over the years (particularly in the early ones), I've made the mistake of "diving in" and regretted it afterwords. Nowadays, all my changes are made via this "least cost first" approach and I've avoided some unnecessary outlays.
Dave
Once you've got these listed, the next step needs to calculate the cost of each "change to the system" and then sort the list into ascending order of cost.
Then start with lowest cost option (preferably a no-cost change) and try all possible permutations. (This is likely to be re-positioning of the speakers relative to each other and relative to the listening position - in which case use Google to track down reviews of your speakers and read what the reviewers have had to say regarding recommended positioning).
If, after a change, you are satisfied, then stop!
If not, then move up to the next lowest cost option and repeat until satisfaction arrives.
Once you start to consider any option with a cash outlay that concerns you, go visit your nearby audio dealers and ask them if they're prepared to assist you (with no guarantees of any purchase) and, if they don't seem too keen, you can always explore some form of consulting fee to recompense them for their time and, possibly, for some trial equipment).
If you get to the point where the cost factor exceeds your budget and with no resolution to your perceived problem, stop the process and learn to live with what you've got. (This helps keep one's marriage on the level...
)Diving in and replacing a big-ticket item at the outset brings a risk that you wind up out of pocket and with little or no improvement for your money.
The decision on how you approach this process (and what you spend) is yours to make (and to live with). Over the years (particularly in the early ones), I've made the mistake of "diving in" and regretted it afterwords. Nowadays, all my changes are made via this "least cost first" approach and I've avoided some unnecessary outlays.
Dave