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Please help a Beginner out (Speakers) .

dualimas

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Hello everyone, I'm very new to the HiFi scene and would greatly appreciate any help.
After reading many online reviews, then reading reviews for the online reviewer's^^ I figured this would be the best place to get some honest opinions combined with knowledge and experience about speakers, both of which I'm desperately lacking.

I am currently assembling a 5.1 system, though I would like to point out that I'll mainly be listening to music (with just two speakers) and the focus of the speakers should be playing music. I live in a medium sized room though my speakers will be standing on one side, while the other is filled with lots of "uneven" materials such as furniture, space therefore is somewhat an issue.
As for speakers I would like to add that size and looks are very important to me to properly integrate the speakers into my room. If possible I'd prefer wooden speakers that don't tower much higher than ca. 30cm high, as for price, I am open to many suggestions, my limit would be at around ca. 650-700€/p, of course cheaper is also possible .
Speakers I have researched myself and that i would like to hear your opinions about are the
1. Dali Oberon 1
2. B&W 607 S2 Anniversary Edition
3. Elac Debut Reference DBR62 .

Reasons for these are the existing front speakers of the same set, however I would appreciate any speaker suggestions or help in general.
I hope you don't mind the long text and thank you very much.
 

Wes

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did you check the list of speaker measurements for those?

also describe the room...
 
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dualimas

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I'm aware the Dbr62 is bigger, though from what I've read here I would choose sound quality over my preferred size everyday.

Room is square, around 2,20m tall, speakers would cover around 2/3, the direction theyre facing is mostly empty. Size around 5×12.
Other side of room is filled with furniture and boxes.
 

Helicopter

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Elacs are better than the other two. B&W have a house sound frequency response, and Dalis just are not very flat measuring.

I would look at Focal Aria and Chorus too, since they can be a bargain in Europe. I love my Arias.
 
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dualimas

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Elacs are better than the other two. B&W have a house sound frequency response, and Dalis just are not very flat measuring.

I would look at Focal Aria and Chorus too, since they can be a bargain in Europe. I love my Arias.

focal aria 906 look beautiful, how would you compair their sound to the elacs and is worth the price difference?
 

Helicopter

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focal aria 906 look beautiful, how would you compair their sound to the elacs and is worth the price difference?
The performance is pretty similar. The Arias have a nicer cabinet. Focal Chora 806 is slightly lower in performance, but also close. Part of what you are paying for is a speaker made in France versus one from China. What are the street prices where you are? I usually see Arias for $999 a pair here and saw some last week for $699.
 
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dualimas

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cheapest i found is for 870€ for the 906, not sure id be willing to spend that much more money if the performance isnt vastly different,
on a related note: i found an offer for magnat humidor for 420€ the pair, do you have any knowledge about them ? thanks .
 

Helicopter

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cheapest i found is for 870€ for the 906, not sure id be willing to spend that much more money if the performance isnt vastly different,
on a related note: i found an offer for magnat humidor for 420€ the pair, do you have any knowledge about them ? thanks .
I can't find frequency response data. They have a Klippel system, so they are measuring stuff in the lab, but it is a little concerning they do not publish measurements.

How much are DBR62s where you are?
 

Zek

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Room is square, around 2,20m tall, speakers would cover around 2/3, the direction theyre facing is mostly empty. Size around 5×12.
Do you mean 5m x 12m?
It’s a pretty big space and I think such small speakers will not be able to adequately fill that space with quality sound.
 
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dualimas

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Do you mean 5m x 12m?
It’s a pretty big space and I think such small speakers will not be able to adequately fill that space with quality sound.
I 'll probably go with the Elacs so that should cover that-
 

sweetchaos

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Dali Oberon 1 was measured.
1609187362520.png



Bowers and Wilkins has a few models:
-606 (6.5", not S2 anniversary edition), discontinued now.
-606 (6.5", S2 anniversary edition) available now from vendor
-607 (5", not S2 anniversary edition), discontinued now
-607 (5", S2 anniversary edition) available now from vendor

The first one:
-606 (6.5", not S2 anniversary edition), discontinued now, was measured.
1609187763996.png


Elac DBR62 (reviewed by Amir, of course)
1609187875525.png
 
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dualimas

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Dali Oberon 1 was measured.
View attachment 102117


Bowers and Wilkins has a few models:
-606 (6.5", not S2 anniversary edition), discontinued now.
-606 (6.5", S2 anniversary edition) available now from vendor
-607 (5", not S2 anniversary edition), discontinued now
-607 (5", S2 anniversary edition) available now from vendor

The first one:
-606 (6.5", not S2 anniversary edition), discontinued now, was measured.
View attachment 102122

Elac DBR62 (reviewed by Amir, of course)
View attachment 102123
thank you for the information, but i'm sorry to say that I have no clue what im looking at :(
 
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dualimas

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thank you for the information, but i'm sorry to say that I have no clue what im looking at :(
or rather i don't know what conclusions to draw from these graphs, am completetly new to this , sry
 

sweetchaos

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Multiple conclusions:
1. Purchasing a speaker that Amir hasn't reviewed is more risky, IMO. Even if we have on-axis frequency response, or full spinorama data from other reviewers, it's not exactly a 1:1 comparison with Amir's measurements. In other words, Amir's NFS data provides us with a more accurate picture of the speakers performance, when compared to the same speaker measurements from another reviewer.
So simply based on that, the ELAC DBR62 gets a win.
2. Both Dali and Bowers & Wilkins are showing multiple resonances in the frequency response. What you're going to hear is ringing at those frequencies, and it's not what we want. Even if you could create equalization EQ filters based on the graphs, it might not solve the problem, as the speaker could have directivity problems at those frequencies. But we don't know since we don't have the full spinorama data with directivity index, etc, for those 2 speakers.
3. Both Dali and Bowers & Wilkins will sound bright out of the box, when listening on-axis from tweeter. In other words, their higher frequencies will be boosted by an approx 3dB, which will be noticeable to you. The way to bring it back to neutral, you'll need to apply EQ filters. If this doesnt sound appealing to you, then you'll need to position these 2 speakers out, at an approx 30 deg angle, where the tweeter is facing out from your ears. In other words, you'll need to listen to these speakers facing the room, and not your ears, just to get rid of the brightness, and they will sound more neutral.
4. Elac DBR62 is designed well, as you can tell by looking at Amir's review.
It's on-axis response is neutral, so it will sound good right out of the box, without too much EQing needed.
5. If you do want to tweak the sound character of Elac DBR62, I suggest you try Maiky76's PEQ filters here.
Before EQ Score: 5.68
After EQ Score: 6.44.
6. Distortion and directivity looks good and controlled on the ELAC DBR62 as well, so it's a good choice.

Based on all that, I'd buy the ELAC DBR62 of course.
 
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dualimas

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Multiple conclusions:
1. Purchasing a speaker that Amir hasn't reviewed is more risky, IMO. Even if we have on-axis frequency response, or full spinorama data from other reviewers, it's not exactly a 1:1 comparison with Amir's measurements. In other words, Amir's NFS data provides us with a more accurate picture of the speakers performance, when compared to the same speaker measurements from another reviewer.
So simply based on that, the ELAC DBR62 gets a win.
2. Both Dali and Bowers & Wilkins are showing multiple resonances in the frequency response. What you're going to hear is ringing at those frequencies, and it's not what we want. Even if you could create equalization EQ filters based on the graphs, it might not solve the problem, as the speaker could have directivity problems at those frequencies. But we don't know since we don't have the full spinorama data with directivity index, etc, for those 2 speakers.
3. Both Dali and Bowers & Wilkins will sound bright out of the box, when listening on-axis from tweeter. In other words, their higher frequencies will be boosted by an approx 3dB, which will be noticeable to you. The way to bring it back to neutral, you'll need to apply EQ filters. If this doesnt sound appealing to you, then you'll need to position these 2 speakers out, at an approx 30 deg angle, where the tweeter is facing out from your ears. In other words, you'll need to listen to these speakers facing the room, and not your ears, just to get rid of the brightness, and they will sound more neutral.
4. Elac DBR62 is designed well, as you can tell by looking at Amir's review.
It's on-axis response is neutral, so it will sound good right out of the box, without too much EQing needed.
5. If you do want to tweak the sound character of Elac DBR62, I suggest you try Maiky76's PEQ filters here.
Before EQ Score: 5.68
After EQ Score: 6.44.
6. Distortion and directivity looks good and controlled on the ELAC DBR62 as well, so it's a good choice.

Based on all that, I'd buy the ELAC DBR62 of course.
Thank you Very much!
 

Wes

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Elac can be had from Crutchfield, and IIRC they allow returns.
 
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