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(active?) Speaker advice

Ultrasonic

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abdo123

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Not saying you're wrong but have you heard both?

I haven't listened to the Edifier but the Kali can play loud without any mechanical noise or resonances, no squeaks buzzes or fuzzes. I think for a ~400 euro speaker that's an unbelievable feat.

Also the coincidental drivers and coaxial design will reward you for listening off-axis (a bit) which is basically always the case when you're watching TV and 'chilling'.

not to mention that the Kali have very little vertical dispersion beyond 45 degrees above 2KHz so placing them on a desk would not be the most terrible idea.
 

JaccoW

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Where are you located?
From what I've read if your LG tv has a magic remote you can teach the remote to send the signal of the speakers. It's called 'Universal Control'.

Meaning, you can pick and choose whatever active speakers you want, as long as they can be controlled by remote and have an auto-on/off function.

That's what I've read in (Dutch) discussions about the Argon Audio Forte A5 at least. (lower price but one that I have been looking at here)
Dual toslink optical, bluetooth, phono input and another coax.
 
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Dion93

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Where are you located?
From what I've read if your LG tv has a magic remote you can teach the remote to send the signal of the speakers. It's called 'Universal Control'.

Meaning, you can pick and choose whatever active speakers you want, as long as they can be controlled by remote and have an auto-on/off function.
Im from netherlands, and yes i have the magic remote, and im quite sure its able to teach a lot of other devices how to control it, im not exactly sure which it can and which it cant control.
 

abdo123

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Where are you located?
From what I've read if your LG tv has a magic remote you can teach the remote to send the signal of the speakers. It's called 'Universal Control'.

Meaning, you can pick and choose whatever active speakers you want, as long as they can be controlled by remote and have an auto-on/off function.

That's what I've read in (Dutch) discussions about the Argon Audio Forte A5 at least. (lower price but one that I have been looking at here)
The universal control in my experience is very dependent on the HDMI protocol, outside of using HDMI your experience will vary greatly.
 

Rji123

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It's interesting they've added that option back in. My gut reaction has always been to distrust the quality of headphone outputs and have always used Toslink outputs from TVs for as long as I can remember. I can't say I've ever tried a headphone output on a TV though.
C9 does have headphone out. Top left on the rear panel cutout.

No idea if it can drive demanding headphones but should be fine to generate line level to go into some active speakers?

One less remote is a win in my book.
 

Pluto

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I'm looking for (my first pair of) speakers for my LG Oled CX tv

How do you intend connecting your eventual speaker of choice to the TV?

IME you would be far better off using the TV's digital optical output compared to any analog output typically available on TVs. You would then, of course, need either a suitable DAC or speakers that support a digital input.
 

Oukkidoukki

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You need a sub so u can adjust some oomph to movies.....that way u can control bass better and make it right to the small room. Toslink to balanced dac from tv. Dac with remote to control volume. Smsl su8 or similar. Xlr cables to sub and from there xlr cables to pair of monitors. Neumann/genelc is a great choice for monitors. Can go cheaper with adam...5inch bass is enough....bass comes from sub.
 
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Dion93

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How do you intend connecting your eventual speaker of choice to the TV?
Well, preferably with whats available on the speaker and my tv. But if you guys think a Dac will be better quality wise, thats okay.

@Oukkidoukki I barely watch movies, so preferably get some good speakers with decent bass output, i think. Think my neighbours will appreciate that either.
 
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Ultrasonic

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C9 does have headphone out. Top left on the rear panel cutout.

So it does :). It's such an incovenient place for anyone to have put headphone socket that I'd forgotten it was there! I had a look at the side before I posted earlier, which would have been a distinctly more logical place for one.
 

Oukkidoukki

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U keep it very quiet, just a hint body to the sound.....with stereo set up there will be too much or too little bass depending how big is your bass cabinet.........never good.........with sub you can adjust
 

Ultrasonic

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I haven't listened to the Edifier but the Kali can play loud without any mechanical noise or resonances, no squeaks buzzes or fuzzes.

Just on this point I'll say that this seems to be something you're particularly sensitive to, as the sort of issues you're referring to are rarely highlighted by most people for any speaker. Possibly you like to listen VERY loud? Out of curiosity I did just try running the S3000 Pros I currently have set up at a volume louder than was comfortable and it wasn't a case of there being any immediately obvious issue to me, and I very much doubt that the OP would notice one either. I'm not in any way suggesting that distortion doesn't increase as I know it definitey does (measurably so), but I doubt most people would go 'oh, what a distracting squek/buzz' if they heard them.
 
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Dion93

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Thanks all, think I'll just get the edifiers. Its a daily deal also i just noticed, usually its around €650, i've seen on a pricewatch.

Will listen for if i need a sub later.

Thanks a lot!
 

Pluto

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If you guys think a Dac will be better quality wise, thats okay

I certainly do, for several reasons.
  • the fundamental quality will probably be better than any converter internal to the TV
  • It will give you the flexibility, should you wish, to play additional digital sources through the speakers
  • Buy a DAC with a remote and that solves the volume control problem
  • One of these (unbalanced) or these (balanced) is likely to be perfect
If you are not too serious about wanting speakers with audiophile credibility but are merely after decent sound, you might care to check out these, the best value-for-money speakers currently available, IMHO!
 

abdo123

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Just on this point I'll say that this seems to be something you're particularly sensitive to, as the sort of issues you're referring to are rarely highlighted by most people for any speaker. Possibly you like to listen VERY loud? Out of curiosity I did just try running the S3000 Pros I currently have set up at a volume louder than was comfortable and it wasn't a case of there being any immediately obvious issue to me, and I very much doubt that the OP would notice one either. I'm not in any way suggesting that distortion doesn't increase as I know it definitey does (measurably so), but I doubt most people would go 'oh, what a distracting squek/buzz' if they heard them.

I'm not really suggesting that the OP should save money to buy the Revel F328Be I'm just saying that within his budget the Kalis are the superior option.

I think my suggestion (putting Dynamic range above frequency response linearity) is very reasonable. will he be able to tell that the Neumann KH80 is slightly more linear? Perhaps.

Will the KH80 buzzing and shaking when 'you turn it up' be a deal breaker? Absolutely.

One can make an argument for the Neumann KH120 which is one of my favorite speakers, but that speaker is 200 euros above his budget and i still think the coaxial design will be better in a scenario where your head is not perfectly still on a chair.
 
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Dion93

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I certainly do, for several reasons.
  • the fundamental quality will probably be better than any converter internal to the TV
  • It will give you the flexibility, should you wish, to play additional digital sources through the speakers
  • Buy a DAC with a remote and that solves the volume control problem
  • One of these (unbalanced) or these (balanced) is likely to be perfect
If you are not too serious about wanting speakers with audiophile credibility but are merely after decent sound, you might care to check out these, the best value-for-money speakers currently available, IMHO!
Those speakers arent available in netherlands. And they wont be much cheaper if I have to ship them to netherlands from the UK, because of import taxes etc.
Thanks though.
 

Ultrasonic

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I'm not really suggesting that the OP should save money to buy the Revel F328Be I'm just saying that within his budget the Kalis are the superior option.

And I strongly suspect you're right in pure performance terms but I spefically just responded to your point in relation to distortion at higher levels on the Edifier S3000 Pros, which on specs alone I'm confident are going to do better than the KH80s you brought up for some reason.

@Dion93 have you placed an order yet or is it worth us continuing to discuss this?
 
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Dion93

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And I strongly suspect you're right in pure performance terms but I spefically just responded to your point in relation to distortion at higher levels on the Edifier S3000 Pros, which on specs alone I'm confident are going to do better than the KH80s you brought up for some reason.

@Dion93 have you placed an order yet or is it worth us continuing to discuss this?
Havent ordered yet.
Noticed they have the edifier's s2000 mkIII also for €300. Worth considering instead or nah?

Edit: think its a Nah. We're usually able to get the 2000's for €350.
The lower bass on the 3000 seems nice for me also.

1 more thing: good speaker stands for the 3000's. Any suggestions anyone? The originals are €130, which seems fine to me, as long they arent bad.
 
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Ultrasonic

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Havent ordered yet.
Noticed they have the edifier's s2000 mkIII also for €300. Worth considering instead or nah?

I only have personal experience of the S3000 Pros, but on specs alone these are definitey more capable than the cheaper model. The S3000 Pro has a larger bass driver and so can go louder and the lowest bass frequencies than can be played are lower frequency. One other difference which you may view as a pro or a con is that with the S2000 Pro there is a cable that runs direct from the right speaker to the left which carries both power and the audio signal. With the S3000 Pro the audio signals are sent wirelessly between the speakers but the left speaker has a mains lead that needs to be plugged in.

I do think the Kalis are probably better speakers than the S3000 Pros and I'd be very interested to hear these for myself. I've just been trying to give you a balanced view, as I appreciate different people have different priorities and ideas on how much to spend.

If you're just used to the speakers in TVs themselves then any of the options being discussed will sound amazing to you by comparison. On the subwoofer front, if you want to maximise movie enjoyment, and if you don't have neighbours to worry about, then getting an AV amp and a setup that inludes a sub will undoubtedly give a better experience. I use a subwoofer myself for both music and movies.
 
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