Advice and thoughts sought for room, speaker, system matching...

[andreasmaaan]

Sounds right. If you can tune out this bit of "grain" in the low treble/upper midrange, the speakers image easily and throw a big, tall, immersive soundstage, and even though they only go down to 50 Hz or so, the slow 6 dB/octave roll-off and sealed design makes what bass there is fast and satisfying. If I had the electronics skills, it would be an interesting project to update the drivers and construct an active digital crossover.

Whether it was anything to do with the crossover slopes or the fact that the boxes were sealed (I suspect it's more due to very meticulous design and heavy, rigid construction, personally), I found the bass on the SC-IVs to be really excellent.

 

[neph]

It's equally likely that any distortion you may be hearing is a result of the 1st-order crossover asking the tweeter to reproduce lower frequencies at higher amplitudes than it can comfortably reproduce them, as opposed to any inherent deficiencies in the tweeter itself.

All dunlavys, even the SCVI 530lbs behemoth, used the old Vifa D27TG35-06 tweeter. For what it worth (it was actually quite cheap) it good frequency response, good impulse and more importantly very smooth roll off that was a basic requirement for the minimum phase design and time alignment. The units had also so good power handling. I hear no lack of refinement in highs with my SC-IIs although i rarely exceed 75 db.

Dunlavy was also a physicist with a serious background in the RF field. He patented an antenna for the US army and later taught in universities. You would be very pressed to find better measuring speakers than Dunlavys during their time. I would not dismiss him as merely an engineer and not a physicist.

Back on topic, i wouldn't recommend such (or any) old speaker to the OP due to the vulnerability of the old Vifa units. My active speaker proposals from mainstream companies are:

1) Neumann KH 310, Price: 4k (Measurements here: https://en-de.neumann.com/product_files/1719/download, i hope i am not breaking any rules with this)
2) Genelec 8351, Price: 5.5k (Measurements here: https://en-de.neumann.com/product_files/1719/download)
3) Dynaudio core 59, Price: 6k (these are quite new so no measurements)

 

[ScofieldKid]

1. PMC twenty 21
2. Paradigm Reference Studio 40
3. KEF LS50

 

[feynman]

So, uh, more than two years later I am still paralyzed by this and have done next to nothing. Can’t you just tell me what to buy so I can stop slowly going mad?

I have a nicely calibrated computer desk with some 8030s and the inexpensive rhythmik sub, and it’s wonderful. I moved and set it all up in this room to see how it would fare, and it‘s just not ‘enough.’ SQ is great, but the big picture is too small (how’s that for meaningless words?). They aren’t designed for those distances so it’s no surprise - I was just curious as to how well it would work or not.

I will stream all of my music, and run a guitar modeler through whatever I get. I wouldn’t say I am extremely picky but would like to make the best of this that I can for this room. Anything pictured can be rearranged or removed.

Would larger Genelecs or something like the kh310 envelop the listening couch? I don’t listen too loudly…but….I dunno…help? I’m happy with a fully active system and my cheap pi running mo0de, or a chromecast audio…. I’ve gotten decent with REW and the UMIK, but lack experience with sub integration.

in any case…I’ve read all the threads and reviews and … I’m overwhelmed with choices. I’m certainly overthinking it.

I feel like a couple of active monitors and a sub or two and a minidsp is probably the right direction, but I don’t want to go too small or too big with the monitors…and I’m rambling again. Good looking equipment is important too, of course.

Apologies in advance. And thank you.

 

[FrantzM]

I haven’t read your entire thread so, apologies if I am asking questions previously answered.
How big is your room?
If it is medium sized , I would recommend a pair of SVS PB 1000 Pro as a system starter/anchor and one pair of any of those speakers :
JBL 708 or
Neumann KH310A or
Genelec 8351B

You may need something like a miniDSP 2x4 to integrate smoothly the subs, then… Heaven

Happy Holidays

 

[feynman]

Good morning all,

I'd love to hear any of your thoughts on my current situation. I do tend to go on for too long about things, but I'll try to make this concise.

I'm in a new home and have decided it's time for a proper modern audio system, from scratch.

I am constrained of course by the limitations of my spot, and paralyzed by over-analysis as to how best approach this.

The files I've attached should give a clear idea of what I'm up against, and for the most part the objects in the photos will need to remain where they are. I can make slight adjustments if you have any clever ideas, but I can't remove the bookshelf or piano (well, I could perhaps ditch the bookshelf...hmmm).

I'm attracted to a variety of speaker systems but worry a bit about buying too much or incorrectly for the room I'm in.

General criteria:

• Full-range accurate reproduction at proper listening levels (not overly loud, not too quiet) - subjective and mostly unhelpful I know
• Sources to be all in the digital domain (NAS media server, streaming...a topic for another thread down the road)
• Active, passive, horns, lasers...open to most anything
• Quality of imaging and sweetspotting selfishly centered on the sofa, and me (the rest of my family can listen to their mediocre music on the other system)
• Musical tastes are primarily smaller scale classical, with powerful solo piano requirements, plus most every other kind of music
• Budget TBD...but let's start with a 'system' ballpark of $5K, with some flexibility. Lower is better, and I love used gear. Budget can be increased if worthwhile.

So, that's me being concise. Apologies.

In short, I'd love to hear most anything you'd care to say about the room, the system, the irrationality of the human condition, what to do about those ugly curtains, etc. I don't think I can handle much more of what the other audio forums tend to dispense, so I'm here.

Thanks in advance!

-mitch


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Thank you for the reply. I guess I should have made it easier to dig up a years old post. There some photos and details in the first entry. Hopefully this quoted version works.

I think from your response that I am on the right track at least. My budget won’t reach The Ones, but I suspect I’d be happy with a lesser but similar older model. Aesthetically I like the Genelec look, and I love my 8030s, so I think I may have a bias toward a G product. I just don’t want to undersize them, and the space could use some eq help for sure.

in any case, thanks for the input. I seem to be incapable of a decision.

 

[Katji]

I haven’t read your entire thread so, apologies if I am asking questions previously answered.

[...]

I thought I'd seen you reply before so I checked. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...room-speaker-system-matching.7597/post-178243 (Not that I expect you to remember. Sometimes I'm surprised to find a reply I did a year or two before.)

 

[FrantzM]

I thought I'd seen you reply before so I checked. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...room-speaker-system-matching.7597/post-178243 (Not that I expect you to remember. Sometimes I'm surprised to find a reply I did a year or two before.)

 

[feynman]

Thank you again! I asume the advice still stands then. I do appreciate the replies, especially since I am all over the map with my thoughts.