Advice with multiple speaker set up

[tamcir]

Hi all,

Just recently found this forum and well impressed with objectivy and all I´ve read thus far, so thought worth joining and seeking advice.

Currently looking for a full new stereo set up. Was initially debating between floor standing speakers, but given I still have young kids at home and that they are a treat, can only realistically set up a system in my office, where I can keep it shut to protect all equipment - that (room size, room layout, etc) means I can possibly only go for standmounters.

Based on around-me advice was considering going for the 805D4, but after having read all on B&Ws, seen the latest non-linear response measurements, etc - feeling less and less I should consider them at all, even though they are still on my list.

I listen mostly to classical, some rock and female vocals. so, after reading much about tonal balances, etc. I started wondering - why dont I go for a double set up of standmounters that complement in different ways and that I can experience depending on what music i´m listening too.

My limitation is that I would only be able to affoard a single pre-amp and amp set up - so the amp would need to have 2x outs (set up A and set up B) so i´m not always exchanging connections.


As for speakers I was thinking a combination of 2 between the following list:
-ProAc Response D2R
-Focal Sopra 1
- Fyne Audio F1.5
- Sonus Faber Olimpica Nova I
- Kef Reference 1
- Marten Oscar Duo
- Magico A1
- B&W 805D4


So - seeking your advice. What are your thoughts? if you could pick two from the above in a way that you could get the best and interchange between the two which ones would you pick / recommend picking?
(also, if thoughts on the pre-amp/amp set up to use in such a way, most welcome)

Regards

 

[sweetchaos]

Focal Sopra 1 (US$10k/pair)
Review:

Focal Sopra N°1 Bookshelf & Center Speaker Review: Looks that Kill!

$10,000 is a lot of dosh for a pair of bookshelf speakers. What if they are among the most finely constructed bookshelf speakers on Earth? Such is the case with Focal's Sopra No1 bookshelf speakers.

www.audioholics.com

Looks neutral and doesnt have much resonances. Overall, excellent.

Kef Reference 1 (US$8k/pair)
Will be excellent, since we have spinorama for Reference 5 and it's one of the best measuring towers so far.

The rest of the speakers, I'm not interested in, since we haven't seen many measurements from those manufacturers yet.
I would pick the Kefs if vertical directivity is important to you (aka if you have multiple rows of seats, or have a large audience, sitting at various vertical planes).
Otherwise, if vertical directivity is less important, Focal Sopra 1 would be my pick, since they look gorgeous and measure neutral as well.

Also, take a look at my 'passive speaker recommendations' thread.
For your US10k/pair budget:
Bookshelves Under US$8000/pair:

	Recommendation	PS	LFX
#1	Kef R3 (Amir) (Erin)	6.5	35
#2	Polk R200	6.3*	42*
#3	Revel M126Be	5.9*	47*
Worthy	Revel M105 (Amir)	5.8	51
Worthy	Revel M106 (Amir)	5.8	46
Worthy	JBL HDI-1600 (Amir)	5.8	38
Worthy	Elac Debut Reference DBR-62 (Amir)	5.8	43
Worthy	Kef LS50 Meta (Amir)	5.7	43
Worthy	Revel M16 (Amir)	5.6	45
Worthy	Perlisten s4b (Erin)	5.4	58
Worthy	Philharmonic BMR (Erin)	5.1	46
Worthy	Revel Ultima2 Gem2	**	**

** No spinorama for Revel Ultima2 Gem2. I'm including it because we have multiple Revel bookshelf speakers (M16, M105, M106, M126Be) spinorama already, so it's not a stretch to imagine these will be good.

Spoiler

LEGEND:

Value	Description
#1	Best rated-speaker in terms of preference score.
#2	2nd best-rated speaker in terms of preference score.
#3	3rd best-rated speaker in terms of preference score.
Worthy	Worthy picks that either Erin or Amir measured and recommended. Plus a few models that weren't measured but still for consideration, since we can predict will be good, based on similar model's measurements.
PS	Preference Score (with no subwoofer added). Value can be negative (for really badly designed speakers) and goes up to a 10 (theoretical limit). Higher is better.
LFX	Low Frequency Extension (in hz). This is the bass output at -6db point. This was computed, not estimated. Lower is better.
*	We have quasi-anechoic spinorama or similar. However, this speaker wasn't measured using Klippel NFS (that Amir and Erin have), so it's resolution is less accurate. Warning: This will artificially boost the preference score higher than if the same speaker was measured using NFS.

 

[tamcir]

Focal Sopra 1 (US$10k/pair)
Review:

Focal Sopra N°1 Bookshelf & Center Speaker Review: Looks that Kill!

$10,000 is a lot of dosh for a pair of bookshelf speakers. What if they are among the most finely constructed bookshelf speakers on Earth? Such is the case with Focal's Sopra No1 bookshelf speakers.

www.audioholics.com

Looks neutral and doesnt have much resonances. Overall, excellent.

Kef Reference 1 (US$8k/pair)
Will be excellent, since we have spinorama for Reference 5 and it's one of the best measuring towers so far.

The rest of the speakers, I'm not interested in, since we haven't seen many measurements from those manufacturers yet.
I would pick the Kefs if vertical directivity is important to you (aka if you have multiple rows of seats, or have a large audience, sitting at various vertical planes).
Otherwise, if vertical directivity is less important, Focal Sopra 1 would be my pick, since they look gorgeous and measure neutral as well.

Also, take a look at my 'passive speaker recommendations' thread.
For your US10k/pair budget:
Bookshelves Under US$8000/pair:

	Recommendation	PS	LFX
#1	Kef R3 (Amir) (Erin)	6.5	35
#2	Polk R200	6.3*	42*
#3	Revel M126Be	5.9*	47*
Worthy	Revel M105 (Amir)	5.8	51
Worthy	Revel M106 (Amir)	5.8	46
Worthy	JBL HDI-1600 (Amir)	5.8	38
Worthy	Elac Debut Reference DBR-62 (Amir)	5.8	43
Worthy	Kef LS50 Meta (Amir)	5.7	43
Worthy	Revel M16 (Amir)	5.6	45
Worthy	Perlisten s4b (Erin)	5.4	58
Worthy	Philharmonic BMR (Erin)	5.1	46
Worthy	Revel Ultima2 Gem2	**	**

** No spinorama for Revel Ultima2 Gem2. I'm including it because we have multiple Revel bookshelf speakers (M16, M105, M106, M126Be) spinorama already, so it's not a stretch to imagine these will be good.

Spoiler

LEGEND:

Value	Description
#1	Best rated-speaker in terms of preference score.
#2	2nd best-rated speaker in terms of preference score.
#3	3rd best-rated speaker in terms of preference score.
Worthy	Worthy picks that either Erin or Amir measured and recommended. Plus a few models that weren't measured but still for consideration, since we can predict will be good, based on similar model's measurements.
PS	Preference Score (with no subwoofer added). Value can be negative (for really badly designed speakers) and goes up to a 10 (theoretical limit). Higher is better.
LFX	Low Frequency Extension (in hz). This is the bass output at -6db point. This was computed, not estimated. Lower is better.
*	We have quasi-anechoic spinorama or similar. However, this speaker wasn't measured using Klippel NFS (that Amir and Erin have), so it's resolution is less accurate. Warning: This will artificially boost the preference score higher than if the same speaker was measured using NFS.

Thank you

Would you think picking two different sets of speakers would complement each other in different ways across different music styles? eg. picking Sopra 1 (flat and accurate) AND Fyne Audio (supposedly fun, not as analytic)

(note - never heard the Fyne Audio ones)

 

[sweetchaos]

You want to purchase 2 sets of speakers depending on the music you play, and keep them next to each other, then switch depending on what you play?

Or are you going to keep them in separate environments/rooms?

 

[MarkS]

Two sets of speakers for different kinds of music is a very expensive tone control.

At $8K/pair, I'd buy Exmachina Pulsars. Active, no amp needed.

Ex Machina Pulsar 3-Way Active Studio Monitor - Pair

3-way active studio monitor offering the perfect blend between near and midfield studio monitors with a single 8” extremely rigid aluminum-silicon alloy sub

vintageking.com

 

[tamcir]

You want to purchase 2 sets of speakers depending on the music you play, and keep them next to each other, then switch depending on what you play?

Or are you going to keep them in separate environments/rooms?

The former was the idea.

I have a long cabinet in front of my desk where I was planning to have all my gear on top. preamp, amp, phono, etc - and the speakers (hence bookshelves / standmounters).
I would have the two sets of speakers on the cabinet side by side and would select each depending on source / mood.

I´m not wedded to the idea, hence seeking advice here as well.



You might tell me (for example) - Sopra 1 and Ref 1 have such similar output curves and off-axis performance that they sound alike, so no bother spending the extra money. Or you might tell me - they play accurately but have different tonal expressions so they play different things differently (not sure if that exists since I guess speakers are supposed to play sine or triangle etc waves).
Not sure if very clear, but I guess that´s also what im trying to get at

 

[tamcir]

Two sets of speakers for different kinds of music is a very expensive tone control.

At $8K/pair, I'd buy Exmachina Pulsars. Active, no amp needed.

Ex Machina Pulsar 3-Way Active Studio Monitor - Pair

3-way active studio monitor offering the perfect blend between near and midfield studio monitors with a single 8” extremely rigid aluminum-silicon alloy sub

vintageking.com

Thank you Marks - I have to admit had never heard of ex machina and wasnt even considering active speakers
Will have a look

 

[lowkeyoperations]

The idea isn’t completely crazy insofar as it’s pretty common in recording/mixing studios.

Mix engineers often have a pair of smaller nearfield monitors and a bigger pair of midfields and if they are really luck a huge pair of soffit mounted monitors aswell. But it’s more rare to have two pairs of speakers that are the same size.

So if you were going to give it a go, then I’d suggest getting a bit of variation in the two sets of speakers. Eg one pair being coaxial. Or a pair of 2 ways and a pair of 3 ways. Or a full range monitor with no crossover.

Having two pairs of similar sized speakers seems like it would be less ‘fun’ than just combining the budget in to one really great pair.

If you want two slightly different presentations you could always just get one pair of speakers and a sub (or two). Turning the subs on or off would give you a change depending on the music and would also give you a good option for late night listening.

 

[tamcir]

The idea isn’t completely crazy insofar as it’s pretty common in recording/mixing studios.

Mix engineers often have a pair of smaller nearfield monitors and a bigger pair of midfields and if they are really luck a huge pair of soffit mounted monitors aswell. But it’s more rare to have two pairs of speakers that are the same size.

So if you were going to give it a go, then I’d suggest getting a bit of variation in the two sets of speakers. Eg one pair being coaxial. Or a pair of 2 ways and a pair of 3 ways. Or a full range monitor with no crossover.

Having two pairs of similar sized speakers seems like it would be less ‘fun’ than just combining the budget in to one really great pair.

If you want two slightly different presentations you could always just get one pair of speakers and a sub (or two). Turning the subs on or off would give you a change depending on the music and would also give you a good option for late night listening.

thank you. I hear your point, but given my room size (25sqm / 270sqf) i think I could really only use bookshelves.
But I agree with your point on different constructs - hence my throwing the Fyne audios in there.. now.. i have never heard them and i cant find proper measurements of them anywhere

Another view was mixing cone vs. dome vs. ribbon (hence my throwing of the ProAcs in tere as well)