Complicated question about Bookshelf's for up to $200

[marius_ss]

Hi everyone !! I have little time and decide that this is one of perfect place to ask some complex questions !! I'm a fan of Hi Quality music but as always it's a subjective question where this quality starts ! For me quality is more a FLAC /APE/ALAC etc + Stereo Audio Receiver (preferable with DAC) + 2.1 audio up to max $300 BUT not ziliards $$$$ rooms and systems ...
At the moment I have AV-SR SA-GX505 because I love 90's receivers design + all in one ! But i decided to have some extra units and I got CA azur 351A and few months ago I also got Yamaha A-U670 which I using since. Sound impressive with my cheap Yamaha NS-BP182 which are far from audiophile standard but personally for me are impressive.
So I decide to buy one or two pair of speakers for each AR. and want to make sure my old knowledges are still correct maybe i'm wrong in something !!
Q-1 Are closed book self's compare with opened one better for vocals /piano music and acoustic guitar music !??? If I'm not wrong closed speakers have weak low frequencies and range from high Hz over 70 and up to over 20Khz
Q-2 Is there a way to understand from specs which speakers will be better for Vocals, piano music and acoustic guitar music ?

 

[DVDdoug]

Other than tone controls/EQ the electronics don't have much effect on "sound quality". Of course you need enough amplifier power to go as loud as you want with your particular speakers (without burning them out, of course). Most of the sound quality/character comes from speakers (or headphones).

If possible, I recommend going to an audio-video store just to listen to a variety of speakers and educate yourself about how different speakers can sound. (They will sound different in your home but it's still educational if you haven't heard lots of different speakers.)

Q-1 Are closed book self's compare with opened one better for vocals /piano music and acoustic guitar music !??? If I'm not wrong closed speakers have weak low frequencies and range from high Hz over 70 and up to over 20Khz

You can make a good speaker either way. There compromises in every speaker design. It's best to listen or check the measurements (don't trust the manufacturer's specs) rather than checking whether it's sealed or ported. Generally, a ported design can be made to put-out deeper bass but of course not every ported speaker has better bass than every closed speaker. And the box only affects the bass. The tweeter (and midrange in a 3-way) will have a closed back or otherwise be isolated from the cabinet. Over about 100Hz the box doesn't have much effect on the bass either.

Size makes a difference too (especially woofer size), But again the bigger speaker isn't always better and it doesn't always have more bass or deeper bass.

With active speakers (and most subwoofers are active) EQ is often built-in to smooth-correct frequency response, including extending the bass. EQ tends to work best with sealed boxes and it's common for "small" subwoofers to be sealed with EQ and lots of amplifier power to extend the bass. With a ported speaker, boosting below the "tuning frequency" doesn't usually work as well... The woofer ends-up flopping around at low frequencies without putting-out much sound.

Q-2 Is there a way to understand from specs which speakers will be better for Vocals, piano music and acoustic guitar music ?

That kind of music doesn't have a lot of deep bass (like bass you can feel in your body) or high-highs (like you get from horns & cymbals). But it's also "dynamic" not not "dense" like an amplified rock band. So it can require bigger amplifiers and bigger speakers to put-out "realistic" sound levels. A live piano doesn't sound particularly "loud" but it does put-out quite a bit of sound.

Also - With a limited budget you might consider adding a pair of headphones at some point. With headphones there is almost no correlation between price and sound quality and you can get excellent sound for a couple hundred dollars. (You can sort the reviews here by price or "recommended".) Headphones are a "different experience" and personally, I mostly prefer speakers in a room but it can be nice to occasionally have a super-fidelity option.

 

[Joe Smith]

Pretty hard to make generalizations about the questions you have asked. In general, for vocals and piano, you want speakers that have good midrange frequency response, which you can see on the graphs that Amir and others provide in reviews.

The biggest issue with closed versus ported two-way speakers is placement. If the speakers have backside bass ports, placement relative to walls is especially important. Ported speakers in general probably can provide lower bass than closed designs. But we're talking frequencies below 200 hz in that regard.

 

[Joe Smith]

Good inexpensive small speakers with good bass & midrange would include current offerings from KEF, ELAC, Wharfedale, among many others. That's in the passive-speaker world, of course. I think the ELAC Debut line in general punches above it's weight. Wharfedale has just updated its Diamond series, getting good reviews, these compete directly with the ELAC Debut series and the lower-cost KEFs.

 

[Yoshiji927]

Hi everyone !! I have little time and decide that this is one of perfect place to ask some complex questions !! I'm a fan of Hi Quality music but as always it's a subjective question where this quality starts ! For me quality is more a FLAC /APE/ALAC etc + Stereo Audio Receiver (preferable with DAC) + 2.1 audio up to max $300 BUT not ziliards $$$$ rooms and systems ...
At the moment I have AV-SR SA-GX505 because I love 90's receivers design + all in one ! But i decided to have some extra units and I got CA azur 351A and few months ago I also got Yamaha A-U670 which I using since. Sound impressive with my cheap Yamaha NS-BP182 which are far from audiophile standard but personally for me are impressive.
So I decide to buy one or two pair of speakers for each AR. and want to make sure my old knowledges are still correct maybe i'm wrong in something !!
Q-1 Are closed book self's compare with opened one better for vocals /piano music and acoustic guitar music !??? If I'm not wrong closed speakers have weak low frequencies and range from high Hz over 70 and up to over 20Khz
Q-2 Is there a way to understand from specs which speakers will be better for Vocals, piano music and acoustic guitar music ?

Closed bookshelf speakers are not really better for vocals or piano by default. They usually have tighter bass but less low-end compared to ported ones, so placement and room size matter a lot. From specs alone, it is hard to judge vocals quality, but looking at a smooth midrange response, good sensitivity, and low distortion helps. Your Yamaha NS-BP182 are decent for the price, but upgrading to a neutral bookshelf with a good midrange will bring more clarity for vocals and acoustic instruments on both amps.

 

[Joe Smith]

I should add - if your limit is really $200, that is a bit restrictive to step up from your Yamahas. Unless you get a used pair or a Black Friday type deal. The ones I mentioned above are all in the $350 - 550 range.

Older speakers I like are Polk, older KEF, Paradigm, PSB, and of course, ADS.

Room placement is key, even as basic as using speaker stands and creating a good listening triangle for best soundstage...

 

[Doenerkunde]

Are closed book self's compare with opened one better for vocals /piano music and acoustic guitar music !???

I just want to add that neither piano, nor acoustic guitars seem to be particulary demanding for loudspeakers. It intuitively seems that way, because one could assume, that the "reduced character" of such music material makes any flaws of the loudspeakers obvious. But there is some evidence pointing to the opposite: More complex "crowded/overloaded" material like orchestral music or Pop-Rock in which "more stuff goes on simultaneously" and a broad frequency spectrum is used seems to be more demanding.

Source: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...sic-tracks-for-speaker-and-room-eq-testing.6/

(I hope to have gotten my point across, I'm not a native speaker, it's late and I had some trouble putting the sentences together. )

EDIT: Found this for the Yamaha NS BP182:

 

[marius_ss]

Also - With a limited budget you might consider adding a pair of headphones at some point.

I have Audio Technica M50 for me at this point is enough !!

can get excellent sound for a couple hundred dollars.

I'm afraid I wasn't clear about my views on audio equipment or you did not read careful !!?? There is no way I would spend few hundreds on headphones !!

and educate yourself about how different speakers can sound.

??!! I guess you overestimating yourself and underestimating people too much !

 

[MAB]

I'm afraid I wasn't clear about my views on audio equipment or you did not read careful !!?? There is no way I would spend few hundreds on headphones !!

??!! I guess you overestimating yourself and underestimating people too much !

Strange and offensive responses to someone who is trying to answer your questions and help you out.

 

[marius_ss]

small speakers with good bass & midrange would

Sorry if I do not made myself clear I meant that I want to find book shelf's with NOT powerful bass ! I use it in 2.1 and subwoofer is more important in my view than 2.0 bass book shelf's correct me if i'm wrong ! I use Infinity Sub for bass this is why I want speakers which less focused on bass !

 

[marius_ss]

Strange and offensive responses to someone who is trying to answer your questions and help you out.

I apologise if i understand him in the wrong way but when you see thighs not related to my question and words like "educate yourself" I see this not as a help !

 

[marius_ss]

They usually have tighter bass but less low-end compared to ported ones,

this is exactly what I want when using with Sub.

good midrange will bring more clarity for vocals and acoustic instruments

this is what I want to be able to understand on specs / spl graph !! of course I would like to listen but taking in consideration my budget I don't see it necessary just to choose best from the worst !! If I'm ok With my Yamaha then some of them little better will be perfect !! I'm not audiophile and not looking for many hundreds or thousands !!

 

[MAB]

I apologise if i understand him in the wrong way but when you see thighs not related to my question and words like "educate yourself" I see this not as a help !

Apologize to @DVDdoug , not to me. I encourage you to do this directly now.

He was encouraging you to explore, you didn't read the what he wrote and just decided to trigger yourself over two words that you take out of context.

 

[marius_ss]

used pair

I can have but only if they are in very good conditions ! but this is a rare thing!

 

[marius_ss]

Room placement is key

Small room, speakers are in front of me max 1m away, ! and in any future situation I will not intend to use them for big rooms !