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CSS Criton 1TD-X Kit Speaker Review
- Thread starter amirm
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What a nice reply, thank you. To a certain degree, I am just interested in sound quality. I'm an engineer, EE, and I certainly don't believe better AC cables or pricier hdmi cables results in better sound. My 90 dB SNR capable Denon 4400, at the levels I play music, provides all the power and clarity I need. The included heos app provides beautiful noise free streaming using Spotify, and with recently obtained Google fiber, at a resolution I'm not sure my hearing can improve on. I do think prior to the addition of the fiber, Spotify did throttle some music and I've heard a difference. This of course is subjective but...I recently streamed a piece of music on Spotify and even with fiber, immediately perceived a difference in the streamed vs CD I owned. I immediately played the CD to confirm. Maybe Spotify used an inferior copy but there was a clear difference in this case.There are two schools of thought in audio. One wants to hear exactly what is on the recording, warts and all. To them, accuracy is "better". The other wants to hear something attractive. To them, the more attractive the sound is, the better it is. It's the old "Kodachrome effect". These listeners don't care much about accuracy.
Generally speaking, the quest for accuracy can end when the faults of the reproduction process fall below the threshold of your hearing. Beyond that threshold, differences exist, but they are not perceptible. No rabbit hole; you're done. You're home and you can sit back and enjoy whatever music you wish.
But the other camp - the camp that bases their satisfaction on attractiveness - usually has a hard row to hoe. In the first place, what a person considers attractive can change year to year, season to season .... or even day to day. A listener's moods can change, and change dramatically.
If a satisfactory system is found and then a move is necessary, the sound might be very unsatisfactory in the new location.
Not only that, but boredom can set in and cause dissatisfaction. Con artists and snake-oil salesmen take advantage of that, and purchases may never end, proceeding one to the other to the other throughout a person's lifetime.
All this because "attractive" has no definition, no rock-solid center of comparison. It's ephemeral.
So if you go down that rabbit hole, then there is (perhaps) no end.
For your sake, I hope you mean "better" in the first sense, not the second.
Jim
Onward through the fog.
What arcane internet connection did you have that was incapable of streaming 320 Kbps? Even the most lousy DSL will give you at least a few Mbps…
I had ATT but with 3 tvs sometimes streaming etc, we could drop to less than 10 MBYTES or lower. Internet surfing crawled. But remember I stated "I think". I'm sure I'm as prone to imagined improvements as the next guy.
80 MBps can still cary about 250 highest quality Spotify songs in parallel
. Even at 10 MBps it would be about 30…My professional experience was in power, distribution and generation, and some instrumentation and controls. I am not a digital expert by any means but I think you are oversimplifing what takes place. I was dealing strictly in wifi and by your logic I could connect 80 devices and stream away---I don't think so. My Google mesh sees a drop in overall speed if I turn a TV on and more than the theoretical download speed of this one item. I believe Google says 15 connected devices is OK. I was running a speed test on the wifi mesh with my tablet and decided to see if the phone was seeing the same speed at the same time. It wouldn't run at all, much less the same speed. Wifi speeds drop due to a slew of reasons--distance, walls, connected devices. Google even mentions avoiding aquariums. But, like I said, I'm no expert.80 MBps can still cary about 250 highest quality Spotify songs in parallel
Obviously I’m oversimplifying things, however a 320 Kbps stream hasn’t been a problem for quite a while, even in 4G networks and some 3G as well.
Whatever WiFi hell Google put you in after the internet enters your home, isn’t really what I talked about.
I also doudbt you had half a dozen streams running at once at any point in time. Plenty for even the most sucky WiFi to handle just fine.
Sure, water is an excellent absorber of Wifi signals. That’s why a microwave works at 2.4 GHz.
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I want to build a pair of TD-Xs so I've got a friends' pair at my home for evaluation.
Found them quite bass-heavy so I took them to another friend with the same amp (Atoll IN100 Signature), only to get absolutely the same result.
Is it possible that the amp-speaker synergy goves such a result in different rooms?
The Atoll is otherwise very dynamic and quite lively at the top, and not bass-heavy with other speakers, so I'm a bit puzzled, especially since a lot of folks here and on YT are highly praising these speakers.
badspeakerdesigner
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Why did you think amps would help? They rarely have any audible deviations from neutrality. If they're bassy just use EQ and turn down the bass.
I thought there was something wrong with my listening room and the amp, so I moved the speakers to another space, but result is the same.
There are no tone controls on my amp and my streamer doesn't have an eq.
I'm not planning on buying an equaliser. I'll just find speakers better suited to my taste and situation.
maty
Major Contributor
If you use a good software player as JRiver MC 64 bits you can cut the low frequency.
My modded KEF Q100 coaxial officialy 49 Hz at -3 dB. The bass-reflex is a wrong design (ASR review) -> better sound with it closed. I enhance the lost bass with the parametric equalizer (the one from JRMC is very complete).
Since it cannot reproduce low frequencies, I relieve the amplifier by preventing them from reaching it -> better sound again.
My modded KEF Q100 coaxial officialy 49 Hz at -3 dB. The bass-reflex is a wrong design (ASR review) -> better sound with it closed. I enhance the lost bass with the parametric equalizer (the one from JRMC is very complete).
Since it cannot reproduce low frequencies, I relieve the amplifier by preventing them from reaching it -> better sound again.
maty
Major Contributor
7" woofer and rear bass-reflex -> they need "large" room and stay away from walls.
Close to walls: I would try with closed bass-reflex.
Close to walls: I would try with closed bass-reflex.
What would be regarded as a "large" room?7" woofer and rear bass-reflex -> they need "large" room and stay away from walls.
Close to walls: I would try with closed bass-reflex.
At least, large enough for the 1TD-Xs?
Not sure exactly why u are hearing this. I have the 2td-x and don't feel this way. I do have some acostic treatment in my room.
Thank you
That is actually what I was looking for here - somebody else's impression of these speakers.
I presume it's a combination of my room and my amp that results in this excessive bass response
badspeakerdesigner
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Classic audiophool running in circles solution there. Instead of using a cheap solution like EQ to fix what is probably a room problem, you want to spend more on different speakers, and then likely just run into the same problem.
EQ can be implemented in various ways without hardware, just do that and save yourself money.
You haven't shared any info about your setup, room size, placement.
You are probably right, but I need to say that I don't experience a bass issue with my present setup, consisting of:
- Atoll IN100 Signature amp
- Innuos Pulse Mini streamer
- QA 3020i speakers (which I wanted to upgrade)
My room is 5 x 3,5 x 2,7 meters, with an opening towards the kitchen (on the right hand side, from my seating position).
QA speakers are inside a wall unit, along the long wall, 2,5 meters apart from each other and 3 meters from the seating position.
CSS speakers were placed on 62cm Atacama stands, 2,5 meters apart from each other, placed directly in front of the wall unit.
I am really curious about the EQ solutions you've had in mind.
Thanks
badspeakerdesigner
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The 3020 have less bass, both these speakers are reviewed here. The 3020 start to roll off at like 160hz, while the Criton roll off at ~70hz, one just has way more bass output. Since you have them placed near the front wall you're getting boundary gain from the wall.
I'm affraid I don't have any other option in my room at the moment.
Regarding the boundary gain and speaker roll-offs, I know that - that was one more reason I was curious if there was a solution for my present room situation, which wouldn't be too expensive. Or if some new speakers would do the trick
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