Nicolas_
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- Dec 31, 2023
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Happy New Year to everyone !
This is my first post, I've spent the best part of this week going deep down a few rabbit holes, and mining this forum for info, I can now hopefully ask my questions in not too shambolic a manner
I am planning the set up for my new house, which will be completed in a few months.
I'll listen to music only - no home theatre - in a quite large living room.
I've added a screenshot of the 3D rendering below.
The loft-style room itself is ~8x13 meters, comprising of lounge/dining area/kitchen, with 3.4m high ceilings. The long sides are glass sliding doors.
The speakers will be placed on each side of the wood fireplace. Floorstanders in front of the ledge would make moving around quite awkward, not to mention the fire hazard, so I've opted for bookshelf speakers, which can sit on top of the ledge (60cm high). They can sit there without stands, as they should be very close to ear level for people sitting opposite on the sofa. As the ledge is only 60cm deep, maybe a front ported or sealed design would be better?
Listening distance, if seated right in front, is about 4 meters.
I might complement the bookshelves with a subwoofer, depending on bookshelf range, budget… mood .
I’m looking for loudspeakers that can provide a wide enough soundstage/horizontal dispersion (are they equivalent?) so that as many positions on the sofa as possible benefit from a good sound. BRM/ribbon/horn tweeter to be prefered? Ideally, and optimistically, I would also like to experience good quality casual listening from the dining/working table further back, or even from the kitchen, while cooking, at the other end of the room, although I’m not holding my breath for such a level of performance at my set budget (<2000€, sourced from Europe, new or second hand). In any case, it’s a detached house, I can push the volume as high as I want (but in general I listen at “normal”, not “party” levels).
Other qualities I would appreciate are detail and imaging - well, as much of it as I can get for that money.
I listen to all sorts of genres, but mostly electronic music and jazz.
Sources are digital (streaming, web radio, local files).
First way I thought of going was with powered/active speakers - to minimize clutter (cables, boxes) and also to benefit from the optimal integration of amp and speakers.
If I had to choose both amp and passive speakers from scratch, I know I’d be overwhelmed by the infinity of pairings and price points, and get lost in never ending ruminations.
In this case I think the best choice would be the Klipsch Nines. I’m unsure the alternatives I considered - Kef LS50 Wireless II, Q Concept Active 200, SVS Prime Wireless Pro (these ones need to be extra good above the others because I don’t like their look) - could “fill the room”.
With the Nines, I just need a WiiM Mini (and maybe a sub) and I should be good to go.
I also looked at the Acoustic Energy AE1 Active, which are commended for their dynamic range and imaging (if I got that right ), but then I need a streamer/DAC, with a subwoofer out, which is a little restrictive.
Options considered for that, and for which I want to spend as little as possible, are the Arylic S50 Pro+ (currently on sale at $150), or something like the SMSL D-6s/Su-8/M200/Topping DX5 ($200-300).
Plus, probably, a sub.
I just wonder if the Arylic’s DAC (ESS 9023 chip) might be the weak link in that setup, and hold back the full expression of the AE1’s qualities. I’m also not so sure about their UI.
There are also a lot of seemingly attractive powered monitor (with analog feed) options (with coaxial designs?), but I can’t figure out whether they’re only suited for nearfield listening. That being said, their usually plasticky, drab looks are not ideal for a living room, I think
The third way, which for some reason only struck me yesterday, is to recycle my Audiophonics DAW-250NC, currently feeding Q Acoustics Concept 40s here. Reason being, that system is now oversized, not so much because I use it in a smaller - albeit it not small (~25m², 5 meters high ceiling) - room, but because I’m going to spend a lot less time here, and the listening conditions are a lot more casual, and in far from optimal conditions (listening position, room acoustics). I feel that system is a bit of a waste here, not utilized to its fullest potential.
So all I would need are a pair of passive bookshelves. Budget would be ~1000€ (new or used)
I’ve only begun researching, so far I wrote down the Wharfedale Linton 85th (they’re described as “easy to listen”, EAC found them pretty neutral). JBL 52… undersized ? I’m in for hours of Youtube videos watching, and forum threads reading... but that’s good fun anyway.
One thing that struck me: I checked the Concept 40 specs again, and they are rated for 55Hz at -6db. Now, in my current space, I don't have any complains about the bass (but these are the lowest range speakers I've had, and I never had a subwoofer). Admittedly, they might be sitting a little too close to the back wall (~30cm), due to room constraint. I’ll have to run some measurements, never done it before, I’ll probably find out that the response curve is all over the place!
I see that quite a lot of bookshelves are rated in the mid 40s. Depending on how bass response perception in a smaller room translates into bass response perception in a much bigger room, there might be a lot of bookshelves that would fill my requirements, and that I would not find underspec’ed for my liking.
Then, I’ll have to replace/downsize my system here, I’ll probably sell the Concept 40, and go for either an all in one solution, albeit in a smaller form factor (LSX Wireless II? PSB Alpha iQ? Q Acoustics M20D? Kanto YU6? … ), or still a pair of passive speakers, fed by something like an SMSL AO300 maybe… ?
I’d be very happy to read your comments and suggestions, and thanks for your patience for reading this far!
EDIT: just realized the Lintons are rear ported - I probably confused their design with the JBL 52 because of their shared vintage look - so maybe not suitable for my set up, unless it can be dealt with with room correction...
This is my first post, I've spent the best part of this week going deep down a few rabbit holes, and mining this forum for info, I can now hopefully ask my questions in not too shambolic a manner
I am planning the set up for my new house, which will be completed in a few months.
I'll listen to music only - no home theatre - in a quite large living room.
I've added a screenshot of the 3D rendering below.
The loft-style room itself is ~8x13 meters, comprising of lounge/dining area/kitchen, with 3.4m high ceilings. The long sides are glass sliding doors.
The speakers will be placed on each side of the wood fireplace. Floorstanders in front of the ledge would make moving around quite awkward, not to mention the fire hazard, so I've opted for bookshelf speakers, which can sit on top of the ledge (60cm high). They can sit there without stands, as they should be very close to ear level for people sitting opposite on the sofa. As the ledge is only 60cm deep, maybe a front ported or sealed design would be better?
Listening distance, if seated right in front, is about 4 meters.
I might complement the bookshelves with a subwoofer, depending on bookshelf range, budget… mood .
I’m looking for loudspeakers that can provide a wide enough soundstage/horizontal dispersion (are they equivalent?) so that as many positions on the sofa as possible benefit from a good sound. BRM/ribbon/horn tweeter to be prefered? Ideally, and optimistically, I would also like to experience good quality casual listening from the dining/working table further back, or even from the kitchen, while cooking, at the other end of the room, although I’m not holding my breath for such a level of performance at my set budget (<2000€, sourced from Europe, new or second hand). In any case, it’s a detached house, I can push the volume as high as I want (but in general I listen at “normal”, not “party” levels).
Other qualities I would appreciate are detail and imaging - well, as much of it as I can get for that money.
I listen to all sorts of genres, but mostly electronic music and jazz.
Sources are digital (streaming, web radio, local files).
First way I thought of going was with powered/active speakers - to minimize clutter (cables, boxes) and also to benefit from the optimal integration of amp and speakers.
If I had to choose both amp and passive speakers from scratch, I know I’d be overwhelmed by the infinity of pairings and price points, and get lost in never ending ruminations.
In this case I think the best choice would be the Klipsch Nines. I’m unsure the alternatives I considered - Kef LS50 Wireless II, Q Concept Active 200, SVS Prime Wireless Pro (these ones need to be extra good above the others because I don’t like their look) - could “fill the room”.
With the Nines, I just need a WiiM Mini (and maybe a sub) and I should be good to go.
I also looked at the Acoustic Energy AE1 Active, which are commended for their dynamic range and imaging (if I got that right ), but then I need a streamer/DAC, with a subwoofer out, which is a little restrictive.
Options considered for that, and for which I want to spend as little as possible, are the Arylic S50 Pro+ (currently on sale at $150), or something like the SMSL D-6s/Su-8/M200/Topping DX5 ($200-300).
Plus, probably, a sub.
I just wonder if the Arylic’s DAC (ESS 9023 chip) might be the weak link in that setup, and hold back the full expression of the AE1’s qualities. I’m also not so sure about their UI.
There are also a lot of seemingly attractive powered monitor (with analog feed) options (with coaxial designs?), but I can’t figure out whether they’re only suited for nearfield listening. That being said, their usually plasticky, drab looks are not ideal for a living room, I think
The third way, which for some reason only struck me yesterday, is to recycle my Audiophonics DAW-250NC, currently feeding Q Acoustics Concept 40s here. Reason being, that system is now oversized, not so much because I use it in a smaller - albeit it not small (~25m², 5 meters high ceiling) - room, but because I’m going to spend a lot less time here, and the listening conditions are a lot more casual, and in far from optimal conditions (listening position, room acoustics). I feel that system is a bit of a waste here, not utilized to its fullest potential.
So all I would need are a pair of passive bookshelves. Budget would be ~1000€ (new or used)
I’ve only begun researching, so far I wrote down the Wharfedale Linton 85th (they’re described as “easy to listen”, EAC found them pretty neutral). JBL 52… undersized ? I’m in for hours of Youtube videos watching, and forum threads reading... but that’s good fun anyway.
One thing that struck me: I checked the Concept 40 specs again, and they are rated for 55Hz at -6db. Now, in my current space, I don't have any complains about the bass (but these are the lowest range speakers I've had, and I never had a subwoofer). Admittedly, they might be sitting a little too close to the back wall (~30cm), due to room constraint. I’ll have to run some measurements, never done it before, I’ll probably find out that the response curve is all over the place!
I see that quite a lot of bookshelves are rated in the mid 40s. Depending on how bass response perception in a smaller room translates into bass response perception in a much bigger room, there might be a lot of bookshelves that would fill my requirements, and that I would not find underspec’ed for my liking.
Then, I’ll have to replace/downsize my system here, I’ll probably sell the Concept 40, and go for either an all in one solution, albeit in a smaller form factor (LSX Wireless II? PSB Alpha iQ? Q Acoustics M20D? Kanto YU6? … ), or still a pair of passive speakers, fed by something like an SMSL AO300 maybe… ?
I’d be very happy to read your comments and suggestions, and thanks for your patience for reading this far!
EDIT: just realized the Lintons are rear ported - I probably confused their design with the JBL 52 because of their shared vintage look - so maybe not suitable for my set up, unless it can be dealt with with room correction...
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