High-end audio experiences for little money

[Pearljam5000]

…and you’re saying with all the information that is available to you that these differences has to be a result of the speakers themselves? You’re on ASR for crying out loud.

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.
It's called an opinion
And the last I've checked I'm allowed to have it, even on ASR
All the measurements in the world won't make me like or dislike a speaker's sound

 

[Chr1]

All but Topping amp are "pro-audio" and bought used:

Tannoy TDX-1 Digital System Controller
Tannoy V12 (x2)
Topping Mini 300

Total price: Appx. £380

The TDX-1 has various presets optimised for the V12s. I am currently using one that EQs them to play down to 37Hz.
(I am also hoping to setup a future garage space with four hung V12s, but playing mono.)

Can play cleanly extremely loudly even with the Mini 300, but if you want higher SPL you can easily just swap out the Topping for something bigger.

I am using in conjunction with a BK XXLS400FF subwoofer, but this isn't really necessary and cost more than the rest of the system itself.

For me, it's a tough call between this setup and my Neumann KH310s. But the Neumanns were almost ten times the price.

 

[101geo]

My office system has a pair of Behringer 2031A's (£130) a cheap used Eris 8" active sub (£70) with a Topping D10B running off my pc. I cant see how you can get better sound than that with the same costs.

 

[steve59]

My budget systems have progressed with my earnings vs responsibility. In the 70's and 80's anything I could afford I could enjoy. now rolling down the hill instead of uphill I can still enjoy music on any source 'high end' has taken on a different meaning.

 

[JRR]

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.
It's called an opinion
And the last I've checked I'm allowed to have it, even on ASR
All the measurements in the world won't make me like or dislike a speaker's sound

Understood, I’d venture to say that most of us on here are trying to debate the best way to correlate audio with science (measurements) and then read the reviews. Seems like an odd place for a non measurement person to hang. But as you say its a free country.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Understood, I’d venture to say that most of us on here are trying to debate the best way to correlate audio with science (measurements) and then read the reviews. Seems like an odd place for a non measurement person to hang. But as you say its a free country.

I'm not a non measurement person at all.
You're just trying to criticize and blame me for things that have nothing to do with me, that's what's odd.

 

[Keith_W]

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying.
It's called an opinion
And the last I've checked I'm allowed to have it, even on ASR
All the measurements in the world won't make me like or dislike a speaker's sound

I too, hear things with speakers that can not be fully explained by the measurements. But this makes me wonder whether the measurements fully describe what I can hear, and whether there is some gap in my understanding which is where the explanation is hiding. For years I have wondered why some speakers sound more dynamic and effortless than others. The answer is actually in the measurements, just not in the standard measurements that we take. You have to measure the speaker at different SPL's to get your answer. Some speakers compress at high volumes - that is why they sound like they're struggling when they have to reproduce a loud transient.

That realization made me think about what else I don't understand, and there is A LOT that I don't understand. Like why two tweeters with the same frequency response can sound different - one sounds like it shimmers, and the other sounds lazy and dull. Or why big subwoofers have that "big subwoofer sound". I am convinced that both phenomena are real, and it's not just expectation bias. The answer is there somewhere, and one day I will find it. I don't think that the measurement doesn't explain it, rather it's my lack of understanding.

 

[Johnkeizer]

You measure something, anything, with test gear in a given environment.
You then change the environment, usually the space or room, so of course it is going to sound different.

 

[ZolaIII]

I too, hear things with speakers that can not be fully explained by the measurements. But this makes me wonder whether the measurements fully describe what I can hear, and whether there is some gap in my understanding which is where the explanation is hiding. For years I have wondered why some speakers sound more dynamic and effortless than others. The answer is actually in the measurements, just not in the standard measurements that we take. You have to measure the speaker at different SPL's to get your answer. Some speakers compress at high volumes - that is why they sound like they're struggling when they have to reproduce a loud transient.

That realization made me think about what else I don't understand, and there is A LOT that I don't understand. Like why two tweeters with the same frequency response can sound different - one sounds like it shimmers, and the other sounds lazy and dull. Or why big subwoofers have that "big subwoofer sound". I am convinced that both phenomena are real, and it's not just expectation bias. The answer is there somewhere, and one day I will find it. I don't think that the measurement doesn't explain it, rather it's my lack of understanding.

I even had patern of looking at analyser/RTA simultaneously regarding transistent response. It's indeed very little difference needed between tweater behaviour to be represented as described. Bass has other than sound alone properties and they are physical for which you need both to be close and that it's a large woofer that can pump dramatic amount of air so you can feel it in the first place. As a trace for sub bass if you don't have space to make up for it to psy how we hear. Always whose curious about why top predators of land mammals (cat's) hear only to 40 Hz and we can down to 17 Hz. Well they feel it seismic as that's really more what it is and with different apparatus for the purpose trough pow pads. All you need to do in life to realise that is sit to drum set and pound the bass and when it's too much for you (hard learner, a bit of humour) trow a blanket in. Everybody who did it remembers and know of it. For example famous origin players, pore guys setting up large open stages and those performing on such and so on. But it's not anything out of this world, just physics, time and space.

 

[delta76]

The thread title is flawed. The high-end audio is about luxury feeling, VIP treatment, social status, etc.. audio quality is not necessarily the top you get.
We need to stop assuming high-end audio = high quality sound.

 

[Johnkeizer]

Spot on.
Although the audio magazines also need to stop pretending that that is the only way to get the best sound.

 

[delta76]

Spot on.
Although the audio magazines also need to stop pretending that that is the only way to get the best sound.

The day The Absolute sound (and similar) no longer lists the most absurdly expensive components they can find as the best is far, far away in the future. Maybe we will cease to exist before they stop believing

 

[Budgie]

My most used system is my cell phone to a retro nano (ldac) to Koss KPH 40. Retro nano and Koss together were $105 if I remember correctly.
I love it.