Just got my first good passive speakers, where do I go from here?

[Adolinium]

Hello sages of Audio Science Review!

This is my first time posting here, came from r/BudgetAudiophile in reddit which advocates a lot for passive speakers, and I am curious on how I can improve my first good set of speakers.

Currently I have the Aiyima A07 and Wharfedale D320s (Measurement can be found here, might be similar to Diamond 220s) connected to my 2020 Mac because the D320s were discontinued and it was relatively cheap in my country ($170) so I snagged it and subjectively quite like the sound. But I wonder if I could get even better sound.

Here are my three avenues of expansion, having a budget of approximately $600, I can upgrade my speakers to a better set of passives, get a subwoofer, or try my hand at EQ.

For speakers the options in my country are pretty ok:

1. Wharfedale Diamond 12.2 ($442 here, might be the safest upgrade considering I like the sound of D320s)
2. Wharfedale Evo 4.1 (Reviewed terribly here but I can get it for $500)
3. ELAC DBR62 ($550 here)
4. Polk R100 ($600 here)

For subwoofers my situation is so tragic that I'm not even considering any. The cheapest subwoofer from a good brand is an SVS SB-1000 Pro, which is $950 here. Rythmik, HSU, RSL, and the like just don't exist here. I would also perhaps have to buy another amplifier with a subwoofer out because most of these options don't have both speaker level inputs and outputs.

1. Wharfedale SW-150 ($284, horrendously overpriced for going only to 35 Hz I would think)
2. Polk HTS 10 ($442 here, overpriced by a bit)
3. Dayton Audio Sub-1200 (I can have this delivered to my country at $233 at the cost of a 3-month shipping time)

Another potential option is to buy a UMIK-1 ($80 here) and try my hand at EQ-ing my own speakers.

What would be the best course of action for getting better quality sound for a beginner?

Thank you!

EDIT: More measurements of my D320s to be found in this Czech site here for anyone more knowledgeable than me, how should I interpret these graphs? And of my speaker's performance?

 

[Slayer]

What would be the best course of action for getting better quality sound for a beginner?

More info would help.
Where are you from? Have you looked at the used market? Look at this subwoofer comparison chart put together by @sweetchaos

CTA-2010 results

Sheet1 CTA-2010 results scaled to 1M peak equivalent (updated 8/23) NM = not measured, NA = no measureable output,avg. ,avg. MODEL,Driver,Loading,80 Hz,40-63 Hz,63 Hz,50 Hz,40 Hz,20-31.5 Hz,31.5 Hz,25 Hz`,20 Hz,16 Hz Andover Audio SpinSub,(2) 6.5",ported,109.6,107.1,110.3,105.5,104.3,92.5,98.6,91.2

docs.google.com

Start with a sub and get the UMIK-1.

 

[Adolinium]

Where are you from? Have you looked at the used market?

I am from the Philippines. For the used market I think it's kind of a lost cause too. Not a lot of good speakers in the used market save for older Wharfedale models which cost as much new and a bunch of odd speakers from brands I've never seen or heard before.

I'll check the subwoofer options again and see the UMIK-1.

Thank you for the response!

 

[GD Fan]

Welcome to the forum, glad to see you've found a good spot for audio information (I found it AFTER I'd overhauled my entire system...).

My advice, very novice though it may be, would be to start with the Umik and see what you can do. It is the cheapest of your options, you'll learn a lot (starting with REW is a lot of work!), and it will be the most fun.

If the results are unsatisfactory you'd do best to go with a speaker that exhibits the best bass extention. That way the frustrating situation on subwoofers may be best mitigated.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

 

[alex-z]

Elac DBR62 for $550 is quite good. They are normally $700 in the USA.

But I would still start with the UMIK-1 measurement mic, and subwoofer, it will make a bigger overall performance difference than new speakers.

Polk HTS 10 or 12 would be my choice in terms of performance per dollar. You don't need to replace the amplifier, you can try a passive high-pass filter on the RCA input. So you split the RCA output from your DAC, send one pair to your sub, and the other to your amplifier, with the high-pass filter added. Then adjust the low-pass filter on your sub until the speakers and sub blend smoothly.

Home

Harrison Labs FMOD Inline Crossover Pair 70 Hz High Pass RCAWhat is an FMOD™? The FMOD™ is an active crossover simulator. It is better than a much more expensive electronic crossover that requires power to operate. FMODs™ are packaged in pairs and can be combined with other FMODs™ to obtain...

www.parts-express.com

 

[Rednaxela]

Another vote for getting a UMIK-1, REW and EQ.

It is something that I have wanted to do myself for more than a decade, and finally got around to doing the past couple of weeks.

You really have to experience the aha! feeling that comes with correcting your set based on actual measurements. Not only is it super rewarding, it will give you a great feeling of control over your own audio journey. It may also give you new appreciation for the gear you already have. But even if you feel you want to upgrade at one point, you will have a much better understanding of the reasons behind the urge and the direction you want to go to.

Hope this helps and good luck!

 

[Triliza]

If you are willing to do some reading and experimenting, UMIK-1 + REW seems to be a must for everyone in this hobby (mind you I don't own one, been thinking about it though). You have to make plans how you'll apply EQ, which may also need some work on your parts. There is also MiniDSP with Dirac that can do all that for you, if you are willing to pay for it (I'd like one of those too).

If you are going with a sub, have a look at Monoprice if it's available in your country, they are not too expensive and I think Erin measured some of them and they were decent.