Speakers that behave well near wall

[Geo2160]

Okay, I finished listening to the Super Lintons and my desk setup side to side. I've followed the Erin's guidelines and pointed the Lintons at shoulder level and Genelecs straight at my head.

Here's my impressions. Hope I don't offend anyone since most of them are subjective.

1) As expected, the soundstage is smaller on the Genelecs compared to the Lintons. However, imaging is not that much better.
2) I really need a sub for the Lintons. I did not expect the small Kali sub to make such a big difference.
3) Clarity is comparable between them. I expected the Genelecs to be more detailed, but the room and distance seem to blend the instruments.

 

[Tassin]

I know, I use a Kali WS6.2 at my desk with my 8020D. But a good sub for a living room is still >700€ that I have to factor into the cost.

Never tried or heard them myself, but I've seen quite some good comments on the more affordable BK Electronics subwoofers.

 

[Ellebob]

I would do a little experimenting with placement and your soundstage. Try placing your 8020s on your TV stand, instead of on top of the Lintons. Corner placement is always tough for speakers. I would also move the Lintons out of the way for this test.

You can try placing the Lintons a little more forward. But with that TV stand you don't have good options to experiment with placement.

Whether the drapes are opened or closed will also affect the soundstage. I don't know if that's something you want to experiment with. People usually open or close them for privacy and not acoustics.

 

[Geo2160]

If anyone is still following, I ended up returning the Super Lintons and actually did some proper research:

- I found out what I actually wanted (good imaging, reasonably wide dispersion, small footprint) and looked for some models that have port bungs.
- I ended up with a short list with the Kef R3 Meta for bookshelves and Monitor Audio Silver 300 7G for towers
- I visited a local dealer today and listened to them side by side. The Monitor Audio has wider soundstage and obviously more bass punch, but had some minor distorsion in the highs. The KEF is almost perfect in almost everything but bass.
- I've also decided to invest in a subwoofer, since I don't think i'll be able to tune the room modes otherwise.

My final setup will likely be Kef R3 Meta + SVS SB-1000 Pro + Wiim Amp Ultra.

What do you guys think?

 

[IngMishael]

If anyone is still following, I ended up returning the Super Lintons and actually did some proper research:

- I found out what I actually wanted (good imaging, reasonable wide dispersion, small footprint) and looked for some models that have port bungs.
- I ended up with a short list with the Kef R3 Meta for bookshelves and Monitor Audio Silver 300 7G for towers
- I visited a local dealer today and listened to them side by side. The Monitor Audio has wider soundstage and obviously more bass punch, but had some minor distorsion in the highs. The KEF is almost perfect in almost everything but bass.
- I've also decided to invest in a subwoofer, since I don't think i'll be able to tune the room modes otherwise.

My final setup will likely be Kef R3 Meta + SVS SB-1000 Pro + Wiim Amp Ultra.

What do you guys think?

that is excellent. great you took time to get to the bottom and yes the R3 Meta + Sub is gonna be hard to beat imo

 

[deniall83]

Sorry for the noob question, but what effect do port bungs have on the sound? I'm looking at KEF speakers and they suggest plugging the ports at certain distances from the wall. Would this tame the boominess? Would it have any negative effects?

 

[kyuu]

Sorry for the noob question, but what effect do port bungs have on the sound? I'm looking at KEF speakers and they suggest plugging the ports at certain distances from the wall. Would this tame the boominess? Would it have any negative effects?

Port bungs make the speaker do a poor impression of a sealed speaker (with the consideration that the speaker was not designed with that mode of operation in mind). It will reduce the amount of bass energy output by the speaker considerably, so yes it will help tame boominess the same way having less bass energy available results in "tighter" bass. Of course the bass response may no longer be satisfactory.

The best solution is generally using DSP of some flavor to EQ the bass peaks down. If you can't or don't want to do that, I'd recommend getting a speaker that's sealed by design, or one designed with a bass shelf like many KEF models, though you'd have to check the measurements to be sure the particular model actually has one.

 

[Geo2160]

I can confirm that the Kef R3 and R5 Meta have bass shelves. But I guess that doesn't matter much. The Super Lintons also have a bass shelf, but were still too big for my room.

My store rep mentioned he also had pair of Monitor Audio Silver 300 at home and mentioned that the OEM bungs were ineffective, since the vibrations simply wiggled them out. He said he ended up using a pair of thick winter socks as makeshift bungs, which worked better and made the bass feel tighter. Don't know how good of an idea that is, but I guess it makes sense