Swissonic A305

[ninetylol]

Amazingly the swissonic v7s kick in to my ears around 30hz, and properly around 40hz or so. Not quite sure what measurements tell me yet if anything as I don't have any proper SPL meter to calibrate with. L and R from the listening position are quite wild but show them kicking in around 30hz. Not sure if the SPL is in any way accurate but it confirms a few things I'd heard already like the disappearance at one speaker. One speaker seems louder than the other, which I'd also wondered about.

EDIT - I am learning, replaced the graph with 1/6 smoothing one

View attachment 366513

120db at 35hz sounds wrong
also are both speakers the same distance to the mic?

 

[Basic Channel]

120db at 35hz sounds wrong
also are both speakers the same distance to the mic?

Yes, about 50db wrong I’d say as I was testing at around midnight my time!

I thought it might be relatively right. Lots of it made sense once smoothed. I find pink noise quite loud and don’t like it at 70db SPL (a weighting on my old iPhone). And having it that low means boosting the mic gain.

I didn’t measure the mic distance to both speakers as I was still trying to learn what I was doing. The speakers are not symmetrically placed and the “louder” one is close to a corner which has 40cm of fibreglass in a bin bag and a 20cm panel for reflections.

The room itself is quite complicated acoustically, I have a ceiling beam splitting a room, a cul de sac bit behind my listening position. Maybe 6 floor corners, maybe 14 ceiling corners. I never found the room mode calculator helpful

I naively thought I’d learn more about the speakers. Other than the peak around 1k and the 30hz starting point, i know nothing!

 

[nat1]

Does this woofer look normal? I purchased a pair of A305's which got delivered today, one unit, labelled left had some white/dusty substance all over the surround (wiped most of it off) but no where else. The surround doesn't look glued properly either in one or two spots. The other unit is perfect all around as you can see here. It does sound fine, though.

 

[Swamper]

Got my pair of V7's about a week ago. Paid 74 euros per speaker as they were b-stock. In a small room they do really sound excellent for the price, when you get positioning just right. I can only compare to old B&W DM110i's and AKG 712Pro headphones directly though.

Compared to the B&W there is no comparison. These Swisssonics are fullrange speakers where as those B&W's are mostly ear piercing treble. Still highs have way better detail on the cheeses. Lower frequencies really suprised me and in a 4mx5mx2,3m room there really is no need for subwoofer when listening to music casually. Movies would benefit but these do suprisingly good job. If phone microphone measurements are anything to go by, they go to down to ~35hz before dropping off. But overall they are pleasing to listen even at higher volumes. Detail is decently close to AKG 712's when you get positioning just right, but still a clear (hehe) win for the headphones.

My pair does hiss quite a bit, but these were b-stock so who knows if that was the reason they were returned. I can hear the hiss even outside of the room through the door opening. So atleast ~6m of hisssssss, although this is basicly at complete silence(140mm PC fans at 450rpm are louder for context), and the hiss is not terribly annoying pitch. Can't hear any hiss when playing at low volumes, so personally it is fine.

Build quality is decent and nothing wrong in that department. I guess we will see in couple of years how durable these are, but if they don't release the powering blue smoke anytime soon they are amazing performance for the money.

The status indicator LEDs are pretty damn bright and obviously blue when on ON. So make of that what you will. Wake up time is around a second and in 15 mins of non acticity they will go to sleep with big red light to show it.

Would be intresting to see if these are actually any good compared to the A series

 

[Basic Channel]

My pair does hiss quite a bit, but these were b-stock so who knows if that was the reason they were returned. I can hear the hiss even outside of the room through the door opening. So atleast ~6m of hisssssss, although this is basicly at complete silence(140mm PC fans at 450rpm are louder for context), and the hiss is not terribly annoying pitch. Can't hear any hiss when playing at low volumes, so personally it is fine.

That seems very loud (although I don't know the PC fan for context). Do you have them connected balanced or unbalanced? And how loud do you have them turned up? Does the hiss change when you unplug the source?

I noticed hearing loss with the (louder) hiss of my last speaker and my good ear could only hear it at about 30cm, definitely not at 1m. Maybe I am just "corned beef"

 

[Swamper]

That seems very loud (although I don't know the PC fan for context). Do you have them connected balanced or unbalanced? And how loud do you have them turned up? Does the hiss change when you unplug the source?

I noticed hearing loss with the (louder) hiss of my last speaker and my good ear could only hear it at about 30cm, definitely not at 1m. Maybe I am just "corned beef"

I am using unbalanced, but the hiss level does not meaningfully change when not connected to anything. I have the volume set to the "click" position, hiss level changes directly with the volume knob and both the tweeter and woofer emit sound. I can easily hear the hiss from 2 meters away where I sit, when in the click position.

I attached 2 pictures, using phone app measuring from LED height at max volume and off. Should give some idea of the sound profile atleast.

 

[Basic Channel]

I am using unbalanced, but the hiss level does not meaningfully change when not connected to anything. I have the volume set to the "click" position, hiss level changes directly with the volume knob and both the tweeter and woofer emit sound. I can easily hear the hiss from 2 meters away where I sit, when in the click position.

It doesn’t seem right to me, and that seems similar to interference (ground loop I think) I had with them unbalanced. I can’t read those histograms much

At click volume with phone held right into tweeter (no buzz), and about 1m away from both speakers, then the same without them on. In reverse order

 

[Giangy11]

I resolved the buzz noises (with unbalanced Rca cables) connecting the AC shuko plugs into a current Power strip that accepts shuko unearthed connections (it's a Chinese Xiaomi power strip) I know it's not super safe

Anyway the ground loop noise seems a common problem with those speakers, am I wrong?

 

[Swamper]

It doesn’t seem right to me, and that seems similar to interference (ground loop I think) I had with them unbalanced. I can’t read those histograms much

At click volume with phone held right into tweeter (no buzz), and about 1m away from both speakers, then the same without them on. In reverse order

View attachment 366954View attachment 366955View attachment 366956

Well, surely it is not ground loop problem as they are floating. I had ground loop problem when first tried to run them from my computer so I decided to make them float, which removed those ungodly noises. Further more, the hiss is there even when no cable is connected.

I resolved the buzz noises (with unbalanced Rca cables) connecting the AC shuko plugs into a current Power strip that accepts shuko unearthed connections (it's a Chinese Xiaomi power strip) I know it's not super safe

Anyway the ground loop noise seems a common problem with those speakers, am I wrong?

Basicly did this.

Spoiler: gore

I now tried one speaker alone, grounded without any signal. Still the same hiss.

 

[Giangy11]

Well, surely it is not ground loop problem as they are floating. I had ground loop problem when first tried to run them from my computer so I decided to make them float, which removed those ungodly noises. Further more, the hiss is there even when no cable is connected.


Basicly did this.

Spoiler: gore

View attachment 366961

I now tried one speaker alone, grounded without any signal. Still the same hiss.

Yes basically the same, but I used this power strip

 

[Basic Channel]

@Swamper I know less than little about electronics, so was just saying what I thought it was (for me). I actually don't understand really what a ground loop is.

I was using decibelX on my old iphone 7, but if those measurements right into my tweeter are near correct, it seems incredible to me you could hear it 6m away. If you can measure the SPL on your phone right at the tweeter it would be interesting. As I jokingly said before, I am maybe just pretty deaf.

 

[Basic Channel]

My latest measurements of my v7s/room after realising an open door was probably my root issue regarding speaker volume, and i bothered to make sure mic was roughly equal in middle. 2x 47 second sweeps for each speaker with variable smoothing.

I think it’s not too bad with the exception of those two big nulls. The lowest null I can hopefully fix with sub placement

 

[olymind1]

My latest measurements of my v7s/room after realising an open door was probably my root issue regarding speaker volume, and i bothered to make sure mic was roughly equal in middle. 2x 47 second sweeps for each speaker with variable smoothing.

I think it’s not too bad with the exception of those two big nulls. The lowest null I can hopefully fix with sub placement

View attachment 367077

Are these measured the V7s alone or are they extended with sub(s)?

 

[Basic Channel]

Are these measured the V7s alone or are they extended with sub(s)?

It is the L and R speaker alone without sub. My ears hear them kicking in about 30 and properly at 40hz.

 

[Basic Channel]

Offending opposite wall dealt with somewhat.

Average of both

RT60 (topt) for all 4 measurements

All 4 measurements with variable smoothing.

 

[Basic Channel]

So I have realised what a waveguide does and why people toe in speakers, even at a short distance the swissonics benefit from toe in, I also stuffed the port with acoustic foam which lowers the peak at 40hz to make space for my sub. Both of these subjectively sound better

L and R aren't as closely matched now but I might need to move some panels or just set the mic or speakers up with a ruler. The average is far flatter though.

L, R, and C with an average of all 6. All measurements are 47 second sweeps x 2 (in case planes go overhead)

Just the centre position and average

 

[ninetylol]

So I have realised what a waveguide does and why people toe in speakers, even at a short distance the swissonics benefit from toe in, I also stuffed the port with acoustic foam which lowers the peak at 40hz to make space for my sub. Both of these subjectively sound better

L and R aren't as closely matched now but I might need to move some panels or just set the mic or speakers up with a ruler. The average is far flatter though.

L, R, and C with an average of all 6. All measurements are 47 second sweeps x 2 (in case planes go overhead)

View attachment 368340

Just the centre position and average

View attachment 368341

You are losing too much energy below 200hz. DB should go up from there not down. Import a harman curve into rew.

 

[Basic Channel]

You are losing too much energy below 200hz. DB should go up from there not down. Import a harman curve into rew.

I know but I’ve got a subwoofer that is not part of the measurements. I am a wee bit worried about 100-200hz region admittedly. But we’ll see, beggars cannot be choosers.

 

[olymind1]

That 80-120Hz suckout/dip is your room or the speakers or placement (i wonder) ?

Seems persistent with bass port stuffed or not, though in previous measurements it wasnt there.

 

[ninetylol]

I know but I’ve got a subwoofer that is not part of the measurements. I am a wee bit worried about 100-200hz region admittedly. But we’ll see, beggars cannot be choosers.

Well pretty useless to stuff the ports because you use a subwoofer and then dont use the subwoofer.

You need to Look at the complete system then.