Upgrading from Edifier S350DB to a better 2.1 system

[donahana]

I'll try to make this as clear and short as possible. Happy with the S350DB but looking for better speakers with a bit more mids and bass, limited desk space so no huge speakers (<8.5" width, <12" depth). Usage is 100% for music on a PC, got a Topping DX1 DAC if that helps in any way. Bluetooth would be nice for the TV as well but not a priority. Room is roughly 10m².

Budget of $750-2000 for a new 2.1 kit that sounds significantly better. Got in contact with some local stores here in Brazil to try and get some recommendations, I'll leave them below

Store 1 suggested these Elipson Facet 6B BT paired with this Speakercraft SDSi-8 sub, $1300~ for both
Store 2 suggested the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 for $310~ . Never heard this but it sounds more like a sidegrade at best?
Store 3 suggested the KEF LSX II for $1350~. Not sure how I feel about this one as they cost slightly more than the Elipson + Sub suggested earlier and still lack the sub

Then on a local forum people suggested going for the Polk ES15 ($290~), though then I'm still quite a a bit lost on the amp + subwoofer combo as many products suggested online are not locally available, because of that I was leaning towards the Elipson + Sub recommendation, the connectivity is a good selling point but I'm still wondering if there's anything better as to pure sound quality if I let go of the connectivity.

Also considered the Elac DB52 ($510) and JBL Stage A130 ($310~), but I'd love to hear more suggestions and opinions, still researching and looking for the best way to allocate the money on each component as the prices can vary drasticly from other regions. I've left the store links on each product in case anyone wants to check prices and what else we got available here in some Brazilian stores. Appreciate any help.

 

[staticV3]

$750-2000 is quite the range.

If you want to never bother with speaker upgrades again: Neumann KH 80 + KH 750.

 

[donahana]

$750-2000 is quite the range.

If you want to never bother with speaker upgrades again: Neumann KH 80 + KH 750.

Indeed! I'd say i'm not opposed to spending in the $2000-2500 range, though if with $750-1000 I could get most of the way there i'd be very much interested in that, though maybe I should've went a bit lower as something that costs $2000 in the US might be equivalent to $3000-5000 around here, anyway I'm all ears to all kinds of suggestions, though this combo might be quite too much in my case, the KH750 is going for $3750 and the Neumann KH80 are going for $1150 each here

 

[LTig]

Indeed! I'd say i'm not opposed to spending in the $2000-2500 range, though if with $750-1000 I could get most of the way there i'd be very much interested in that, though maybe I should've went a bit lower as something that costs $2000 in the US might be equivalent to $3000-5000 around here, anyway I'm all ears to all kinds of suggestions, though this combo might be quite too much in my case, the KH750 is going for $3750 and the Neumann KH80 are going for $1150 each here

OMG, those prices! Where is that?

 

[donahana]

OMG, those prices! Where is that?

Brazil lol, limited availability and high prices compared to other regions, and sadly audio discussion in local forums is close to non-existent

 

[staticV3]

Here are a few monitors that fit your budget, desk, and are available in Brazil:

-JBL 305P MKII, 306P MKII
-Adam T5V, T7V
-Kali LP-6v2, LP-UNF
-Genelec 8010a
-iLoud Micro Monitor

The subwoofer I would choose based on the remaining budget after you've chosen the monitors.

You can find measurements and reviews for all of these on https://www.spinorama.org/

 

[donahana]

Here are a few monitors that fit your budget, desk, and are available in Brazil:

-JBL 305P MKII, 306P MKII
-Adam T5V, T7V
-Kali LP-6v2, LP-UNF
-Genelec 8010a
-iLoud Micro Monitor

The subwoofer I would choose based on the remaining budget after you've chosen the monitors.

You can find measurements and reviews for all of these on https://www.spinorama.org/

Appreciate it! I had looked into the Kali LP6 sometime ago but ended up getting the T5V for a test drive, a few months ago I tried moving from the S350DB 2.1 to just 2.0 from the T5V but the lack of bass didn't cut it for me and I ended up returning the T5V shortly after as I felt the $900~ I paid for them wasn't worth it and I could get something better for my use case at that price. Will look into a few of those kits, the 305P MKII had also caught my attention back then, and it's quite easy to find those in the used market at reasonable prices.

Gonna list some subwoofers I've found as well for price reference so I can check this thread in the future, and also in case there's more local people lurking or just people curious about our crazy prices around here

JBL - A100P for $310, LSR310S for $490, A120P for $600
Polk - PSW10/PSW108/XT10 for $325, XT12 for $405, HTS10 for $555, R-120SW for $570, R-120SWi for $650, HTS12 for $700
Yamaha - NS-SW100 for $330, NS-SW200 for $455, NS-SW300 for $620
Cambridge - SX-20 for $390
Klipsch - R-100SW for $435, R12SW for $455, R-12SWi for $540
Jamo - J12 Sub for $440, C910 for $455, C912 for $585,
SpeakerCraft - SDSi-8 for $490, SDSi-10 for $650
Monitor Audio - MRW-10 for $555

 

[LTig]

JBL LSR310S has a builtin crossover for the satellites, so you need no extra output for the sub and no highpass for the satellites. Don't know about the other subs.

 

[donahana]

JBL LSR310S has a builtin crossover for the satellites, so you need no extra output for the sub and no highpass for the satellites. Don't know about the other subs.

Currently leaning towards the JBL 305P + LSR310S combo, or rather the JBL LSR305 which I've found locally for half the price of the 305P MKII, seems like they're roughly the same speaker so I'm guessing end result will be the similar but saving a few bucks.

As to cables since they're not included, all that'd be needed are two XLR Cables (1 for each satellite to the subwoofer XLR out) and one 2x XLR or 2x P10/TRS to P2 (connecting both XLR in or P10/TRS on the sub and then the standard P2 on the PC's motherboard)? Did I miss anything?

 

[Koeitje]

JBL LSR310S has a builtin crossover for the satellites, so you need no extra output for the sub and no highpass for the satellites. Don't know about the other subs.

Lots of studio subwoofers have that. The ADAM T10S also does for example. But its a nice feature indeed.

 

[LTig]

Currently leaning towards the JBL 305P + LSR310S combo, or rather the JBL LSR305 which I've found locally for half the price of the 305P MKII, seems like they're roughly the same speaker so I'm guessing end result will be the similar but saving a few bucks.

It's the older model. They may differ regarding noise. If you can test them check at your planned listening distance in a similar quiet room.

As to cables since they're not included, all that'd be needed are two XLR Cables (1 for each satellite to the subwoofer XLR out) and one 2x XLR or 2x P10/TRS to P2 (connecting both XLR in or P10/TRS on the sub and then the standard P2 on the PC's motherboard)? Did I miss anything?

No.

 

[regan]

Happy with the S350DB but looking for better speakers with a bit more mids and bass, limited desk space so no huge speakers

Have you tried the S360DB?

 

[donahana]

Have you tried the S360DB?

I haven't, I did check the S360DB a few months ago and it cost roughly double of the S350DB which led me to think it might not be worth it, though I just checked again and price dropped to 2999 BRL ($550~) which becomes a maybe, good support + 2 year warranty is a nice plus compared to other brands around here, though I'd really like a subwoofer that goes a bit lower and the S360DB sub seems like it may be the same as my current one.

Still undecided on a final setup as there are so many variables and combinations, but for now I grabbed a Aiyima A07 Max amp on AliExpress and a pair of Dali Oberon 1 which should arrive in 2 weeks or so, I quite liked how the Dali speakers are a bit smaller and lighter than the others.

Though it still makes me wonder if it's even worth paying so much more just for the speakers since there's no unanimity as to speakers, some people tried the Oberon 1 and the others I mentioned earlier like the Polk ES15, Elac DB52 and JBL Stage A130 and some prefer the Polk, some the ELAC and so on, and there's a pretty big gap in price for those around here.

In the end it seems like testing all of those speakers in my room is the only way to find out lol, even though I like the Dali dimensions and aesthetics a bit more, all of those speakers seem pretty good in general and it'd be nice saving a few hundreds bucks going for a different one. Once I receive the Dali, I might just buy the others to test and keep my favorite. Also still searching for the best/most adequate subwoofer.

 

[donahana]

Just updating, been almost a month running the Oberon 1 + Aiyima A07 Max and i've been quite happy other than the lack of low-end, luckily my KEF Kube 12b arrived yesterday though it came with a US plug and I can't use it for now, just wanna be safe but is it fine to use into an adapter plug or should I just grab another cable? And when buying a new cable is there anything specific I should pay attention to? Seems like a standard TV/notebook power supply/printer type-8 plug but just wanna be extra safe lol

Also I was researching a bit yesterday about crossover settings, so, pretty much any sub has a LPF but with my current setup my speakers will still receive the full-range as I don't have HPF anywhere, other than 1-2 compact-ish (SMSL A300 and Sabaj A30a IIRC) amps I could pretty much only find HPF featured on bigger integrated amps/AVRs which I wanna avoid.

Some people said that for a 2.1 desktop/nearfield and low-ish volume (I'll play 90db~ at most) I don't really need to bother with the speakers receiving full-range as distortion will still be pretty low and mostly unnoticeable and that I should just let the sub complement the speakers bass instead of worrying too much about adding a HPF, kinda made sense to me because if multiple people are saying it's not always such a huge difference, and if out of all of those small amps pretty much no one is bothering to add HPF then there must be some true to that I guess? Would love to hear some thoughts on that, and maybe there are some compact amps to be released soon-ish that are expected to have that feature that I don't know about?

 

[staticV3]

just wanna be safe but is it fine to use into an adapter plug or should I just grab another cable?

Look at the input specs of the power supply.

If they match your local mains voltage and frequency, then you can plug the sub in, either via a regular mains power supply cable with the right plug type, or via the stock cable and an adapter.

 

[donahana]

Look at the input specs of the power supply.

If they match your local mains voltage and frequency, then you can plug the sub in, either via a regular mains power supply cable with the right plug type, or via the stock cable and an adapter.

Input says 100-240v, 50-60hz 300w, was a bit worried since the stock cable is 7a and on a quick search most cables I've found seem to be only 2.5a, but considering it's gonna be played at low levels I think it should be fine even on our 127v, still might look for a sturdier 10a cable though

 

[regan]

Cool to see you report back after testing your new system. How would you say it compares to the old S350db? Is it a significantly superior experience?

 

[donahana]

Would love to hear inputs regarding this still

Also I was researching a bit yesterday about crossover settings, so, pretty much any sub has a LPF but with my current setup my speakers will still receive the full-range as I don't have HPF anywhere, other than 1-2 compact-ish (SMSL A300 and Sabaj A30a IIRC) amps I could pretty much only find HPF featured on bigger integrated amps/AVRs which I wanna avoid.

Some people said that for a 2.1 desktop/nearfield and low-ish volume (I'll play 90db~ at most) I don't really need to bother with the speakers receiving full-range as distortion will still be pretty low and mostly unnoticeable and that I should just let the sub complement the speakers bass instead of worrying too much about adding a HPF, kinda made sense to me because if multiple people are saying it's not always such a huge difference, and if out of all of those small amps pretty much no one is bothering to add HPF then there must be some true to that I guess? Would love to hear some thoughts on that, and maybe there are some compact amps to be released soon-ish that are expected to have that feature that I don't know about?

Anyway, got the new cable and plugged everything, been playing with crossover frequency but first impressions so far are mixed, it's like the room itself is filled more evenly with bass but I can barely feel the bass on my body at all, nor does stuff in the room shake like it used to with the S350DB subwoofer. I was kinda expecting to be able to make most stuff nearby (me included) shake even when listening at moderate levels like with the S350DB but that wasn't the case, it's like I feel the bass more through the environment than directly from the sub to my body if that makes sense, it's like there's barely any "punch" or "impact"

Cool to see you report back after testing your new system. How would you say it compares to the old S350db? Is it a significantly superior experience?

Was just updating about this! I do like the bookshelves more but it's hard to say how much as I was not comparing side-by-side, and as mentioned above, so far I'm missing that strong bass kick/punch or whatever that'd make my desk and all my furniture shake lol, I might try playing with EQ later, I guess that could maybe improve boosting the mid and upper-bass region, for now what I can say is I still enjoy the S350DB's bass quite a lot more, and sound-quality overall doesn't feel THAT much superior, even if still better

 

[gsp1971]

@Matias is a very knowledgeable member and is from Sao Paulo so perhaps he could help you?

 

[Matias]

hi, not specific to our country, but overall, yes HPF in amplifiers are rare, they do make a small difference (check out Erin's Audio Corner reviews, he tests multitone distortions with and without HPF).
As for lack of bass, the 1st thing would be to get a UMIK-1 and measure the listening positions using REW and moving mike method. Only then can we see and start to understand what is excessive or missing.