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Which speaker should I get?

alaperse

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Hi there!

Newbie posting here, but I've been lurking for a while.

I'm setting my first audio system to place it in a desktop on my bedroom (about 4x3 meters, 1 or 1.5 meters of listening distance). I've decided to go cheap and simple: an integrated amp with a pair of bookshelf speakers (maybe a subwoofer in the future, when I move to another place). For the amp, I was thinking on a class D with an Infineon MA12070 chip and bluetooth. Probably will be SMSL A100 or Sabaj A1 (new edition).

However, I'm having trouble deciding for the speakers. I live in Chile (South America) and I want to buy new and locally (international shipping prices are high so not worth it). My budget is $300 USD. I've considered a lot of options, and after discarding them for price, size or preference, I've reached the following (prices in USD):
  • Dali Spektor 1 ($200) and 2 ($270)​
  • JBL Stage A120 ($240) and A130 ($290)​
  • Monitor Audio Monitor 50 ($150 on sale) and 100 ($200 on sale)​
  • Monitor Audio Bronze 50 ($250 on sale)​
  • Polk Audio XT15 ($130 on sale)​
  • Polk Audio ES10 ($250) ES15 ($300)​
  • Wharfedale D310 ($100 on sale)​
  • Wharfedale Diamond 12.0 ($260)​
Mostly for music listening, I'm looking for the best sound possible (in low volume levels, considering the space) with good imaging and stereo separation. Hopefully the one with the best resolution/raw detail/instrument separation. I'm a little treble sensitive tbh. Also a smaller size is preferable due to available space reasons.

I'm leaning towards the Dali Spektor and Monitor Audio for now. For what I've read in forums, Polk and Wharfedale have not the sound profile that I'm looking for, but I'm not really sure. Which one would you recommend me?
 
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alex-z

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Polk Audio XT15 for $130 are the best value on that list by far. Less mid-range bump than the JBL Stage A130, and a bit more treble, but you can fix that.


Use EQ on your PC to pull down the bump at 1100Hz, and pull the treble above 5000Hz. It makes way more sense to buy speakers with good directivity and use 2-3 EQ filters than to buy speakers with mediocre directivity.
 

DSJR

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My only caution would be desktop placement and close to wall behind as regards (too much) bass to mid balance. Make sure the speakers can be placed either at ear height or angled up towards you. These days with a computer as source, eq can be easily done to 'fix' the worst of it of course as suggested above - this is still fairly new to me as I also use legacy analogue sources and am gradually being dragged into twenty first century streaming ideals ;) but that ain't going to matter to you.

Do remember if you're starting out on this journey, THE MUSIC is what mattters, and not so much the gear (famous last words, but I've 'been there' for most of my life so hopefully you don't have to - cheesy grin - ). Good luck :)
 
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alaperse

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Polk Audio XT15 for $130 are the best value on that list by far. Less mid-range bump than the JBL Stage A130, and a bit more treble, but you can fix that.

Use EQ on your PC to pull down the bump at 1100Hz, and pull the treble above 5000Hz. It makes way more sense to buy speakers with good directivity and use 2-3 EQ filters than to buy speakers with mediocre directivity.
Thanks! I'll check more about that model. At that price it's a really good deal.

Something like Equalizer APO + Peace should work fine, right? I'm not very sure how to EQ. I use Auto EQ presets to equalize my headphones to the Harman Target, but nothing more.

My only caution would be desktop placement and close to wall behind as regards (too much) bass to mid balance. Make sure the speakers can be placed either at ear height or angled up towards you. These days with a computer as source, eq can be easily done to 'fix' the worst of it of course as suggested above - this is still fairly new to me as I also use legacy analogue sources and am gradually being dragged into twenty first century streaming ideals ;) but that ain't going to matter to you.
Matching the speakers at ear height or angle up towards me shouldn't be a problem. However they need to be close to the wall.

By how much distance should be the speakers separated? 1 meter? 2 meters? The max I could separate is 1.5 meters on my desk and I'm afraid is not enough. And how much distance from the speaker back to the wall is the optimum?

Do remember if you're starting out on this journey, THE MUSIC is what mattters, and not so much the gear (famous last words, but I've 'been there' for most of my life so hopefully you don't have to - cheesy grin - ). Good luck :)
Thanks for the advice. Always trying to enjoy the music the most.

It's said the most famous words are also the truest. They need a reason to be that famous.

Keep in mind that amplifiers with this chip do not have much power (SMSL A100 has about 18W at 8 ohms).
I thought about it! I'll use in a desktop on my bedroom, so it should be considered as a desktop system/near field use. And I tend to listen music at low volumes. It should be enough power for that.

But perhaps I'm wrong. Do you have another recommendation for less than $150? Ideally $100. Bluetooth is a must.
 

Mal

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Use EQ on your PC to pull down the bump at 1100Hz, and pull the treble above 5000Hz. It makes way more sense to buy speakers with good directivity and use 2-3 EQ filters than to buy speakers with mediocre directivity.
I have a chromebox, which is useless for EQ, would a Schiit Loki be OK to deal with the bumps and apply treble trim? I have Wharfedale Diamond 9.0s. Do they have mediocre directivity? Why is directivity so important?
 

alex-z

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I have a chromebox, which is useless for EQ, would a Schiit Loki be OK to deal with the bumps and apply treble trim? I have Wharfedale Diamond 9.0s. Do they have mediocre directivity? Why is directivity so important?

The mid tier version of the Schiit Loki is $300. It makes absolutely zero sense, because it has fixed filter frequencies and width, and a fair amount of added distortion.


Meanwhile you can get a miniDSP 2x4HD for $225 which gives you 10 band parametric EQ with customization for filter frequency and width. Plus you get the ability to adjust the gain, delay, low-pass, and high-pass of each channel. So beyond doing basic EQ, it also serves well for doing dual subwoofer integration.

The 4" woofer + closely spaced tweeter should give them fairly decent directivity. Although being such cheap speakers, the crossover, cabinet, and port quality is probably low, which can lead to other problems which are not fixable with EQ.
 

Mal

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The mid tier version of the Schiit Loki is $300. It makes absolutely zero sense, because it has fixed filter frequencies and width, and a fair amount of added distortion.


Meanwhile you can get a miniDSP 2x4HD for $225 which gives you 10 band parametric EQ with customization for filter frequency and width. Plus you get the ability to adjust the gain, delay, low-pass, and high-pass of each channel. So beyond doing basic EQ, it also serves well for doing dual subwoofer integration.

The 4" woofer + closely spaced tweeter should give them fairly decent directivity. Although being such cheap speakers, the crossover, cabinet, and port quality is probably low, which can lead to other problems which are not fixable with EQ.
The Schiit Loki Mini+ is $149. The knobs alter frequencies over the full range in a sensible fashion (according to many critics...). According to all reviewers I've encountered it doesn't add any significant distortion ... especially since the mini+ upgrade.

miniDSP is complicated - how do I even start using it with a chromebox? I've been playing with compter based DSP apps and am finding them flaky & difficult to use,... I might end up going the digital route, but the Schiit looks quite a fun device to start playing with DSP. And if it works, I never to suffer the complexity of minDSP, etc.

How do crossover, cabinet, and port quality problems usually make themselves evident?
 

alex-z

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The Schiit Loki Mini+ is $149. The knobs alter frequencies over the full range in a sensible fashion (according to many critics...). According to all reviewers I've encountered it doesn't add any significant distortion ... especially since the mini+ upgrade.

miniDSP is complicated - how do I even start using it with a chromebox? I've been playing with compter based DSP apps and am finding them flaky & difficult to use,... I might end up going the digital route, but the Schiit looks quite a fun device to start playing with DSP. And if it works, I never to suffer the complexity of minDSP, etc.

How do crossover, cabinet, and port quality problems usually make themselves evident?

Audio reviewers need to go jump in a lake. Having 4 bands of fixed width and frequency EQ is not a good use of $150. You don't want broad sweeping corrections with EQ, that is like someone who owns a hammer using it on screws. Do some moving mic measurements at your listening position, fix the problems that actually exist.

Chromebox is just a PC with a locked down OS. You can still hook up a USB DAC and use it normally, including the miniDSP. miniDSP usage is not complicated, you just plug it into a PC with USB, run the software, and setup your filters. Once the setup is done, the PC used to program no longer needs to be connected, so you can do the setup via Windows or Mac, then use standalone. As for figuring out which filters to use, Room EQ Wizard will hold your hand pretty well.

Cheap crossover can compromise the distortion + time domain performance of a speaker if the breakup modes of the drivers are not suppressed. Cheap cabinet can cause resonances, as can the port. Ports can also cause non-linear compression.

If you deem DSP too complicated, just buy better speakers for $150-200 rather than throwing money at analogue EQ.
 

Mal

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Audio reviewers need to go jump in a lake. Having 4 bands of fixed width and frequency EQ is not a good use of $150. You don't want broad sweeping corrections with EQ, that is like someone who owns a hammer using it on screws. Do some moving mic measurements at your listening position, fix the problems that actually exist.

Chromebox is just a PC with a locked down OS. You can still hook up a USB DAC and use it normally, including the miniDSP. miniDSP usage is not complicated, you just plug it into a PC with USB, run the software, and setup your filters. Once the setup is done, the PC used to program no longer needs to be connected, so you can do the setup via Windows or Mac, then use standalone. As for figuring out which filters to use, Room EQ Wizard will hold your hand pretty well.

Cheap crossover can compromise the distortion + time domain performance of a speaker if the breakup modes of the drivers are not suppressed. Cheap cabinet can cause resonances, as can the port. Ports can also cause non-linear compression.

If you deem DSP too complicated, just buy better speakers for $150-200 rather than throwing money at analogue EQ.
My experiments with DSP apps indicate I do require broad sweeping corrections! Why use a mic? I have ears... and my ears are the perfect shape and position for testing my ears. Unlike a mic. Run the software? How do you do that on a chromebox? I don't have any access to a Windows PC or Mac. Chromeboxes run Chrome OS which is a totally different operating system to Windows, a chromebook is not just a "locked down" Windows PC.

I have KEF LSX speakers and make full use of their onboard DSP - I very much doubt any $150-200 speakers will work out of the box without equalisation in my average living room. The LSX doesn't give total control (you choose options like "away from wall, at front of desk, active room...") OK not fine grain control, but I like it... it works! I love the sound of my KEFs with basic EQ running. So I'm thinking a Schiit Loki might give me a "good enough" EQ experience on my Wharfedale's to match the KEFs. Plus although the apps are flaky they can get the KEFs sounding pretty good in some circumstances, even though they give no more fine grain control than a Loki.

Also I like playing CDs from a CD player, but some CDs are a bit bright. How do I fix them?

 
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