Working from the speakers backwards

[617]

Do you mean for example:

Hire a professional acoustician

Hire a professional acoustician. Anyone done that? I can suspect that it is well-invested money regarding the hunt for good sound. Or what do you think? A professional acoustician who goes through the conditions in the listening room who gives tips and advice on how the room can be optimized...

audiosciencereview.com

It can absolutely be a good (maybe the best?) option.

It's the most sciency option for sure.

If you're doing home theater I think passives are a bit easier to deal with but for stereo I'd consider actives.

 

[coonmanx]

If there is a dealer that charges a "consultation fee" then I would demand that the fee be deducted from the price of the speakers if you decide to purchase them. That only seems fair.

 

[Sokel]

It can absolutely be a good (maybe the best?) option.

Generaly agreed but here it seems that the space is large,the 10K budget will not be enough for the right Genelecs (given that the subs if exist will play their designated and not try to full mid-bass).

 

[LTig]

Don't even consider for a second spending $3850 on a pair of speakers without listening to them first. Find a dealer, drive to a dealer, or buy/borrow a pair on appro.

Usually I would agree but I know a guy who bought a pair of active speakers for € 15,000.- (K&H O500C) without auditioning first and was very happy afterwards.

 

[ryanosaur]

I would argue to NOT buy Speakers that you may know ahead of time need to be EQ'd to sound accurate or neutral, or to fix a faulty design issue. (I'm notorious for disliking Klipsch and B&W for many of their issues in FR... There are a lot of high quality Speakers at all price points that perform better!) Definitely plan on adding at least 1 Good-Quality Sub, especially if you ever listen to anything like Pipe Organ or Electronic music.

I also highly recommend looking at Hypex or Purifi for Amplification, depending on where you are, there are dealers in the US and EU that can deliver good product at a reasonable price.

 

[polmuaddib]

Find a dealer, drive to a dealer, or buy/borrow a pair on appro

Listening at home would be best, but I doubt you'll find many dealers that allow taking expensive speakers home just to try them.
Listening at dealer's will not help much, because a lot of people are dissapointed when they bring those speakers home and the bass is nowhere near as good as it was at dealer's place. Or there are some different reflections that mess up midrange or trebble....

But, shopping for hifi is half the fun of this hobby. I would not begin by searching end game speakers.

That said, I would set my priorities straight. Find out if looks matter and how much. Most people value looks more then they care to admit.
Then decide what road to take, active or passive.

Then read Dr Toole's book, all the ASR speaker reviews, start some threads, visit some audio shows, get in to audiophile fights over what sounds better...

 

[Gary_G]

Bought my Focal Aria 926 speakers without auditioning them. Lots of investigating professional reviews, data, specifications, antictodal comments from various sites. Found them in for just about half price for a pair lightly used as demo speakers at Crutchfield. Never questioned if I made the right decision, perfect for my music selections and room.

 

[NiagaraPete]

How about something a bit different.

Neumann KH420
Mid grade DAC maybe Topping D30 pro
Streamer PI or Wim
Cables

Done

 

[restorer-john]

I haven't found any dealers in my region with these speakers, unfortunately. There's a large hifi shop a few hours away that demos Triangle, Dali, YG acoustics, monitor, dynaudio and ELAC gear, but they charge a several hundred dollar consultation fee and don't carry the Revel for comparison.
I found the speakers on Crutchfield so presumably I could return them, though with a hefty shipping fee.
Would I be better off picking from the in-person selection, in your view?

When I was a younger audiophile, I flew to another state's major city, stayed overnight in a nice hotel with my girl and went to an array of stores where I had made appointments to listen to certain loudspeakers. I've driven large distances to pick up particular pieces I wanted over the decades.

My father, (a classical music aficionado and audiophile) drove hundreds of miles in the 1960s and 1970s to go to a particular HiFi store just to swap around, or trade-in pieces of gear (I was a baby at the time).

If these ~$4k speakers are just a stepping stone and you are wanting to constantly update your gear, that's fine, buy off a group-think website or review blog. If not, spend the time, the effort and the money acquainting yourself with listening experiences with an wide array of loudspeakers and brands. Then make a personally informed decision.

Find the guys with stock, create a relationship and buy from them, not from some faceless clown on the internet. Read books, but take them with a grain of salt.

 

[Peluvius]

I'm looking to put together the best sounding 2.1 system I can for my living room, with a maximum budget of 10K.
The room is quite large, with vaulted ceilings, and I'll be listening from approximately 10' away. I'll primarily be using a streaming source such as Tidal.

I've been reading through the forum, and it looks like the best speaker in my budget is the Revel F208, conveniently on sale at the moment for $3850 a pair. Unfortunately, no retailer offers these in my area to listen to - I've enjoyed the KEF R11 and Paradigm Founder F100 in person, but I'm inclined to trust the data and go with the Revels after reading the forum. I already own a Klipsch 12" sub I intend to use, and I'd love to be able to build this into a linked multi-room system with basic speakers in a couple of other rooms, 2 of which already have Yamaha RXV-4A receivers. In the past I've had success with the Yamaha musiccast system so I was thinking of using a Yamaha WXC-50 as the streamer, but I'm open to alternative ways to link up rooms if a better system exists.

My major questions are:
What amp would you recommend to drive these speakers? I see the Benchmark AHB2 has some of the best measurements, but I worry power output would be insufficient.
Would the WXC-50 significantly impair my system, and if so, is there another streamer I should look at that offers some way to link multiple rooms? Would bypassing the yamaha DAC and running in a miniDSP Flex significantly improve my outcome?

Thank you all for your input; its been eye opening reading the massive trove of knowledge contained within this forum.

The Benchmark is a great amp with plenty of power for those speakers. There are a lot of options for Amps and I would personally go for something less expensive as you can't hear a relevant difference between properly designed amps. I would comfortably buy a speaker such as the F208 that is well regarded and reviewed without audition unless you can reasonably get to hear them in your own room (assuming they are new). Auditioning at a HiFi shop is overrated given the impact the room has on what you hear, it can be and often is downright deceptive.

The WXC-50 is fine for the functionality you need and will not degrade anything. I also use Apple airports for multipoint high quality wireless distribution but this only makes sense if you use Apple Music.

The MiniDSP flex with Dirac is definitely a worthwhile consideration, Dirac works for me and does so in a room I cannot really treat acoustically (WAF).

 

[restorer-john]

There are a lot of options for Amps and I would personally go for something less expensive as you can't hear a relevant difference between properly designed amps.

I wish people would stop repeating this meaningless statement- it sends the wrong message to people.

You want to make a statement like that, clarify EXACTLY what you mean by properly designed. I mean specifics- all of them. It'll be a long list.

 

[DanielT]

Generaly agreed but here it seems that the space is large,the 10K budget will not be enough for the right Genelecs (given that the subs if exist will play their designated and not try to full mid-bass).

That's right, big room. Hmm. These, or that type of speaker, dual 15 inch bass drivers. You can play really loud on them without hearing a lot of unpleasant distortion. A FR that, well it might be a bit too sloping for some but it appeals to me. In any case, some type of speaker like that. Model big.

PLEASE NOTE: Our standard is to provide the THD+N measurement at 90dB with a measuring distance of 2 meters (within the anechoic chamber). Since this speaker produced very low distortion levels under those conditions, we have added a second measurement performed at 95dB to give an indication of performance under higher-output conditions. In addition, we have also provide an additional Deviation from Linearity measurement at 100dB based on the good performance at 95dB.

SoundStage! Measurements - Cerwin Vega CLS-215 Loudspeakers (12/2007)

Edit:
Just as an example (it's some DIY, don't know who made them) this size?:

Maybe too big, it should fit in the listening room too.

 

[Peluvius]

I wish people would stop repeating this meaningless statement- it sends the wrong message to people.

You want to make a statement like that, clarify EXACTLY what you mean by properly designed. I mean specifics- all of them. It'll be a long list.

It really depends on whether you are teaching to fish or handing fish out. It is meaningful if the audience takes the time to consider what it means.

 

[restorer-john]

It really depends on whether you are teaching to fish or handing fish out. It is meaningful if the audience takes the time to consider what it means.

More empty talk...

 

[Peluvius]

More empty talk...

I like your Avatar.

 

[restorer-john]

I like your Avatar.

You're toasted.

What is that, multigrain?

 

[Peluvius]

You're toasted.

What is that, multigrain?

With a few nuts....

 

[Doodski]

You're toasted.

What is that, multigrain?

It appears to be pumpernickel bread.

 

[restorer-john]

It appears to be pumpernickel bread.

The few times I've tried pumpernickel, I spat it out.

 

[Doodski]

The few times I've tried pumpernickel, I spat it out.

Yeah, same here. It's sour and weirdO.