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Topic: Floortanding speaker comparison and advice (Read 58728 times) previous topic - next topic
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Re: Floortanding speaker comparison and advice

Reply #25 –
Thansk for the advice, but I can't do that. I'm on Linux on a setup that doesn't allow for Wine (Gentoo no multilib).

Re: Floortanding speaker comparison and advice

Reply #26 –
Quote from: q3cpma on
I want to add, though, that studies using "average joes" as subjects are mostly useless, and it's easy to see why: prefererence for inflated bass/mids and volume over quality is the norm. Probably because of conditioning by devices like car radio and and "modern" mixing.
I think this remark also concerns the whole "Harman frequency response target" thing.

http://seanolive.blogspot.com/2008/12/loudspeaker-preferences-of-trained.html

Re: Floortanding speaker comparison and advice

Reply #27 –
Pretty interesting. Would have been better with more speakers and more types of signatures; none of the speakers exhibit a V (or U) shaped signature, which is mostly confined to headphones. And I think it's possible (even if unlikely) that the same study done today wouldn't yield the same results.

This kind of studies is exactly what the audio world need, though.
 

Re: Floortanding speaker comparison and advice

Reply #28 –
The Yamaha studio monitors will produce good sound and do adjust to a space a bit, With the music you listen to, you may be wanting just a little more bass. The biggest factor here is the room you want to rock out in. Is it an acoustic perfect space? Or something like mine which is about the worst configuration possible. With a lessor space the sound stage a speaker produces is much more important, wide angle sound dispersion at the cone will lead to more mixing of channels and give you a larger sweet spot in your room. 15 yrs ago I did a speaker shopping tour. I came home with Revel F-30 and Rotel amps. Amazing sound in an ugly room.  With rock music bass is important and there is nothing like a good 10"+ woofer. Check out used gear, you can stay in budget and get a fuller sound. I liked the F30's so much I got a pair of M20's for my computer speakers which would be in the same class as the yamaha's they sound great but could use a little more bottom than the 6.5" woofer can produce. I picked up a used Rel sub cheap and would dare say I have the best computer speaker system around. Its a shame you can't go to a store and compare.

Re: Floortanding speaker comparison and advice

Reply #29 –
Quote from: spoon on
I rate Bowers and Wilkins speakers very highly, I have heard most others.

Often the higher priced the speaker, the more 'non-neutral' it will sound
Interesting. In blind listening tests, the near top B&Ws were spanked by a $350 (much better measuring soundwaves) Infinity.
I think you mean, the higher priced "audiophile" designer speakers. That certainly doesn't apply to non-audiophile, engineered speakers.
Loudspeaker manufacturer

Re: Floortanding speaker comparison and advice

Reply #30 –
@DeadTrader
Well, bass is not my priority, since I mostly listen to extreme metal that doesn't benefit that much from sub-bass. But since it IS still important, I thought the HS8 would be better than the HS7 for me, even with a quite tiny room; I don't listen to very high levels. I'll attach what is supposed to be my next appartment with two possible placements.

As for something else than the Yamahas, I looked at the Focal Alpha line (pricier), but it's hard to ignore the universal acclaim for the Yamahas' neutrality and quality. Plus, a manufacturer including FR graphs in their marketing deserves my money or at least attention.

Re: Floortanding speaker comparison and advice

Reply #31 –
The HS8s are a good choice for that space. If you went with one of the smaller Yamahas you might want to get the matching subwoofer, but that's a matter of your taste. If it were me I would get the HS8s, if you don't feel the need to squeeze out that last bit of bass extension the HS7s with no subwoofer would be fine also. The distances from the monitors you show in your diagram are exactly in the range of where these speakers are designed to be listened to, so you don't have to worry about how they perform at the mid field.

There are two problems I see, though.

You have too many speakers in your diagram. You will definitely be producing more sound than you need with just 2 HS8s. They are very loud. With just 2 you will never have to turn them up more than half way or so unless you want to start doing serious damage to your ears.

The other smaller problem is that your room is a bit small, this will be a problem for whatever speakers you choose to put in there as it will necessitate you placing the speakers close to the walls, as per your diagram. The reason this is a problem is that the lowest frequencies produced by your speakers will be amplified by their proximity to the wall.

For any normal home speakers this would be a big problem, but since you have decided to get studio monitors, the solution is as simple as flipping a switch on the back of the speakers to attenuate the bass in compensation. The HS8s are designed specifically to work well in situations like this, and the instructions for setting all of the compensatory switches on the back of your speakers will be in your included manual.

Edit: I see now that you only intend to buy 2 speakers and that you are showing the two possible placements in your room. Sorry for the misunderstanding. One of the two placements in your diagram will definitely be better than the other due to the complex room shape, but I do not have the knowledge to be able to tell you which one. I'm sure someone here, or maybe a bit of googling will be able to help you find the answer though.

Re: Floortanding speaker comparison and advice

Reply #32 –
Well, I always preferred 2.0 to 2.1 and the Yamaha sub, although very good, is priced in consequence. I think you're right, I'll make good use of the room compensation dial.

About the best placement, my intuition tells me the bottom one is better, since you get a quite symmetrical room at the other end.

Re: Floortanding speaker comparison and advice

Reply #33 –
Adding a subwoofer (or preferably two or more) will improve any stereo system, but only if it is properly integrated. If not, it can be overpowering and boomy. This is regrettably probably the mental image for most people when they hear the word "subwoofer".

Re: Floortanding speaker comparison and advice

Reply #34 –
Why would you use more than one? Seems like a strange idea to me.

Re: Floortanding speaker comparison and advice

Reply #35 –
Multiple subwoofers can reduce the effects of standing waves, depending on placement.    And of course, you can get more-deeper bass with more total piston area.

Quote
but only if it is properly integrated. If not, it can be overpowering and boomy.
And of course, it should be a good subwoofer.   ;)

Re: Floortanding speaker comparison and advice

Reply #36 –
Quote from: q3cpma on
Why would you use more than one? Seems like a strange idea to me.
The vast majority of the population is not really passionate by the music or the artificial sound rendering, they often have few seconds of attention to offer at a listening test and therefore these few seconds have to be very impessive. Then in their brain, these few seconds are stocked as the "good taste". Getting out of this mass paradigm requires some theorical and pratical competences, you have to explore the contraints of the creation of an artitificial soundfield, a multisub setup needs some measurements tools and can be considered as the part of the top level of knowledge about an artitificial soundfield.

Quote from: DVDdoug on
more total piston area.
Surface is nothing if there is no impedance matching (this impedance is very low at these low frequencies).