OT: home stereo speakers advice

[William]

"Everyone loves Bose speakers, except audiophiles..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5vdOatLp4U






W.

[pdmtong]

Originally Posted by Jeff N.

Hope they came with the equalizer...it's a must...they won't perform at all without it.

Yes I got the EQ. Knew that going in

The holdup all these years is I don’t have a 100+ watt amp.

I am using a 40w golden tube amp for my Klipsch. They don’t need much to deliver the sound.

But these 901 series 1 or 2 are power hungry.

[jkbrwn]

I stimulated the economy by buying some KEF LS50 Meta's. I demoed a whole bunch of stuff from the $1000 to around the $2500 mark and these are just... holy moly. I tried not to listen to the hype. I tried to have my own thoughts and opinions but man oh MAN! are they great. Believe the hype. I should note, I have no experience with the original LS50. I bought these blind. Being English, I wanted to buy British made speakers but the value for money factor is just not there. Harbeth, ProAc, Spendor etc are just too expensive IMO. Neat Acoustics make some nice stuff that's reasonably priced, but the value still isn't as good as something made in Asia. KEF have owned their own factory in China since 1993, though, so I had no concerns about quality at all.

I came very close to buying some ex demo made in Canada Totem Sky Tower's which I thought were fantastic, but I am glad I didn't, as they were much more expensive than the KEF's and I don't think I prefer them.

I honestly think you're getting a lot of value for money with these KEF's. They're insanely well made, hold their resale value if you want to sell them and they're doing some great things for albums I have listened to a hundred times (through pretty decent speakers or good headphones).

I wanted speakers that would disappear, that is, if I close my eyes I can't tell where the speakers are located and they're nailing it. With some older recordings from The Beatles, it's kind of obvious just because of how they were recorded (stereo was in it's infancy etc), but with more modern recordings there's just a wall of sound and the sound stage is incredibly wide with spectacular detail retrieval.

Carole King's Tapestry sounds incredible. I feel like I'm in the recording studio. I've only had a couple of hours with them so far, so I'm not going to gush too much. But yeah. So far I have zero regrets.

I got the blue ones. They look superb IMO.

[thwart]

Sorry to resurrect this old thread, but if you happen to live in the Darien, Connecticut area…

This is just an unbelievable deal. Great speakers, I own a set (and they sound wonderful, even without that pricey subwoofer).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/375245571851

[Likes2ridefar]

The totems I’ve heard from skinny towers to larger bookshelves have all been a pleasure to listen to. They didn’t seem to care whether they were sideways on the ground or upright; they sang beautifully.

[jamesdak]

Timely revival....

I've been in the process lately of upgrading my living room setup. It's a surround sound setup used for music also. A nice Yamaha HTR 5960 receiver with an Oppo-103 supporting it. Sticking with this combo as the DAC in the Oppo can deal with the DSD off of SACD's and output via 7 channel component audio to the receiver. For about 15 years the speakers have been in wall and in ceiling Klipsch Reference series supported by a small Klipsch center and a Klipsch subwoofer. Decided to up my game and after some research stuck with Klipsch. Main front speakers now are Klipsch RP-8000F-II towers with a matching RP-504C II beast of a center channel speaker. I thought the old setup sounded good but these are next level in my book. Certainly something I'd recommend although some may find them too bright. Yesterday I swapped my old Technics turntable for a brand new Thorens TD 1500 and WOW! I can't ever remember hearing anything that sounds this good. I'm sure there's plenty of better speakers out there but for this old geezer I'm more than happy with my current setup.

[Likes2ridefar]

I really enjoyed my klispch surround speaker setup for a few years after moving from much more expensive speakers. They are engaging, great for movies, and easy to drive with pretty much any receiver to reference room shaking levels.

I had the rp600 for center and matching bookshelves mounted to the wall on stands.

[Rpoole8537]

Originally Posted by TimD

Unless they changed something the woofers use butyl rubber surrounds. Both the L700s and the L1290/2s I have are from the mid-80s and they are fine.

I think prices are what they are because there is demand for them.

Tim

I have a pair of ADS L700's , maybe 710's, that I bought in 1976. Still have them. Later bought a pair of cosmetically challengedL 780's that were amazing connected to a Nakamichi with about 85 watts. Regrettably, I sold those. I do love the ADS sound, and one aspect that I love is the they sound great at low volume, as well as, high volume. BTW, I did buy new speakers from ADS, that use butyl rubber. They don’t sound the same, but still sound very good.

[LadyDog]

Previously owned Totem Arro's. Nice speakers. Pretty amazing what they can do with a 4" driver. The sub is just an added bonus. Would make for a pretty sweat stereo setup for not a lot of coin.

[jkbrwn]

Originally Posted by Likes2ridefar

The totems I’ve heard from skinny towers to larger bookshelves have all been a pleasure to listen to. They didn’t seem to care whether they were sideways on the ground or upright; they sang beautifully.

The really funny thing is that I totally forgot I posted up thread about the LS50s. And in that comment I mention that I didn't buy Sky Tower's and that I was happy about it...... Shortly after I posted that I returned the KEFs and bought the Totem Sky Tower's in question and three years later I'm still in love with them. For their small size they're all I need. I had a Rogue Audio Sphinx v3 for a while but got fed up with tube hum - and just the idea of tubes so ended up with a Cambridge CXA61. Stellar combination and I have zero desire to upgrade anything anywhere. Wiim Mini > Topping E30 > CXA61 > Sky Tower's. Muy bien!

[onewheeldrive]

If you can find AV123 or Onix in good condition, you can't go wrong for the price.

Anything designed by Danny Ritchie will sound great.

[jimcav]

Originally Posted by jkbrwn

I stimulated the economy by buying some KEF LS50 Meta's. I demoed a whole bunch of stuff from the $1000 to around the $2500 mark and these are just... holy moly. I tried not to listen to the hype. I tried to have my own thoughts and opinions but man oh MAN! are they great. Believe the hype. I should note, I have no experience with the original LS50. I bought these blind. Being English, I wanted to buy British made speakers but the value for money factor is just not there. Harbeth, ProAc, Spendor etc are just too expensive IMO. Neat Acoustics make some nice stuff that's reasonably priced, but the value still isn't as good as something made in Asia. KEF have owned their own factory in China since 1993, though, so I had no concerns about quality at all.

I came very close to buying some ex demo made in Canada Totem Sky Tower's which I thought were fantastic, but I am glad I didn't, as they were much more expensive than the KEF's and I don't think I prefer them.

I honestly think you're getting a lot of value for money with these KEF's. They're insanely well made, hold their resale value if you want to sell them and they're doing some great things for albums I have listened to a hundred times (through pretty decent speakers or good headphones).

I wanted speakers that would disappear, that is, if I close my eyes I can't tell where the speakers are located and they're nailing it. With some older recordings from The Beatles, it's kind of obvious just because of how they were recorded (stereo was in it's infancy etc), but with more modern recordings there's just a wall of sound and the sound stage is incredibly wide with spectacular detail retrieval.

Carole King's Tapestry sounds incredible. I feel like I'm in the recording studio. I've only had a couple of hours with them so far, so I'm not going to gush too much. But yeah. So far I have zero regrets.

I got the blue ones. They look superb IMO.

I listen to classic rock, Johnny Cash, and various bluegrass on vinyl using a rega P3, NAD amp, and pioneer sB8522 bookshelf. The speakers are making noises and I got them used, so am looking to replace. I wanted LS50s but for budget reasons went with the used pioneer.

thanks for any input on LS50 or something with comparable performance and footprint

[robt57]

Just a point, I gave a expensive pair of monitors with active X-overs and high end Tweeter to a friend, told him if he likes them consider them a gift. He gave them back.

He wears hearing-aids and said he could not hear a much of a difference from his box store consumer Sony HT stuff. So factor in your ability to hear what you are spending on...

Me, my HT has Piagas and DIY sub [folded horn] that doubles for music with just a decent modern DTS receiver. My old day of paying for Dynaco and Fischer 500c tube stuff ended decades ago. I still use a re-furbed ancient pair of Time series DCM speakers [new woofer edges].


PSA: don't forget to listen to the music and not just the equipment.

[rnhood]

The DCM time windows were indeed, very good speakers. I certainly enjoyed mine, though later got hooked on the Magnepans (with ribbons), and Soundlab electrostatics. But those time windows were mighty good little speakers.

[thwart]

Another cost-effective option, if you (and your SO) don’t mind 6 feet tall speakers. Must have a high current amp to sound their best. And of course a good-sized room.

These were amazing when they were first introduced, and with a recent factory refurb and crossover upgrade…

https://www.ebay.com/itm/226010698087