What speakers are you using on your 'good' stereo system ? Options

[retro83]

Nothing fancy here:

Cambridge Audio A5 Amp

Eltax Monitor 3 Speakers (biwired)

But I love it! I tested a lot of other considerably more expensive setups before I bought this (5 years ago now) but whilst some sounded markedly different, none sounded better to my ears.

I'm moving house in the next few months, so will probably be looking to upgrade to something a little more refined.

[PredatoryFern]

I just have PC sound:

Auzentech X-Fi Prelude -> Optical -> Logitech Z5500's
I use Foobar2K and MP3/WavPack.

I really enjoy the sound, but I haven't been able to play with things to much as I'm in an extremely small appartment and I have to becareful about the bass.

[Piffles]

I got my dream set up together just a week ago, the speakers being the last element to arrive.

MP3 Lame VBR-New Standard
External Hard Disk on FireWire
Laptop
USB soundcard M-Audio Fast Track Pro
Cheap RCA cable
Hybrid Tube/Solid State Stereo integrated amplifier Musical Fidelity X-T100
Biwiring speaker cables Audioquest type 2.1
Stereo speakers Jean-Marie Reynaud Cantabile Signature

I'm quite pleased with the result: nice, natural, organic and pleasant sound. Instruments sound very close to the 'real thing' as though they were in the room. The speakers are famous for that. The amp on the other hand adds a bit of tubey warmth to the overall sound. I'm losing a bit of bass punch and detail compared to a more analytical amp like the Rotel1062 but, in my opinion, the sound is overall more pleasant and emotionally involving.

[The Two Channel ...]

Squeezebox delivers the music. FLAC-files
Electrocompaniets original 25W amplifier from 1974
4 ESL 57 from Quad (Stacked)

Nice sound - you hear everything (also the weakness)

This post has been edited by The Two Channel Amplifier: Jan 31 2008, 21:58

[katoblepa]

Hi, i just wanted to know what kind of speakers you all have at home ... and you have your PC and soundcard connected to them somehow ?

As the poll will only give me 10 options and i normally needed about 20 to make a sensible categorization i'd like you to post a short reply with some comments also, especially if you have self made speakers and probably designed and constructed them by yourself, like what is your background here and what software and measurement equipment were you using, what tweeters/mid/woofers etc. .... thanks

My stereo system is composed by:
AR M6
Unison Research CDP
Unison Research SE Integrated Amplifer
Projet II turntable

http://www.unisonresearch.com/unico/default.aspx

For the soundcard of my notebook I have to decide. Someone says that products of http://www.m-audio.com/ are good.

ciao

[-sanb-]

Hi ALL!
I use Toshiba noutbook ac97 Soudmax foobar2000 0.9.5 (Resampler SSRC, winamp DSP bridge+Enhancer 017, out to KS 16-bit Dither) > 10$ RCA connect > Solo 3 MK-3 speakers

[theboyjenkins]

Mordant Short 906i

from my pc via a Yamaha DP-U50

into a Sony STRDG510

[fc9818]

Laptop>M-Audio Transit>TOS Link> Behringer DEQ2496>Behringer 500W Ref Amp>Polk PSW10 Sub> Polk RTi10 (2)

[MedO]

Hi ALL!
I use Toshiba noutbook ac97 Soudmax foobar2000 0.9.5 (Resampler SSRC, winamp DSP bridge+Enhancer 017, out to KS 16-bit Dither) > 10$ RCA connect > Solo 3 MK-3 speakers

Beware when you use the device drivers that come with the thing - I've found out that on my Toshiba notebook, the OEM driver installed an equalizer that changed the sound of the output considerably - probably it is adapted for the internal speakers.

[twostar]

Being a complete cheapskate, I'm satisfied and will never upgrade (crosses fingers) my Altec Lansing MX5021s connected into my mobo's onboard sound and sometimes connected to my 80gb Ipod Classic's headphone jack.

[weaker]

Using nubert nuBox speakers. Sounding perfect and incredibly competitive pricing. www.nubert.de

[S-12]

Sennheisers.

[retro83]

Sennheisers.

Do Sennheiser make speakers? Can't find them anywhere...

[Jimmy_Neuron]

I have the following setup:
Speakers: Highland Audio Aingel 3205
Amp: Carat A57
Both mid-end stuff, but I really like the sound of it. Before my current amp, I had a Yamaha receiver. Glad to be rid of that!
But I'm still looking for a better connection between my laptop and my amp. Now using a Creative X-Mod

[S-12]

Do Sennheiser make speakers? Can't find them anywhere...

Yes, they make very small speakers that sit just next to each ear. No good for a party, but my neighbors appreciate them.

[ech3]

Magnepan MC1 (front and rear)
Magnepan CC3 (center channel)
Martin Logan Dynamo subwoofer.

[GregDunn]

First post to the forum. Looks like a great place.

My "good" system isn't in place right now due to space issues in the family room:

Magneplanar Tympani 1C
homemade 3-way crossover
homemade preamp derived from Walt Jung's TAA designs
Dynaco Stereo 400
Dynaco Stereo 150
M&K 200 subwoofer (needs re-coning)
Marantz 120B tuner
Luxman CD player

So I listen mostly on the go with my iPod and Sony EX-71s. I do have a couple of secondary systems, but they tend to change depending on whether I'm testing repaired gear, ripping/remastering some of my old vinyl or checking CD/DVD masters before sending them to friends. I have a lot of weird used stuff from the 60s/70s that I keep for esthetic reasons, but it all works and gives me a lot of combinatorial possibilities.

[cjv998]

Paradigm Mini Monitor v.5's (amped with home-built "gainclone" amp, based off LM3875 op-amps...approx. 60W/ch. RMS)
connected to amp with 12AWG OFC wire (nothing special, it's just the largest gauge I had readily available (was left over after wiring up my sub in my car), and it's still OFC, so it's decent quality at least)

Hsu STF-2 10" sub (connected to LFE-out on sound card)

M-Audio Revolution 5.1 sound card (analog out)

media players:
Foobar w/ ASIO output (Windows XP Pro)
Amarok (Ubuntu 7.10, with dmix reconfigured to avoid resampling to 48kHz)

This post has been edited by cjv998: Feb 13 2008, 23:29

[fields_g]

Built my own.... Audax 7.1 system with a Dayton 15" sub. Really the best you can do for the price if you don't mind some MDF sawdust and a little planning. Really one of the best projects I've ever done and EVERYONE can appreciate them!

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_8_3/...ker-9-2001.html

[cjv998]

Built my own.... Audax 7.1 system with a Dayton 15" sub. Really the best you can do for the price if you don't mind some MDF sawdust and a little planning. Really one of the best projects I've ever done and EVERYONE can appreciate them!

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_8_3/...ker-9-2001.html

That Audax center-channel design looks similar in layout to Paradigm's new center channel models (among others, I'm sure). How do the speakers sound? Also, what are you amping them with? I have to say, $260 is a steal for what appears to be a decent center channel!

I've seen some reviews on that site before, but I didn't know they had that much DIY stuff on there; I think I've found a new favorite audio site!

[omi]

foobar or xmms
RME hammerfall LE 9636
connected via toslink to
RME ADI-2
connected with XLR cables to a pair of
Behringer Truth B2031A

but I am not sure if I like the Behringers since they are quite fatiguing to listen to and seem to be a cheap copy of Genelec speakers.

This post has been edited by omi: Feb 14 2008, 14:43

[fields_g]

Built my own.... Audax 7.1 system with a Dayton 15" sub. Really the best you can do for the price if you don't mind some MDF sawdust and a little planning. Really one of the best projects I've ever done and EVERYONE can appreciate them!

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_8_3/...ker-9-2001.html

That Audax center-channel design looks similar in layout to Paradigm's new center channel models (among others, I'm sure). How do the speakers sound? Also, what are you amping them with? I have to say, $260 is a steal for what appears to be a decent center channel!

I've seen some reviews on that site before, but I didn't know they had that much DIY stuff on there; I think I've found a new favorite audio site!

I built this system 2 years ago.. WAY back in my college years. The amp wasn't anything REALLY special, just a Pioneer VSX-1014TX-K (~$400, I think). Thinking was that the speakers were going to be around much longer than the receiver anyway, especially one that is meant for decoding emerging digital codecs. I think I paid around $900 for the parts for the 7 speakers and $650 for the sub. You can't forget labor though. I did this up at my grandfathers house and he really got excited about the project after it started coming together! There is an obnoxiously long thread on avsforum that is a very good read for those wanting to do this project. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=170942

The sound is outstanding according to my ears. I'll admit, I don't have much of a reference except for those people who are all proud of their home theatre in a box setups. There is simply NO comparison between the them. Big, clean, clear and unlabored sound with a real sub to provide encompassing bass and a projector for your video just can't be matched!

EVEN MY WIFE LOVES THEM AND DOESN'T MIND A LIVING ROOM DECORATED WITH SPEAKERS! That's about as good of a review as you can get!

[cabbagerat]

Just finished building myself a new system:

Source: AV-710 rear channel DAC
Amp: Stereo LM3886 based chipamp for stereo channels, 300W subwoofer amp of my own design, fourth order Linkwitz-Riley active crossover at 95Hz
Speakers: Fostex FE167E full range drivers in 15L bass reflex cabinets
Subwoofer: 12" car subwoofer in 70L sealed box, with Linkwitz Transform to correct response, and -3dB point at 25Hz

The system sounds absolutely excellent. I still need to complete measurements of the chipamps to decide if they are going to stay, but they sound great for the moment. Both the speakers and the electronics were my own design, and I'm pretty pleased with the whole thing.

[S-12]

Just got my Klipsch speakers out of storage. So now my music flows from Audigy to Klipsch, and occasionally I use the integrated (and very powerful) Klipsch headphone amp to power my Sennheisers. The world rocks again!

It's interesting to note the range of subjective preferences regarding "outstanding sound quality" based on the hardware different folks use.

[ScottMayo]

VMPS speakers. I have a dedicated and acoustically treated listening room, and I'm fussy. I'm very, very happy with it.

Audio sources are anything from a Squeezebox (most listening), which is all EAC rips of CDs I've bought, to SACD and DVD-A. Sometimes I use my laptop as an audio source, but rarely for real listening.