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

I use four old floor standing speakers that used to belong to my parents.

I think they were purchased some time in the 70's. The brand name on them is Electrophonic (never heard of this company). They sound fairly decent, not too clear but they have a nice warm sound to them and they provide enough output to fill my apartment bedroom with music.

Edit: Forgot to mention how they are connected to my computer.
SPDIF out of SB Live to Denon AVR-1801 to my speakers.

ap 24/96 ->Denon PMA-920->pair of Klipsch Heresy II loudspeakers...

Interconnects and Monster Cable speaker wire

Not too many 'mad' people in this forum, it seems

Wow, looks like few have dwabbled in the high-end. I have a pair of NSM Model 50 floorstanding loudspeakers, costing about $1800/pr. Real cherry wood cabinets, sealed box design, bi-ampable, 2 6-1/2" drivers, 1" tweeter in a M-T-M array. NSM is a small company...my speakers have a serial number of #145.

But the audiosnobs would condemn my playback chain:

Sony XA-3ES CD player -> $15 RCA interconnects -> Onkyo TX-DS474 receiver -> Home Depot bulk speaker cable -> NSM Model 50s. No quality problrms with the cheap cables or the receiver.

My PC isn't hooked up to my stereo as of now...I plug my HD-600s into the sound card.

Infinity OWS-1 wall mount speakers with a KLH sub in the family room.

Sony V6 currently plugged into a SB Live on my PC. Sometimes they are plugged into the main stereo.

Brett

Perhaps I don't have the best ears, but I've never been able to distinguish a good $400-$500 set of speakers from a good $1500 set of speakers. In fact I'd guess the imperfect acoustics of my family room contribute more to degradation of the sound than the speakers do, so unless I'm going to move to a house specially designed for optimal acoustic properties...

I didn't realize Denon and Klipsch loudspeakers were not considered "high end." Maybe not the Denon, but above middle-of-the-road, nonetheless...

B&W's $600 602S2 bookshelf speakers in a decent room, coupled with a decent amp and a good sub that's been properly tweaked(mine's a Velodyne FSX-12) will keep up with most higher end stuff. Of course, for Good stable stands I paid $150, and the Velo was $900 (it's discontinued and can be found for around $600 now) What you really get with the higher end speakers is less distortion, less coloration, quicker low-frequency response, better stereo imaging (I can actually picture the environment a good jazz or classical recording was done in based on auditory cues with the 602's), better spatial depth, etc. The 602S3's do an even better job for the same price, but you can probably find the S2's discounted a bit now too. The 602's actually sound as big as most floorstanders, but without a sub, you won't get a floorstander's low end response.

For the average home listener who never sits down and really listens to their music a good system is a waste. You have to enjoy listening enough to spend time in the speakers' "sweet spot" instead of just playing stuff in the background. For me, spending $1000 on the various cabling was worth the price, most people never take the time to hear the difference though, so it doesn't matter as much.

Denon is decent, and in the broad range, would fall into the "middle of the road" category. Technics and the like sit at the bottom, Denon/Yamaha/Onkyo/Harmon Kardon sit in the middle and on the top end you have things like McIntosh, B&K, Classe, Proceed, Meridian and Mark Levinson.

Klipsch likewise sits in the middle, along with Infinity and other mass-produced big name manufacturers. The top end is reserved for things like Wilson, Genesis, Magneplaner, etc.

for mp3/monkey's audio, i use the horrific analog out of my soundblaster 5.1 digital (saving up for a better soundcard and DAC, but it's not a huge priority at the moment), into my nad 1155 preamp, into my hafler SE240 (120wpc@8ohm, 200wpc@4ohm) amp, then either into my Stax SR-Xmk3 headphones, or my Magnepan MG-IIIa speakers. The ribbon tweeter is relentless on MP3 artifacts and such. Unfortunately the ribbons are in Minnesota being rebuilt, and I've been maggie-less for a while now. Very depressing... ah well...

My normal CD player is an old Sony CDP-620ES. Laugh all you want, it sounds pretty good!

My equipment isn't up to par with my speakers, as I spend all my money on stuff for my bass guitar fetish

--jeff

Delta AP 2496 -> Behringer Eurorack 1602 -> old secondhand Philips amp -> JBL Control CM-52 speakers...

Quite happy with the speakers for my small room, though the amp is in need of an upgrade, or at the very least a good internal dusting off...

I used to know the model #'s but anyway, my best speakers are actually in my vehicle where I do most of my MPC listening. All 6 are top-tier Pioneer speakers with a sub. Top-of-the-midline Alpine EQ(without the gigantic graphic display) going to Alpine amps(now). The soundcard in the MPC'puter is a SB128. Good enough for me.

I use a pair of whoopass 20€ desktop speakers, connected to an audiophile ESS Solo PCI soundcard (35€).

Dunno if that is a "good stereo system", though

Soundcard: Aureal Vortex 2 chipset (75$)
Speakers: Bosten Acoustics digital BA 735 (75$)

Arcam Alpha 7 CD, Arcam Alpha 8 Amp, Mission 733i Speakers. SB1024 Live although I've never connected it up to my system, just use my PC speakers.

^^ nice. mmmh Arcam

<-- wants AudioPhysic's Medea speakers (eh, lemme dream)

Marantz CD67OSE > good (but cheap) shielded RCA interconnects* > Yamaha AX1090 > Oehlbach bulk 4mm² interconnects (bi-wired) > Infinity Kappa 8.2i (interesting four-way construction...)

* the el cheapo cables beat any other cables I've tried up to $200 (mainly out of curiosity )

the Kappas are a bit slow in the midrange when played at low volumes, and if I turn up the volume, the room (basically too small) limits the chain's performance

should've gone with JBL TI5000 and that one Rotel 9?? amp... sounded very nice at moderate levels

no connection to the computer, btw. (another stupid SBLive user. :mad: )

I am looking at buying a pair of these, but I have to drive 500 miles before I can listen to them. I dont think they would be too realistic without a subwoofer but I am covered for this.

Currently using a pair of Sony G-5's. Nice image but need some help to tone things down from 4 to 8 khz. They are 25 years old and can no longer be pushed and still sound tight.

Make sure you listen to the 602S3's. B&W seems to have done some slightly nicer things with the low end response between the S2 and S3's. If you're not looking for club level response, they actually sound decent and have a good amount of excursion for as small a driver as it is. My Velodyne (probably a little underpowered for the setup) will actually start distorting due to overextension before the B&W's will. When I compare with sub versus without, they certainly lack, but on their own if I walk up to them cold they usually do a pretty good job. Moral is, a sub is certainly something you can add later and I'd recommend a good sub over a cheapo sub since cheapo subs tend not to blend so well.

Nearest dealer is in Winnipeg Canada, so I will likely be listening to whatever theyhave in stock. I have a very musical Paradigm sub which is frequency and phase tuneable so I hope to be able to blend things adequately.

I have heard that these speakers image very well, and I am most sensitive to this.

I have heard that the nautilus tweeters can be somewhat sharp when coupled with a japanese negative feedback reliant amp. Do you have any experience with these speakers in such a situation?

anyone has any experience on Tannoy M1's ? 'cause im planing to sell my Jamo Studio 180's anf buy those - and in some future mauybe a subwoofer...

Not entirely sure what you mean by that, but I'm powering them with a 100wpc Yamaha HTR-5460 and they sound good to me. I would say they're slightly more biased towards highs than the setup I listened to in the store with a stereo Denon amp. The 602S3's certainly emphasize highs less than the S2's though. I can't call myself an audiophile, but I was quite impressed with how good the S3's sounded to me after just listening to the Nautilus 800's hooked up to about $20K worth of amp and CD player. Consider that one setup was $1600 and the other was $36K, I found it very impressive.

I'd imagine your dealer has the S3's in stock by now, but if they don't, give the S2's a listen and if you like those, get the S3's from someplace else. I guarantee you won't regret it. It's the same sort of thing, but more refined. The S2's are the best $600 I've ever spent, and now I'm trying to figure out how I can upgrade to the S3's on my currently tight budget.

ChristianHJW,

On the topic of the poll (as opposed to speakers themselves), it would be nice to have a new poll which scales a bit lower on the price scale, since > 65% of the people are in the sub-200 factory-built category...

Hi all audiomaniacs i listenning all sources from LUXMAN A384 Hi-Brid amp (tube pre & classic fast very open AB class Tranzistor END) home made hardcore big modification and super fast french speakers Vecteur Seconde.... My CD player is good light Mid-class like accuphase DP65 alternative Kenwood DP7090 (D.H.Mod-new power supply and filtering capacitors and replaced all OPAs Burr Brown).This CD player is very tweakable=including 8xDAC Burr Brown PCM 1702 like Accuphase and cost? = very interessant price.Soundcard is M-Audio Delta AUDIOPHILE 24/96.... My dream is Jadis Orchestra or various MacIntosh AMP and Speakers Leedh Nazca..................

Running off what used to be audiolab pre and power combo (now MacClaren - they should have stuck to cars - grumble) outputting to a pair of old Mission 751's - this set up through SonicLink Grey cable seems to give the right clinical presentation of the music that i prefer - rather than the slightly warmer overall feel from say the Arcam set up - but this does have the advantage of showing up the nuances of 128 vs VBR 160 - 192 encodes on complex pieces as the top end on the 128 goes all to hell - the right combination of amp andd speakers seems important as if the components are not matched through some pretty thorough listening to a range of music - it can lead to an overly warm or 'bright' sound or alternatively a very compressed output - good cable and interconnects are also key

For top end speakers the likes of Mission / Castle / Monitor Audio have a good reputation

Bladeraptor

Good to hear. I have a Yamaha surround amp as well. I look forward to an audition soon.

Main Stereo:
CD: Sony CDP-CX300
Receiver: Denon AVR2801
Fronts: Boston VR950
Center: None Yet (will be Boston VR910 or VR920)
Surrounds: Boston VRS
Sub: Boston PV600

I love the Denon's 5-channel surround mode!

PC Sound:
SBLive
Cambridge Soundworks FourPoint Surround

Rauna Leira II speakers (they're made out of concrete)
Monster Cable
Rotel 840 BX II

Charles.

???

OK, I found the swedish site searching in Altavista:
http://www.rauna.com/leira.html

Unfortunately I cant read in swedish:
Rauna högtalarna har ett kabinett gjutet av en speciellt utvecklad betong bestående av en speciell lättfiller, cement och polymerer.

They're Swedish. Don't bother trying to find them on the web, couldn't find them either. I found them in one of those high-end stores here in Holland. They're not high-end (like electrostats driven by Beard amps), but more top midrange. If you can find them in Argentina, give them a listen. Well worth your trouble.

Marantz Imperial 9 1976 models
Tweeter Drivers two
Midrange Drivers four
Woofer Drivers two 10-inch
Power Handling Capacity 100 watts RMS, 150 watts program
Frequency Response 20 Hz to 20 KHz, +/- 3 dB
Tweeter Controls Yes
Midrange Controls Yes
Grille Foam
Distortion under 0.5%
Sound Pressure Level (SPL) 100 dB @ .5 meter
Impedance 8 ohms

Dynaudio Gemini kit, bookshelf, 1500 €

See http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/showth...=&threadid=2342 for the rest of the gear.

The filter has a resistance in option that tunes the treble level.
Default is +1.5 db, and adding the resistance, it is possible to get 0 or -1.5 db.

As the sound wasn't very good with a resistance added to the filter, I equalize with Shibatch' super equalizer : param. -1.5 db from 2000 to 20000 Hz.

I also use the plugin to kill a resonance around 50 Hz in the room :
-10 db to the left from 42 to 58 Hz
-30 db to the right from 40 to 62 Hz.

The speciality of these speakers is to play low frequencies without distortion, unlike most bookshelf speakers. I played a 16 Hz sine at a normal level without the speakers making any noise. Their response must be about 40 Hz. Lower frequencies are played, but attenuated until about 33 Hz, where there's nearly nothing left.

It is possible to get a 23 Hz, at high level, but I think it's a semi-resonance in my room : the 6 meters 50 Hz resonance must resonate at 25 Hz when the window is open at the other end (speaker near the wall, window open near the opposite wall).

The computer (Marian Marc 2 soundcard, rough ancestor of the audiophile2496 and Terratec EWX) is connected with an external DAC (Sony DTC 55ES), through an Arcam Diva A85 ampli (1200 €).

B&W 602 S2. Just got them. I cannot say enough about how happy I am with these.

I use a Paradigm PS 1200 subwoofer to fill in below 45Hz.

Cool, didn't know they had one! But too bad the language-use isn't consistent...

Charles.

Ha-ha, I have no "good" stereo system currently . I listen either on my PC (with Altec Lansing ACS45.1's), or AVC Soul portable MP3 player.

Pumping music loudly through speakers is nice, but not convenient in the condominium i live in.

What, do you think us poor graduate students can afford speakers that cost 2000 UKP? Actually, I own a pair of Energy towers (Acoustic Reseach Labs, Canada) that perform very well for being only 500 USD a pair. I also have Energy XL-20's compacts as my rears (about 350/pair). For the low end, I have a 12" 200W Infinity bottom-firing sub. I'm running them from an 8 year-old Yamaha natural sound 5-channel reciever that I got from some guy (used) for 200 bucks. Sound on a budget, gotta love it! I can't wait to finish my Doctorate and buy some real components (if the old lady lets me)!

Mostly canadian stuff here

PSB Image 2B Bookshelves front
PSB Image 1B Bookshelves rear
Paradigm PW-2200 Sub
And a Yamaha RX-V496 hooked to my sblive 5.1 /w digital coax

The PSB Image 2B's were the best I heard out of the under $800 cdn range (paradigm, energy, mission, b&w). Not only that, I got a major deal from the salesman at A&B sound and got them for $350!

And I grabbed the PW-2200 off a friend who needed cash bad Retails at $800 US, and I got it for $450 cdn. Its a damn nice sub, I'd recommend it even if you have to pay alot more than I did. I found paradigm's lower-model subs are pretty underpowered and boomy though, so avoid those if possible.

Doh! Double post.

I do notice though you are working dilligently towards one. Keep the 70's analog system going. You won't be dissapointed.

Altec Lansing !!!!

Only very few people were in the lucky position to demount a pair of old Altec speakers from a closed down cinema ..... i envy them !!!
Put some tube amplifiers ( SRPP push-pull EL34 with ECC283 pre-amp ) and you have sound those nasty kids will never understand .. just the plain soul coming out of the speakers ....

I know you'll all laugh, but I have an old pair of speakers built by a guy who used to work for Bose. The sound is incredible. Being pushed by an older (70's) Yamaha amp. Must thank my dad for not getting rid of this stuff years ago.

I have a sound blaster Audigy connected to a 5.1 Creative Inspire sound system with a built in amplifier (made in china ). The sound is quite good for my music and games, just the 85db SNR of these speakers sux

Magnepan 1.6QR mains
Infinity RS2000.6 surrounds
Infinity CC-1 center channel
All driven by Yamaha DSP-A1

Looking for an amp that will do justice to the Maggies. Also looking at possibly replacing the Infinity surrounds and center channel with something from Magneplanar.

My best speakers are in my Grado SR-60 headphones...

Actually I'm a headphone junkie... I have no 'real' speakers, and 4 pair of headphones (not counting the crappy ones lying around that I'd never use).

* Grado SR-60
* Koss KTX-Pro
* Denon AH-D550
* Denon AH-D210

The only speakers I use are PC speakers (Altec Lansing ACS45.1 ca. 1999), and lately I rarely even hook those up anymore (headphones are always plugged in).

Edit -- why the hell do they make the cord on the Grado SR-60's so short? Every day I nearly strangle on the damn things.

Hate to disappoint you, but even if I end up with a "70's analog system" it's likely to be used only with a pair of headphones. I'm serious, not only do I keep strange hours (can't crank stuff at 3AM at least on a weekday), but when I first moved in here & played stuff at a *moderate* volume the neighbors called the police... TWICE! And they came to the door.

Sorry to hear your predicament.
If volume was a problem, I'd be in prison by now.

Dynaudio BM15A ?:B

I don't know about the US, but here in Canada the police only respond to noise complaints after 11 pm. Then they bring a decibel meter and if you are higher than x decibels you are issued a ticket (not sure the decibel limit). Seems a pretty civilized way to do it; I mean as long as you don't keep your neighbours awake all night, its just part of the inconveinience of apartment living.

Speakers: Paradigm Active Reference 40
Subwoofer: Velodyne HGS18 (flat to 15 Hz for the mojo!)

Both the times the police came by here were after 9PM (I think the problem was due to a subwoofer), but even playing music loudly during the day or early evening won't endear anyone to their neighbors around here. Most of the people living in this condo complex work a lot of hours & want peace and quiet when they get home, I guess. I'm actually rather out of place living here, but my parents own the condo & I get "extra primo good" monthly rent price from them...