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Well like I said, I already have the Bose for free. Thanks for the info, though.
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Dec 1, 2017 01:55
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Thermopyle posted:Well like I said, I already have the Bose for free. I’ve always wanted to pick up a classic pair of Bose speakers. They get such a bad rap that I figure they must at least have a unique sound. Maybe I like it?
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Dec 1, 2017 02:00
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Thermopyle posted:Well like I said, I already have the Bose for free. Whoops, sorry! Either way, do it. Most players can downmix to stereo and you wont Really miss the center.
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Dec 1, 2017 02:01
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BigFactory posted:I’ve always wanted to pick up a classic pair of Bose speakers. They get such a bad rap that I figure they must at least have a unique sound. Maybe I like it? Yeah, these are fairly old I think...they sound nice enough for me. Bose 301 series III. Googled picture: 
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Dec 1, 2017 02:07
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I’ve always liked the form factor.
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Dec 1, 2017 02:18
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Thermopyle posted:I'm considering the Denon AVRS730H at $350 or whatever Vizio 5.1 soundbar system is around that price I just got the Denon AVR S730H. Showed up today. Unfortunately my speakers haven't shown up yet so I can't tell you how it is. Those won't get here for another 2-3 weeks. But all the research I did leads me to believe that it's a decent and capable receiver.
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Dec 1, 2017 02:23
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Contemplating adding the Pioneer atmos speakers to my setup. I'll need a new reciever as my Yamaha is 5+ years old at this point. Current setup is good, but is Atmos worth splurging on? I don't think I can afford a 9 channel AVR right now, so I'd probably be looking at a 5.1.2 setup, I've been super happy with the Yamaha RX-V673 (aside from airplay being flaky as hell) so I'd lean towards another Yamaha probably, maybe a RX-V683. I'm not opposed to jumping to a 9.2 receiver but the price jump is significant. If it matters I don't have a dedicated room for this, it's just the living room, and only 10-15% of my use is movies. To be honest I'm eyeballing a total upgrade of everything to 4K, and if Atmos is just a gimmick I won't worry about it as much, but if its awesome I want to account for that when I decide on a new AVR. I'd like the upgrade to last at least 5 years like the current system has.
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Dec 2, 2017 06:13
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Just adding that I am also interested in anyones opinions and experience with Atmos. Are you glad you went to it? Thoughts on dedicated in ceiling speakers vs the angled fronts? 2vs4 speakers?
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Dec 2, 2017 15:03
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I've only heard Atmos in actual theaters and it's great there but for my money I'd probably get a better sub or upgrade my main speakers before going that route.
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Dec 2, 2017 17:44
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BigFactory posted:If anyone in this thread wants to link me to their local Craigslist I'll tell them what speakers to buy. It's literally my favorite thing in the whole world. https://dallas.craigslist.org I would greatly appreciate it. Between classes and prepping for my own wedding, Xmas is on the backburner and I'd love a lead on a good deal on some speakers. Important note: as much as I'd like for my roommate to take advantage of his receiver's 7.1 capabilities, the living room is more of a narrow rectangle with not a ton of space. I think starting him off with a 5.1 system might be easier for now.
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Dec 4, 2017 01:44
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Shinjobi posted:https://dallas.craigslist.org https://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/ele/d/barely-used-bowers-686-s1/6389473812.html Wait are you looking for a full surround sound system? That’s a tough thing to find on Craigslist unless you want ht in a box stuff. Not always but you have to look for it. BigFactory fucked around with this message at 04:01 on Dec 4, 2017 |
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Dec 4, 2017 03:57
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BigFactory posted:https://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/ele/d/barely-used-bowers-686-s1/6389473812.html Pieces are fine too. I've got some old rear end speakers, two Sanyo SS-900s that are pretty much all we've got. Anything I can dink and dunk into the system this Xmas is better than nothing. I just want to make sure my roommate starts to actually do something with that receiver of his.
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Dec 4, 2017 05:39
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Best price ever on this VSX-1131 receiver: https://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-VSX-...tooth+and+Wi-Fi
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Dec 5, 2017 18:57
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KozmoNaut posted:They're not bad bad, they're just not very good value for money. I think the cheap ones aren't that bad a value for your money. Like whatever the cheapest ones are that come with a wireless sub. I bought one of the expensive ones to replace the cheap one I had (which came free with a Samsung TV 4 years ago) and it was definitely not a very good value for my money and I am an idiot.
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Dec 7, 2017 02:22
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Full Circle posted:For the sub SVS has their SB-12 on sale for $400. One (or two) would slot nicely into that budget. As a PSA I wanted to say that anyone that likes SVS, their factory outlet or scratch n dent sale or whatever they call it is the best deal ever IF you buy the most damaged ones they have. Like I don't know if I'd be that excited about getting $150 off a SB-1000 but I got $800 off a PB13-Ultra and expected it to be pretty hosed up when it arrived and it was still gorgeous.
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Dec 7, 2017 02:33
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BigFactory posted:I’ve always wanted to pick up a classic pair of Bose speakers. They get such a bad rap that I figure they must at least have a unique sound. Maybe I like it? When I was 16 I worked at a department store that had a much better than average electronics department that sold Bose 901s. 901s require their EQ which either wasn't able to be hooked up properly to our reciever/speaker switching system, or whoever hooked them up was idiot (I actually suspect the former but either can't recall or never asked). Without the EQ they sound like insane trash. I'm pretty sure we never sold a pair the entire time I worked there. But later I heard a pair hooked up properly and they're not bad speakers. A friend's dad had a pair of 301s (series II I think) and they were perfectly decent bookshelf speakers. And they were in an actual bookshelf which their horizontal layout does make them better for. Anyway the point is I'd totally rock vintage bose in a vintage 2 channel setup given the opportunity.
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Dec 7, 2017 02:51
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scrubs season six posted:When I was 16 I worked at a department store that had a much better than average electronics department that sold Bose 901s. 901s require their EQ which either wasn't able to be hooked up properly to our reciever/speaker switching system, or whoever hooked them up was idiot (I actually suspect the former but either can't recall or never asked). Without the EQ they sound like insane trash. I'm pretty sure we never sold a pair the entire time I worked there. My dad loves his 901s that he bought in the mid-80s but, yeah, they sound like utter trash without their proprietary EQ, which makes them almost impossible to use with a home theater system because you need a tape loop to use it without making things Extremely loving Complicated.
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Dec 7, 2017 21:11
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There's newer coaxial speakers that are OK lying on their side like KEF Q series or HSU CC-8. I've always had a soft spot for oddball speaker designs but I went for normal ported rectangular boxes with the tweeter mounted above the woofer this time and am super happy with them.
qirex fucked around with this message at 21:31 on Dec 7, 2017 |
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Dec 7, 2017 21:24
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Your lack of faith in dual concentric speakers is disturbing 
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Dec 8, 2017 00:40
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Wibla posted:Your lack of faith in dual concentric speakers is disturbing The absolute best speakers I heard when I was shopping were Dynaudio Special 40 but they were waaay outside my price range. I was listening to Emit M20s [which are really good too] and the guy at the store was like "You like these? Check out the S40s" and I was super into them until I found out there were four thousand earth dollars.
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Dec 8, 2017 00:58
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I have a pair of these Tannoy speakers - can’t even remember where I got them. I’ve been happy with them in the past, but right now I think they’re shittily connected. I have them in an AV setup, but just with a stereo amp connected via a (too long) RCA cable to the TV. I get a bunch of static and can’t run them at reasonable volumes, etc. Is there a better way to connect a TV (Vizio E) to an amp (NAD C 352) maybe 10 ft away with only analog inputs? I’d like my TV remote to still control the volume if possible.  
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Dec 8, 2017 02:38
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Sobriquet posted:I have a pair of these Tannoy speakers - can’t even remember where I got them. I’ve been happy with them in the past, but right now I think they’re shittily connected. I have them in an AV setup, but just with a stereo amp connected via a (too long) RCA cable to the TV. I get a bunch of static and can’t run them at reasonable volumes, etc. It sounds like there’s something wrong with an interconnect or maybe your amp. Have you tried swapping cables, or another input on your amp?
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Dec 8, 2017 13:34
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No, I haven’t really tried anything to solve it yet. The interconnect is a cheap ~25 foot RCA. Would a nicer and/or shorter cable potentially help? It’s not unusable, but there’s definitely some noise in the system. It’s pretty much silent when the TV is off, so maybe just a noisy/lovely DAC in the TV? At first (googling) I thought ground loop, but it’s more like static than a buzz or hum.
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Dec 8, 2017 13:43
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Sobriquet posted:No, I haven’t really tried anything to solve it yet. The interconnect is a cheap ~25 foot RCA. Would a nicer and/or shorter cable potentially help? It’s not unusable, but there’s definitely some noise in the system. It’s pretty much silent when the TV is off, so maybe just a noisy/lovely DAC in the TV? At first (googling) I thought ground loop, but it’s more like static than a buzz or hum. Static is weird. Try other sources and see what happens. Gotta troubleshoot a little.
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Dec 8, 2017 14:39
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Shot in the dark - check to see if your TV has a fixed/variable audio output option. Or try turning off the internal TV speakers and crank up the TV volume.
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Dec 8, 2017 16:38
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I have it on variable, since I don’t have a remote for my amp. I’ll try it with fixed to see if the levels work better. Then I’d just need to get a universal remote or something to adjust volume on the amp directly.
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Dec 8, 2017 19:54
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That's absolutely your issue then. Cables won't change anything. Try this: Turn the amp down, then turn the TV all the way up. Now, turn the amp's volume to just about the maximum volume you would ever use (maybe just a little below). Now you can adjust the TV volume and the sound quality should be decent unless you spend a lot of time in the lowest output range of the TV, but if you set up this way you shouldn't have to.
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Dec 8, 2017 19:58
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So I'm gonna cheat a bit here and talk about my second home audio system. Over Thanksgiving I decided to replace my old system: Ascend Acoustics CBM-170SE on a Parasound HCA something (the 75x2 one). It was a great system, but I left it with my SO when I moved for work. Thanks to goon input, I checked out AC4L and decided to snag the Integra DTM-40.7. I liked the connectivity, and the power wasn't bad. I was a little worried about the lack of reviews, but Onkyo (parent company) seemed pretty solid outside some problems with HDMI inputs, which this unit doesn't have, so I went with it. Now the big question was the speakers. I had about a $1000 budget. I really like my CBM-170SEs so I decided to check out the Sierra-1's. At the same time, Kef had a Black Friday sale on the LS-50's, a beautiful set of speakers I had heard great things about. I wound up ordering the Kefs from Crutchfield and the Sierra-1's from Ascend. Side note: there was an issue with both my orders due to the fact that I ordered it to a different address than what was on my credit card. Both companies contacted me by phone to get things sorted, and interestingly enough, I got an email from Dave F himself (the owner of Ascend) and a follow up call to straighten that out. Fantastic customer service from both companies! I got the Kefs first and hooked them up. They were placed on Sanus 24 inch stands about 8 feet from my listening position, about 8 feet away, in a rather large room (studio apartment, so the only room). Maybe 500 ft^2 or more. High ceilings, skylight, brick walls. The Kefs sounded great. I hate to use audiophile speak, but they were pretty holographic. The whole front of the room was just filled. Vocals were fantastic. Jazz sounded great; I listened to some Coltrane and Miles Davis with a whole new ear. However, there was just not a lot of excitement in the speakers. It was like the music was just playing, and I couldn't get engaged. I felt like I always needed to turn it up just a bit more, then just a bit more, then just a bit more. The speakers had no low end, and I feel like that had a huge impact on their presence. I live in an apartment so I will probably never get a sub. The kefs were definitely great speakers, but I just wasn't feeling them as much as I think I should have for $1k speakers. The Ascends came in on Friday. I had big plans to spend all weekend comparing them, moving stands and A/Bing various albums from various sources, but I've already put the Kefs back in the box and filed for an RMA. The Sierras are just better; way more lowend, way more sound. Definitely don't need a sub for music. Things sound right up in my face. The imaging is great, maybe a tad less holographic than the Kefs, maybe. I like to listen to music with them, and I am engaged in a way that I wasn't with the Kefs. Honestly these are the most expensive speakers I've heard by far, so I can't give the best description, but yeah, Sierras all the way. My only regret is that the Sierra-2s weren't on sale.
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Dec 10, 2017 02:49
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The issue was probably less with the LS50s and more what you were driving them with.naughty_penguin posted:I live in an apartment so I will probably never get a sub. KOTEX GOD OF BLOOD fucked around with this message at 09:49 on Dec 10, 2017 |
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Dec 10, 2017 07:34
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KOTEX GOD OF BLOOD posted:Worth trying the SVS SoundPath isolating feet or a subwoofer platform. Can confirm that these works wonders. One would think that dampening feet wouldn't make a real difference for a sub, but in practice it goes a long way to decouple the sub from the room, thus bothering neighbours a lot less. I moved from a freestanding house to an apartment block and I haven't had any noise complaints despite rocking it pretty hard at times.
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Dec 10, 2017 13:02
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KOTEX GOD OF BLOOD posted:The issue was probably less with the LS50s and more what you were driving them with. Maybe, but if I have to spend as much/more on amplification than the speakers that's a weakness of the speakers. Some of the stuff people drive the Kefs with is insane. I'd much rather spend that cash on better speakers if I have it. e: Thanks for the heads-up on the isolating feet though. That is exciting. naughty_penguin fucked around with this message at 13:27 on Dec 10, 2017 |
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Dec 10, 2017 13:19
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KOTEX GOD OF BLOOD posted:The issue was probably less with the LS50s and more what you were driving them with. Nope, they're just unimpressive no matter what you do.
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Dec 10, 2017 13:29
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Panty Saluter posted:That's absolutely your issue then. Cables won't change anything. Thanks, I think this worked! I think I had it set this way before and it got changed in a move/re-setup. Somehow I had convinced myself that the TV volume should be low and the the amp volume should be high (so “the nice amp would do most of the amplification”). I assume that would be better if I was getting clipping or distortion, though I can’t imagine a lovely built in TV amp allowing you to push it that hard. For the noise issue your solution makes much more sense and seems to work pretty well for now at least. Dialog in movies is often still too low unfortunately. Could that be an EQ or DSP issue? I’m worried it’s just an issue of having a newborn and not listening at normal/intended volumes these days.
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Dec 10, 2017 14:46
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Sobriquet posted:Thanks, I think this worked! I think I had it set this way before and it got changed in a move/re-setup. Somehow I had convinced myself that the TV volume should be low and the the amp volume should be high (so “the nice amp would do most of the amplification”). I assume that would be better if I was getting clipping or distortion, though I can’t imagine a lovely built in TV amp allowing you to push it that hard. For the noise issue your solution makes much more sense and seems to work pretty well for now at least. Most movies have a really wide dynamic range. Some amps/receivers have something called night mode, voice boost, or dynamic compression to help with this. A bit of advice on the other side, babies will become accustomed to their surroundings within reason. A good sound machine or fan in the nursery will do wonders for your sanity.
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Dec 10, 2017 15:21
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Thanks - we’ve got The Dohm in the bedroom and nursery for that. When she’s in another room it’s not a problem, but she’s still v young and naps in our arms quite a bit. We could probably still push the volume up and not wake her, but the consequences are high! I’ll look for a dynamic range compression setting on my TV. I tried it on my AppleTV (Reduce Loud Sounds or something) but I swear I could hear it kick in with a slight lag after a sudden loud noise, so I turned it off.
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Dec 10, 2017 15:52
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Sobriquet posted:I’ll look for a dynamic range compression setting on my TV. I tried it on my AppleTV (Reduce Loud Sounds or something) but I swear I could hear it kick in with a slight lag after a sudden loud noise, so I turned it off. That's pretty normal for that sort of post-processing and that's why they kinda suck.  If you can use the built-in dynamic controls for Dolby Digital it's much better.Double check the TV audio settings and make sure "surround" is off since that can bury dialogue too
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Dec 10, 2017 16:25
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KozmoNaut posted:Nope, they're just unimpressive no matter what you do. Plenty of great speakers are very fussy about amplification and require careful system matching to sound good...if you have a high end audio shop nearby they will let you bring in your amp to test stuff with.
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Dec 10, 2017 17:55
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KOTEX GOD OF BLOOD posted:I guess it depends on what you're comparing them to? For $1k-2k speakers, they're excellent. As I said before though I would never buy them because they look dumb as hell. No, they're way overpriced for the sound quality you get. A decent set of studio monitors will provide so much more. Neumann KH 120 is a good choice, as is the Adam AX series or the JBL LSR series for a budget choice. The whole amp/system matching thing is nonsense. An amp just needs enough power, low noise/distortion and a low output impedance, and you're good. If your speakers are "fussy", that's just another word for "badly designed". But if you really believe the nonsense, active monitors obviously beat anything else, as the amps then must be perfectly matched to the drivers. Shun high-end stores, they're notorious snake oil peddlers. KozmoNaut fucked around with this message at 18:37 on Dec 10, 2017 |
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Dec 10, 2017 18:33
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KozmoNaut posted:The whole amp/system matching thing is nonsense. An amp just needs enough power, low noise/distortion and a low output impedance, and you're good. If your speakers are "fussy", that's just another word for "badly designed". The only qualifier I'd put on that is that not every speaker will work in every situation. It does need to be matched to its environment (e.g., Klipschorns are amazing in a huge room from 50 ft away but not closer)
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Dec 10, 2017 19:24
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KozmoNaut posted:No, they're way overpriced for the sound quality you get. A decent set of studio monitors will provide so much more. Neumann KH 120 is a good choice, as is the Adam AX series or the JBL LSR series for a budget choice. KozmoNaut posted:The whole amp/system matching thing is nonsense. An amp just needs enough power, low noise/distortion and a low output impedance, and you're good. If your speakers are "fussy", that's just another word for "badly designed". KozmoNaut posted:But if you really believe the nonsense, active monitors obviously beat anything else, as the amps then must be perfectly matched to the drivers. KozmoNaut posted:Shun high-end stores, they're notorious snake oil peddlers.
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Dec 10, 2017 19:57
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