sasaki@harvard.ARPA (Marty Sasaki) (12/06/84)
It is time to replace my Advents. Any recommendations for speakers in
the $500-$800 range? I listen to classical and jazz if that makes any
difference. I'm very interested in the why as well as the what of any
recommendations.
--
Marty Sasaki
Havard University Science Center
sasaki@harvard.{arpa,uucp}
617-495-1270murphy@voder.UUCP (Neil Murphy) (12/08/84)
One interesting speaker that's getting a lot of attention these days is the Spica. They sell for about $500/pair. The designers logged a lot of computer analysis time looking closely at phase coherence in the drivers and crossover (it's a two-way system). The claimed result of their toils is a speaker system that images beautifully and has, of course, a very "natural" sound. It's a small speaker - looks like about a cubic foot-and- a-half box cut in half diagonally; needs a stand mount; and it's placement relative to walls is fairly critical. (So what's new). I've read reviews that said it's sensitive to speaker cables, and some of the popular highend lines shouldn't be used. Sounds more like the amp/cable/speaker combination, than a speaker/cable pecul- iarity. (I've avoided the issue in my own system, for the time being, by running #10 multi-strand regular old copper under the floorboards). I had a chance to hear these speakers at a local shop in San Mateo. The owner likes to hang around until 8 or so at night listening to music, so I made myself comfortable and spent a delightful hour or two going through cuts on 20 or so different albums. (Other equipment was a Pink Triangle with a Talisman Alchemist and an Audible Illusions (I think) preamp. Don't remember what the amp was, but I do recall the glow of tubes through the vent slots). My favoite test record, James Newcome Howard and Friends (Sheffield) sounded terrific. Smooth with lots of air. I missed something at the very top end though, and when we put on the Dafos percussion album the huge membranes they pound on didn't really come through. The voice sounded smooth and rock solid. On several operatic cuts we played I could point right at the singer's mouth, (if you need, or like to do this sort of thing, you can with these speakers). Like all speakers I've ever heard, their value doubled with the lights out. The designers are going to come out with an amplified woofer to drop the base down to the floor. I hope they open the top end up a little too. All in all, for $500 you probably can't beat 'em. You probably can match them though, depending on your taste. (The amped woofer, by the way will run somewhere around $700). I also like the Magnapan $500 pair, (IIIa's, I think). As one reviewer stated it would be fun to buy two different $500 speaker sets if one had $1000 to spend. There are a number of terrific speakers in the $500 range. The trick is to get thick with a dealer who will let you take home a bunch of them to try out in your own environment, with source material you care about. That's the person I buy from! Listen on..... Neil Murphy
chenr@tilt.FUN (Ray Chen) (12/10/84)
For small speakers (cost < $900), you can't beat the ITC 1. It's a small three-way "mini-monitor" that was designed to be very natural-sounding, precise, and disperse well. Basically, they were designed to sound like large speakers. The price you pay, performance wise, is that being small, they can't handle low bass, so they don't even try. Everything below 50Hz is rolled off. Placement is also pretty critical. Still, though. Given this caveat, I'd put them up against any speakers that cost less than $1200 and certainly against any small speakers. They sound very natural, image well, have lots of definition, and don't sound like small speakers. Great speakers for small (i.e. dorm) rooms and for freaking out random passer-bys. Last time I checked, they cost around $700-800. Size-wise, I could dig up dimensions but a real-life comparison might be better. The two speakers, sitting next to each other, are about as large as the NEC monitor that I'm staring at now which is about the size of a standard 12" TV. There's no problem with power, either, as long as it's clean. Dick Davidson, head of Innovative Techniques Corporation (ITC) has had over 500 watts/channel running through them. I've got 105 going into mine. Ray Chen princeton!tilt!chenr
bobh@teklabs.UUCP (Bob Hubbard) (10/15/85)
I would appreciate recommendations on speakers that are small relatively inexpensive <$300/pair reasonably efficient (25W/ch amp) I have listened to the B&W and PhaseTech so far. The PC-30s (PT) were pretty clean sounding but light on the bass. The price is a little steep. It's been so long I don't know who's making decent speakers anymore. How long? I remember when AR make GOOD speakers! Where do I start?