mwm@ea.UUCP (09/25/84)
[Geez, another note to net.audio. Does that make me a net.audiophile?] I have just recently completed upgrading my stereo to something I'm now happy with - except for the speakers. I'm in the first stage of looking for speakers [auditioning them with someone else's source], and would be interested in what those with more experience and better ears than I have to say. Price range: $800/pair is an absolute top end. $600/pair is closer to what I'd like. I don't expect to find anything for less than $500/pair, but if you know of something that's perfect $100/pair, please tell me :-). Equipment: A technics su-55z integrated amp, 50 watts/channel RMS, 100 watts peak. Primary source is (and will continue to be) a CD. Cassettes, turntable and tuner are used, but are *very* secondary. No flames, please. I'm happy with the stuff (which is what matters!), and I'm not an audiophile, and don't claim to be even a silver-ears. Material: Esoteric - Some main-stream rock & roll (Thomas Dolby springs to mind), some new wave (Laurie Anderson), some classical (currently Night on Bald Mountain), and some early music. (Or is that not esoteric for this group? :-) So far, I've listened to (in order of preference, with notes): Magnapan SMGB: Very clear, but lacking bass - add a subwoofer later? $500. Celeston sl6: Similar to the Magnapan, but smaller. Need to do an A/B with the Magnapans. $640. Polk 10: Not as clear as either the Magnapan/Celeston, but does have better bass response. Cost unknown. Infinity RS-4: Similar to the Polk 10s, but just not as good. If I decided on the Polks and they turned out to pricey, these would be an alternative. $800? Bose 901: To pricey, so I didn't listen closely. Bose 501, Various RS, JBL & Technics: Garbage, every one. Recommended by various salespeople, but not currently available: The Bose 601, the RS Mach 2, and the Magnapan MG1. JSE-1: Yes, I remember the discussion from earlier this month. Nobody locally carries them, but I'm trying to find a pair to listen to. If you know of a place where I can get them for <= $800 mail-order please let me know. Similar comments apply to any speakers recommended. Other recommendations: Get subwoofers, either now to supplement what I have, or later to go with the Magnapans or Celestons. I know next to nothing about subwoofers - but from what I've heard, I don't think I've got a place to put them (remember, I'm not an audiophile!). Someone care to comment on the care & feeding of subwoofers - like what extra hardware I'd have to have, and placement? Oh, yes - I keep cats, and the speakers have to survive the cats (and vice versa). Recommendations would be appreciated - other than a local audiophiles "shoot the cats." The reason this carried the subject "equipment" instead of "speaker," was because I have heard that subwoofers need an equalizer in the system. Besides which, I like playing with gadgets, and a graphics equalizer/frequency analyzer is such a *neat* looking gadget. I looked at one, and was unimpressed. I'd like one with "digital" features - mostly a set of buttons & memory, so that I can store the appropriate settings for the three different rooms with speakers, plus settings appropriate for non-musical input (the video game, the television set, MTV, etc.). Does such a beast exist for the non-audiophile? If not, how about recommendations for a reasonable equalizer (pink noise generation + spectrum analyzer)? Summary posted if someone asks. Thanx in advance - and after the fact, <mike
mwm@ea.UUCP (09/25/84)
/***** ea:net.audio / mwm / 7:43 pm Sep 24, 1984 */ [Geez, another note to net.audio. Does that make me a net.audiophile?] I have just recently completed upgrading my stereo to something I'm now happy with - except for the speakers. I'm in the first stage of looking for speakers [auditioning them with someone else's source], and would be interested in what those with more experience and better ears than I have to say. Price range: $800/pair is an absolute top end. $600/pair is closer to what I'd like. I don't expect to find anything for less than $500/pair, but if you know of something that's perfect $100/pair, please tell me :-). Equipment: A technics su-55z integrated amp, 50 watts/channel RMS, 100 watts peak. Primary source is (and will continue to be) a CD. Cassettes, turntable and tuner are used, but are *very* secondary. No flames, please. I'm happy with the stuff (which is what matters!), and I'm not an audiophile, and don't claim to be even a silver-ears. Material: Esoteric - Some main-stream rock & roll (Thomas Dolby springs to mind), some new wave (Laurie Anderson), some classical (currently Night on Bald Mountain), and some early music. (Or is that not esoteric for this group? :-) So far, I've listened to (in order of preference, with notes): Magnapan SMGB: Very clear, but lacking bass - add a subwoofer later? $500. Celeston sl6: Similar to the Magnapan in sound, but a bookshelf speaker. Need to do an A/B with the Magnapans. $640. Polk 10: Not as clear as either the Magnapan/Celeston, but does have better bass response. Cost unknown. Infinity RS-4: Similar to the Polk 10s, but just not as good. If I decided on the Polks and they turned out to pricey, these would be an alternative. $800? Bose 901: To pricey, so I didn't listen closely. Bose 501, Various RS, JBL & Technics: Garbage, every one. Recommended by various salespeople, but not currently available: The Bose 601, the RS Mach 2, and the Magnapan MG1. JSE-1: Yes, I remember the discussion from earlier this month. Nobody locally carries them, but I'm trying to find a pair to listen to. If you know of a place where I can get them for <= $800 mail-order please let me know. Similar comments apply to any speakers recommended. Other recommendations: Get subwoofers, either now to supplement what I have, or later to go with the Magnapans or Celestons. I know next to nothing about subwoofers - but from what I've heard, I don't think I've got a place to put them (remember, I'm not an audiophile!). Someone care to comment on the care & feeding of subwoofers - like what extra hardware I'd have to have, and placement? Oh, yes - I keep cats, and the speakers have to survive the cats (and vice versa). Recommendations would be appreciated - other than a local audiophiles "shoot the cats." The reason this carried the subject "equipment" instead of "speaker," was because I have heard that subwoofers need an equalizer in the system. Besides which, I like playing with gadgets, and a graphics equalizer/frequency analyzer is such a *neat* looking gadget. I looked at one, and was unimpressed. I'd like one with "digital" features - mostly a set of buttons & memory, so that I can store the appropriate settings for the three different rooms with speakers, plus settings appropriate for non-musical input (the video game, the television set, MTV, etc.). Does such a beast exist for the non-audiophile? If not, how about recommendations for a reasonable equalizer (pink noise generation + spectrum analyzer)? Summary posted if someone asks. Thanx in advance - and after the fact, <mike /* ---------- */
mwm@ea.UUCP (09/27/84)
In reading net.audio today, I noticed that I accidently posted two copies of my request. Apologies to all. BTW - I've gotten more (& better) response than from any other request I've posted to the net. Congrats to you all. <mike