Moving to Monitors

[crappyjones123]

i just lost a giant post...freaking lame ass network outage. summary is as follows.

1. look at diy options. full range/wide range + tweeter.

2. find a local woodworker to build the cabinets.

3. look at tekton audio. they have actually turned out to be roughly $150 cheaper than all the quotes i received from local shops. the prices are VERY reasonable. maybe a $150-$200 profit besides the cost of parts. im talking with the guy regarding a wide range fostex driver + some super tweeter that he has designed. will pull the trigger next fridays paycheck.

4. going for high efficiency drivers helps with the amp question. no need for any big wattage amps. just a few clean watts pushes these things to ear splitting levels. im getting them for my office for near field listening. dont think ill need more than a watt. 3 watts pushed the 127e drivers to very uncomfortable volumes for me.

[Aura]

Thanks for the suggestions CJ, at this point I'm not very interested in DIY nor concerned about efficiency demands, but you never know. I tend to change my mind quickly and frequently.

[jinp6301]

Some b&w bookshelves might be in your price range as well. I havent heard that many in your price range but the few I have heard sounded quite good off of a bel canto setup

[luvdunhill]

3. look at tekton audio.

e-mailed

[crappyjones123]

wonder if we could get a head case discount from eric hehe. that would be pretty nice. any chance you were looking at the 167e luvdunhill?

[eugenius]

did anyone hear that open baffle hybrid that tekton makes? they seem awfully proud of it ...

but by far the most interesting is the small open baffle subwoofer ...

[luvdunhill]

wonder if we could get a head case discount from eric hehe. that would be pretty nice. any chance you were looking at the 167e luvdunhill?

nope. Their reply was .. "hm, interesting. Bet that sounds good"

[crappyjones123]

aura, odyssey also makes a pair of monitors that hold fairly high resale value on audiocircle. and im sure klaus has some sort of return in 30 days for money back deal as well. might want to consider those as well. the floorstanders have a cult following on that site. dont know much about the monitors but given his reputation i cant imagine them sucking.

luvdunhill, maybe its because its 7am, but i dont know what you mean by your post =/ NEED MOAR SLEEP!

[ktm]

There's a lot of small floorstanding speakers out there.

And they really are a better choice than bookshelves/stands.

Rega, Totem, old Linns, Spendors, and god knows how many others.

There must be a temping set of towers up on the local Craigslist

every day here in Dallas. Just like a bus, if you miss one, wait a little bit

and another deal pops up.

[Aura]

Ended up going the no-hassle approach and did a partial trade with Sherwood for his PSB M2's. Amplification is with a Nakamichi AV7 integrated atm, and I love the sound already. So much so that I'm very prepared to spend another $6-700 for a solid state power amp.

Currently looking at:

- Nakamichi PA-7

- Odyssey Stratos

- Emotiva UPA-2

- Emotiva XPA-2

- Aragon (not sure which, I've seen a couple different *used* models priced in my budget)

- DIY Pass F3 (might have a lead on a builder)

D-Sonic would be nice, but too expensive. Anyone have any experience with these amps or any recommendations for the M2's?

[Dusty Chalk]

I know people don't appreciate Musical Fidelity around here, but I wouldn't rule out A3^CR/A3.2/A300/A308/A5/etc. And no, that's not from experience from M2's, just good general purpose solid state amps, just based on PSB's reputation (I haven't heard that they are particularly hard to drive).

Edited September 13, 2009 by Dusty Chalk

[TC_Shadow]

Ended up going the no-hassle approach and did a partial trade with Sherwood for his PSB M2's. Amplification is with a Nakamichi AV7 integrated atm, and I love the sound already. So much so that I'm very prepared to spend another $6-700 for a solid state power amp.

Currently looking at:

- Nakamichi PA-7

- Odyssey Stratos

- Emotiva UPA-2

- Emotiva XPA-2

- Aragon (not sure which, I've seen a couple different *used* models priced in my budget)

- DIY Pass F3 (might have a lead on a builder)

D-Sonic would be nice, but too expensive. Anyone have any experience with these amps or any recommendations for the M2's?

looks great! I particularly like your DNM cable I love mine... :p

[Hopstretch]

Exposure 2010S.

[Sherwood]

based on PSB's reputation (I haven't heard that they are particularly hard to drive).

They're not hard at all. They're a very stable 4 ohm load, and no one here is recommending any amps that can't handle 4 ohms well.

I long considered a good Musical Fidelity A3CR myself with those speakers, and it would likely work very well.

[ktm]

Ended up going the no-hassle approach and did a partial trade with Sherwood for his PSB M2's. Amplification is with a Nakamichi AV7 integrated atm, and I love the sound already. So much so that I'm very prepared to spend another $6-700 for a solid state power amp.

Currently looking at:

- Nakamichi PA-7

- Odyssey Stratos

- Emotiva UPA-2

- Emotiva XPA-2

- Aragon (not sure which, I've seen a couple different *used* models priced in my budget)

- DIY Pass F3 (might have a lead on a builder)

D-Sonic would be nice, but too expensive. Anyone have any experience with these amps or any recommendations for the M2's?

The Aragon amps are good. The NAK PA-7 is also a good pick.

Emotiva? Not even in the same class. How about adding Bryston to

the list? Or this? AudiogoN ForSale: Belles 150A

You can find about a zillion great amps in that price range.

[Aura]

Anyone else have further input? In particular, the Odyssey, Aragons, and Nak are really interesting me.

That Musical Fidelity looks pretty solid as well.

This Stratos is pretty close to home and I could drive to pick it up.

[Icarium]

Just got my active 11Ls from falkon.. definitely more bass light than I had anticipated coming off of the M-Audio LX4 2.1 set up. Like I had anticipated there being a loss coming down from a sub but this will take a little getting used to, but I'm not a basshead so I will live

The resolution and speed is very much amazing. Listening to some allegro Glenn Gould piano right now and its just...

Having gone through a bunch of tracks I'm pretty happy overall though I have to get a handle on the presentation over all still..

The only really worrying thing is I'm hearing some distortion on track 1 of New Order's Lowlife album that I'm not familiar with... no other track is distorting that I can hear... I'll have to listen to it again on headphones and get some second opinions.

[falkon]

Like I said before, I had a tough time transitioning too. That's why I bought my sub

[skullguise]

I'd second Odyssey (based on brief listening in someone else's system, plus what I've read) and Belles as well (based on 2 pre's and integrated I've owned).

Especially Belles; there is something VERY right about his equipment that I've heard.

Personally, I haven't been impressed with the Musical Fidelity gear I've heard or owned. I had an amp and integrated from them, I want to say in the A3x series IIRC. Somewhat neutral mids that impressed me at first, but bass-weak, and highs seemed too artificial sounding for me. It did not sound like music to me, and not even very good hi-fi.

Same thing at a dealers, when TRYING to drive some Totem's unsuccessfully; power was there, but music was not. We moved to Plinius and it was a world of difference.

YMMV, different systems and component interactions.....

[Icarium]

Like I said before, I had a tough time transitioning too. That's why I bought my sub

Nod It's okay I think I will live without one.

[Dusty Chalk]

I'll second the Bryston as a good recommendation. Prat and detail, a combination I haven't heard too much together, on top of my classic foundation of overall tonal correctness (more or less).

[Icarium]

Ah.. playing some Warren Zevon and am now used to the bass. I'm a fan.

[feckn_eejit]

No votes for the PSB? I'll give you gentlemen the benefit of the doubt, and assume you've never heard them.

Late to the party here but I have never met a pair of PSBs I didn't like. The Stratus Goldis are fucking breathtaking... need mondo nice SS power however.

My father has a pair of ancient Passif IIas and they are really nice!

[feckn_eejit]

Regarding amps.....see if you can score an old Threshold S/300..............absolutely awesome......................on and IMHO pre-SST Brystons can be a little brutal.........in the mondo bargain bin, the B&K ST-140, ST-202 and ST-202+ are giant killers!

[swt61]

Like I said before, I had a tough time transitioning too. That's why I bought my sub

That's not always the best answer however. Sometimes a sub can be quite difficult to integrate properly. My old Paradigm Active 20s had a usable bass output down to 40Hz, and really didn't gain all that much by the addition of a subwoofer.