I still have JBL 305p MKII on a set of cherry wood stands with isoMax supports under em in my office, and a set of older 308s in the bedroom for movies and TV
Honestly I feel both are more than enough for my speaker needs
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I really donāt do any serious listening through speakers anymore, my set ups are for BGM more than anything else.
On my home desk I use a single JBL 305 (for simple bass practice).
My dining room, which also fills the living room (the joys of apartments), is a couple of Tannoy Di5 plus a Meyer Sound MM10 sub. I also have a simple GX 2.1 system hooked up to the TV (donāt watch much TV).
My kitchen is another pair of Di5ās with a GX sub.
The bedroom is a pair of Bose Free space FR16ās (used at very low levels).
And in each shower I have a JBL Charge 3.
The rest of my speakers are all in storage (and are mostly PA system speakers anyway). Gone are the days of 10000W in the living room when I lived in the countryside.
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I have a set of Martin Logan ESL-X that I purchased new about 3 years ago. Also added a ML-Dynamo 1100X sub with the Anthem Room Correction system. The sub is fantastic and room correction worked great. It is now just an extension of the 8" low end of the ESL-X. It doesnāt make its presence known and is about as seamless as if it were part of the main speakers.
My issue is that the electrostatic panels are somewhat lifeless and not what I expected. The Parasound Halo integrated amp I have simply isnāt able to wake them up. I am looking for a pair of reasonably priced monoblocks with enough grunt to make them sing. PS Audio has a new line of Stellar 1200 class D/tube hybrid monoblocks that I plan to audition (hope to get in on the beta test program for an extended listen period).
Emotiva also has some monoblocks which I am researching. They are priced considerably lower than the Stellar hybrids, and are pure solid state. Both of them use the B&O ICE amp modules, but PS Audio claim that they are buying units that their engineers have ordered with modifications specifically for the Stellar 1200.
What were you planning to power your ML speakers with if you do buy a pair? I need to get some clean power that will do the electrostats justice. I donāt currently have a preamp (except for the Parasound integrated) but I might try new amps with just my PS Audio DirectStream DAC.
Amp suggestions welcomed! I would like to keep the speakers and I have them set up well in the room.
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Iāve heard some of the earlier line of Martin Logan driven with a 100 watt Conrad Johnson tube amp and they sounded great. I am not sure about the preamp.
I donāt know your budget. Personally I cheap out with a Wyred4Sound STI-1000 but my current speakers are not as resolving as the ML, which I like very much. If they were mine I might haunt Audiogon for a Musical Fidelity middle of the line used integrated.
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I have a hard limit of 5k for the pair of amps. Tube would be welcomed, but I think these speakers just need raw power. Their rated sensitivity, 6 ohm, (1.6 ohm @ 20k minimum) 91db /2.8 v sounds optimistic based on my experience with them. ML recommends 20-400w and I would like some real headroom. Of course the 1.2kw rating of the Stellar 1200 is quite exaggerated. I have heard good reports on the larger ICE modules. Also the Emotiva XPA-1 Gen 2 (out of production) are class A/B and are quite cheap on the used market.
I might need to buy a preamp that will tame/compliment the amps shortly after choosing amps. Schiit Freya+ maybe?
I actually decided to skip on it all together and just focus on headphones and headphone amps. It would be a waste for me at this time in my life to invest in any more large speakers, headphones are the better choice right now.
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You can get good power with finessse in Musical Fidelity. Personally I think Wyred4Sound has great price performance but some wonāt consider class D no matter how well implemented. I too want headroom. The STI-1000 will deliver a solid 600+ watts RMS per channel into 6 ohms and will not freak out at MLās lower impedance at low frequency.
My amp is in the $2500 rangeā¦
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Speakers used: Voxativ Hagen.
Why: because of very proximal listening so full band drivers in closed cabinets.
And a good counterpart of the RAAL SR1a:
Clearly we donāt expect same audio return from speakers and headphones.
Hagen drivers are wonderful for how each keystroke of a pianoforte is so richly propagated in the air, the sound scene in depth and width (small size equivalent to the amp) because of proximity where the SR1a give you so many details being quite āonā the musicians and intimity
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Very interesting choice. The design with on-axis whizzer and tweeter looks like a classic for creating pinpoint imaging. I went to the website and am not sure if these are part of an ecosystem or true separates. Am I correct in thinking that they are separates, but can become part of an ecosystem with the Absolut box?
Are these closed cabinets? The site says ācorresponds to a horn systemā, and it looks like there is a forward facing port on the front. From the size and shape of the port, Iād guess that there is actually a transmission line design - the port appears too large for a Reflex, and too small for a traditional horn. Iāve heard some very good transmission line speakers, and modern computer design and modeling is helping them reduce size and improve quality.
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True, they are separate but can be integrated in the Absolut ensemble. Voxativ has developed a specific electronic box with reader, DAC, AMP and DSP to drive the full band drivers.
In the bottom, yes, there is an opening which seems to have in the back a hole joining the cabinet interior.
With this kind of driver, bass is light. I use a SUB Sunfire ATMOS xt266.
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Well, I usually donāt have the ability to listen to music via speakersā¦hence my time usage and collection of headphones lolā¦but my current setup for Speakers is more for convenience and aesthetic than overall great sound quality. I have the Edifier Luna Eclipse E25HD setup on my audio shelf for easy Bluetooth connection to either Spotify or Qobuz via iPhone/iPad or directly from one of my computers via SPDIF.
I also have JBL 305s packed up in the garage, and random hometheater setups through out the houseā¦but outside of games or movies/shows they get almost zero use. I prefer the JBL 305s to the the Lunas, but they are just too big for my current setup, plus WAF is not high so they went to the garage until I reconfigure again lol.
The Edifiers are quite excellent for my current use case. They look good, sound good enough and have ease of use that Iām looking for!
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My desktop are just a set of Vanatoo T0ās.
Why? Powered - dont need an amp. Small footprint. Multiple input options including bluetooth. Not too expensive comparatively. Sound quality is acceptable for non critical listening. Remote. Can run a sub from it if you want.
A negative about them is that you cant bypass the in house DAC of the speaker
What has impressed with the T0ās is their ability to image. Itās very good, in both depth and width. At some point Im gonna rearrange my desk to space out the speakers to add a bit more to the soundstage.
Ladies.
Active monitors. Up to say $600 USD.
3, 4 or 5".
Will sit pretty close to me, say foot n half.
NEED to be dead quiet when no music playing, humming and hissing does my head in. And need to not fall apart dynamically at low volumes.
Thoughts?
Good deal going at the moment on Focal Alpha 50 (46% off), but usual googling finds some quirks and reports of a hum.
My dream speakers arrived a year ago: DeVore Fidelity Gibbon Xs. I also got a Bel Canto Black Ex integrated to drive them. Been deeply into the sound ever since. Love the clarity and presence of the detail ā itās sometimes scary ā the soundstaging, the firm bottom end, the flow, the snap, the articulation ā¦ and they are gorgeous to look at. Of course, raising the bar for everything else. I probably have spent 2k, at least, on new recordings since I fired them up ā¦ plus TIDAL and Qobuz subscriptions ā¦ Which is a pretty good sign. Indirectly, I think the quality of sound influenced my desire for some really great headphones, as well. (I was using some HiFiMan 400s and Aeon Closed, but bumped up to Utopias recently).
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Those look very nice - have not heard them, but they look like the check off all the boxes for a clean modern properly computed design. The price range is right too. Looked at some reviews, and I may have to add them to my must-listen list. One of these days Iāll replace my venerable Rectilinear III Highboys, which in many ways are the 1968 start (mine from 1972) of the design thinking that ends up with things like your Gibbon Xās.
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Thanks Pennstac. THey seem to do everything really, really well ā¦ Although I love all the DeVore designs. They have some kinship with the old Audio Physic Virgo speakers, which were a favorite of mine when I owned a pair. 3x the price but well worth it.
@cladane I dropped by the Voxativ HQ when I was in Berlin last year and got a very generous demo from the designer, including the Hagens and the jaw-dropping Ampeggio Dues (the 100k speakers). Just really impressed. Would definitely pick up the Hagens for a second system. The clarity is stunning. Love your set-up there.
Hi @Steve_Dollar,
Yes the Hagens have been a choice of very limited space. No rear port, one full range hp with no crossover, clarity like you say, very nice tiny soundstage (looks like a theatre Ć lāitalienne) with 0,80m between centers.
One point is that the Hagens need a sub in my opinion.
Sound is able to give a lot of harmonics which makes a difference with headphones listening more detailed on the other side.
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I came across these single driver high sensitivity speakers made in Connecticut. The high sensitivity allows them to pair well with tube amps or low watt Class A solid state such as the Amp Camp Amp, Schiit Aegir, or First Watt.
This photo is a two-way speaker, but the Rosewood Burl and Ziricote combo is especially easy on the eyes.
Some Omega series speakers use Alnico magnets. Are there any headphones that use Alnico magnets? https://omegaloudspeakers.com/pages/oem-omega-drivers.
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I think HiFiMan were doing that with one of their higher-end models (maybe the HE1000, I canāt remember for sure). There was some big, but short-lived, kerfuffle over it.
It is not something to aspire to in the design of a headphone driver motor - where, absent very specific thermal considerations or a lack of size/weight constraints, you want the highest magnetic flux (i.e. magnet strength) per volume/mass possible.
Alnico is cheap, and handles heat well, but is by FAR the weakest in terms of magnet strength.
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