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Post by MusicHead on Feb 25, 2019 12:24:28 GMT -5
How about a pair of Magnepan Mmg's and an affordable sub. Should all fit nicely in his $1000 budget. Would be a killer 2.1 setup. Good point, if the sub "avoidance" is only due to budget and not space constraint or personal preferences, something like a pair of Ascend CMT-340SE Main + a Rythmik L12 sealed sub would be a faboulus 2.1 music setup for $498 + $529/539 (depending on color) www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/cmt340m/cmt340m.htmlwww.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/cmt340m/cmt340m.htmlYes, I am biased, because that is what I have  . On the other hand, I speak from (a very positive) experience. I am a big proponent of mains + sub even for music. First of all, with bookshelf speakers only or even towers that can go down low, best positioning for imaging and soundstage is not necessarily the best for good bass. With a sub, you decouple bass from mid/high and can find best positioning for both. Second, with main + sub you have essentially a true bi-amped system, because you have the cross-over BEFORE the power amps (if you have a pre/pro or AVR with bass management). Third, delegating to the sub the lower end you are unloading big time both the speakers and the amp, resulting in more dynamic headroom at low/medium levels and less "strained" reproduction at high listening levels. |
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Post by pedrocols on Feb 25, 2019 16:15:45 GMT -5
How about a pair of Magnepan Mmg's and an affordable sub. Should all fit nicely in his $1000 budget. Would be a killer 2.1 setup. Good point, if the sub "avoidance" is only due to budget and not space constraint or personal preferences, something like a pair of Ascend CMT-340SE Main + a Rythmik L12 sealed sub would be a faboulus 2.1 music setup for $498 + $529/539 (depending on color) www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/cmt340m/cmt340m.htmlwww.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/cmt340m/cmt340m.htmlYes, I am biased, because that is what I have . On the other hand, I speak from (a very positive) experience. I am a big proponent of mains + sub even for music. First of all, with bookshelf speakers only or even towers that can go down low, best positioning for imaging and soundstage is not necessarily the best for good bass. With a sub, you decouple bass from mid/high and can find best positioning for both. Second, with main + sub you have essentially a true bi-amped system, because you have the cross-over BEFORE the power amps (if you have a pre/pro or AVR with bass management). Third, delegating to the sub the lower end you are unloading big time both the speakers and the amp, resulting in more dynamic headroom at low/medium levels and less "strained" reproduction at high listening levels. It is challenging to find ascend speakers in the used market but just need to be looking constantly. I currently have a pair of mg12 speakers with modified crossovers which I think sound pretty good. I would be willing to sell them but shipping is the caveat. |
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Post by jackfish on Feb 25, 2019 18:51:54 GMT -5
Before I had my Magnepan MMGs modified into Magnestands I used them with an Acoustic Research Performance AR-S112PS subwoofer. All together it was $700 and punched way beyond that price point.
Magnepan MMGi $650
Rythmik L12 $529
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Post by Loop 7 on Feb 25, 2019 18:53:29 GMT -5
Kind of amazing how many speaker choices we have these days. So many great products.
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Post by dsonyay on Feb 26, 2019 17:01:23 GMT -5
1000 will get you Zu Audio's Omen Dirty Weekend. I read fantastic reviews of this speaker.
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Post by Cogito on Feb 26, 2019 17:49:17 GMT -5
Magnepan MMGi $650/pr
Tekton Lore $1000 (On sale) Never heard them, but they are getting great reviews.
Wharfedale Diamond 250 $1000
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Post by Bonzo on Feb 26, 2019 18:08:53 GMT -5
Just for schiits and giggles, I went to Crutchfield to see what they listed. Not normally a place I would buy speakers from like this, but, just to see. Did a search for floorstanders $1000 and $500 and under.
Got names like Polk, Klipsch, Elac, Wharfedale, PSB, Monitor Audio and Jamo.
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Post by DavidR on Feb 26, 2019 19:54:38 GMT -5
Whizzers on the woofers ! Really? I haven't seen those used in decades. |
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Post by Ex_Vintage on Feb 26, 2019 19:55:49 GMT -5
3rd vote for Elac UF5's. I have had them about a year and when I first got them, I thought they sounded flat compared to some very old JBL L36 speakers I had. After listening to them for a while, I started to enjoy the sound much more. When I go back to the old JBL's, they sound harsh and listener fatigue is an issue. The Elac's are a good even natural sound. I started with 80 Watts/ch amp (A500) and changed to a XPA-5, but the A500 drove then just fine. The Elacs are low sensitivity and lower impedance, so too little power may be an issue depending on listening room size. Overall, I like these UF5's very much.
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Post by teaman on Feb 26, 2019 21:03:52 GMT -5
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Post by MusicHead on Feb 26, 2019 21:29:06 GMT -5
Intriguing speakers, teaman. Me very much like high efficiency 🙂. If their sound matches the engineering, very good deal indeed under a grand. In the spec sheet they mention bi-amping using outboard xover and separate amps. However, I do not see any clear way in the pictures of how the internal crossover can be bypassed. One of the great audio mysteries to me is the perpetuation of the bogus bi-amping thing. Hope it is not the case for these Klipsch. |
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Post by teaman on Feb 26, 2019 22:09:05 GMT -5
Intriguing speakers, teaman. Me very much like high efficiency 🙂. If their sound matches the engineering, very good deal indeed under a grand. In the spec sheet they mention bi-amping using outboard xover and separate amps. However, I do not see any clear way in the pictures of how the internal crossover can be bypassed. One of the great audio mysteries to me is the perpetuation of the bogus bi-amping thing. Hope it is not the case for these Klipsch. I never even caught that. I have not owned any speakers to this point where bi-amping would have been of any benefit so I have never tried it. Just to put it out there, again if anyone is interested in anything Klipsch, SVS, Marantz, Sony, Denon, Surgex...etc, etc....I have a great guy who is an authorized dealer and can get some great deals! |
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Post by boomzilla on Feb 27, 2019 6:59:44 GMT -5
...In the spec sheet they mention bi-amping using outboard xover and separate amps. However, I do not see any clear way in the pictures of how the internal crossover can be bypassed. One of the great audio mysteries to me is the perpetuation of the bogus bi-amping thing. Hope it is not the case for these Klipsch. I saw the same language in the spec sheet, and am HIGHLY skeptical that you can actually do this. I can't see how the manufacturer could put so much control in the hands of the consumer without voiding the warranty. Because I can easily foresee how consumers who don't understand the limits of the drivers would try to run the tweeters down to 100 Hz, for example, causing almost immediate destruction. Now in theory, having the power amps directly coupled to the drivers with no passive crossover components in between should yield the very best control and the lowest distortion. However, the upstream crossovers would have to use a very small range of acceptable crossover frequencies, and would also have to use sufficiently steep slopes to prevent driver damage. Such a system would be wide open to abuse by morons. |
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Post by tomincle on Feb 27, 2019 10:19:19 GMT -5
The UF-5 seems to be the T2 major competitor in the $1k price bracket. The one very telling aspect of the two is much the same when I compare
amps of very similar specs, I will hone in on the power supply section since its the very heart of any amplifier, When it comes to speakers of
similar driver design and specs it will come down to cabinet design and density. There just no getting around a good cabinet although many mass
speaker brands sure are doing their best of using thinner cabinets in more and more upscale speaker models and the Elac is no exception, The UF-5
comes in at 39 pounds each and the T2 is a hair away of being 57 pounds each. 18 pounds of cabinet is substantial to a speakers performance.
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Post by Ex_Vintage on Feb 27, 2019 13:37:51 GMT -5
The UF-5 seems to be the T2 major competitor in the $1k price bracket. The one very telling aspect of the two is much the same when I compare amps of very similar specs, I will hone in on the power supply section since its the very heart of any amplifier, When it comes to speakers of similar driver design and specs it will come down to cabinet design and density. There just no getting around a good cabinet although many mass speaker brands sure are doing their best of using thinner cabinets in more and more upscale speaker models and the Elac is no exception, The UF-5 comes in at 39 pounds each and the T2 is a hair away of being 57 pounds each. 18 pounds of cabinet is substantial to a speakers performance. The volume of the T2 is 1.7X the Elac UF5. Its heavier because its bigger, not because of cabinet material density, or their approach to the mass market. |
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Post by dsonyay on Feb 27, 2019 17:56:22 GMT -5
The Magnepan MMG seems like a great deal.. under 700.
I kinda want to buy these at sone point and I think they would pair well with an XPA-2 (like I have).
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Post by boomzilla on Feb 28, 2019 4:50:09 GMT -5
All became academic - He wandered into BestBuy & liked some Klipsch towers. Bought. Done.
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Post by mgbpuff on Feb 28, 2019 8:16:12 GMT -5
All became academic - He wandered into BestBuy & liked some Klipsch towers. Bought. Done. Translation - He bought big box speakers in a big box store. |
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Post by dsonyay on Feb 28, 2019 10:15:05 GMT -5
All became academic - He wandered into BestBuy & liked some Klipsch towers. Bought. Done. Translation - He bought big box speakers in a big box store. That's my issue.. I don't have a place to listen to Zu Audio speakers or Magnepan.. my only choice is to go to a big box store and listen to their offerings. ZU offers an really nice 30 day return policy, but I have to repack speakers and mail back. I'd rather not do that. But I guess it's an option. Best Buy sells some really nice speakers, but I'm limited in selections. But they have a listening room We used to have an awesome hifi shop in Lafayette decades ago.. late 1960s to mid 80s. I really miss that place. My friend runs a really nice Home Audio (more of a home theater) shop in Lafayette.. they sell Klipsch speakers and maybe one other brand. Not a lot of options. Not much of a listening room either. I do have a friend that owns Magnepan 1.7 (might have model wrong) , they sound beautiful with his setup, so I can only assume MMGs will sound pretty good. Kinda sucks to not have a place to really listen to music like the old days. |
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Post by tomincle on Feb 28, 2019 11:06:25 GMT -5
The UF-5 seems to be the T2 major competitor in the $1k price bracket. The one very telling aspect of the two is much the same when I compare amps of very similar specs, I will hone in on the power supply section since its the very heart of any amplifier, When it comes to speakers of similar driver design and specs it will come down to cabinet design and density. There just no getting around a good cabinet although many mass speaker brands sure are doing their best of using thinner cabinets in more and more upscale speaker models and the Elac is no exception, The UF-5 comes in at 39 pounds each and the T2 is a hair away of being 57 pounds each. 18 pounds of cabinet is substantial to a speakers performance. The volume of the T2 is 1.7X the Elac UF5. Its heavier because its bigger, not because of cabinet material density, or their approach to the mass market. You are correct the UF-5 is a much smaller speaker that is more in line with my Vienna Acoustics Mozart in stature, The Vienna has one less driver and one inch smaller in every dimension to the UF-5 but still outweighs the Elac by five pounds each. A more fair comparison for the UF5 then would be the Airmotiv T1 which is half its price. |
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. On the other hand, I speak from (a very positive) experience. 
