Bookshelf loudspeakers under about $700/pair

Forums
Loudspeakers
Submitted by lsleelee on

I've purchased a Marantz PM5004, CD5004, Pro-Ject Debut III, and Grado RS2i's. Now I want to add some decent speakers, hopefully under $5-700, though I could go higher.

The glowing Stereophile review almost convinced me to splurge on the Dynaudio X12's, but I don't think the PM5004 has enough power (I'm not sure how to read it, is speaker handling the amount you NEED or the max the speaker can survive?)

Anyway, I'm a total noob and have no idea where to start, so no limitations, all recommendations welcome. I listen mostly to Jazz and Classic Rock.

Anybody familiar with "acoustic paints?"

Forums
General Rants 'n' Raves
Submitted by Buddha on

Gonna have a tabula rasa room, and was wondering about using these paints.

Maybe the "ultra" at reflection points and the "geluar" all around?

Ultra

Regular

Apparently, you can use latex based colored paint over the top....

An invisible start to a good room, or pathway to sonic damnation?

Amp causes speaker "pop"

Forums
Amplification
Submitted by mark evans on

Maybe someone can help me with this. The amplifier I am currently using is an Adcom GFA 555, 200w/ch amplifier.

When I turn the amp off after listening, a 'pop' occurs through the loudspeakers after the capacitors discharge Im assuming. Adcom amps are known for this, but I have never investigated it.

Will this transient hurt the crossover or drivers in my speakers?

Thanks to all that respond in kind.

Mark Evans

RMAF 2010 Surpasses Expectations

RMAF 2010 Surpasses Expectations

Oct 22, 2010
Photo: John Atkinson

t's one thing to know that you're attending what has quickly grown into the largest annual high-end show in the United States. It's something else entirely to try to take in even a third of the 180 exhibits that were spread over the width, breadth and height of the Denver Marriott Tech Center.

RMAF 2010 drew such a huge rush of attendees on the first day (October 15) as to cause at least one overly packed elevator to spend what seemed like a minute in limbo, considering whether it should dare try to ascend. When it finally determined to go up rather than crash down, it moved in fits and starts, and shuddered each time it reached a floor. I think more than one of its occupants took a vow then and there to finally lose some weight. Stereophile ran out of their new-at-the-Show November issue by the end of the second day, and when a member of the Colorado Audio Society donated his collection of back issues to us on Sunday (see the photo), they were all gone within minutes.

Show exhibits extended to eight packed floors, and down into the. . .

Synergistic's Black ART

Synergistic's Black ART

Oct 22, 2010
When I reported in our report from the 2009 RMAF that I perceived a degradation when Ted Denney of cable manufacturer Synergistic Research removed his tiny ART devices from the room, it triggered a debate that raged not just in the comments following that report but also in our website forum right up to today. The fact is that these small metal bowls are too small to have a significant effect on the acoustics of a room at frequencies below 10kHz or so, yet they seem to improve the accuracy and stability of stereo imaging and even tighten up the sounds of bass instruments. It is a mystery, therefore, how these devices can work. I have conjectured that perhaps they have an effect on the listener’s state of mind rather than the acoustics, but if so, then I don’t comprehend how that effect can be both repeatable and demonstrable. Whatever they do—if they do anything, that is—therefore, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I went into my final room at the 2010 RMAF, the Synergistic room.

Tidal's "We Build Emotions" Touch My Own

Tidal's "We Build Emotions" Touch My Own

Oct 22, 2010

Some of my happiest sonic experiences at RMAF arrived in the last two rooms I visited: the Tidal Audio/Argento Audio Cables/dCS showcase put together by Doug White of The Voice That Is (Newton Square, PA), and the Simon Yorke/CAT/Synergistic/Lansche exhibit assembled by Tim Nguyen of <A HREF="http://blog.stereophile.com/rmaf2010/tone_of_music_sings/">Tone of Music</A> (San Francisco, CA).

Dynaudio - Wadia - Octave

Dynaudio - Wadia - Octave

Oct 22, 2010

Perhaps the best sound I heard at RMAF was in the large room on the mezzanine shared by Dynaudio, XLO, and Wadia. The Dynaudio Confidence C4s ($20,900/pair), which I first <A HREF="http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/794/">reviewed in March 2003</A>, were sounding as good as I remember them sounding in my own room, perhaps even better. The rest of the system was obviously high-class: a Wadia 971 CD transport ($17,950) fed Wadia's Series 9 Decoding computer ($33,450, comprising the 931 controller and dual-mono 922 DACs), which in turn fed Octave MRE130 tubed monoblocks from Germany ($16,000/pair) sitting on Grand Prix amp stands. Cabling was all by XLO. The 130W Octave amplifiers use two pairs of KT88s in push-pull and the wideband output transformer has a single tap. The amp can also use 6550s or EL34s, and an accessory "black box" increases the B+ storage capacity.

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