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What are some good speakers and speaker brands?

I want to setup a music system with speakers and amps... need help?

  • I been always interested in music and now want to take my music to a whole new level. I been to many websites to check out all the audio stuff like McIntosh, Cary Audio, Sonus Faber, Marantz, Wilson Audio, B&W, Kef, and countless others but It seems like If I want to bring my music to a whole new level I need to spend more than I can afford. I am on a budget and I still want great sound but with out the asking price. I know I am going to need to compromise on some things but I want some amazing sound and don't really want to get the whole speaker in a box or go to best buy. I know that could be the cheaper route but I already have the whole speaker in a box and its getting old, need something new thats going to sound amazing like I am in the front row of a concert. I been to audiogon.com (for people who dont know its like ebay for audio electronics) and seen a lot of pictures of music setups that look like they took a lot of time and money, and hopfully someday have I will have something that amazing. But as of right now if I can set up something half that amazing that would be awesome. I am new to all this and there seems to be a million different brands of speakers, amps, receivers out there and I know a little but not much on what's brands are good, bad, overpriced ect. I know McIntosh is a great brand but all their new products seems to be out of my price rang, but I have seen a lot of old classic McIntosh amps from the 60's, 70's and 80's going for reasonable price on Ebay. I see a lot of bids going for the classic McIntosh products but do they produce the same great sound that a lot of the new amps do and are they worth buying? I dont want to start buying some old McIntosh products and then find out that I can get something new for a $1,000 with better sound. I need some help on what to choose when it comes to speakers, amps and all that other stuff to make my listening experience amazing! I want to keep everything under $5,000 One last thing I seen a lot of crazy speaker setups with tons of amps and other equipment. Why do some people have up to 4 or 5 amps to power there speakers and is that something you need If you want to run great sound. Also What is the difference between pre-amps, Muliti channel amps, 2 channel amps and tube amps and is there one better than the other.

  • Answer:

    When you see multiple amplifier channels for just two speakers it's because they are using active crossovers. Active crossovers can easily be more accurate than passive crossovers because they are not having to work with non linear impedances. You should consider the Linkwitz Lab "Orion". http://www.theorionspeakers.com/ If you buy these assembled they will exceed your budget quite a bit but you can get them as a kit or you can even just buy the plans and build them from scratch. You can also use Emotiva amplifiers and save quite a bit. The problem is that Emotiva no longer makes more than a 5 ch so you would need to buy two of the 3-ch amps or three 2-ch amps. The Orion's are going to sound better than any of the high-end brands you mentioned even though these cost quite a bit less than many of those. None of the brands you mention have even close to the acoustic engineering in them that these do. A new speaker on the horizon... http://www.parts-express.com/cbt36/index.cfm?&utm_source=Catalog&utm_medium=Print&utm_content=DON+KEELE+CATALOG&utm_campaign=Catalog_2011 This speaker will only be available as a kit. I believe it will be more dynamic than the Orion but I can not say if it will be as smooth and refined. I have not heard the latest version but I'm told it is much smoother than the original prototype. This speaker is also better engineered than the high-end brands you mentioned. Of the high end speakers you mentioned the only ones I liked even a little bit would be the Sonus Faber and to some degree B&W. The higher end B&W have pretty good top end but I've never heard a B&W with decent bass, I find the B&W bass to be too muddy. I won't say the name but the speaker company you mentioned that is probably the most expensive among the group is just junk in my opinion. They make some big very expensive speakers but in reality don't have a clue what they are doing. Their market comes from super rich guys that depend on what reviewers say rather than their own ears. Of course given they spend a fortune on advertising with the magazines, they naturally get stellar reviews. mk

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yah

ddo

If you are really gaga about stereo hi-fidelity sound experience, go back in time and go analog. Do research on Vacuum Tube Amplifiers, match with a fine turntable, classic vinyl records, and full-range speakers. Or get a mono-block amplifier for every channel to drive your speakers. Old amplifiers relies on pure power to amplify regardless of power consumption. Pre-amps in simple term a receiver without the amplifier. It has all the controls, selectors, decoders, ..etc.. and connected to a dedicated power amplifier that gives the juice to the speakers. 2 channel amps is commonly regarded as "stereo" (2 channel left and right). Multi-channel is more than 2 to 8 depending on the model and purpose. It evolves from the quadrasonic(4 channel), pro-logic(4.1), AC3/DTS (5.1) Dolby TruHD/DTSHD-MA (7.1). If you really is serious in investing such an amount, there are lots of h-end audio forum that you might be interested to visit. And by the way ...McIntosh for me is one of the best amplifier.

max c

Well I wrote you a nice long response but these forums just do not provide enough space to allow me to give you enough detail to really give you the information you need. I will be happy to send you a email with my initial response. There is allot to designing a high quality music system and takes years to understand all its complexity's. But it does help going into the process with some good basic knowledge of what makes a good music system, what role each component plays in the overall sound quality, and the importance setup and calibration plays. The one book I would highly recommend and really is essential reading is The Complete Guide to High End Audio (now on 4th audition). written by Robert Harley. It is well written and by someone well respected in the high end audio industry. You can also read the better trade magazines like Absolute Sound, and Stereophile, again both very well respected magazines in the high end community. There is allot in putting together a good system, but it can be done on a budget. Yes it gets better with more expensive gear, but you can put a very nice sound system together as there are some great sounding budget gear out there. Magnepan 1.7 for example offer a great sound for there price range. They don't have a sound for everyone but that is where you have to listen for yourself and design the system that sounds good to your ears and how you like to hear it. We all hear differently and its putting together a system that present the music to your liking. Setup and calibration is everything can make a very expensive system sound poor and a budget system sound outstanding if done correctly. Speaker placement is the single most important part in any good sounding high end audio system. It is both art and science. Kevin 40 years high end audio video specialist

Kevin L

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