Speakers for rock

About 40 sqm. Rectangular room. And no I never listen above 10 o’clock on the volume. Even 9 is considered pretty loud

Hi there

It’s what frightens me somewhat, GraemeH as I go about planning for my eventual system this year. The room is sine qua non to sound quality, and your feedback just shows how speaker-room interactions direly affect sonics. So we could go about planning for what we think is best from what we want in a system, only to pay and then find out, even with room treatments, that the speakers in particular, don’t suit the room. Cest la vie!

I would have thought an 8 x 5 x 3.5 was a good sized room for music acoustics - but it’s not necessarily the case as you found. A smaller but still good sized room worked better. It is what it is.

A little lady luck perhaps with costly trial and error to find what suits best.

My rgds

Phil P

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Here is a screenshot of the room
image

For me, this was definitely the case. I needed something small, close to the wall and playing across the short dimension. Had the standard Tab 10 for a good while and was so pleased with them I upgraded to the Signature.

Good luck with the search.

G

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Ah, I remember now. I listened to a pair of Falcons LS3/5a’s recently at a friends. His room is 2.5x3.5 metres firing the long way and electronics the same as yours ( his second system btw).
It was simply astonishingly good and instantly grabbed my attention. I would in your situation just check if your left channel nearest wall has a 1st reflection point using a helper with a mirror. If this is the case put a GIK Impression panel or a 242 absorber on that point even a 60x60 panel would do do the job I would imagine in that big open space. By doing that you basically even the 2 channels out to retrieve better imaging, this considering that your right channel has no boundary wall.
The system I heard at JNs carried the same qualities my own system has ie fast, snappy, fabulous transparent midrange and imaging to die for, however all on a slightly smaller scale of course, but still…. :hugs: Just my 2 pence worth Peter

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GraemeH, in hindsight, it’s the speaker’s mid and bass output under amp load and control which determines the basis for good sound? Reminds me of what an experienced dealer recently shared about getting the speaker-room fit right first, before all else, but even then, it still seems to be a bout of lady luck.

No one can tell for sure. It’s just a rough gauge.

When the speaker outlay goes into the tens of thousands… it’s not something anyone wants to just trifle lightly with. Painful to just spend and find that however we treat the room, the sound still seems a little off for whatever the reason.

My rgds

Phil P

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Whatever it is the balance of these is perfect with a prodigious bass that belie’s their diminutive proportions.

G

You’ve perked my interest… I do like and prefer floorstanders.

Will check out the Proac Tablette 10 Signatures…

Cheers

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Like the copper-gold phase plug… compact is always a plus.

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Reminds me of the Epos 11s of yesteryear in terms of size.
Sexy finish…

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I have some of these as well, in a room 4.5m by 3.6m, firing across, and they are brilliant. I’m not sure they’d be my choice in a room the size of yours but some of ProAc’s larger speakers may work. A lot of current speakers are very much boom and tizz. ProAc’s strapline is ‘perfectly natural’ and that certainly sums up the Tablette 10 Signature. For under £1,500 they are an absolute bargain, and a great match with more modest stuff like mine all the way up to Graeme’s lovely 555 and 552. I listen to all sorts, jazz, chamber music, folk, African and noisy post punk stuff and they take it all in their stride. If you go for stand mounts, choose your stands carefully.

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Classics which I loved, and could still rock. There was a limit to how far the 8 inchers would go on the mark IIs but they still went low enough. Maybe about 35hz depending on room and set up.

The DBLs on bass and rock - still haven’t heard a contender to match their visceral punch and hence are still a reference in my mind for sheer latching on to attack and the “fullness of physicality” whenever the lower registers came on. Its speed and immediacy would just grip like a vice, with infectious PRT second to none in a good room driven by suitable amps. Foot-tapping was norm with these. I seldom found the highs shrill on those I heard - they were smooth, delicate and so tangible. I realised, with these transducers of music, for them to sound magical, their set-up was key but we could say that of almost any other speaker. Those that did sound somewhat shrill at higher volumes was, neutrally, due to everything else in the set-up but the speaker, particularly with cable dressing and power spurs for the olive 135s and 250s that drove them. Under a 52-500 passive at that time, decades back, even non-DR… the DBLs really became quite another animal… I wish I could hear a 552DR-500DR on passive DBLs one day… whatever the Naim source. Can’t imagine them with the Statement… in which case the bottleneck would be the DBL’s passive crossovers.

If only Roy George could be coaxed out of retirement for a modern day DBL… ha ha - using today’s drivers, they’d be so different from the Focal range.

The DBLs were only ever meant to be placed against a solid wall, so the owner of these had other plans… without wall enhancement, the mids and bass become more diffused- which is kinda strange because a DBL owner would naturally want to optimise what the speaker was originally voiced for.

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Thank you HungryHalibut… lovely oak. Musicality reigns for good small speakers… I’m gonna listen to these… perhaps for a second system. They seem a little diminutive for a main system.

Cheers

G

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Another vote for Ovators S-600.
I listen to a broad range of music including rock and the Ovators have tons of punch.

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I have been into all this stuff for ever. Linn, Grace, Supex with Naim amps etc back in the day. I have tried many speakers - even horns and electrostatics. My last speakers were DBL’s. Sounded cool, however with a pretty small foot print and against the real wall, they still just looked like wardrobes! I now have Kef Reference 3’s. These are truly remarkable transducers. With the addition of a ND555 and a 500 power amp I can’t ask for anything more. I’m enjoying the music and that’s what its all about!

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I have to add my voice to the chorus of DBL worshippers here! Heard them a few times at shows and in an old forum member’s home and they always made a dramatic impression! The speakers which embody the modern ‘spirit of DBL’ best in my view are ATC’s. Same whipcrack fast transient attack, nimbleness, transparency and yet sense of unlimited bandwidth and power.

Jonathan

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These are the ones I have (ebony finish). Very happy with them.

Gold.

I love gold whenever I find it.

Enjoy your escapades, CMP!

Cheers

Phil P

naimniac for life

Thanks G, much appreciated. Will certainly look for them here and have a good listen.

My rgds

Phil P