Best speakers for $1000?

DoubleTap said:
I don't get where you're going to put those tower speakers. If you put them on the floor, they're probably too low, if you put them on a desk, they'll probably be too high and your system on the right seems to be in the way of either option.
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I measured height/depth. The tweeters will align dead nuts with my ears when I'm in my chair. They are deeper for sure, but they'll fit where I want them. Now, I will need to relocate or get rid of the second monitor. The only thing I use it for is Discord and temp monitoring. I can temp monitor on my phone via the Logitech G software, and really the same goes for Discord. I'm not married to the second monitor, so I'm ok with putting it up.
And yes, I know that it seems to be a little out of position due to the system on the right, but I've been using the Sony's this way for four years at this place. I simply played with channel settings until it sounded balanced, and it works for me.

However, I am having some second thoughts, and I think it has more to do with tier jealousy more than anything. Heritage(The Sixes + sub) vs Reference.

But, if they don't fit, I'll return them
 
You shouldn't have to give up a monitor. Nice bookshelf speakers on stands works great and in a small room, sub placement is really important - you lose that flexibility with floor speakers.

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DoubleTap said:
You shouldn't have to give up a monitor. Nice bookshelf speakers on stands works great and in a small room, sub placement is really important - you lose that flexibility with floor speakers.

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I agree with you. I'll admit, I have some issues departing from what I grew up with. Dad has/still has a set of Klipschorns in one room. Another room a set of LaScalla's. Even another room with Heresy's. Then there is the room with a full Atmos setup with nothing but Cornscala's all around , plus dual 15" down firing subs.

I know the brand, and I know the parts. Perhaps a downfall. It's all I've experienced since 1986
 
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DoubleTap said:
You shouldn't have to give up a monitor. Nice bookshelf speakers on stands works great and in a small room, sub placement is really important - you lose that flexibility with floor speakers.

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Well, you ended up wearing on me, lol. I cancelled the R28PF's, and instead ordered The Sixes from GC(great price 599) and an R10SWi from ABT for 238, which is also a steal.

Now, I just gotta find some stands that will hold Sixes.
 
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What is the actual model for "the sixes"? I'm assuming they are bookshelf speakers?

You can get some cheap but effective stands on Amazon for $40ish

I wanted total height control so I went with the Sound Anchor stands which are about $240 for a pair (I custom ordered 3 stands so I have one for my center)

Let us know how the new speakers work - congrats!

Edit - found them, I didn't realize they were actually called "The Sixes" lol

https://www.klipsch.com/products/the-sixes

Here are the cheap stands - nothing really wrong with them, but minimum height is about 24" which may be too high (my desk surface is dropped below my KB surface and they were a bit high for me)

https://www.amazon.com/VideoSecu-Adjustable-Height-Satellite-Speaker/dp/B000VRREPG/


The FSTT stands come in 18" and 24" heights - 18 is probably enough for most people as these will go from 1" to max height and you can tilt the platform as well. Would put you right at the 1k mark :)

https://daleproaudio.com/products/s...reestanding-adjustable-tabletop-stand-18-pair

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DoubleTap said:
What is the actual model for "the sixes"? I'm assuming they are bookshelf speakers?

You can get some cheap but effective stands on Amazon for $40ish

I wanted total height control so I went with the Sound Anchor stands which are about $240 for a pair (I custom ordered 3 stands so I have one for my center)

Let us know how the new speakers work - congrats!

Edit - found them, I didn't realize they were actually called "The Sixes" lol

https://www.klipsch.com/products/the-sixes

Here are the cheap stands - nothing really wrong with them, but minimum height is about 24" which may be too high (my desk surface is dropped below my KB surface and they were a bit high for me)

https://www.amazon.com/VideoSecu-Adjustable-Height-Satellite-Speaker/dp/B000VRREPG/


The FSTT stands come in 18" and 24" heights - 18 is probably enough for most people as these will go from 1" to max height and you can tilt the platform as well. Would put you right at the 1k mark :)

https://daleproaudio.com/products/s...reestanding-adjustable-tabletop-stand-18-pair

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I would love to be able to have some stands that I could have elevated diagonally and then tilt down towards me. With the shelf above my desk, it creates a small problem with fitment lol.

Those basic metal stands might do the trick though. I'll just have them on either side of my desk.

I'm excited to get everything in. I think the sub will actually arrive tomorrow. The Sixes won't get here until sometime after the 15th :/ as they were backordered. I just need to make sure I have some stands in by then as well.
 
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B&W CM1s get my vote. Depends on how you like the presentation of your metal though. B&Ws are laid back, and some would even say mellow, but to my ear at least, they're not fatiguing after hours of listening.
 
Sounds like garbage. Gonna have to do a crawl I guess. I just can't see it helping, though.



Copied from my post on the Klipsch forums:


So the first bit of my new gear came in, the R10SWi. The Sixes will be here later this month. So, in the interim, I went ahead and hooked up the sub. I set the subs low pass to ~50Hz which is the low end of my speakers. I enabled the sub out on my receiver. It's an old Pioneer, can't remember the model number off the top of my head. I set the sub output level to "min", that ranges from there to 5, 10, 15, and max. I set the sub gain to 3. Cranked up the volume to where I enjoy listening, which is rather loud, but not deafening by any means. The bass hits sound terrible! They are muddy instead of punchy (lots of double kicks, I listen to heavy metal. Here is one of the songs on was listening to, but @320kbps br). I was expecting these to be punchy and clean. I have the sub port approximately 8" from the wall. It's not in a corner, and is centered on one of the long walls in my office. There are times where it even sounds like it's being over driven, very distorted and flappy.

So I got on youtube and found a frequency sweep that started at 2GHz and went down to 1Hz. Even though I had the subs low pass set to 50Hz, it starts blowing it's load at 150Hz. I even verified the sub setting. Unfortunately, my receiver does not have an actual LFE option where I could limit the signal at the receiver.



So, what's the deal? Am I expecting too much from the sub, is it garbage, or is my receiver to blame.




They suggested moving sub closer to a corner, and brining the crossover up to 80Hz on the sub. I'll have to give it a try this evening when I get home from work
 
You have the sub crossover at 50 hz and it plays at 150? Sounds like a defect to me. Contact the seller.
 
It's possible that the sub out on your speakers is full range and the slope on your sub is gentle enough that you're still hearing stuff above 100hz, but it's hard to say from a forum.

What are the dimensions of your room? Is it square? my office is almost square (10x10.5) and I had a horrible null at 41hz which was greatly improved by patient location testing and measurement. It's really a pain, but it makes a difference and pays off.
 
A 10" sub is not going to be mindblowingly loud so if you have a difficult room and you listen in a null point it's possible that you're actually overdriving the amp trying to get enough output. The sub has had pretty good reviews from elsewhere. I would try moving the sub around the room first before doing anything more drastic, to see if it's a room mode issue. And turn the volume on the sub down if it distorts.

If your room is small and made out of bricks or concrete - it's possible that the muddy bass is a byproduct of your room acoustics. You'll need either heavy treatment or multiple subs properly adjusted to cancel out the room modes.
 
Note that the cheaper non-hd MiniDSP version has a max output voltage of 0.9V making it too quiet to use with many amplifiers without connecting a boost stage in between. I bought the non-hd version as my first MiniDSP just to test them out and that feature drove me nuts. In the end I had to build a 4 channel fixed multiplier voltage booster 'preamp' to be able to drive my amps to full volume.
 
B00nie said:
Note that the cheaper non-hd MiniDSP version has a max output voltage of 0.9V making it too quiet to use with many amplifiers without connecting a boost stage in between. I bought the non-hd version as my first MiniDSP just to test them out and that feature drove me nuts. In the end I had to build a 4 channel fixed multiplier voltage booster 'preamp' to be able to drive my amps to full volume.
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I'm waiting on this DSP from Dayton Audio to come out as I need more channels. I hope that it is a good unit like the miniDSP. It has a wired remote control option and a Bluetooth streaming option. RCA output: 3.5V rms
 
What exactly is a DSP going to offer me when I'm using powered speakers fed via toslink?
 
alxlwson said:
What exactly is a DSP going to offer me when I'm using powered speakers fed via toslink?
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Probably a headache. You'll need a FFT measuring gear and a lot of patience to get good results. For a beginner a self optimizing system such as Dirac or Audussey is a safer option.

I'll recommend acoustic room treatments to anyone before DSP because DSP is not the magic bullet the advertising make it to be. It has serious limitations - for example it can do zero to the energy nonlinearity and long reverberation times in the room.
 
So it seems I'm lacking some knowledge. I didn't know there were things to connect between source and powered speakers using toslink input.
 
alxlwson said:
So it seems I'm lacking some knowledge. I didn't know there were things to connect between source and powered speakers using toslink input.
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You can use the miniDSP for sub integration, but that's the tip of the iceberg.

https://www.minidsp.com/applications/digital-crossovers/subwoofer-integration-with-minidsp


There is an audio rabbit hole known as measurement and DSP which you may or may not want to fall into.

0. (optional) Apply treatments to your room

1. Measure your system and room response with a calibrated mic and a program called Room EQ Wizard (REW)

2. Use room correction hardware/software (Audessy / Dirac / etc) to smooth out the response

3. Repeat as desired
 
DoubleTap said:
You can use the miniDSP for sub integration, but that's the tip of the iceberg.

https://www.minidsp.com/applications/digital-crossovers/subwoofer-integration-with-minidsp


There is an audio rabbit hole known as measurement and DSP which you may or may not want to fall into.

0. (optional) Apply treatments to your room

1. Measure your system and room response with a calibrated mic and a program called Room EQ Wizard (REW)

2. Use room correction hardware/software (Audessy / Dirac / etc) to smooth out the response

3. Repeat as desired
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I would put the room treatments as the primary preferred way whenever possible. DSP can only try to correct the symptoms while treatment fixes the actual problem.
 
Welp, I have zero wall space for treatments, so there goes that. Lol
 
Commander Shepard said:
Any update on your speakers?
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Yeah, so GC kept dragging their feet. 15th came and went, still no tracking. The morning of the 16th, I got a NewEgg Flash email. Same speakers but in Ebony for $479. Cancelled GC order, ordered from the Flash ad, and saved $170 after shipping/taxes. $479 for a set of $799 speakers.
Speakers are on FedEx truck to be delivered on Friday.
 
Just remember guys: A 12db/oct low pass filter at 50hz will only attenuate sound 36db at 150hz. So if you play a test tone and crank up the volume, you'll hear the tone.
 
Everything hooked up. I'm fucking impressed. Listening to some older songs, hearing instruments and sounds that I can't ever recall hearing before. Even my wife came up and listening. Played a couple of her favorite songs (and she thought it was stupid to spend the money on speakers). She said, "It's like I've never heard the song before. Are you playing the right version? Is it a remix?" I'm INCREDIBLY happy with them. I would have been very happy with them at the retail price of $800. Getting them for $479 from a NewEgg Flash sale (from Worldwide) is just mind blowing. Now, I'm going to stuff a fleshlight into the rear port and make them mine.


Copypasta from my post at the Klipsch forums

Around 1500 today I received a delivery notification from FedEx that my speakers had finally arrived. I was pretty deep in a gearbox inspection at a customer and had it all torn apart. Lucky me, during the NDT, I found three bad gears with cracked teeth. Sweet! No need to put it back together. Send info back to the shop, clean the area, and dash home. My wife sent me a text saying that my "stupid speakers were in my office".

I get home, shower up, start a pot of chili, and then head upstairs to get everything swapped out. I tell ya, these are some pretty speakers! You look at the spec sheet dimensions and really don't realize that these are fairly sizable for their class.



I am totally blown away. I've been through some of my favorites (In The Light, Tuesday's Gone, Simple Man, Bohemian Rhapsody, the Tron:Legacy soundtrack, all kinds of John Williams soundtrack pieces, Boston, Lamb Of God, Suicide Silence etc...) and so many songs are like listening to them for the first time. Instruments and sounds that I haven't noticed before. Several times I had to make sure I wasn't playing remixes because everything just sounded different. When I first started listening, I had a thought- Hmm, just a tad bit more bass. Went over to the sub to up the gain just a ***, and realized that the status light was out. WHAT?! In my rush to start listening, I forgot to move over the LFE cable from my old receiver. Ha! It kinda made me laugh. The speaker's bass output was just a hair under what I wanted it, and the sub wasn't even running. I enjoy good strong bass, and The Sixes nearly come through on their own.

Yanked the screens grilles off...was NOT expecting that! They dampen the horns considerably.

I was able to convince the wife to have a listen. Played a few of her favorite songs, and unprompted, she stated the same as my thoughts above. She was convinced that she was listening to covers of her favorites. It's good to know she "gets it"!
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I would have been very happy with The Sixes if I had paid the retail $800. Paying $479 through a NewEgg Flash deal from Worldwide? I don't think I've ever been more satisfied with a purchase.

Not that I have a recent history of better quality audio, but if anyone has been on the shelf(lol) about these, I highly suggest them. You'll even with the ol' lady's OK.
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Like B00nie said...Elac or KEF. Both use concentric drivers for coherent, detailed sound. From my way of understanding. such a concentric speaker arrangement works well in a small space.
 
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You should get wall stands and raise the speakers above the monitors to form a 60° listening triangle if you want stereo imaging. Also they naturally need to be angled downwards to point at your head if you raise them higher.
 
B00nie said:
You should get wall stands and raise the speakers above the monitors to form a 60° listening triangle if you want stereo imaging. Also they naturally need to be angled downwards to point at your head if you raise them higher.
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Yeah, this is my plan. I just need to come up with some kind of "cage" to keep them captured so I can angle them down
 
alxlwson said:
Yeah, this is my plan. I just need to come up with some kind of "cage" to keep them captured so I can angle them down
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Some wall stands have a screw clamp in the bottom to keep the speaker in place. The biggest question is to find a model that allows enough down angle.

I'm using something like this (notice the clamping scews at the back):

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