Good compact 2.0 setup (PC, music/some movies, occasional gaming)

[ElementDave]

Most of these reviewers are just shills. That goes for tech, audio, and just about everything else.

Cross out "these" and I will agree. The author of noaudiophile.com is definitely not a shill. But it also just one man's analysis, and the variance between speaker samples can be significant.

 

[JSHamlet234]

Cross out "these" and I will agree. The author of noaudiophile.com is definitely not a shill. But it also just one man's analysis, and the variance between speaker samples can be significant.

He might not be, but I won't follow any of his recommendations again. Erin's Audio Corner is #1 in my book.

 

[Wiz33]

Music is a very subjective form. There is no such thing as a perfect speaker no matter the price group as one that sounds good to one person maybe totally unacceptable to another. So it's best to get it from a place with easy returns

 

[wandplus]

They’re absolutely amazing, once broken in a bit and fed through optical at high res. They do like to be a little loud, and source detection can be a touch flaky sometimes (keep the remote handy from sleep), but they sound very very good. Definitely close in listening though- they’ll fill a room, but sound best if they’re aimed right at you.
As for sound quality, some rock mids are still a touch muddled. Just a little, compared to a high end dac and pair of cans. The rest just sings. Good for gaming too- or movies- but they really shine with high res music

Do you mind if I ask a somewhat weird question? How do you define "very very good"? You don't have to answer if you can't. I find my JBL One Series 104 very accurate, but kind of dull. Although my Swans D100 have more bass, at least they sound like they surround you with sound. I wouldn't describe either one as very very good though. (I still wish I could find a medium level of bass between the two. As a matter of fact, in the next few months I might just read on speaker design to try my own designs.)

 

[lopoetve]

Do you mind if I ask a somewhat weird question? How do you define "very very good"? You don't have to answer if you can't. I find my JBL One Series 104 very accurate, but kind of dull. Although my Swans D100 have more bass, at least they sound like they surround you with sound. I wouldn't describe either one as very very good though. (I still wish I could find a medium level of bass between the two. As a matter of fact, in the next few months I might just read on speaker design to try my own designs.)

I'm basing it off of comparisons to my home theater setup (Bowers And Wilkins 700s or 800s, can't remember which), and a few high-end headphones (Grado SR325, Arctic Steel Series + DAC), and my own preferences (obviously). I'm an audiophile on a budget (the home theater setup was 18k in speakers, fed by an Arcam AVR550), who also recognizes that music is never going to sound like a concert without going stupid.

What I noticed about the Vanatoo was that everything was very ~clear~ - you could pick individual instruments from the orchestral pieces, and quieter sections amidst louder ones in the rock songs also stood out (the harmonies in things like Master or Reverie). The only parts that disappeared were in some of the faster rock, where the middle would sound like it was just "bouncing" too much - too many things going on at once. I understand what you're saying about the JBL One - I've had things like that before. These felt alive, as long as I wasn't asking them to do Master cranked to hell during the thrash parts. Even that sounded good, just ... like I'd hit the ceiling of what it could handle.

Songs I tend to use:
Adele: Rolling In The Deep
Nightwish - Slow love slow
Old Gods of Asgard: Take Control
Master Of Puppets
Tubular Bells 2/3.
Full Tilt: Aurora (Electronic)
Mixture of Two Steps from Hell (victory, etc).
Ivan Torrent - Reverie (full album).
Victoria soundtrack
Hans Zimmer - especially interstellar and gladiator soundtracks.

Honestly, I'm VERY impressed with the Transparent Zeros - as long as you're sitting in front of them. If you're not, they're good, even very good, but not amazing - they're not room speakers.