Onix X-LS Encore Impressions

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Cyrilix

2[H]4U
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Jan 21, 2005
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So, I finally got my X-LS encores yesterday, so I'm just going to give some initial impressions versus my previous Insignia setup.

-These speakers seem to project a lot better than the Insignias. At a longer distance away from the speakers, they'll sound much better than the Insignias which turn to shit exponentially as the distance between you and speakers increases. This, however, may be compounded by my room being a terrible listening environment.
-These speakers go deeper than the Insignias, and you can definitely feel it. In fact, I wouldn't mind them without a sub, although a sub like the x-sub is good to have.
-They are more balanced. The Insignias have a high-frequency boost, which can slightly overpower other frequency ranges.
-The level of detail is excellent and they don't sound any more or any less veiled than the Insignias (which is as expected, since veiled is typically the territory of PC speakers, such as Logitech speakers I've heard on display and that a friend used to have). I don't, however, feel confident comparing the levels of detail between both speakers since I'm not A/B-ing.

I don't feel qualified to more explicitly compare the differences between the two, since, as I mentioned above, that I'm not A/B-ing, simply replacing an old speaker setup with a new one. This means that my impressions are only based on what I recall which is typically only good for improvements that are significant enough to be worth mentioning (see above).

As for the construction quality and looks, they are simply amazing. Mine are Moho, by the way. I have a picture here:

 
give it some time and you will notice more differences. good grab.

get some more distance from the wall too. about 18" would help.
 
They're about 5" away from the wall right now. I'm not sure if I have too much space, but I could probably move them a bit farther away.
 
We may have conflicting ideas on some aspects of PC audio, but we definitely share an appreciation for the x-series Encores. My x-ls & x-cs Encores are Moho, too!!!
 
OK, so here is an update to my setup. What I was doing in the picture above was "toeing in" (turning the speakers at an angle) to make them face towards the optimal listening position. This, however, caused many problems due to different frequencies being louder than other frequencies at certain distances away from the speakers. For example, say I'm playing a 1000 Hz test tone, and I move my head forward a little, all of a sudden, the left speaker may sound a lot louder than the right speaker. Then, if I move my head back a little, the opposite may happen. Sometimes, I can even find a position such that the left and the right seem to cancel out and that specific frequency is very quiet. From physics class, this doesn't seem to be anything new, as waves interfere and create constructive/destructive interference, however, I must say that this is the first time I've ever encountered anything like this and had it bother me (this is also the first time I've ever used speaker stands to mount speakers, and also the first time my mains have been more than 1 foot to the left or to the right of me as a result of the speaker stands placing them farther away).

As a result, I've learned a few things for my setup.

#1 - Do not toe them in if they are farther away, or there will be major imbalance issues at various listening positions. I'm not entirely sure as to why not toeing them in significantly diminishes this issue (my guess is that it's because the waves are no longer directly aiming at your head and are dispersed about the room).

#2 - Not toeing them in will greatly reduce the high frequencies. It's a very significant difference, and has resulted in my reducing the bass frequencies to compensate. Currently, I just have a -3 db setting on the bass from the receiver since it doesn't have a very fine grained way to tune, but I may consider other options in the future. I've also read that my walls (all hard surfaces around the room) do a good job of reflecting sound, creating a boomier bass effect, which is not a good thing. Unfortunately, I don't have $500-1000 to drop on treating my room (university student) with acoustic foam.

#3 - Get a smaller desk, so I can move the speakers closer to the center. This is something that I've yet to test out, but I suspect that it will produce good results. Right now, the position in which I'm sitting is not an equilateral triangle position. It's more like... 40, 100, 40 degrees. In fact, my monitor is only about 6 cm behind the front of my speakers (and is at the very far back end of my desk). If I move the speaker stands behind the table, I'll require approximately 12 cm more clearance, thus placing my monitor 6 cm in front of my speakers. (I have yet to test how this would sound since it MAY not actually be a problem).

Anyway, I've been spending hours tweaking my room, moving things around, changing speaker positions, re-measuring to make sure that all of the measurements on both sides are even, etc. I must say, this is a very exact hobby. The more time and effort you put into it, the more time it effort it drains out of you! Also, if anyone has ANY suggestions at all on how to improve my listening experience without selling my arms and legs, then I'd be glad to hear them. I'm willing to invest some money into this setup, a few hundred dollars, if necessary, but I'm hoping that some of the more experienced members can give me some tips that I've probably missed out of neglect or ignorance.

Edit: I'm also curious if a center channel would be of use in such a situation since it would probably emulate a closer left/right speaker pair. I'm trying to dig up information on center channels right now, although Wikipedia doesn't seem to have anything useful regarding their usage.
 
Yes a center would help solve most of your issues. Ask on av123 too. Most people there are very friendly and knowledgeable.
 
spaceman said:
Yes a center would help solve most of your issues. Ask on av123 too. Most people there are very friendly and knowledgeable.
Click to expand...

Problem is, I have no idea where I'd put my center. Even if it was a good idea (though I don't think it is) to stack a monitor on top of it, it would raise my monitor unbelievably high. I think I'd be in the works if for one if I could figure out how to properly set it up (and maybe see how others have it set up) on a computer desk system.
 
Sounds like you might want to try a different setup. At one point I built a tongue-like extension so that my monitor and kb/m was forward 3 ft sticking out of the center and the speakers were on a 12' board so they were 5 1/12 feet apart and 3 ft from me and 2 ft from the wall. Sound was very nice and airy. Like a giant pair of K1000s. With my 12" sub, all was well. If photobucket was working I might be able to show you.
 
You're right. The x-cs center raises the monitor too high to view comfortably. I solved my center placement problem like this:



I placed a layer of Auralex foam between the center and sub. It ain't most acoustically optimal arrangement, but it works for me. Everything sounds fantastic.
 
Mr. Wolf said:
You're right. The x-cs center raises the monitor too high to view comfortably. I solved my center placement problem like this:

I placed a layer of Auralex foam between the center and sub. It ain't most acoustically optimal arrangement, but it works for me. Everything sounds fantastic.
Click to expand...

Hmm, isn't that table hindering the sound of the X-CS? It seems like your X-CS is being covered up if you sit in close enough to the keyboard/monitor.

I'm also considering the additional option of adding a center by:

#1 - Buying a new desk with greater depth.
#2 - Placing an X-CS on the desk.
#3 - Buying a monitor arm to place the monitor in the optimal viewing position without taking much desk space (so I can use the depth to fit an X-CS)

Unfortunately, this option above will run something like $200 for the monitor arm, $300 for the X-CS including shipping and duties to Canada, and $150-$300 for a new desk, so I'll have to think about it long and hard...

By the way, Mr. Wolf, I'm not too knowledgeable with center channels, but does your stereo music simply get mixed together to form a center channel by your receiver? For example, if I were to add a couple more speakers to form a 4.1 system, I don't think the rear channels would play any sound at all unless the music was 4.1/5.1 or if I were to watch a DVD, but maybe a center channel is treated differently?
 
Damn. I have a solution for you. I can't really communicate it well without pics. One issue is that your stupid (sorry) monitor has that REALLY tall stand. My 24" acer has a 4" tall stand.

If you could get a monitor arm, I bet a center channel would fit easy.

There's more but it would take too much effort to explain in words.
 
spaceman said:
Damn. I have a solution for you. I can't really communicate it well without pics. One issue is that your stupid (sorry) monitor has that REALLY tall stand. My 24" acer has a 4" tall stand.

If you could get a monitor arm, I bet a center channel would fit easy.

There's more but it would take too much effort to explain in words.
Click to expand...

The thing is, if I were to get a monitor arm, that only takes up say, 4" of depth space on my desk. Then, I could put the X-CS under the monitor, however, the X-CS itself requires 15.5" depth clearance, so in all, that would put me at approximately 20" of desk depth space when my desk is only about 31" deep (meaning that the X-CS would be very close to me, about 1 to 1.5 feet away from my face). All in all, I'd still need a deeper desk (which I will look into). I'm sure I can find something suitable given time and money.
 
Anchor the arm to the wall? My friend got a huge swing arm for his 50" Sony. It comes wayyy out into the room or side to side.

How big is your room and what are the conflicts from moving around. You don't have to get a center channel. It would be simpler, not to mention cheaper to just move to a spot where the x-ls sing.
 
spaceman said:
Anchor the arm to the wall? My friend got a huge swing arm for his 50" Sony. It comes wayyy out into the room or side to side.

How big is your room and what are the conflicts from moving around. You don't have to get a center channel. It would be simpler, not to mention cheaper to just move to a spot where the x-ls sing.
Click to expand...

About 11' x 11'. I keep some 5' width for my table, with 3' on each side for stands and shelves.
 
Are the stands attached to the table? Can you move the desk back from the wall?
 
spaceman said:
Are the stands attached to the table? Can you move the desk back from the wall?
Click to expand...

No, the stands are not attached to the table. They're the Studiotech SP-36 speaker stands. The table right now is actually pretty far back from the wall, a bit more than one foot, unlike what's shown in the first picture.
 
Try another foot or two and see how it sounds. Might want to try stuffing the portholes with something non-scratchy and dense like a rolled up towel.
 
spaceman said:
Try another foot or two and see how it sounds. Might want to try stuffing the portholes with something non-scratchy and dense like a rolled up towel.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, if I go back any further, my chair will hit my bed. :p
 
Cyrilix said:
Hmm, isn't that table hindering the sound of the X-CS? It seems like your X-CS is being covered up if you sit in close enough to the keyboard/monitor.

I'm also considering the additional option of adding a center by:

#1 - Buying a new desk with greater depth.
#2 - Placing an X-CS on the desk.
#3 - Buying a monitor arm to place the monitor in the optimal viewing position without taking much desk space (so I can use the depth to fit an X-CS)

Unfortunately, this option above will run something like $200 for the monitor arm, $300 for the X-CS including shipping and duties to Canada, and $150-$300 for a new desk, so I'll have to think about it long and hard...

By the way, Mr. Wolf, I'm not too knowledgeable with center channels, but does your stereo music simply get mixed together to form a center channel by your receiver? For example, if I were to add a couple more speakers to form a 4.1 system, I don't think the rear channels would play any sound at all unless the music was 4.1/5.1 or if I were to watch a DVD, but maybe a center channel is treated differently?
Click to expand...
Believe it or not, the center really doesn't lose any of its effectiveness by being under the table... at least, according to my ears. When I watch HDTV or a movie, I just back up 1-2 feet and can hear the full force of my speakers. To me, the sound field is stunning. However, I'm sure some of the uber-audiophiles around here cringe at my solution.

I considered trying to mount the center above my LCD, but there's no practical way to do it. I also had the innate fear that one night I'd be shaken awake by the sound of that big x-cs crashing down on my LCD. I've got my LCD on an arm, but there's no way to adjust it so the x-cs can be under it and still view the screen comfortably. I even tried placing the speaker behind the monitor, but that resulted in blocking about 2/3 of the x-cs. Make no mistake, the x-cs is a BIG speaker. I was surprised at how it dwarfs my x-ls.

I see that you've got the XR55, which is virtually identical to my XR57. I set my receiver to Multi-Channel Surround and Dolby Pro Logic IIx. These settings seem to blend my speakers into a great sounding 3.1 system. I don't have rear/surround speakers. Once I get my 30" Gateway LCD I'll have the perfect PC/home theater rig for my tastes. :D
 
Ok this is a bit crazy but so am I lol.

Take the speakers behind your bed across the room, make sure left is left and right is right, and listen.

Might work!
 
spaceman said:
Ok this is a bit crazy but so am I lol.

Take the speakers behind your bed across the room, make sure left is left and right is right, and listen.

Might work!
Click to expand...

I'm not really sure what you mean... I know which is left and which is right. That's not the problem. The only problem is that the speakers are not like computer speakers (very diffuse with sound everywhere). They are very precise. As such, managing their positioning is a bit difficult. Don't worry about it -- I'll figure something out.

Thanks for the input.
 
Just trying to get more distance from you to the speakers is all. LoL

good luck.
 
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