Tír Na HiFi

Thanks guys, That spendor sub will go for a big price so I will not bother. Your points Paul certainly cleared up any thoughts that it could be an easy move. Matt has confirmed your thoughts.It sounds like it could be a very annoying direction to go in. I was out in cloneys on friday and had a brief listen to the the spendor a5 and 6's and will hold on until I can afford to consider one of those.They are providing all that I can reasonably expect and more from my system(understated way of saying I want them and really like the sound).As stated before the sub was a cheapie idea worth messing with especially if I got the spendor.

Hi Tony
Yes, a speaker upgrade will certainly give you far greater satisfaction than a sub.
You can always consider a sub later on.

Not long ago I added 2 subs to my system. It took me ages and ages to get it right, but I am there now. What I used to help me get it together was an app on my phone. It acts as a sound level meter and was very very useful in getting the volume right. That and a CD with frequency tones from 15hz to 20khz. I waited until everyone else was out of the house, played a 1khz test tone, took the dB. Then moved down through the freqs until I got to below 100hz. After that it was a case of playing, adjusting the volume and crossover level, checking dB level again, and so on and so on.

You would be really surprised at how much louder a 1khz test tone appears to be compared to a 40hz tone at the same dB level.

After that, I adjusted the phase and then it locked in. Plays alright on every CD and vinyl since.....


Fran

tony wrote:....I was out in cloneys on friday and had a brief listen to the the spendor a5 and 6's and will hold on until I can afford to consider one of those.They are providing all that I can reasonably expect and more from my system(understated way of saying I want them and really like the sound)....

Did you notice quite a difference in the sound from each model Tony and, price apart, which one of the A5 or A6s would you prefer?

I only had a brief listen as I was with my wife for lunch and cunningly suggested blackrock to facilitate a visit to cloney's. I used nirvanas mtv unplugged only which isnt the best cd to hear the range of any speaker.Wife was chomping at the bit to go shopping and have lunch and noel was expecting a guy who had booked a session earlier so you get an idea of the constraints. The A6's are just out of the box and not run in and I listened to them mainly(20mins). Cant give a definitive view but I thought the sound from the 6's was rich and full and would seem a step up from the 5's. A5's were smooth,lovely sound and I couldnt fault them but I heard them for about 10mins so impossible to give a fair comparision. On the brief viewing I would gravitate to the 6's and really only because the 5's are size wise identical to the positrons i am currently using and if I decided to shell out the money, I wouldnt feel I was making a significant change by going for them. Ideally I need to have a good listen in cloneys and prefarably at home, kinda reluctant to do the latter as I dont want to end up in a position of feeling I have to buy. A5's probably suit the capabilities of my amp etc and maybe 6's will be just too big. I dont know. I am in no rush and will just fool around for the next while and maybe during the summer make a choice(of course then I have to approach the fund holder for appropriate release authorisation). It is unfortunate that we do not have the range available to the uk as I wouldnt mind listening to proac's or pmc's just to get a comparision.

Hi Tony
What amp are you using?
Have you considered ATC's? They need at least 100watts to sound their best though and 200+watts to really sing.
Having no dealers in Ireland doesn't make things easy though.

These might suit your needs http://www.atc.gb.net/scm40.htm
They have a sealed cabinet like my scm19's so have a very flat frequency response in room.
Ive absolutly no bass boom issues or dips/peaks in bass output, even with my speakers 20cm off the rear wall.

Another good thing about the ATC's is that they are so revealing that the sound thay produce is not coloured at all, so however your system and music sounds is what you hear through the ATC's.

Eh, Struggling a bit there with 70watts from a cyrus amp. They look good alright but I think somebody with poweramps might be better suited to them. I would happily give them a listen but like a lot of the other speaker types it is impossible here. The avi's I am using I bought from the uk,just using advice given here.

Good luck with whatever way you decide to go Tony....whatever about the limited supply we have here the one big advantage we do have with Noel is the possibility of that so important home trial.

I too bought the ATC's purely on what ive read and heard about them. I had never heard ATC speakers before, but i knew from reading reviews that their sound and sealed box design was what i was looking for to suit my room and tastes with bullet proof build too.

I bought my first pair of speakers when i was 12. A pair of JPW Minim's from richer sounds mail order for £20.
Ive owned 7 pairs of speakers in total since then and only listened to 1 of those in the shop before purchase.
And the ones i listened to in the shop turned out to be the ones i wanted to change after a short time.

As said above, a home demo is the best way to hear any equipment but does limit you to certain brands.

The ATC scm19's are the best speakers ive owned so far.
Your welcome to come and listen to my system if you fancy hearing the ATC's. It would give you an idea of the larger ones as ATC's apparently all sound the same, except you just get more of it the higher up the range you go.

Cheers
Matt

thanks Matt, might take you up on that at some stage. I wouldnt mind looking at your yaquin either.