AudioCircle
Audio/Video Gear and Systems => Cheap and Cheerful HiFi => Topic started by: jhm731 on 24 Dec 2018, 06:24 pm
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https://darko.audio/2018/12/the-loudspeaker-bargain-of-2018/
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:D wonder if they would have shipped to Canada,,,, I need a small set of speakers,,,,dam. :D
Merry Merry everybody,,,,
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Just saw them at Best Buy. Wow. Great build quality. They are bigger than they seem in photos. They are inert when you tap on them. Andrew Jones really changed the game for budget speakers with the Debuts.
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Now add the Burson Bang amp, $400 at Parts Connection and the Nobsound Passive, $56 at Amazon. A killer C&C system.
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Or, for even less money, go with the Dayton Audio APA150 amp with built-in volume control for $145 at Parts-Express. Less than $300 total for speakers and amp if you got the speakers on sale.
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Or, for even less money, go with the Dayton Audio APA150 amp with built-in volume control for $145 at Parts-Express. Less than $300 total for speakers and amp if you got the speakers on sale.
If you ever get to hear that Bang amp, you will understand why I recommenced it. :thumb:
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I'm going to have to get down to BB to hear these. I'm NOT in the market for yet another pair of bookshelves, but I'd like to know what all the fuss is about.
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Same. Any actually heard them?
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If you ever get to hear that Bang amp, you will understand why I recommenced it. :thumb:
Thanks! I look into that.
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Same. Any actually heard them?
I bought a pair on Black Friday.....IMHO, they are good but NOT great. They sound really nice, great bass and wonderful imaging.BUT ,, don't turn them up loud. They seem to get bogged down with massed instruments.
Sent mine back.
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The biggest test for these speakers is to see whether they can truly run with other illustrious bookshelves at a certain price range. Remember the Oppo BR/DVD players that whose innards were shoved into milled aluminum cases were marked up 3X? That will be the sign of a truly timeless and competent design. :thumb:
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I just got them from Crutchfield, couldn't resist at the sale price. The cabinets do sound less hollow with the ol' knuckle rap compared to the originals. Only ran them for 3-4 hours and they sound open and clean but light on the bass compared to similar sized bookshelves. Hope the bass fills in with more run in time because midrange is quite nice. I have not heard the issue with massed instruments like mrhyfy and I listen to lots of classical. I'll have to hook them up to my high power tpa3255 amp and report back.
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$149 a pair? Either they're not making money on this or it just shows how cheap manufacturing at scale can be. That's a great price for a pair of any decent speakers and these are above decent.
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$149 a pair? Either they're not making money on this or it just shows how cheap manufacturing at scale can be. That's a great price for a pair of any decent speakers and these are above decent.
Oh they are making money on these. The only time they would sell at or below cost is if there was a large batch of speakers that had some kind of defect and it would make more sense to get rid of them rather than fix the issue. I would hope the manufacturer would disclose that but who knows?
That might explain the missing bass :lol:
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:D I bought the smaller next size down set, sent them back. :D
One good thing about Amazon :D JB makes 250 million a day,, good lord :nono:
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CNET tested the bass down to high 40s for the 6.2, however they stressed that the 6.2 is not warm and laid back like the previous version - which is what some people complained about. Elac focused on midrange/treble clarity this time around. Can't please everyone.
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Do they still make those modded Pioneers?
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My vote goes for the JBL LSR305 Mk2, a solid step up from the original 305 in terms of musicality. The original way out performed the Elac B6. Both JBL's have a MSRP of $300/pair and are active, so no power amps or speaker cable needed, they are just plain stupid good.
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CNET tested the bass down to high 40s for the 6.2, however they stressed that the 6.2 is not warm and laid back like the previous version - which is what some people complained about. Elac focused on midrange/treble clarity this time around. Can't please everyone.
Could be just my pair but the woofer output drops in a hurry below 100 hz. It's down 12 db going from 100 hz to 63 hz with my decibel meter 6 feet away. There is no way to duplicate what CNet got without serious boundary reinforcement. I have the stands about 3 feet away from any wall. For comparison, Wharfedale 9.2 and Polk Tsix100 had more bass in the same room. They sound more balanced when moved within a foot of the front wall but harsh in the treble.
Oh well, worth a shot but might be going back.
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Could be just my pair but the woofer output drops in a hurry below 100 hz. It's down 12 db going from 100 hz to 63 hz with my decibel meter 6 feet away. There is no way to duplicate what CNet got without serious boundary reinforcement. I have the stands about 3 feet away from any wall. For comparison, Wharfedale 9.2 and Polk Tsix100 had more bass in the same room. They sound more balanced when moved within a foot of the front wall but harsh in the treble.
Oh well, worth a shot but might be going back.
Being front ported, these are probably meant to be closer to the wall.
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My vote goes for the JBL LSR305 Mk2, a solid step up from the original 305 in terms of musicality. The original way out performed the Elac B6. Both JBL's have a MSRP of $300/pair and are active, so no power amps or speaker cable needed, they are just plain stupid good.
I have both the LSR305 Mk 1, and ELAC B6 (version 1). The LSR305 is better at imaging, staging and microdetails. The B6 is fun sounding, has a nice ripe bass response, and my daughter loves it. I think ELACs forte is in their coincident designs quite honestly.
Both measure well, with the 305 edging out the B6 particularly in the constancy of the off axis response. The waveguide on the B6 is very small with a high crossover point which I see they improved upon in the 6.2 version. They also shortened the center to center distance between the 2 drivers, and redesigned the crossover. I expect the 6.2 to sound even better.
Tough market but both companies give tremendously more for the dollar and are more accountable with regards to measurements than many other manufacturers. They spend more money and research on what acoustically matters and less talk about how much elbow grease they spent on the cabinet veneer or coat of paint. They also have superior resources to make better engineered products with custom drivers, anechoic chambers, etc...it’s hard to beat a fella who trained at KEF who are THE authority on coincident speaker design, and hard to beat a company with a multimillion $ budget, and numerous qualified engineers who routinely pluck competitor loudspeakers for testing/researching with a measurement technique (Spinorama) that has revolutionized the industry, ie JBL and is now followed by others (most notably KEF!).
Best,
Anand.
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Well, the debut 6.2 are being sent back today. Ran them in a few more hours and the sound has indeed changed after some run in. But for the worse. Wimpiest bookshelves I have owned. I don't think they are a bargain even at 150. I don't doubt the review samples are great and all but there is probably an underlying reason why this particular model is the only one on sale at 50% off.
YMMV
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The Infinity R162 is on sale for $180 right now and those are possibly the best budget buy right now. I recommend them. The Elac UB5 are something like $320 on Amazon right now, too.
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Well, the debut 6.2 are being sent back today. Ran them in a few more hours and the sound has indeed changed after some run in. But for the worse. Wimpiest bookshelves I have owned. I don't think they are a bargain even at 150. I don't doubt the review samples are great and all but there is probably an underlying reason why this particular model is the only one on sale at 50% off.
YMMV
Elac runs major sales on their models to drum up attention to their products. They’ve always done this since Jones started designing for them.
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The bargain of 2018 in speakers was when Underwood Hifi was selling out the Gallo Classico Ones for $149 a pair. These had a MSRP of $795 a pair. These are much better sounding than the Elacs. I saw a used pair go for $98 recently on Ebay. That was sure a steal. If you need a pair of small speakers, I would keep watch for those.
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Bought these...
https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/kefq150blk/kef-q150-5.25-2-way-bookshelf-speaker-black-pair/1.html
KEF Q150 $269.99 no tax, including shipping - I'd say Bargain of the Year!
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Bought these...
https://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/kefq150blk/kef-q150-5.25-2-way-bookshelf-speaker-black-pair/1.html
KEF Q150 $269.99 no tax, including shipping - I'd say Bargain of the Year!
Very nice. KEF has continuously perfected their coincident designs, particularly the polar pattern transition from the midwoofer to the tweeter is done seamlessly. This is really very difficult to do. They have also patent protected a lot of their work. If I were shopping for coincident designs, KEF is definitely on the list.
Enjoy,
Anand.
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Those KEFs are indeed excellent. My friend has a pair, and IMHO you'd have to pay quite a bit more for anything better. A great bargain. :thumb: