which should i get?

[Rocker82]

I dont know alot about speaker but i would like a new set for my computer for mainly music but some movies and games. I listen to mostly heavy metal but many other genres too (classical, Jazz). I want 2 bookshelf speakers for eachside of my comp. the best that there is pretend money isnt an issue. id appreciated it if some people gave me their opinions on which ones are good and any suggestions. thx

[krolfes]

For your computer try Klipsch 2.1 set up $150. I got the set for my brother in law for christmas and he loves it. The sub has alot of power for its size and cost. For mp3's, games, etc. this should be enough speaker.

[calegrant]

For your computer, there really is no need to go with home audio style speakers + amp. I got a set of Logitech Z-2300 for $99 cnd at a boxing day sale and they sound great. I can crank em' up when I want to hear my metal, and their THX certified. Bose can't convince them to certify their $5000+ wonder systems but Logitech does it with a hundred dollar 2.1 set-up.

The whole pretend money isn't an issue doesn't get you anywhere, unless you've got the money to drop 85k into computer speakers. Do evidence masters count as bookshelves?

[drseid]

The whole pretend money isn't an issue doesn't get you anywhere, unless you've got the money to drop 85k into computer speakers. Do evidence masters count as bookshelves?

Agreed... For most people money *is* an issue. That said, if you are using your computer as the source, most truly good speakers will reveal the source's limitations. I could recommend 20K/pr. Magico Minis, but I don't think a computer is going to get it done.

My advice, is get some of the computer speakers already recommended, and setup a seperate audio system where you can invest in quality speakers and electronics to drive them properly.

---Dave

[RGA]

This person is a heavy computer user and you could check out the speakers he bought. They run $600.00 US http://audiokarma.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-21756.html

[wayner86]

New thread?

I think you should give the Wharfedale Pro Diamond series active monitors a listen, a friend of mine owns a pair, and they are by far the best computer speakers i have heard to date. They shouldn't be too hard to find, they sell them at my local Long & McQuade for several hundred CAD.

http://www.wharfedalepro.com/frames/monitor_diamond.html

download the brochure for specs.

[Rocker82]

wow i didnt know that a music setup on a computer wasnt as good as just a normal music setup. So what would i need to get for a setup not on a computer? all my music is on a portable harddrive or mp3 player. could i hook that up to a sound system and any way i could just get the music from my portable harddrive and play it through a sound system not on a computer?if its possible what would i need? and would a normal sound sytem be just for cds tape records and that stuff or what? thx

[drseid]

Well, MP3 is not going to be a good source to begin with, IMO. I have an Ipod, and the MP3 files are fine for when I travel, but the files are not even close to the sound quality of the CDs and SACDs I transferred them from.

Definitely if you are setting up a stand alone audio system I would recommend buying a good CD player, and use it as your front end... Brands like Rega and Consonance are good places to start in the 1K and under catagory.

For amplification/pre-amplification, I would recommend a bargain brand integrated amp like one from Jolida that can be had for less than 1K.

With those aspects covered, then you can pair them with any number of speakers. Good mini-monitors in the 1K/pr. or less price range are Opera Audio Consonance Eric-1 ($995/pr.), Linn Katans ($800/pr), Tyler Acoustics Freedom F-2s ($775/pr)... and the list goes on and on.

---Dave

[speakeroligist_38]

drseid I have heard the Tyler Acoustics Freedom F-2's and IMHO they are not quite as good as the Paradigm Studio 20 v.3". For $775 you could get a set of the Studio 20 v.3's. Now Ty's Reference Monitors are another story and the Linbrook Sigs are by far the best speakers I have heard to date. The Reference Monitors are better than the 20's and should be given their $1600 price tag. But keep in mind the all new Studio 20 v.4's will be available soon and should be somewhat improved.

[drseid]

drseid I have heard the Tyler Acoustics Freedom F-2's and IMHO they are not quite as good as the Paradigm Studio 20 v.3". For $775 you could get a set of the Studio 20 v.3's. Now Ty's Reference Monitors are another story and the Linbrook Sigs are by far the best speakers I have heard to date. The Reference Monitors are better than the 20's and should be given their $1600 price tag. But keep in mind the all new Studio 20 v.4's will be available soon and should be somewhat improved.
I am not really much of a Paradigm fan and as such would rather have the F-2s, but each to their own. Just like you, many like the Paradigm sound quite a bit, so they could indeed be a good solution for the poster as well. Like I said in my post above, there are many choices in the under 1K/pr. field... it is very competitive. Personally my own choice would be the Eric-1s, as I have not heard better under 1K (including the Tyler Freedom F-1 and F-2s) -- they are amazing at their price point, but they don't have a major distribution presence in the US, so very few people know about them (I only found out about them last year when I was at CES in Vegas myself).

As you said, Tyler's other lines like the Linbrook and Taylo lines are far superior to the Tyler Freedoms, Eric-1s and IMO the Paradigms, but they cost a lot more. If money truly isn't an object, then the Linbrook Signatures would also be an excellent choice, but I am biased as an owner (they are the top half of my Linbrook (2 piece) System floorstanders).

---Dave

[krolfes]

wow i didnt know that a music setup on a computer wasnt as good as just a normal music setup. So what would i need to get for a setup not on a computer? all my music is on a portable harddrive or mp3 player. could i hook that up to a sound system and any way i could just get the music from my portable harddrive and play it through a sound system not on a computer?if its possible what would i need? and would a normal sound sytem be just for cds tape records and that stuff or what? thx

It partly depends on how you encode your mp3's. EAC (Exact Audio Copy) and LAME to encode is one of the best ways to go. If you just use a generic encoder at 128kbs there will be a big diffrece between it and a CD. But over all mp3's will not sound as good as CD's but you can get fairly close.

[Jim Clark]

It partly depends on how you encode your mp3's. EAC (Exact Audio Copy) and LAME to encode is one of the best ways to go. If you just use a generic encoder at 128kbs there will be a big diffrece between it and a CD. But over all mp3's will not sound as good as CD's but you can get fairly close.

If you think so then it's obviously good enough for you. If you'd like a bit of objective analysis to educate yourself then you can follow this link: http://www.msu.edu/~buckeled/spectrum.htm

Compare the .wav and lossless codecs to lossy compression even at higher bitrates. Oh, and the test results are based on EAC and Lame so it's an excellent comparison. That may be fairly close to you but I would draw the opposite conclusion. Everything is lost around 20k and if you back it up, it's not much better further down the spectrum. You are correct though, on a computer which is just about the nosiest medium possible, it would probably be very difficult to hear.

Just a different POV.

Regards,
jc

[bacchanal]

Nice link Jim, would have been nice if the guy put all of the curves on one graph though, and it would have been interesting to see 128kb.

Anyway, .FLAC is a pretty good alternative for some people.

[The One]

Actually, I have seen a very very stylish speaker, it is called "Sony SRS-AX10". Price is under 99 bucks. Looks like this speaker is perfectly for home or computer user.

Imagine that if I connect this speaker to my Laptop computer, how nice.....!

[Jim Clark]

Actually, I have seen a very very stylish speaker, it is called "Sony SRS-AX10". Price is under 99 bucks. Looks like this speaker is perfectly for home or computer user.

Imagine that if I connect this speaker to my Laptop computer, how nice.....!

Wowzers. I guess one man's very very stylish is another man's fugly.

jc

[N. Abstentia]

Those have to sound like crap. What is that, a 1" driver?

[speakeroligist_38]

Dr seid as you mentioned each to their own. Loudspeaker preference is a very subjective issue. However, I have gotten the chance to go to Ty's shop and spend a good amount of time listening to his products. Ty is a very nice guy and boy does he know how to build a great sounding speaker. The F-2's are a nice sounding speaker BUT in the $775/pair range there are some I have heard that I liked better. The one thing I did like about the F-2's was the tweeter. The ring radiator tweeter is so natural sounding with a big soundstage. However, I am not so sure about the mid driver. It did not sound as natural and refined and it is there where IMHO the Studio 20 v.3's are significantly better. The Studio 20's have a much more accurate and punchier sound with an impressive attack. The F-2's were sluggish and kinda on the sloppy side of things. Now when it comes to Ty's Taylo Reference Line then things change drastically. Tys Reference Monitors are just awesome and are IMHO better than the Studio 20 v.3's. The Millenium tweeter and the magnesium drivers are some of the best drivers in the world which is why the Taylo Reference Monitors cost about $1600 a pair. And Ty's Linbrooks Sigs Monitors with the MTM design as I have said before and will say again are the absolute best speakers I have heard to date bar none. And at $2800/pr they should be. Ty is the real deal people and if you can afford to purchase his products I say go for it. Just wished I had the money to do so because it would be an absolute no brainer an that point.

[drseid]

Dr seid as you mentioned each to their own. Loudspeaker preference is a very subjective issue. However, I have gotten the chance to go to Ty's shop and spend a good amount of time listening to his products. Ty is a very nice guy and boy does he know how to build a great sounding speaker. The F-2's are a nice sounding speaker BUT in the $775/pair range there are some I have heard that I liked better. The one thing I did like about the F-2's was the tweeter. The ring radiator tweeter is so natural sounding with a big soundstage. However, I am not so sure about the mid driver. It did not sound as natural and refined and it is there where IMHO the Studio 20 v.3's are significantly better. The Studio 20's have a much more accurate and punchier sound with an impressive attack. The F-2's were sluggish and kinda on the sloppy side of things. Now when it comes to Ty's Taylo Reference Line then things change drastically. Tys Reference Monitors are just awesome and are IMHO better than the Studio 20 v.3's. The Millenium tweeter and the magnesium drivers are some of the best drivers in the world which is why the Taylo Reference Monitors cost about $1600 a pair. And Ty's Linbrooks Sigs Monitors with the MTM design as I have said before and will say again are the absolute best speakers I have heard to date bar none. And at $2800/pr they should be. Ty is the real deal people and if you can afford to purchase his products I say go for it. Just wished I had the money to do so because it would be an absolute no brainer an that point.
Well one thing I think we can agree on is the mid-bass driver in the F-2s is their weakest attribute. I like the speaker a lot though, but admittedly I would not call its sound quality anywhere near that of the Taylos and Linbrooks I own (as you already mentioned). I will say that at $775/pr. it has some of the best build quality I have seen... just that lower line SEAS mid-bass driver is where it comes up a hair short for me.

As for the 20s...

On the day I wrote my original post, I afterwards went to my local store to see if my opinion changed on the Studio 20s after a second more recent audition with different electronics (especially as I was in the market for some $1000/pr. +/- mini-monitors for my office system)... It hasn't, but definitely preferences are indeed subjective. I did find their handling of acoustic instruments to my liking, and I also felt that the metal dome used was one of the few I can honestly say I could tolerate long-term -- maybe even like. Male vocals sounded quite nice on the 20s, and female vocals, while somewhat colored, were acceptable for a $800/pr set of monitors, IMO. The area that just fell apart for me was in the mid to lower bass (as low as can be expected for a mini-monitor)... Just a bit too muddy for my taste. That said, I have heard a *lot* worse in the price range, so my comments really are not meant to be a slam on the 20s... just not my cup of tea at the end of the day.

Just as an FYI, Monday night I made my final decision on the mini-monitors for my office system... It came down to 4 finalists... Merlin TSM MMs (used at $1400/pr), Tyler F-2s (new at $775/pr.), Spendor 3/1Ps (used at $900/pr.) and Opera Audio Consonance Eric-1s (new at $995/pr. or a last minute pair showed up used at $450/pr.).

While the Merlins were the best outright, followed closely by the truly excellent Spendors... the $450/pr. used price on the Eric-1s was just impossible for me to pass up... so I went with those. If the used deal on the Eric-1s did not magically materialize by a stroke of luck (and I had to buy them new at full price) I would have went with the used Spendors.

---Dave