Speaker suggestion wanted

I am considering purchase of Adcom GFA 5500 Power Amp and Proceed AVP Preamp. Can anyone suggest some options as to which speakers would go well with these? Here are my requirements/Questions:

* Preferably under $1,200.
* It buying used speakers a good idea?
* I am interested in traditional 2 channel, stereo setup only.
* Need a good, clean response.
* Prefer 3 way speakers.
* I listen to mostly Western classical. However, I need accurate reproduction of Pink Floyd recordings also.
* My listening room size is 21ft x 15ft. The ceiling is 14ft high. It is a family room and does not have a door - it is connected to the kitchen.

I currently have Polk Audio RT7s (owned them for past 6 years). For the price I paid, I like them. However, I find they lack mid-range clarity and the bass is a bit boomy. The new speakers I buy should not be deficient in these areas.

Any help is appreciated.

Sure.

Read this thread and you'll have more than enough to get you started.

Hope this helps.

I recommend a used Magnepan MG 1.6 This is a great speaker, i have owned one before and loved it. I would have recommended Apogee first, but there is nothing below 1200$ unfortunatly.

Here is a great pair on A-Gone

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....lan&1129498223

Cheers

Flo

I would go with Tannoy if you want something new, if you dont mind going used i would suggest hunting for a pair of JBL 4430's or some of the older 43xx series boxes. or maybe a pair of JBL L-220's or L-300's

I know a lot of people are going to say that JBL is junk but oh well

Magnepan 1.6
Vandersteen 2Ce
Ohm MicroWalsh or Walsh 100

In your price range those three are VERY hard to beat - I'm running Ohms right now and they sound excellent with classical music - amazing mid-range.

I will weigh in and suggest giving Dynaudio a listen. In one of my rooms I have an Adcom 5400 driving a pair of Audience 60's and it sounds great. The new version, 62's, I think run around $1,400.00. Until you get into the Dyn's ultra high end their speakers are mostly 2-way but in my opinion they will sound better than a 3-way in the same price. They also have a new series out and growing called the Focus and their bookshelf is slightly cheaper the the 52se's and is reported to sound better in most every way except the 52se's will play lower.

If you could find a pair you can afford used I also recommend Martin Logan's. They make a large sound stage which is nice on Classical. Not to mention they are very revealing and will fill your large area with sound.

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Originally Posted by areej

I am considering purchase of Adcom GFA 5500 Power Amp and Proceed AVP Preamp. Can anyone suggest some options as to which speakers would go well with these? Here are my requirements/Questions:

* Preferably under $1,200.
* It buying used speakers a good idea?
* I am interested in traditional 2 channel, stereo setup only.
* Need a good, clean response.
* Prefer 3 way speakers.
* I listen to mostly Western classical. However, I need accurate reproduction of Pink Floyd recordings also.
* My listening room size is 21ft x 15ft. The ceiling is 14ft high. It is a family room and does not have a door - it is connected to the kitchen.

I currently have Polk Audio RT7s (owned them for past 6 years). For the price I paid, I like them. However, I find they lack mid-range clarity and the bass is a bit boomy. The new speakers I buy should not be deficient in these areas.

Any help is appreciated.

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But, overall the best bang for you buck will be buying used. I think buying used speakers is a good idea ONLY for high end speakers. Most people who buy speakers like Magnepan 1.6qr's are not into abusing them, and they are often sold in as-good-as-new condition. Audiogon.com would be my prefered venue to look. I would still look at, but be more cautious about buying from Ebay.

Your room is similar in size to my room. Is there a ceiling catherdral? The fact that your getting boomy bass from your Polks might not be because of the speaker, but from room interaction. I'd hate for you to spend a lot of money on speakers only to find out that they also boom. The problem is that if your room has bass interaction issues, almost ALL speakers will have problems like your Polks. If you have a dB meter and a CD with test tones, it's pretty easy to scope out your room to see how much the responce varies. You may be shocked to see how deep/high the nodes are, and that your listening area might be directly in one of them! Before buying anything I would recommend doing this first.

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Thank you all for your great suggestions.

Florian: Thanks for the link. The seller is actually quite close to my place. I will give them a try.

Mr Peabody: I will definitely try out Dynaudio. I heard them a long time back and quite liked them.

Geoffcin: The Polks I have had the same boomy bass when I was in an apartment. Ever since I have moved into a bigger house they just struggle to fill the room with proper sound levels (but the boomy bass remains).

One more question: What do you guys think of Axiom Speakers?

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Originally Posted by areej

One more question: What do you guys think of Axiom Speakers?

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Funny you should ask, as I've just received a set of Axioms for review. I don't want to give away the review just yet, as it's not complete, but the short answer would be that Axiom would warrent a serious look & listen on your part. The Axiom M80 would also require you to have a decent receiver or power amp to drive them though, as they are 4 ohm speakers.

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Originally Posted by Geoffcin

Funny you should ask, as I've just received a set of Axioms for review. I don't want to give away the review just yet, as it's not complete, but the short answer would be that Axiom would warrent a serious look & listen on your part.

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I will be eagerly awaiting for your review!

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The Axiom M80 would also require you to have a decent receiver or power amp to drive them though, as they are 4 ohm speakers.

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ADCOM GFA 5500 should be ok for these, right?

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Originally Posted by Geoffcin

Funny you should ask, as I've just received a set of Axioms for review. I don't want to give away the review just yet, as it's not complete, but the short answer would be that Axiom would warrent a serious look & listen on your part. The Axiom M80 would also require you to have a decent receiver or power amp to drive them though, as they are 4 ohm speakers.

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What the f----
How the hay did you just "receive a set of Axioms for review"?
I have to fight with friends and fellow enthusiasts just to convince them to find time to do comparisons and reviews, waste a lot of gas lugging components across town (which ain't cheap)...and you just "receive a set of Axioms for review"? Not fair!
...I'm calling foul here - I don't know what kind of scam you're pulling, but I want in! :D

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Originally Posted by jaree

I will be eagerly awaiting for your review!



ADCOM GFA 5500 should be ok for these, right?

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I too am eagerly waiting for Geoffcin's review...I really dig my little Axioms, despite horrible first impressions!

Your Adcom will be fine.

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Originally Posted by kexodusc

What the f----
How the hay did you just "receive a set of Axioms for review"?
I have to fight with friends and fellow enthusiasts just to convince them to find time to do comparisons and reviews, waste a lot of gas lugging components across town (which ain't cheap)...and you just "receive a set of Axioms for review"? Not fair!
...I'm calling foul here - I don't know what kind of scam you're pulling, but I want in! :D

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But every now and then I get lucky. Actually I'm NOT doing a review of the M80's per say, but a review of an Axiom Home Theater system with the M80's as the mains. I have just put them into the system, but I have been running the Axiom Epicenter 500 sub for a week already.

Any comparison to the Maggies?

-Flo

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Originally Posted by Florian

Any comparison to the Maggies?

-Flo

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Good question. Also, how to they compair to Totems?

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Originally Posted by kexodusc

I too am eagerly waiting for Geoffcin's review...I really dig my little Axioms, despite horrible first impressions!

Your Adcom will be fine.

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I'm going to try to do my best to be accurate and honest with the Audioreview.com readers about these speakers. Although your going to have to wait a bit for the reviews, I'd like to give an early award to the customer service that Axiom provides. When you buy a speaker from an Internet company your also buying into the support that they offer. Axiom has earned my highest respect for the professionalism, and level of personal service they've displayed. You'd think I was buying a set of $30,000 Wilson's the way I've been treated!

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Originally Posted by Florian

Any comparison to the Maggies?

-Flo

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How could it be any other way?

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Originally Posted by Geoffcin

How could it be any other way?

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Well its lucky that i know the 3.6's by heart :p
By the way the Wilson Audio support sucks, but i know what you mean!

Its good to hear that their support is so good.

-Flo

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Originally Posted by GMichael

Good question. Also, how to they compair to Totems?

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Vince Bruzzese dances to his own tune when it comes to speaker design. I happen to really like the tune he's playing too!

Totems are geared more toward the high-end stereo crowd (although they do have HT products), while Axiom is geared toward HT, although many of their products would work equally well in a stereo application. I do both HT & Stereo, and both will be covered in the reviews.

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Originally Posted by jaree

I will be eagerly awaiting for your review!



ADCOM GFA 5500 should be ok for these, right?

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An Adcom amp would work just fine.

The speaker suggestions would really depend on how much bass you're looking for. If you're good with a standmount monitor, then any number of options are open such as Paradigm's Studio series, the Energy Veritas, Monitor Audio, Vienna Acostics, Sonus Faber, Dynaudio, Magnepan, Vandersteen, KEF, B&W, Aerial Acoustics, Totem, etc. If you want the extra bass extension, then you need to either go with a lower priced monitor and add a subwoofer, or go with a floorstander, which in this price range typically gives you plenty of audible compromises with the cabinet resonance and imaging.

Although I agree that the Magnepan 1.6 is a model that you should definitely try out, I heard that model with an Adcom GFA-5500 and that speaker audibly strained the amp once you got above normal listening levels. At normal listening levels, the Magneplanars sound very nice with acoustic music especially, but once you try going above a certain level, then the sound begins to go south in a hurry. I tried that same amp with a Vandersteen 2ce, and it was noticeably more efficient and allowed the system to maintain consistent tonal characteristics throughout a larger volume range. Adcom amps I've heard in the past have always done pretty well with even inefficient 4 ohm box speakers, which is why the performance with the Magneplanars surprised me.

Also agreed with Geoffcin about the room effect with your current speakers. Boomy bass can occur with a poorly braced floorstanding speaker or a floorstander that sits flat against resonant surface, but the biggest contributory factor is with the room acoustics. You should try a different placement with the speakers and see if that improves your bass response.

You can also improve the bass by using an equalized subwoofer that's tuned to the problem frequencies that occur from your listening position/speaker placement. Cleaning up the boominess in the bass and/or crossing over a subwoofer into your two-channel setup will actually improve your midrange coherency considerably. Trying a different speaker placement will change the locations of the standing waves that form at your listening position, and that might greatly improve the overall sound of your speakers.

The Adcom gfa-5500 will give a good bass response. In fact, I bought the 5400 for one of my systems because it had the mid bass hump. The 5500 had good bass but the response was flatter. The Maggies must be a bear to drive, the 5500 has like 8 output devices per channel.

The Proceed and Adcom you were looking at is a great deal, I'd suggest getting it but buy speakers that match those components. For instance, if we know Maggies are a problem, you either scratch them off the list or move to a more competent amp which in turn will cost more money.

Maggies are so darn easy to drive its not even funny. Give the 45Watt per Channel Pathos a try that thing swings the 1.6 like there is no tomorrow. The the Sphinx PJ12 Monos, same thing. Its a myth same as with Apogees.

Check out the 1.6, if a AMP cant handle a simple 4ohm load and its a bigger SS AMP then your wasting your time on it. Bryston sounds too warm and muddy on Maggies anyways. Give Classe, Sphinx, Pathos, old Krells and early ML's a go.

-Flo

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Originally Posted by Florian

Maggies are so darn easy to drive its not even funny. Give the 45Watt per Channel Pathos a try that thing swings the 1.6 like there is no tomorrow. The the Sphinx PJ12 Monos, same thing. Its a myth same as with Apogees.

Check out the 1.6, if a AMP cant handle a simple 4ohm load and its a bigger SS AMP then your wasting your time on it. Bryston sounds too warm and muddy on Maggies anyways. Give Classe, Sphinx, Pathos, old Krells and early ML's a go.

-Flo

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These are a very high qualtiy speaker but their downside is that they are VERY power hungry. It requires a robust amp to make em sing but if you have one, few speakers can touch their performance

Don't worry i owned 1.6's, 2x 3.6's and .5's and considered a MG20.1. Maggies are not really power hungry. You can use a 45 wpc hybrid on the 1.6's and drive them to exessive levels. There is no point in dropping 400 or more watts per panel. I tested this here with a 450wpc Krell monster. Buy a good solid amp, one that has no problems driving 2 ohms. I dont know a single good amp that cant drive a 4ohm load easily exept some of thise single tubes.

-Flo