I thought I wanted a new CD player, but I discovered my CD player is fine. I thought it was too bright, but its really that the music was too bright. Better recorded & mixed music sounds fantastic.
What could do in my system is in the bottom octave, about 40hz & below. If that were present, then even the bright music would become listenable I think. Without that, it seems the highs begin to dominate, & the lows, kick & bass that are there seem to fade away.
Get on with it!
GoldenEar ForceField3 or 4
SVS SB or PB1000Pro
Rythmik L12 or 22
Whats the consensus?
I want to use speaker level inputs. That just seems logical to match the sound of my main amp plus I won’t need to change my preamp.
The brightness is only with certain music, like Back in Black, Escape, 1984, or Zepplin IV; old classic rock stuff that I like to listen to, but they don’t have a lot of bass, or mids for that matter by modern standards. Yet I listen to some newer alt rock stuff from late 90s, early 2000s & the sound isn’t nearly as bright, mids are full bodied & bass has more presence in the mix. It’s not my CD player. Its not my amp. What goes in is what comes out as far as they’re concerned. However from what I understand from reading or watching reviews recently, adding a sub makes the midrange somehow seem to bloom. I think it was on a recent Guttenberg interview.
On another note my main speaker’s, Tannoy XT8F, low end are limited to about 40 hz. In my big room, which is a fully carpeted bedroom, I could do with a tad more bass impact, as I think much is getting absorbed by the carpet & the bed.
The room is about 20ft by 20ft with about 8.5ft cieling. The room has 9 pieces of wood furniture in it spaced all around, not counting the headboard of the bed. There are a few cardboard boxes, a couple of roled up rugs, a chase lounge, an excersize bike & a queen size bed. The room’s secondary purpose is for storage. The windows have curtains over blinds as im not a fan of sun glare, or eyes looking in.
The speakers are in the middle of the room as that is really the only place for them, but they sound so good there with very little toe in. I had the toe in crossing my sweet spot, but that was really bright. I saw a Hans Beekhuyzen video that led me to the explanation to use very little toe in. I digress. They’re maybe 11 or 12 ft apart & 4 or 5 ft from side walls. The bed is my primary listening position, but I also have a chair between the speakers as a listening spot that works too, kind of like headphones work.
What are the speakers and what is that room size?
For music, if you have the space, maybe dual SB1000 is where it’s at, if you want.
I’m a sealed man in this instance.
I did two JBL 550P in not dissimilar cirumstances, cause, money.
I’m mostly a headphone guy so take my suggestion with a grain of salt. EQs are made to help imperfect room/speakers etc. Analog EQs can do this with less perceived phase issues. Have you tried a Lokius or a miniDSP ? Expensive DACs and Tube Preamps can be pricey. A pair of subwoofers would be even better. I personally love my REL T5i
I have edited my previous post to include more info.
For now one sub is plenty as the room is already cluttered enough. If circumstances change I do have expectations to run stereo subs.
I like the size & shape of the GoldenEar, being not a big cube/box, plus its got considerably more power than the other two. Power makes headroom. However its the one I can’t find much info about regarding performance & SQ, other than frequency responce & power. Even though its only an 8", it has a big passive radiator. It’s 8" subwoofer would look so nice on the floor along side my XT8F’s with their 8" woofers, but that isn’t my main concern.
Spec wise the golden ear looks good and the build in high pass is a good feature if the filter is of good quality
But never heard it, so i can’t really help you more
On the other hand svs and rhythmic are decent brands and you won’t do much wrong with them, but they don’t have a filter in the high level input if i remember correctly