osborne Posted March 16, 2014 Posted March 16, 2014 HI, I've been abit disappointed whenever i switch between my headphones and to my speakers. I have the akg q701 and tho they are a little light on bass, they are very detailed and quite involving. i don't get the same sort of involvement when I use the speakers. I was wondering what speakers would match the performance of the akg q701 without breaking the bank. I guess a budget between $1K to $1.5K to upgrade the speakers. Is this realistic? or its impossible on such a tight budget (new or secondhand). Also my amp only outputs 8 or 12.5watts. Thanks for any advice.
betty boop Posted March 16, 2014 Posted March 16, 2014 What's the speakers ? And what's the rest of the system ?
osborne Posted March 17, 2014 Author Posted March 17, 2014 What's the speakers ? And what's the rest of the system ? Hi Al, The speakers are Onkyo Q1 and the amp is consonance m10s.
betty boop Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 No idea on the onkyo speakers, but yeah could be an unknown quantity and worth exploring options. With a consonance amp, would've crazy to not explore Osborn speaker options. Greg offers to let you borrow gear. So maybe worth trying a speaker or two either at his place or at home if keen to buy. 1
Jventer Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 See if you could find someone close by with Osborn Loudspeakers to listen to. Greg Osborn voices his speakers with Consonance amps or phone Greg and ask him - maybe his Eos is for you.
osborne Posted March 17, 2014 Author Posted March 17, 2014 I'm in Sydney unfortunately. Has anyone heard the osborn?
Jventer Posted March 17, 2014 Posted March 17, 2014 Yes, me and a few others on the forum have Osborn speakers. There is at least one member on the forum with a set of Eos. 1
b.d Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 Unless your room is exceptional you might not ever get there. Sitting 1m from your speakers will help. Try speakers which sound especially coherent at these distances (near field studio monitors, synergy horns, Mini Maggies…) If you need to sit further afield perhaps a 2nd hand of large planers/stats might maybe get you something of what you're after? 2
betty boop Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 I'm in Sydney unfortunately. Has anyone heard the osborn? have you tried contacting osborn ?
henry218 Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 (edited) HI, I've been abit disappointed whenever i switch between my headphones and to my speakers. I have the akg q701 and tho they are a little light on bass, they are very detailed and quite involving. i don't get the same sort of involvement when I use the speakers. I was wondering what speakers would match the performance of the akg q701 without breaking the bank. I guess a budget between $1K to $1.5K to upgrade the speakers. Is this realistic? or its impossible on such a tight budget (new or secondhand). Also my amp only outputs 8 or 12.5watts. Thanks for any advice. its possible, but have to be DIY $600 for drivers, $300 for crossover, $200 for box and $600 for finishing Drivers could be Satori MW165 and Scanspeak D2608, all available from WES Edited March 18, 2014 by henry218
Guest yamaha_man Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 I always had the opposite problem, my phones never sounded as good as my system. I had AKG-702's and AT W-5000's, a decent system blows phones away.
Guest kab Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 I always had the opposite problem, my phones never sounded as good as my system. I had AKG-702's and AT W-5000's, a decent system blows phones away. Would like to try this pair.
Guest yamaha_man Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 I heard a set of cans and an amp at the hifi show in Melbourne, it came close to the sound I'm accustomed to. I enquired about the price, 20k was the answer, for that price I was more inclined to listen to the Sasha's I had at the time.
murrmax Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 Something pretty efficient, Zu Audios would be good
sfdoddsy Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 As mentioned above, it's the room. The clarity of headphones is in large part due to them removing the echoes, reflections and resonances of pretty much every room. Either sit really close to a good pair of studio monitors, or be prepared to thoroughly treat your room. 1
davewantsmoore Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 Either sit really close to a good pair of studio monitors, or be prepared to thoroughly treat your room. I'm surprised there wasn't an advertisement for "constant directivity" speakers in there .... Mine sound quite a lot like 'giant headphones' (because the room reflections have the same spectral balance as the direct sound) ..... and of course, they don't have the "inside your head" imaging which you get with headphones
hochopeper Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 its possible, but have to be DIY $600 for drivers, $300 for crossover, $200 for box and $600 for finishing Drivers could be Satori MW165 and Scanspeak D2608, all available from WES Is that a quote?
henry218 Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 Is that a quote? ? thats what usually happens. are you implying something?
hochopeper Posted March 18, 2014 Posted March 18, 2014 ? thats what usually happens. are you implying something? Yes
Jventer Posted March 19, 2014 Posted March 19, 2014 There is a pair of Genelec Active speakers for sale in the classifieds. At the moment more than your budget, but I like those Genelecs. As they are active you not need an amp and you can DSP with REW as far as I know.
hochopeper Posted March 19, 2014 Posted March 19, 2014 so..? what is it? I'm actually concerned your suggestion doesn't fit with: - the goal - no idea why you think that suggestion should sound 'more like headphones' than other speaker designs - the amp requirement - you've suggested a low efficiency mid for a guy looking for headpone like performance with an 8W speaker amp ... regardless of any acoustic issues it's going to have some limitations there for sure. - the budget - more than budget amount of the OP and if they DIY then they've got to add tools/equipment/time/learning etc So i'm left wondering what was the point of your post?
henry218 Posted March 19, 2014 Posted March 19, 2014 I'm actually concerned your suggestion doesn't fit with: - the goal - no idea why you think that suggestion should sound 'more like headphones' than other speaker designs - the amp requirement - you've suggested a low efficiency mid for a guy looking for headpone like performance with an 8W speaker amp ... regardless of any acoustic issues it's going to have some limitations there for sure. - the budget - more than budget amount of the OP and if they DIY then they've got to add tools/equipment/time/learning etc So i'm left wondering what was the point of your post? the "headphones" sound he referring to is not what i interpreted. he is looking for a transparent speakers not "closed in sound" ive been in his position before, where i dont have hifi in certain period of time and im using senn momentum for my music, speakers or studio monitors below $1500 wont compete with good headphones, since his headphones even more transparent than mine so DIY is the obvious option for me to get better sound. satori 4ohm is 91.5db, so final sens could be 89-90 depends on how forward the mids he would like. waveguided speakers are not everyone cup of tea in regards to the budget, its very much flexible depends on how far he want to take.
hochopeper Posted March 19, 2014 Posted March 19, 2014 (edited) the "headphones" sound he referring to is not what i interpreted. he is looking for a transparent speakers not "closed in sound" ive been in his position before, where i dont have hifi in certain period of time and im using senn momentum for my music, speakers or studio monitors below $1500 wont compete with good headphones, since his headphones even more transparent than mine so DIY is the obvious option for me to get better sound. satori 4ohm is 91.5db, so final sens could be 89-90 depends on how forward the mids he would like. waveguided speakers are not everyone cup of tea in regards to the budget, its very much flexible depends on how far he want to take. I would think the most significant different between any headphone and speaker is the acoustic environment and the speaker's interaction with it. Making a speaker do this well would be critical for the OP's requirement I'd have thought ... hence I'd expect a thread to be a comment on how/why this might work and what to look for rather than a list of generic drivers and a rough estimate of cost to 'DIY'. To be clear you're offering to 'design'/build for him? Edited March 19, 2014 by hochopeper
hochopeper Posted March 19, 2014 Posted March 19, 2014 (edited) To get back on topic a little. I think a big part of the issue will be set up of the speakers in the room ... have you looked at control of the room acoustics? The radiation pattern in the horizontal plane is going to be important here as it ensures that reflections are similar to what comes directly from the speaker to the ear. For a low power amp like that a speaker that has reasonable sensitivity would be appropriate. An example of a speaker designed for exactly that is Red Spade Audio HE2. Others that would suit the amp but may have less suitable radiation pattern (with checking how you like them) would be Hoyt-Bedford range or similar. Edited March 19, 2014 by hochopeper 1
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