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joe from akron Unregistered guest | Do any of the newer (non-box), especially smaller speaker designs hold a candle to traditional boxes? I'm thinking of things like Orb, or the wall mount speakers. I'm trying to put together a 5.1 HT system with basically no floor space to spare. there is room for a sub tucked away in a corner but not for floorstanders or bookshelf-stand combo, and listening will be pretty close anyway, like5-6 ft. I could position some orb-types (mini-satellite) or some wall mounts. any recommendations or experiences? I don't expect hi-fi approaching good monitors, but something better than your big box HTIB. I guess some flat-type speakers or maybe bookshelf with front port might work. any ideas? oh, and budget would be no more than $1500 including sub.. orb has great marketing, but do they live up to hype? any tiny single driver designs? wall mount could work, but not in-wall. thanks Joe |
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Silver Member Username: ChitownPost Number: 661 Registered: Apr-05 | Haven't heard the Orb's, but a lot of people here swear by them. Have heard/own Aperion Intimus 422-LR and Monitor Audio R90. They are both small, beautiful and sound great. You should be able to do both with $1500 |
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Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 7165 Registered: May-04 | http://www.nsmaudio.com/brochures/5broc.html I own the 5s's and would say they are a very good value and they do produce intrinsically musical sounds. They disappear completely and produce a wide, deep stage full of musicians with a near three dimensional presence. By themself they produce music above 100Hz which will hold your attention and provide many important clues as to the artist's intent. Below 100Hz they can surprise you with their extension and power. They are the smallest speaker I know of which can easily be paired with a subwoofer without having to set the crossover to the sub so high in frequency as to make placement problematic. Beware of any satellite speaker systemw hich requires a sub setting higher than 80Hz as you will be forced to either place the sub in very restricted locations or listen to the sub as a separate enclosure apart from the satellites. This usualy defeats the purpose of buying a small satellite system, when you get tied down to placement and/or quality of sound issues. Give the NSM's a try. While not a single driver design, their approach to point source operation makes for a more interesting presentation than many larger enclosures can provide. If you room can deal with slightly larger enclosures, I would suggest you listen to the Alegria Audio offerings as they have been impressive on review and do things that many much more expensive speakers can only wish they could manage. http://www.us.alegriaaudio.com/products.htm https://www.ecoustics.com/electronics/products/reviews/156699.html |
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Silver Member Username: ExerciseguyBrooklyn, NY USA Post Number: 377 Registered: Oct-04 | Take a look at Monitor Audio Radius R45s; they're the smallest two-way satellites that I know of. Consider pairing them with the MA radius R360 sub. http://www.monitoraudio.com/products/radius/series/r45.htm |
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Gold Member Username: Frank_abelaBerkshire UK Post Number: 1148 Registered: Sep-04 | Joe, There are good and bad. You pays your money and you makes your choice. Here's a few packages I rate at their respective price levels, starting with the cheaper stuff: KEF KHT2005II ELAC Cinema 3 B&W MT30 Tannoy Arena M&K K-Series M&K Xenon The M&Ks are particularly good. These are all bandwidth limited designs in the low frequency section, so they won't go much below 100hz (if that) so integration with their respective subwoofers is crucial for a seamless solution. Regards, Frank. |
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Gold Member Username: Frank_abelaBerkshire UK Post Number: 1149 Registered: Sep-04 | Incidentally, the costs may be different where you are so the M&Ks (which are excellent) may be right in your ballpark. Regards, Frank. |
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Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 7167 Registered: May-04 | Yamaha and Polk are selling one piece surround systems. Just one speaker mounted in the front center gives, by all reports, satisfactory surround effects. |
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joe from akron Unregistered guest | dear jan, is that a horn you are, if not recommending, at least ,um sayying is OK, no? no comments on electrostatic wall^mount mumbo jumbo? THANKS JOE |
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Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 7169 Registered: May-04 | Electrostats and horns do not go with the need for small; therefore, no, I'm not endorsing them here. |
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Silver Member Username: Rysa4Post Number: 294 Registered: Jul-05 | One set of flat speakers that I heard at CES that are worth a listen are the new ones from Totem. They made them for plasmas and LCDs and there are two basic sizes that seem to be for 42 and 50 inch displays essentially. They do fairly well and interestingly each has two ports as well as some internal material separation which has improved the sound and extended their range relative to other offerings. The depth of these on walls are 4.5 inches. |
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Silver Member Username: Rysa4Post Number: 295 Registered: Jul-05 | The Yamaha sp800 at CES sounded better than the Polk offereing to me as far as a single speaker offering by the way. They have an sp1000 as well. Off axis dialog was a bit muddy though. |
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joe from akron Unregistered guest | finally got a chance to read through all the alegria stuff. a bit tough not being able to hear them, and with a couple of reviewers liking them but in the end for that 30% ratio and preferring ascends (in one or two cases) I am intrigued though. Mr. Vigne, would you say the lings or emmas are just in a different league than the nsm's? I'm not hell bent on the sub-satellite idea, but it seemed like a solution, though it sounds like the alegria's could go without sub for a while, except in HT. the M&K's look good too, thanks Frank just amazing how many choices there are, no wonder people go nuts with the research! |
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Silver Member Username: GavincummNew York USA Post Number: 478 Registered: Feb-05 | wall mounted electrostats (ML scripts) are roughly 3 feet tall, and stick out from the wall about 8 to 10 inches, not exactly a small speaker by many people's standards, and they need to be plugged in to an electrical outlet, and mated to a blindingly fast sub. The other offerings are "considerably" smaller, ringing in at 2 feet tall by 6 inches deep (ML Fresco... the vignete is a tad smaller yet) These speakers use planar focus technology, which gives a similar sound to electrostatics, but isnt the same tech. and yes, if you like horns, there are horn packages from KLIPSCH that are small and easily wall mountable. You could get better sound IMHO then what these put out. |
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Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 7173 Registered: May-04 | Joe - In order to keep all thoughts concerning the Alegria designs cohesive and organized, how about posting your question here: https://www.ecoustics.com/electronics/forum/home-audio/186181.html That will keep this thread from being hijacked into a discussion of "larger" speakers and allow everyone interested in Emma the ability to find information in more or less one location. Thanks. |
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Gold Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 7174 Registered: May-04 | Joe - In order to keep all thoughts concerning the Alegria designs cohesive and organized, how about posting your question here: https://www.ecoustics.com/electronics/forum/home-audio/186181.html That will keep this thread from being hijacked into a discussion of "larger" speakers and allow everyone interested in Emma the ability to find information in more or less one location. Thanks. |
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joe from akron Unregistered guest | finally had a chance to read up on the alegrias, the m&k, nsm, etc. the ling and emma look interesting, but so do the nsm, and some of the other reviews gave the nod to ascends for the majority of music over the lings (someone said like 30% of music better on lings, but rest was better on ascend) and the nsm's look nice for the size. Mr. Vigne, would you say that the ling is just in a different league or "paradigm" (sorry for the trade name) than the satellite-sub category that the nsm seems to fall in? I can't believe how many speakers are available in this price range, if you go to big box places you would think there are 4 brands, not the tons available online and in specialty shops, no wonder people go nuts doing the research. thanks for all the help guys! |
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joe from akron Unregistered guest | sorry for double post, my first one did not show up for some reason. will travel over to the other post, as suggested, many thanks again |