I'm looking to upgrade my speakers and reciever. The sound that I am trying to get is a warm one that plays acoustic guitars very well. Do you have any ideas about speaker brand or receiver brand. What constitutes a warm sound?
If you don't know what a warm sound is (and the definition and more importantly the perception of warmth certainly does vary), what makes you think you want a warm speaker or receiver?
What kind of price range are you looking at? How big of a room? What kind of furnishings? How loud do you like to listen to your music?
I have a general idea of a warm sound and I beleive that it is good for music heavy with acoustic guitars etc. I maybe wrong. Interms of price range soeakers can be 500-700 a pair reciever can be about a thousand. Room size for now is a dorm sized room but i am looking to be able to fill a larger room in the future. Interms of volume it would have to be able to reach a good volume, (no room shaking, my BA sub (PV 500)already does that but it is the newest part of my set up.)
If you're just starting to look at speakers of this caliber, I think it would be less than wise to limit yourself to speakers that others consider "warm". What you think is warm, someone else might call muddy; someone else might call it bright.
Most audiophiles are after what sounds right/natural to them. We all want some warmth to our music; after all, I don't see many requests for speakers that make music sound cold and detached.
If you want my suggestion, cast a wide net. Hit up a few local audio shops. Listen to a few speakers. If you want our guidance, tell us what you like and don't like about what you hear. We can give you a heck of a lot more input based on your actual listening experience than we can on preconceived notions of what is warm.
A few brands that I would put on my short list to audition would include : NHT, B&W, Paradigm, Energy, Wharfedale, and Polk. Some of these are what I would consider warm; some are what I consider neutral. I wouldn't cry myself to sleep at night if I owned any of them. Of course something else you could do is check peoples profiles and see what they own; that is usually a good indicator of what they think is a good speaker.
No really, they are, good call Nuck. Chris match Paradigm up with a warm receiver/amp whatever and you will get a warm sound as well. Some Monitor Audio bookies would be my pick for two channel music though.
If you're looking for a warmer sounding speaker, Paradigm is NOT the option for you to go with.
Wharfedale, Odyssey Audio Lorilei, Dali, Vienna acoustics, Acoustic Energy......and Castle Loudspeakers (out of business now, but you can find some on audiogon.com, occasionally.
All of the above mentioned manufactors (except Odyssey Audio) offer several options within each model range, several different model ranges and several different price levels.
There are more, but when I think of speakers that lean to the warmer side, those are the ones I think of.
Wharfedale. Definately warm (I own some). Be careful with with the quality of amp/reciever you use, I'd reccomend some copper wires(i.e. not silver) and removing the jumper plates for wire.
My system is detailed and not in your face, its almost a laid back sound which can be said to be a bit dull by some. I'd tend to agree to a respect, but I do think they're fab option and don't think the word 'dull' is the be all and end all of wharfedale.
Im going to audition some Monitor Audios shortly as I'm interested in the monitor audio br2s.
I have the Wharfedale Opus 2 and I have also had the Evo 30 and Evo 40 in my home.
These Wharfedale speakers are anything but dull.
They are smooth, a wee- bit laid back; but deliver a rich, emotional and musical presentation. Dynamics are nice, but not over-done and silly unrealistic.
I've heard a few speakers that are ridiculously over-dynamic and over-dramatic. Every bass drum kick punches out and slams your gut.......every bass line sounds like it's trying to escape the speakers encloser, imaging is all over the place and in your face.
For my personal tastes, that's so very unrealistic and overly-dramatic and overly-done.
I'm sure there are people who would love that in a speaker, many do. But I find it annoying and ridiculous. I want to listen to music, not the speaker and gear overly emphasising every damn note, time change and drum kick and beat.
It comes off sounding lopsided and overly-dramatic, to me.
Don't get me wrong, I like a little drama in my sound. But not a full-frontal assault of over-done nonsense.
Paradigm Speakers warm-No, Neutral. But when paired with a warm sounding receiver/amp they can sound very warm. My system sounds very warm. I have all Paradigm speakers. My buddy has all Paradigm with a H/K, it is not warm. Wharfedale speakers are def. warm. Really though, how warm is a speaker going to sound if matched with a bright sounding source and receiver though? Im just curious.
They won't sound warm at all, they'll sound bright and annoying.
As we all know, component matching is essential.
If match up the Wharfedale Opus 2 with bright components, it sounds bad.
But Chris hasn't provided us with a list of accompanying gear, so I responded on the basis of just the speakers, alone.
With warm sounding speakers, one should choose a warm sounding pre amp and source (and a neutral amp). Or a neutral source, warm pre amp and slightly warm amp. But a neutral amp would work in this configuration, also. All depends on the amount of warmth one wants.
In my situation with the Butler TDB 2250 amps, they are considered warm amps. But in reality, they are only slightly warm. They do become a little warmer sounding after several hours of playing. There is some tube bloom and tube magic with the TDB 2250. But I think most of that extra warmth after sseveral hours of playing) is coming from my Vincent SA-T1 Pre Amp and the tubes I use, with the pre amp.
I tend to think one's pre amp will have more of an influence and contribution to how one's overall system will sound; than any other component in the chain.
Anyone esle experienced the same thing, with pre amps?
Lol NMyTree, I see you certainly had to defend your stance there. I do too for wharfedale speakers.
"a wee- bit laid back" Thats what I meant by dull.
Funny thing is everytime I listen to music I do think how great they are!
Synergy is the key. I found some aircore silver wiring was the HUGE let down in my system. I couldnt stop posting in these forums about how unhappy I was with my system until I changed to some normal copper wire.
J.J. I have DIY wire, now 85% copper 15% silver. It lifts the veil on the last thread of detail I hear, adds snap to my bass, and extension to my treble. This is what it does in my system, it's a matter of experimentation.
NMyTree, I second the motion on the tube pre-amp. It provides the oil versus water color or ink on my canvas is how I would describe it. I have the Rogue with original tubes and a back-up set to match. Part of that is keeping it simple for me the other part is my gap in knowledge of what I would do to change anything. Oh yeah, then there's the part about sitting pretty with the sound I am getting now.
