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Audiophile quality PC speakers

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W

Winged Creature

Member
Rega P3-24, Project-Xpression III, Project RPM 6.1 and if u can push it a bit Music Hall MMF7.1.

for carts i like the ortofon 2m series blue, bronze and black in particular. I use the 2M Blue it is a fantastic cart, great tracking and amazing sound.

As for a phono stage, if your pre-amp doesnt have a setting that says phono then you need one.

Look at Cambridge Audio 640P and if you really want a tube one

http://www.musicdirect.com/product/83540

http://www.musicdirect.com/product/80761
 
D

Darkatomz

Member
nitewulf said:
might as well ask suggestions for turntables in this thread, as i'm looking to get into analog. what models should i be looking at within the $1000+ range?
Click to expand...

It doesn't, it's a regular Creative (I know...) XtremeGamer.

I was looking at the Auzen Forte and the Asus Xonar ST, still a little unsure of which one I'd really prefer.
 
G

giga

Member
Let it be known that kevm3 is a great man/seller. I've never seen someone pack an item so well a the box with so much bubble wrap and packing peanuts! Very smooth transaction to boot.

My god, let's hope these babies sound as good as they look.

_MG_9813+copy.jpg


_MG_9828+copy.jpg
 
K

kevm3

Member
The thing I'm most impressed about the speaker so far is the sound just flows out of the speaker. You can close your eyes and you don't really get that "these are coming from a box" feeling. This thing does voices very well also. I'm going to give it more time to burn-in before I really start commenting on the sound though. Played some call of duty with these, and it makes the experience a lot better as the bullets sound more realistic and you hear a lot of sounds that you didn't before.
 
K

kevm3

Member
giga said:
Let it be known that kevm3 is a great man/seller. I've never seen someone pack an item so well a the box with so much bubble wrap and packing peanuts! Very smooth transaction to boot.

My god, let's hope these babies sound as good as they look.

_MG_9813+copy.jpg


_MG_9828+copy.jpg
Click to expand...

I'm glad they arrived so quickly and arrived in good condition. Let me know how they sound. Those pics blow away the ones I took haha. Those are definitely some beautiful looking speakers and sound great to boot.
 
Z

zhenming

Member
giga said:
Let it be known that kevm3 is a great man/seller. I've never seen someone pack an item so well a the box with so much bubble wrap and packing peanuts! Very smooth transaction to boot.

My god, let's hope these babies sound as good as they look.

_MG_9813+copy.jpg


_MG_9828+copy.jpg
Click to expand...
god dam looks good!!!
 
Celcius

Celcius

°Temp. member
I'm tempted to sell my 5.1 pc speakers and go for a 2.0 or 2.1 setup instead. Maybe during the summer...

Those speakers above do look nice by the way.
 
K

kevm3

Member
Yeah you'll get a good deal better sound quality going for 2.0 on a given budget. If overall sound quality is your primary concern, I'd focus my money on a 2.0 system.
 
N

nitewulf

Member
celcius said:
I'm tempted to sell my 5.1 pc speakers and go for a 2.0 or 2.1 setup instead. Maybe during the summer...

Those speakers above do look nice by the way.
Click to expand...
yeah, that's the way to go. 5.1 PC speakers are pretty crappy compared to what you could get from even an entry level 2 way setup.
 
K

kevm3

Member
violins sound sweet on this thing. absolutely no roll off. I love hearing those really high frequencies without a hint of brightness. The music is also 'just there' effortlessly. Doesn't feel like I'm listening to speakers trying to push sound out.

Best thing about these speakers? I'm not focused on what I want from the speakers. Simply listening to the music again... saying man this sounds sweet.
 
W

Winged Creature

Member
kevm3 said:
violins sound sweet on this thing. absolutely no roll off. I love hearing those really high frequencies without a hint of brightness. The music is also 'just there' effortlessly. Doesn't feel like I'm listening to speakers trying to push sound out.

Best thing about these speakers? I'm not focused on what I want from the speakers. Simply listening to the music again... saying man this sounds sweet.
Click to expand...

Thats what happens when you go to the next level, budget speakers sound great but speakers in the $1500 -$3000 range really sound fantastic and lifelike.
 
K

kevm3

Member
I just ordered a pair of Anti-cables speaker cables. I've been hearing a lot of raves from them, and they're very cheap: about $10 a foot. We'll see if it has any noticeable effect on sound.
 
W

Winged Creature

Member
i wouldnt go spend money on cables to improve sound cause improvements will likely be exteremly minimal. I would focus on speaker positioning and basic room treatments (ie adding area rugs to reduce sound reflections). Invest in a pair of speaker stands that will give you the best upgrade in sound.
 
N

nitewulf

Member
Winged_Creature: do you have any ideas about the Clearaudio Concept or Emotion turntables?

The Concept seems to be a good TT ready to plug-n-play.
 
W

Winged Creature

Member
Ive only briefly heard the emotion and from what I heard I liked. I didnt get to sit down and really listen to it. The concept I havent heard, but from what i read its gathering great reviews.
Maybe I should go listen to it this weekend.
 
N

nitewulf

Member
Winged Creature said:
Ive only briefly heard the emotion and from what I heard I liked. I didnt get to sit down and really listen to it. The concept I havent heard, but from what i read its gathering great reviews.
Maybe I should go listen to it this weekend.
Click to expand...
Do it if you want to and can, please...I'd love to hear your impressions. I will try to audition these, but auditioning TTs might be pretty difficult.
 
W

Winged Creature

Member
nitewulf said:
Do it if you want to and can, please...I'd love to hear your impressions. I will try to audition these, but auditioning TTs might be pretty difficult.
Click to expand...

the problem with auditioning tables is that there are so many variables that affect the sound, the 2 most important being the phono preamp and the cartridge. When you go demo a table they may be using carts and phono stages that dwarf the table or are subpar, so its really hard to judge if the table is good. The best thing to do is find a place that lets you demo the gear in your house or has a good return policy so you can test out different combos to your liking. If you dont want to go through that get a Rega P3-24 and a nice 2M series cart or dynavector 10x5 and call it a day, those combinations IMO are stunning.
 
W

Winged Creature

Member
generally its the pre-amp you have to worry about for MM and MC, cheaper pre-amps and most on board ones will only support MM. Cartridges are universal, the only thing you might have to worry about is VTA on certain tonearms.
 
W

Witchfinder General

punched Wheelchair Mike
nitewulf, you might want to look at the 800 series of turntables from Thorens, of which I have the TD-850. If you want a meaty sound with rock-solid bass and detail, look no further.
 
W

Winged Creature

Member
The thorens may be a solid table but its $3000, the rega p3-24 has the same tonearm has the thorens but its only about $1000. The thorens may be better but you will get very similar characteristics as the thorens for a third of the price.
 
W

Witchfinder General

punched Wheelchair Mike
Winged Creature said:
The thorens may be a solid table but its $3000, the rega p3-24 has the same tonearm has the thorens but its only about $1000. The thorens may be better but you will get very similar characteristics as the thorens for a third of the price.
Click to expand...


Sorry, but that's complete bullshit. You've clearly listened to neither or just the Rega, and only fo a brief time. I know both turntables inside-out and the only similarity that both share is the tonearm. The Rega, like all Rega turntables, have great arms and fairly terrible plinths and platter. Basically when you buy a Rega you're buying a tonearm with the turntable thrown in for free. The P3-24 is a nice deck but get's eaten alive by the Thorens from the TD-800 upwards. Actually, the TD-295 in some ways bests the Rega.
 
W

Winged Creature

Member
Oh i know the thorens is better, and yes i've only heard the thorens briefly, but its three times the prices as the rega. I have alot of experience with the rega and i think for the price it is fantastic, nitewulf wanted something in the $1000 range, so the closest thing to the thorens i could think of is the Rega P3 since it share the same tonearm, i never said the rega is the thorens but alot cheaper, i said it will share similar characteristics.
 
Dice

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
I'm a bit confused. If I get a Musical Fidelity V-DAC, obviously my soundcard does not have a USB out, so do I just plug it into any random USB port and it will hijack the audio from my PC?
 
W

Winged Creature

Member
Dice said:
I'm a bit confused. If I get a Musical Fidelity V-DAC, obviously my soundcard does not have a USB out, so do I just plug it into any random USB port and it will hijack the audio from my PC?
Click to expand...

yep once you plug in you v-dac it will disable the soundcard on the PC. No drivers its plug and play very simple.
 
N

nitewulf

Member
Winged Creature said:
any progress on that turntable, nitewulf?
Click to expand...
yeah. I emailed the guys at Lpgear about the Thorens, but they didn't get back to me, and any other site I look at lists it at $2250. So I'm not quite sure about the validity of the Lpgear price. And at $2250 + a decent cartridge + a phono stage is a lot more than my budget. I am sure I'll love it, only caveat being, i wouldn't know what i am upgrading to, with such a hi-fi combo, since i wouldn't have a more entry level perspective.

on the other hand, the Marantz TT15S1 seems to be a screaming good deal:
http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MATT15S1

it's basically an upgraded Clearaudio Emotion (thicker platter, upgraded tonearm) that includes an expensive Clearaudio MM cartridge. So in all I'm leaning towards the Marantz as my entry.
 
N

nitewulf

Member
i'll mostly be listening to albums, and won't mind manually switching the belt. i honestly like the visible motor/belt drive combination. that was one of the things i was looking for in the models i'm looking to buy, just an aesthetic preference. the thing is, the marantz includes a better/higher grade cartridge than the concept.
 
Death Dealer

Death Dealer

Member
Witchfinder General said:
The P3-24 is a nice deck but
Click to expand...

it's overpriced in N. America.

I see needledoctor's retail without a cartridge is $899.
Look up a British Hi Fi shop and convert £ to $. It costs around $600 overseas. I remember not long ago, retail on a P3 was $750, they just keeping going up. They're good entry level tables, but overpriced IMO. I've read the P3-24 is a subtle improvement but a step back in build quality.
 
W

Winged Creature

Member
nitewulf said:
i'll mostly be listening to albums, and won't mind manually switching the belt. i honestly like the visible motor/belt drive combination. that was one of the things i was looking for in the models i'm looking to buy, just an aesthetic preference. the thing is, the marantz includes a better/higher grade cartridge than the concept.
Click to expand...

did you have a look at the music hall mmf 7.1, its beautiful piece and has a carbon fibre arm

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MHMMF71
 
N

nitewulf

Member
i have, and yes, its beautiful. it'd would be great if i could have compared them side by side, but chances of that seem to be low.
 
N

nitewulf

Member
kevm3 said:
Why not look to buy used?
Click to expand...
i am, if i find it in good condition for a good price i will. OTOH i dont mind paying around $1600 for a brand new marantz/clearaudio/music hall, if the product includes whatever i need to play. i just have to buy a phono stage and interconnects.
 
K

kevm3

Member
nitewulf said:
i am, if i find it in good condition for a good price i will. OTOH i dont mind paying around $1600 for a brand new marantz/clearaudio/music hall, if the product includes whatever i need to play. i just have to buy a phono stage and interconnects.
Click to expand...

No doubt. I might have to get into the turntable game later on... I'll probably upgrade my DAC or preamp first though.
 
W

Witchfinder General

punched Wheelchair Mike
Winged Creature said:
yep its the same arm as the mmf-9, the mmf-9.1 has an upgraded arm now though. Those pro-ject carbon fibre arms are very nice, i have one and its at the bottom of the bunch but is still fantastic.

This is the table I'm eyeing right now, got to demo it, and boy was it nice

http://store.acousticsounds.com/index.cfm?get=detail&Title_ID=49828
Click to expand...


I used to sell that model. Great TT and very good value for money. My only real criticism is that it's a bit too polite sounding from memory.
 
W

Winged Creature

Member
good table, but hardly plug and play, the setup for that table can be difficult for a novice. I heard this table but i preferred Pro-ject Perspex over it.
 
A

Alucrid

Banned
Wow, just got the M10 and I'm blown away. For as cheap (relatively) as they were, they sound and look beautiful. The only negative is the fact that I'm slowly running out of space on my desk. :lol
 
Z

zhenming

Member
Alucrid said:
Wow, just got the M10 and I'm blown away. For as cheap (relatively) as they were, they sound and look beautiful. The only negative is the fact that I'm slowly running out of space on my desk. :lol
Click to expand...
nice.
 
K

kevm3

Member
Anticables with the jumpers are easily the best $60 audio investment I've made. These have drawn me a good deal closer to that realistic sound I've been craving. Awesome. Sound has come more forward, sounds much less boxed in...
 
W

Winged Creature

Member
my pre-amp finally came in and am i floored! The soundstage is much more open, imaging is pin-point accurate and the bass is deeper and tighter. Awesome!!
 
K

kevm3

Member
Winged Creature said:
my pre-amp finally came in and am i floored! The soundstage is much more open, imaging is pin-point accurate and the bass is deeper and tighter. Awesome!!
Click to expand...

What preamp did you end up with? I'm trying to figure out which component I want to upgrade next. It's most likely between Pre or DAC. For a DAC, I'd get an Audio GD Reference 1. Have no idea about what the good pres are though.
 
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