Speaker Possibilities

[Formerly YB-2]

Originally Posted by JMD

That would get the tweeter 36" off of the ground and he tried higher stands. He's going to have to sit in his normal seating position and get someone to measure from the floor to the center of his ear.

Simple enough to get most stands 'tipped back' a bit by adjusting the spikes to 'aim' the tweeter, etc., to ones ear height.

[prepress]

And I now find out that Value Electronics, the dealer from whom I got my TV and BD players, carries the full Golden Ear line. Uh-oh. I was leaning away from pursuing speakers, just a bit. I may reconsider that. Despite my preference for non-powered speakers, the GE Triton One Reference could be in play if I can get a deal on them. But last night, I was watching a couple of DC Comics' animated movies and thought to myself, "This sounds good. Do I need to consider new speakers?"

The answer is no. This is more about pre-emptive replacement of my almost 27 year-old Mirages, lest they die on me after I've retired and can't afford suitable replacements. Same for the turntable, despite the fact I don't play my records much these days due to time factors.

Just when I thought I'd narrowed things down . . .

[W9TR]

I am pretty familiar with the Ohm line having had the Walsh 4, Walsh 2000, and original Ohm F. They are somewhat idiosyncratic but if you like the Mirages an omni would be interesting for you. I think Ohm has an in home trial option, which in my opinion for any speaker is a must. The GoldenEars are a different beast altogether.
Tom

[SCAudiophile]

Originally Posted by W9TR

I am pretty familiar with the Ohm line having had the Walsh 4, Walsh 2000, and original Ohm F. They are somewhat idiosyncratic but if you like the Mirages an omni would be interesting for you. I think Ohm has an in home trial option, which in my opinion for any speaker is a must. The GoldenEars are a different beast altogether.
Tom

A friend here in SC has the new F5015s and they really are an amazing speaker and night and day better that what I remember the early Ohm having been. They are much more robust as well from what I have heard in his system and much more amp-friendly. I was very impressed by what I heard about 2 months ago in my friend's system!

[prepress]

A technical question has arisen. In looking at a brochure for Polk's new Legend series, I see it lists two frequency response specs: "Frequency Response (-3dB limits)" and "Overall Frequency Response," which is lower. For example, the L800 flagship has a frequency response of 32Hz-38kHz and an overall frequency response of 24Hz–50kHz.

What do these terms mean? I e-mailed Polk, but the auto-reply seems to want me to sign on to their website and create a support account. Not what I need. And it seems odd to me that with two 10" woofers the L800 would reach only to 32Hz; my Mirages go down to 30Hz with one woofer, and 24Hz usable bass response (anechoic chamber, I believe).

[Antonmb]

The overall is the frequency range the speaker can produce. The -3db level indicates the limit at which the volume will be reduced by -3db. In other words, while the speaker may be able to produce sound over the full range specified in the “overall response,” it will not output the same volume across the full range. At some point above the bottom limit, the speaker’s output will begin to roll off. The -3db limit indicates the point at which the output will have dropped off by 3db, and it will continue to drop off from there until it reaches the final lower limit defined by the overall spec.

[prepress]

Originally Posted by Antonmb

The overall is the frequency range the speaker can produce. The -3db level indicates the limit at which the volume will be reduced by -3db. In other words, while the speaker may be able to produce sound over the full range specified in the “overall response,” it will not output the same volume across the full range. At some point above the bottom limit, the speaker’s output will begin to roll off. The -3db limit indicates the point at which the output will have dropped off by 3db, and it will continue to drop off from there until it reaches the final lower limit defined by the overall spec.

That makes perfect sense, thank you. This is why I label myself a "semi-audiophile," I'm not that technical. I was thinking the two terms referred to what the speaker actually does in a real room vs. in an anechoic chamber, though the L800's 50kHz spec doesn't seem to fit that idea.

So the roll-off begins somewhere between 32Hz and 26Hz, then. One leap of thought: The "Steady State Recommended" power is 25–300w and the "Recommended Watts per Channel" is 100. If that's the case, then is the L800's power spec related to that roll-off, and would it mean that a speaker which takes 500–600w at the same 26Hz spec would have no or little roll-off down to that 26Hz? Or, am I barking up the wrong tree?

[Antonmb]

I looked at the website and see “Recommended amplifier power setting” of 100 watts - I’ve never seen this spec before. Normally there would be a spec for maximum continuous power, i.e. the maximum steady-state at one frequency the amp can handle, perhaps that’s what they’re referring to. The other spec, recommended amplifier power, is pretty standard: it specifies the minimum power the manufacturer recommends to power the speaker, and the maximum short-term peak they can handle.

The problem with speaker specs is that some manufacturers present differing and confusing language, making it to difficult to make comparisons.

[prepress]

Originally Posted by Antonmb

I looked at the website and see “Recommended amplifier power setting” of 100 watts - I’ve never seen this spec before. Normally there would be a spec for maximum continuous power, i.e. the maximum steady-state at one frequency the amp can handle, perhaps that’s what they’re referring to. The other spec, recommended amplifier power, is pretty standard: it specifies the minimum power the manufacturer recommends to power the speaker, and the maximum short-term peak they can handle.

The problem with speaker specs is that some manufacturers present differing and confusing language, making it to difficult to make comparisons.

I agree.

I received a response from Polk, and here it is:

Hello,

Without getting too technical, the overall frequency response is the range of all of the frequencies that the L800 is able to produce. The -3dB limits are the frequencies that the L800 will produce within a certain power range. Anything outside of the -3dB range will take more power to produce than anything in the -3dB range. Basically, the -3dB frequency response is the range of frequencies that the L800 will produce under normal operation.

When shopping for speakers, a general rule of thumb is that you want to pay more attention to the -3dB numbers that you do to the overall frequency numbers, as they give a more realistic representation of what the speaker can do.

Not sure I want to follow up by asking what "more power" means. I wonder if it means the more power the L800s get the more they can move outside the -3dB limit, up to the "overall" frequency range. I also wonder what "normal operation" means, perhaps it relates to volume level. To me, blasting music isn't "normal operation," nor could I stay in the room with things that loud.

[stev809]

the Experts suggest frequency response below 300hz is optimistic because of room interaction. My room requires heroic speakers to output anything audible below 50 hz!