Good speakers for low powered 2 ch setup

felipe

cnh wrote: »

Can't disagree there. Certainly if you wanted to step up a little from the Pioneers. Vintage Polk Monitor 7s would be a nice move! I love mine.

On another note. I'm home for the afternoon and I got my Lepai running the EPI 100Vs. So far just listening to the FM with the Lepai at 1/3 volume the EPIs are putting out between 87/88 dbs which is plenty loud for my basement room which is long but only 10 ft wide so I'm about 6-7 feet from the speakers.

The sound is VERY clean. With a little LESS bass weight (but the bass is acceptable) than I get with my Pioneer SX-838 [50 watts x 2 and 35lbs or so] (which usually runs these with a LAB 395 TT and an old Sony CDP). More to come but I'm hesitant to go to 1/2 volume. Maybe later.

In any case, this seems like a feasible starter system for someone. Can't believe this tiny T-amp can push these as well as it does.

cnh

The polk monitor7s seem to be a fine speaker. They have somewhat identical specs ( 89db sensitivity, 20-150 watts) to my tsi100s ( 89db sensitivity, 20-100watts). I found a pair of polk monitor10s on Craig's list for 140. Would these be a worthy purchase? How would these compare with the pioneers? Would these be OK with 25 watts per channel?

felipe

DSkip wrote: »

What exactly are you after now felipe? First you wanted a small bookie that would fit in a tiny area. Now you're looking at M10's? I'm just a little confused is all.

I owned the M10's for a while and enjoyed them. They have flaws due to the side-by-side driver configuration, but they are fun, rock out speakers. Getting those could open a new rabbit hole that you may or may not be willing to go down. I'm not sure if they'd pair well with your unit or not though.

I don't mean to confuse. Ever since I relocated this 2ch setup I have more space to work with for speakers that's all. The monitor 7s were mentioned, so that's why I brought up the M10s I found. Sorry for the confusion DSkip.

mhardy6647

Fug! I just lost a three-paragraph exposition on the Monitor 7 vs. 10 due to a slip of the fingers :-(


earlypolkfamilyportrait by mhardy6647, on Flickr

Let me try again. Tens good, Sevens better (IMO) :-) The 10s sound a little thick to me relative to the 7s.
Nowadays, much is said about the "imaging" flaws of the 10 attributed to comb filtering caused by the "Dagmar" configuration of the two "midbass radiators". FWIW, I never found their presentation all that bad...but what do I know?


polk_brochure_back_pg by mhardy6647, on Flickr

Original 10 was 6 ohm and also a bit more sensitive then the 7 (which was an 8 ohm speaker) - I dunno about later versions of these speakers.

Original 10 (or 7) worked well with good, clean, high-quality amps or receivers of 25 "RMS" watts (i.e., continuous power, as measured per the 1974 FTC specification) - the OP's receiver might be kind of borderline (but the amp/receiver could always be upgraded later!).


whatmore by mhardy6647, on Flickr

(the hk430 shown in the ad above was a very robust and fine sounding 25 wpc receiver of the mid-1970s)

Sorry for the Readers' Digest version of my original, masterly written post :-P

cnh

Mark is correct.

M-10s at 140 would have to be "mint". Normally, I'd see them in the 80-125 dollar range with 140 being a little high unless they've been FULLY refurbed!

Also, you will need MORE power to push those M-10s properly. I find my Marantz at 65 watts x 2 does the job quite well. Otherwise you're probably going to CLIP your amp! I'd be wary of powering large speakers like this with a desktop system?

cnh

mhardy6647

On the other hand - the difference between 65 watts and 25 watts is only 4.1 dB - not trivial, but not huge, either.

I suspect that the difference cnh is hearing (or, at least invoking) has more to do with the quality of the power than the quantity :-)

Oh, and (seiously)... pick me up the next pair of mint/refurbed Montior 10s (original series or 10A) that you find; I'll gladly give you cash on the barrelhead for 'em! ;-)

cnh

mhardy6647 wrote: »

On the other hand - the difference between 65 watts and 25 watts is only 4.1 dB - not trivial, but not huge, either.

I suspect that the difference cnh is hearing (or, at least invoking) has more to do with the quality of the power than the quantity :-)

Oh, and (seiously)... pick me up the next pair of mint/refurbed Montior 10s (original series or 10A) that you find; I'll gladly give you cash on the barrelhead for 'em! ;-)

Most definitely, quality. I'm just trying to point out that a desktop unit that is rated at 25 watts is probably NOT putting that wattage out. It's unlikely that the unit will not strain under the load of a pair of Monitor 10s. Now the 25 watts x 2 that an HK 430 puts out are another story. That unit weighs more than most entry level AVRs these days?

cnh

felipe

Ya...I was kinda thinking the same thing about the M10s. I looked up the specs...I'll most likely clip the amp...don't wanna do that ;-) I'll stick with my pioneers for now :-)