Speaker Upgrade

audiocr381ve

I thought the bug died, but he didn't, and he's biting hard, harder than ever.

Didn't mean for that to sound mildly sexual but I'm thinking about upgrading my speakers. I've spent over a year now with my little Totem Hawks and they truly are a phenomenal speaker. They do everything so damn well, but I'd just like a little more in certain areas.

What I love about them:

-They disappear. And I mean, close your eyes, and they're gone.
-Imaging, of course. If they're disappearing they're imaging really well IMO.
-Off axis listening. This is a pretty damn big deal to me. I need to be able to move out of the sweet spot and hear magic too. Maggies are OUT.

What I could use more of:
-Low end slam and definition. This is where the Hawks fall short IMO.
-Volume. The Hawks start to compress when I start pushing and I don't like that.

Now that's saying a whole lot about how good the Hawks are that I only have two things I'd like to improve upon. I thought about moving up the line but where's the fun in that? There are a pair of Forests on the gon but I'd like to move on.

I'd like to stay under $2K. Again, this is something I'm still thinking about. The Hawks might easily convince me to keep them.

I'm kind of interested in Usher, Martin Logan, & Salk right now. All of these guys make beautiful speakers and it's weird but aesthetics are starting to matter more to me as I'm moving into my thirties.

Here are some speakers I've already owned or own:

PSB Synchrony Ones (Damn fine speakers)
Magnepan 1.7's
Magnepan MG12
Magnepan MG10 (own em')
SDA-CRS+ (modded and own em')
SDA-2B (moved em down the road)
Dynaudio (forget the model)
AV123 Strata Mini's (blah)
Monitor Audio RS6
Paradigm Signature S2

Here are rumors I've heard about each of the speakers I'm interested in. Usher: heard they're forward up top and thats scary. Have heard the Salks are musical but the models in my price range are shy on bass. Have heard the ML's aren't involving and are sterile. Rumos are like buttholes though.

Interested to hear your thoughts and recommendations!

tonyb

Well, lets address your complaints, low end slam and high volume compression.

1. Low end slam- could not a subwoofer handle that ?

2. High volume compression- what kind of power are you feeding them ? May also play into the lack of slam to some degree. Totems suck up a lot of juice.

Also, how big a room are we talkin' here ?

tonyb

I'd also look at the rest of the electronics/cables.

Pushing something past it's limits are never a good thing. How loud are you pushing ? That Parasound 750 may be too lightweight, the B&k Mono's are more suited for the task.

Plenty of speakers to wet your appetite, but don't be so quick to kick to the curb without some other upgrades in your front end.

Face

Speakers that are inefficient, especially small two way speakers, are more susceptible to power compression.

audiocr381ve

tonyb wrote: »

Well, lets address your complaints, low end slam and high volume compression.

1. Low end slam- could not a subwoofer handle that ?

2. High volume compression- what kind of power are you feeding them ? May also play into the lack of slam to some degree. Totems suck up a lot of juice.

Also, how big a room are we talkin' here ?

Thanks for the responses guys. Wise council for sure.

1. It totally could. Maybe I just don't want it to :P I'd like for my towers to have good bass which is why I bought towers.
2. They're being fed by the B&K mono's that are 200wpc into 8ohms and double for 400wpc at 4 ohms. The Hawks are 6ohm speakers so they're getting plenty.
3. The room is fairly large. I'll get some measurements done later.

Dskip, I really don't mind a more laid back speaker as long as the bass is good. Sounds like the Usher is a must try speaker for me.

marvda1

here's the southern cal. distributor for usher. http://www.katli.com/

tonyb

Given a large room, could be as simple as too small a speaker in too large a room. Which in turn causes you to crank the volume to get some low end in a large space, thus the congestion.

Find yourself a used pair of Legacy Focus 20/20's....you'll never have to worry about low end...ever, or filling a large room with sound.

If you bought towers for good bass, then you'd need towers with larger radiating surfaces, bigger drivers in other words. Or multiple smaller ones. Still, as we like to say...there's no replacement for displacement.

PSOVLSK

audiocr381ve wrote: »

Sounds like the Usher is a must try speaker for me.

Do yourself a favor and find a pair to listen to. You might like the Hawks better, but you should at least take a listen. I don't think you'll be wanting for more in the low end.

aboroth00

Revel Performa3 have great imaging, soundstaging, off-axis response and the R&D behind it to prove it all. Low end bass is very impressive even on the bookshelves which come in below 2k.

audiocr381ve

tonyb wrote: »

Given a large room, could be as simple as too small a speaker in too large a room. Which in turn causes you to crank the volume to get some low end in a large space, thus the congestion.

Find yourself a used pair of Legacy Focus 20/20's....you'll never have to worry about low end...ever, or filling a large room with sound.

If you bought towers for good bass, then you'd need towers with larger radiating surfaces, bigger drivers in other words. Or multiple smaller ones. Still, as we like to say...there's no replacement for displacement.

I think you're right. I spent a good hour with the Hawks and feel like I'm doing them a disservice in not pairing them with a sub just to see what happens. I can cross them over at around 70hz so the Hawks aren't straining and let the sub do the rest. I might be able to get a lot more volume out of em' that way.

Speaking of Legacy, I might be going to audition this set tomorrow. Honest opinions on this deal?

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/ele/4453456140.html

audiocr381ve

aboroth00 wrote: »

Revel Performa3 have great imaging, soundstaging, off-axis response and the R&D behind it to prove it all. Low end bass is very impressive even on the bookshelves which come in below 2k.

Will look into these, thanks!

Mystery

Few polkies have moved on to Mirage OMD-28's.

aboroth00

audiocr381ve wrote: »

Will look into these, thanks!

Stereo unlimited over on rosecrans/sports arena carries the bookshelves. only revel dealer that demos in pretty much all of socal/san diego unless you go to la.

tonyb

audiocr381ve wrote: »

I think you're right. I spent a good hour with the Hawks and feel like I'm doing them a disservice in not pairing them with a sub just to see what happens. I can cross them over at around 70hz so the Hawks aren't straining and let the sub do the rest. I might be able to get a lot more volume out of em' that way.

Speaking of Legacy, I might be going to audition this set tomorrow. Honest opinions on this deal?

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/ele/4453456140.html

Fairly old....but I remember when the Focus line came out Bill created a surround speaker using the top portion of the Focus speaker. Wish I had grabbed them then as they are hard to come by. Those sats look surprisingly similar. I might be inclined to pass though as his newer designs I'm sure would sound better....but, for the right price ?

The Revels suggested, also one of my favs and don't think you can go wrong there either. The Revels can sound too hot on top with cheap electronics so just make sure your front end is up to snuff.