Speaker auditions. Long!
Well I went out today to audition some speakers. I just bought a pair of Carver M-400s and now need some better speakers. I was looking for just speakers but I knew that with the better speakers I needed to pump them with some power to get the best out of them.
Anyways from an earlier post I was interested in either of these
Polks
LSi9
LSi7
RTiA3
Klipsch
RB-81
RP-61
I put a copy of my latest vinyl conversion to CD in my pocket. 1984 Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense (live) I sampled it at 96KHz at 24bits. Came out nice at least it sounded hella good in my Yukon. Maybe a bit too much on the highs.
I went over to Fry's there like 3 miles from my house. What a waste of my time. They had a pair of LSi9's and LSi7's. They looked like hell. Grills all tore up but drivers looked to be in good shape. Gave the kid my CD and he turned on a HT receiver that was a little on the weak side. The LSi9's sounded really poor. I asked if he had a better amp we could use. He had a whole wall of them but he couldnt get them to work correctly. Wewnt to another room for the LSi7's with the same results. I hate to say it but my Infinity Qe's that are 20+ years old sound much better.
I will say that Frys did not audition the Polks fairly so I will hold off judgment on the Polks at least from frys
Next off to Best Buy. Well Best buy does not carry the higher end of Polk. To bad as I really want to hear some good Polk bookshelf speakers.
Handed the kid my CD and asked to hear the small Klipsch RB-10 Had a bit of a problem getting a good amp to work but finally got it going and to my surprise they sounded good. Not great but good. The mids came out nice as expected and the highs were not real tinny. Still these are way to small for me.
Next we went on to the XB-10. Wow did these guys put out some really nice sound Just a tiny bit weak on the bass. Mids projected out very nicely and the highs were not harsh at all. I had him make sure the amp had the tone controls at 0. I wanted to hear them flat. We then added the Klipsch RW-12d Sub. A nice 12" sub. Now were cooking. I really liked them but once again there rating of 50 watts wont cut it. I relize I will probably never hear 50 watts but with a monoamp that can put out 500 watts. Well you understand.
I had him try something a little better so he switched on a set of Vienna Acoustics Grand 6.5 inch Bookshelf's. Oh my these knocked my socks off but at 1499.00 a pair they should. Paired with the Klipsch sub they sounded really nice. They projected out very nicely. I really loved the way they played the music that I recorded. I asked him to crank it! I sat down and enjoyed my recording with a smile.
Well I didnt buy them! I walked out! I really really wan to audition some LSi9's and 7's as well as some RTi's. I also need to hear some of the upper end Klipsch like the RB-81. Im not buying what I dont hear.
Anyone have any idea where to go to audition these here in the east bay of San Francisco. Im in the Fremont area.
Here is a l;ink to see those Viennas
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7032392&type=product&id=1151657715639
Anyways from an earlier post I was interested in either of these
Polks
LSi9
LSi7
RTiA3
Klipsch
RB-81
RP-61
I put a copy of my latest vinyl conversion to CD in my pocket. 1984 Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense (live) I sampled it at 96KHz at 24bits. Came out nice at least it sounded hella good in my Yukon. Maybe a bit too much on the highs.
I went over to Fry's there like 3 miles from my house. What a waste of my time. They had a pair of LSi9's and LSi7's. They looked like hell. Grills all tore up but drivers looked to be in good shape. Gave the kid my CD and he turned on a HT receiver that was a little on the weak side. The LSi9's sounded really poor. I asked if he had a better amp we could use. He had a whole wall of them but he couldnt get them to work correctly. Wewnt to another room for the LSi7's with the same results. I hate to say it but my Infinity Qe's that are 20+ years old sound much better.
I will say that Frys did not audition the Polks fairly so I will hold off judgment on the Polks at least from frys
Next off to Best Buy. Well Best buy does not carry the higher end of Polk. To bad as I really want to hear some good Polk bookshelf speakers.
Handed the kid my CD and asked to hear the small Klipsch RB-10 Had a bit of a problem getting a good amp to work but finally got it going and to my surprise they sounded good. Not great but good. The mids came out nice as expected and the highs were not real tinny. Still these are way to small for me.
Next we went on to the XB-10. Wow did these guys put out some really nice sound Just a tiny bit weak on the bass. Mids projected out very nicely and the highs were not harsh at all. I had him make sure the amp had the tone controls at 0. I wanted to hear them flat. We then added the Klipsch RW-12d Sub. A nice 12" sub. Now were cooking. I really liked them but once again there rating of 50 watts wont cut it. I relize I will probably never hear 50 watts but with a monoamp that can put out 500 watts. Well you understand.
I had him try something a little better so he switched on a set of Vienna Acoustics Grand 6.5 inch Bookshelf's. Oh my these knocked my socks off but at 1499.00 a pair they should. Paired with the Klipsch sub they sounded really nice. They projected out very nicely. I really loved the way they played the music that I recorded. I asked him to crank it! I sat down and enjoyed my recording with a smile.
Well I didnt buy them! I walked out! I really really wan to audition some LSi9's and 7's as well as some RTi's. I also need to hear some of the upper end Klipsch like the RB-81. Im not buying what I dont hear.
Anyone have any idea where to go to audition these here in the east bay of San Francisco. Im in the Fremont area.
Here is a l;ink to see those Viennas
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7032392&type=product&id=1151657715639
http://www.billbeau.net
Carver
Twin M400 Power Amps
Pioneer
SA-9500II RT-909
TX-8500II CT-F1000
SG-9800 PL-518
RG-1 PL-540
PDR-609
SAE
5000
5000A
DBX
224
228
400X
400XG
Infinity
Qe 2-way Speaker
Carver
Twin M400 Power Amps
Pioneer
SA-9500II RT-909
TX-8500II CT-F1000
SG-9800 PL-518
RG-1 PL-540
PDR-609
SAE
5000
5000A
DBX
224
228
400X
400XG
Infinity
Qe 2-way Speaker