Powered Speakers Recommendations

[bhaagensen]

I do have an audiophile main system. I can still totally enjoy lsitening to usic on the A5s - they undoubteldy do deliver true audiophile qualities. They do provide good staguing and depth, and very good clarity and transparency.

I truly think you are merely allowing their price tag to prevent you from lsitening to them with an open mind. You can obviously not expect to listen to the same quality levels you'd get out of a $7,000-plus and well matched system

It's not about the A5's being cheap. The point is that it is a piece of cake to find much better stuff at the same price. You might have to go with used stuff, but if sound-quality is the target, then that will be the best solution.

It took me 5 min. to find the following. A pair of Dali 450 (which are excelent, I have owned a pair), here listed at ~86USD

http://www.dba.dk/asp/soegning/detai...nceid=57302491

Pair it with e.g. this NAD 317 here availble at ~170USD and it WILL most certainly beat the crap out of the A5's.

http://www.dba.dk/asp/soegning/detai...nceid=57076692

This is orders of magnitutes better than the A5's, there is no discussing that.

Edit: OK so these are big floorstandres, but you can easily find bookshelf format speakers and also a physically smaller amp.

[bhaagensen]

Also search on these very forums for comparisons of the audioengines and the boom. I think you will find that most grade the boom as sounding better. And Its about the same price and does a whole lot more. The audioengines are not anything special sound quality wise. They are nice and competitive as such, but thats it.

[bhaagensen]

While I agree on your A5 assessment, I'm not entirely sure that integrated amp you'll be able to get on what's left after Fostex will result in any better sound then of A5.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but I was referring to the active Fostex's. The smallest ones are called sometimi like Fostex 0.4 I think.

[Listener]

The point is that it is a piece of cake to find much better stuff at the same price. ...
It took me 5 min. to find the following. A pair of Dali 450 (which are excelent, I have owned a pair), here listed at ~86USD

http://www.dba.dk/asp/soegning/detai...nceid=57302491

..
This is orders of magnitutes better than the A5's, there is no discussing that.

Edit: OK so these are big floorstandres, but you can easily find bookshelf format speakers and also a physically smaller amp.

We touched a nerve for bhaagensen. We seemed to have blasphemed by using the word audiophile in vain.

A pair of "big floorstanders" for $ 86 is not likely to have rigid cabinets free of audible resonances. If your budget is quite limited, stick with physically small speakers; it is much easier to get an acceptably rigid cabinet when the walls are not large in size.

The A5s have very well built cabinets. When you rap them with your knuckles, you don't hear ringing or any flexing in the side walls of the cabinet. That is the sort of thing you pay real money to get in stand mounted monitors.

I have 3-way speakers with active crossovers and 6 channels of amplification in my library. They are clearly better than the A5s in most respects but the A5s are still very enjoyable to listen to.

ShutterShock, if you like what the A2s provide, you should find the A5s to be even better. If on the other hand, you found the A2s fatally lacking in "clarity, imaging, centering, precision, frequency response, tightness in bass etc.", then you should definitely consider bhaagensen's $ 86 audiophile speakers. "There can be no discussion."

If you are willing to spend $ 600 or $ 1000 on speaker + amp (together or separately), you can probably do better than A5s. But not every combination in that price range will be better.

Bill

[NewBuyer]

What about something from dynaudio accoustics? These are near to mid-field -- maybe big enough to fill a small room:

http://www.dynaudioacoustics.com/Default.asp?Id=279

(I am considering a pair of BM 6A MkII for my desktop.)

muski

I thought the Dynaudio BM5A / BM6A MKII's sounded *great*, but they have no volume control.

Ithe end I couldn't live with the hiss they made when powered on (and which unfortunately is audible in the near/mid-field when no music is playing)...

[bhaagensen]

We touched a nerve for bhaagensen. We seemed to have blasphemed by using the word audiophile in vain.

Not at all, I'm just trying to provide some advice for the OP who wants good room filling speakers in the price range of the A5. If that is the goal, the A5's are not best choice.

A pair of "big floorstanders" for $ 86 is not likely to have rigid cabinets free of audible resonances. If your budget is quite limited, stick with physically small speakers; it is much easier to get an acceptably rigid cabinet when the walls are not large in size.

No arguing that. I guess if you're not familiar with Dali, then there is nothing I can do to convince you that they way better than the A5's. But I urge you to check out the second hand market for speakers you might now and like with 5-10 years on their back. You might be surprised at what you can get: Whardales, B&W, Dynaudio, Dali, etc. are dirt cheap.

The A5s have very well built cabinets. When you rap them with your knuckles, you don't hear ringing or any flexing in the side walls of the cabinet.

That's a flawed argument. Yes, if they do shake and rattle they're probably pretty bad. However the opposite case does not give any guarentees about the sound. Of course the manufacturers are aware of this pseudo argument and can easily build cabinents which are sturdy and passes the knuckle test; even I can (almost) do that.

the A5s are still very enjoyable to listen to.

I never said they weren' t. I think I used the wording "pleasant" though.

bhaagensen's $ 86 audiophile speakers.

I never mentioned the word audiophile in relation to the Dali's. And FYI they retailed at ~600USD 6 years ago.

OP: If you go ahead and get the A5's I'm sure you might be happy with them. However if you are willing to spend some time and energy listening to systems consisting of an integrated amp + speakers with about 5-10 years on their back, then I am convinced that you can find something that sounds much better than the A5.

[muski]

I thought the Dynaudio BM5A / BM6A MKII's sounded *great*, but they have no volume control.

Ithe end I couldn't live with the hiss they made when powered on (and which unfortunately is audible in the near/mid-field when no music is playing)...

Interesting. I was going to connect them to my Transporter/Headphone amp combination. My headphone amp has a balanced preamp out connector, so I could control the volume of the powered speakers (rather than using the Transporter's digital volume control). I have not heard them, but I will keep a critical ear out for the hissing -- that would be a deal-breaker!

Thanks for your comment.

[Listener]

That's a flawed argument. Yes, if they do shake and rattle they're probably pretty bad. However the opposite case does not give any guarentees about the sound. Of course the manufacturers are aware of this pseudo argument and can easily build cabinents which are sturdy and passes the knuckle test; even I can (almost) do that.

Your logic is what's flawed. You don't seem to understand the difference between a necessary condition and a sufficient condition. I described one aspect of a speaker' design where the A5s were well done. I did not make a statement that that was the only measure of a good speaker.

You never want a cabinet to produce sound separate from what the drivers and ports produce. Making rigid cabinets is the usual way to minimize colorations from cabinets. Minimizing colorations is a necessary condition if you want "stuff like clarity, imaging, centering, precision, freqnency response, tightness in bass".

Your essential point about the dali speakers and a NAD amp seems to be that "you can buy used components for less than they cost new and get more value". A valid point.

Bill

[gsawdy]

Ithe end I couldn't live with the hiss they made when powered on (and which unfortunately is audible in the near/mid-field when no music is playing)...

I have two pair of the BM5a's and no hiss at all. Maybe you should check further up the line toward the source or return the speakers. I am curious to know how the Quads compare to the Dyna BM5a's. Can you supply any experiences?

On another note I have listened for a week to the BM6a MkII and I'd suggest if one is going to spend the extra $ over the BM5a that you check out the BM12a. I have not heard them but I was underwhelmed by the BM6a MkII for the extra money--very subtly better than the BM5a but not nearly enough to justify the extra expense. BTW BM5a's come up frequently on ebay $600-$750. You do need to run test tones through them to make sure the woofer doesn't buzz at certain frequencies and that the tweeters are working. Apparently some folks like to push them way beyond the pain threshold and the drivers can be messed up in ways you won't hear just listening to music.

We have a pair of Audioengine A5's in the house--my wife loves them. She listens to MP3's and podcasts. I think they are very pleasant listening--one could do far, far worse.

As always, YMMV
George

[mswlogo]

Pair of these would be nice.

http://www.meridian-audio.com/media/...0_c_ds_scr.pdf