Powered Speakers Recommendations

[pablolie]

[QUOTE=bhaagensen;356189]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. ...
QUOTE]

I agree you can find fantastic audiophile deals in the second hand market. It being "a piece of cake" is a different matter: there are the usual buyer beware's with used equipment, and finding true excellent sounding gear in prime condition is *not* that easy.

The A5s provide what the person that posted the original question seems to look for: a simple, straighforward, minimalist solution that provides very predictable and excellent sound quality for the price. The forums -and audiophile magazines- are full of people that praise the A5s as a great deal.

As someone that has sunk a rather silly amount of money into gear, I maintain that back in the days where I was saving my student wages to buy a Denon 1290 or a used Luxman amp - great as that equipment was, I have my doubts the total sound of the solution matched the SB3 + A5 combo, and I had probably paid far more...

It is a great time to be an aspiring audiophile - I for one will nod approvingly at anyone that goes for the SB3 + A5 combo, because it sounds better and is a smarter buy than what 95% of people have in their homes...

As to used gear - heck yes. But there is also real risk in buying audio gear used... I for one would not spend even $80-something on those Dalis merely based on your word that they ar ein fantastic condition, nor would I trust them to sound better than the A5s without listening to them - which you seem more than willing to do. I am not saying it is not possible, it is probable with the right amp... *if* they are both in very good condition.

[pablolie]

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. ...

I own 2 Booms and love them. I frequent the Boom forum. But I have not read one person make such a claim, and truly find it ludicrous. The Boom is a miracle for packing the typre of ound it does into its price-size-performance package, but anyone that claims it sounds better than the SB3+A5 combo needs their ears revoked. Now I know you are overstating for effect, I have no idea what AudioEngine has done to you, but come on, it starts with the stereo separation aspect... you are clearly biased, sorry.

[bhaagensen]

I own 2 Booms and love them. I frequent the Boom forum. But I have not read one person make such a claim, and truly find it ludicrous.

might I then attract your attention to e.g. these threads (mixture of A5 and A2 comments):

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showth...dioengine+boom

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showth...dioengine+boom

Now I know you are overstating for effect, I have no idea what AudioEngine has done to you,

They used to beat me up with their bass when I was in high-school...

but come on, it starts with the stereo separation aspect...

I'm not claiming to know the details of how the boom sounds; I do find that the opinions expressed in threads such as those above appear reasonable, especially since I don't find the A5's stereo separation aspect to work particularly well; obviously excepted and included for is the fact that the one can places them further apart.

you are clearly biased, sorry.

in what direction would that be?

[pablolie]

[QUOTE=bhaagensen;356534]might I then attract your attention to e.g. these threads (mixture of A5 and A2 comments):

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showth...dioengine+boom

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showth...dioengine+boom
QUOTE]

Both threads talk about the A2. The only person to own a pair of A5s was far more inconclusive, his opinion being

"Compared to the A5s, it comes down to the room size and how much separation is available in the listening position and how far away one is from the listening position. In a small to medium room with a close listening position, the Boom beats the A5s fairly easily. Add a sub-woofer in a medium to large room and the Boom will give the A5s a good run for the money."

The key there is "close listening position", and in the inlukely case you want to hold your head 2 feet in front of the Boom for extended listening sessions.

I also would say that the message above was written with some overenthusiasm around the launch of the Boom, which also saw threads in this very forum stating the Boom was audiophile - in which case the A5 can make easily the same claim.

I love the 2 Booms I own, but one -which I unfairly located in a medium sized room, our homegym- benefitted from hooking up a subwoofer (and I am not fan of bass, the subwoofer's volume dial is turned to 1 on a 10-scale) - but there is no way I would have ever considerd the Boom an alternative when I had to move away to an apartment for 1 year and *had* to put together a good system, because I can not live without good music. An SB3 with a pair of A5s kep me company for that year and allowed me to truly thoroughly enjoy my music collection far away from home. It never failed to impress people that lstened to it and allowed them to fully immerse themselves in music. It is true the A5s are a tad boomy with the bass if one does not position them right, but a little too much is always better than decidedly too little, which would the the Booms problem for any serious listening when it comes to bass. As the poster that wrote the one and only comparison with A5s in the 2 threads you provided stated:

".. I think it comes down to better sound for less total dollars .."

Or let us hear another A5 opinion from a satisfied owner:

".. I paid 170 EURO for the set. And at that price I think that it would be, at least difficult, to find a match (active or passive w. amp). Sound quality wise I'd recommend them for all kinds of background music. .. So in the end I'm keeping mine based on a combination of price, planned usage, sound quality. .. "

Oh, that was you in
http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=35170

You even went as far as providing a commercial link to a pair of A5s as a tip in the past:
http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34810

Hm. Obviously something sored you on Audioengines. I find your analysis of the past balanced, by the way - but what you have written in this thread shows that you are indeed irrationally negatively biased for whatever reason. Your personal history with whatever brand is your right, I guess.

Back to the original poster: I, and many -included the person that in this thread attacks the A5 solution- can recommend the A5s as a great solution at the price. It is not audiophile, but it comes very close at a price that not too long ago would have been unthinkable. And the Boom does not change that. The Boom is great as a sattelite that sounds clean - but it lacks the depth, stereo separation and bass to provide for long lsitening sessions in front of it, in my opinion. It is great for backgound music, but far more limited for serious dedicated listening than an SB3 with a pair of A5s would be.

[bhaagensen]

boom blablabla /boom

I haven't heard the boom and can only go by what others, including you, are saying.

".. I paid 170 EURO for the set. And at that price I think that it would be, at least difficult, to find a match (active or passive w. amp). Sound quality wise I'd recommend them for all kinds of background music. .. So in the end I'm keeping mine based on a combination of price, planned usage, sound quality. .. "

Oh, that was you in
http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=35170

In that "review" I state that they are not even comparable to entry level stereo systems NAD, Denon, B&W etc. which is exactly the kind of stuff that the A5 price will get you on the 2. hand marked. In fact I "classify" them as computer speakers-like stuff, and use wording like "mediocre", "not up to par", "mess up" etc. In fact everything I said in that post, almost word by word, is exactly what I've been trying to get thru in this thread.

The only thing that's changed is that I have now heard the Fostex 0.4 and they sound better. This proves that its possible to do better; even if you don't believe in getting used gear sold by, in many cases, people just like ourselves.

As I stated I paid only 170 euro and kept them based on several parameters, only one of which had to do with sound quality. In other words, a compromise as far as the sound quality parameter is concerned. This would be the kind of compromise I spoke of in my first post in this thread.

You even went as far as providing a commercial link to a pair of A5s as a tip in the past:
http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=34810

... and so what?

Hm. Obviously something sored you on Audioengines. I find your analysis of the past balanced, by the way - but what you have written in this thread shows that you are indeed irrationally negatively biased for whatever reason. Your personal history with whatever brand is your right, I guess.

If you agree on the stuff I said in that thread, how can you now disagree when I'm saying exactly the same things? I'm not trying to be negative. I'm providing complementary and additional comments to the merits of the A5's. The pros certainly seems well covered, and my posts reflects the cons. That's it.

My recommendation on the A5, then and now, is to be interpreted modulo other parameters than sound quality.

Anyway, OP I urge you to post if you have questions or opinions that haven't been covered in this thread.

[NewBuyer]

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?...Georg

Hi George,

Yes I returned the Dynaudios after both the retailer and then Dynaudio themselves, told me the hiss from the tweeters was normal. Apparently it results from having no volume control on the speaker unit (according to Dynaudio). Certainly not happening from anything further up the signal chain. This result was very disappointing to me, as I enjoyed the sound of the Dynaudios very much - but in the end I just cannot stand hiss, it just drives me nuts over time.

The Quads have no hiss, and sound very nice indeed - different from the Dynaudios (and much better looking). But neither the Quads nor the Dynaudios can hold a candle to the sound quality of a good set of audiophile speakers with a good separate amp - not even close. Keep the powered monitors when their convenience outweighs the sound quality difference - this is my advice to anybody considering them!

[cbemoore]

I'm amazed no-one's mentioned Mackie monitors yet. I've got a set of HR624's, and they're absolutely fantastic.

Alternatively, Genelec monitors are almost universally acclaimed, so they've got to be worth an audition....

[pfarrell]

cbemoore wrote:
> I'm amazed no-one's mentioned Mackie monitors yet. I've got a set of
> HR624's, and they're absolutely fantastic.

I have a paid of HR828 and they are fantastic. But, they are not cheap,
mine were about $1200 for the pair. They are pretty ugly, they are fine
for my recording studio, but way too ugly for my wife's approval.

And the big thing: they are studio monitors. They aim to reveal what the
music sounds like. They do not hide anything with warmth. So its like
watching HD TV with an older news anchor, where the age lines and
wrinkles that you never saw on regular TV are now clear and easy to see.

--
Pat Farrell
http://www.pfarrell.com/

[radish]

I also have a pair of Swans M-200's (based on a recommendation from this forum some time ago). They're serving as bedroom speakers right now, hooked up to a Tivo and an SB2. Sound quality is (IMHO) excellent for the price, and the build quality is also pretty amazing. Highly recommended if you can find a pair (I think they've been discontinued for a while).

http://www.swanspeaker.com/product/htm/view.asp?id=3

[pablolie]

cbemoore wrote:
> I'm amazed no-one's mentioned Mackie monitors yet. I've got a set of
> HR624's, and they're absolutely fantastic.

I have a paid of HR828 and they are fantastic. ...

Original poster: check them out... I have learned over the years to place great trust in Mr Farrell's opinions. *I* am going to check out those speakers, you can count on that.