which direction does this call for

Okay, so I think with a piece as nice as the Marantz, you will be best served with something at another level than the old DR120's for sure. This is one of those situations where the old tech of those speakers just can't keep up with the signal from that Marantz. For speakers you could do something somewhat vintage like ADS, or go new where there are tons of options and you just gotta balance budget with, size, access etc. Could be fun.

With the PM8004, do you have the Source Direct engaged to bypass the tone controls? Also, did you try another source like a CD player of turntable yet with it to see if the phone signal is adding fuel to the fire?

Update: Looks like above while I was typing you mentioned using a CD player.

 

I wouldn't judge music/sonic quality off a phone. go to a thrift store, Craigslist, or eBay and
buy a cheap CD player. get a couple of $1 CDs. then try your combinations.

whatever works for gen1 may not work after the first couple of upgrades. I thought my
first phonograph - a blue vinyl-covered 2 tube player sounded magnificent.

 

i havent tried a cd player for the marantz yet though im sure it would yield better results than the phone just like what happened when i used the cd player through the NEC.

the pm-8004 does have source direct and i think it may even make it brighter

i cant base my speaker purchase off the idea of a DAC because while i would like one, im so far from even thinking about getting one that it just shouldnt be a factor. if i can find speakers that work with the pm-8004 and iphone, then a DAC is always an option on the table to improve even further but that bridge will get crossed when it is time, and for me it is not time

 

there has not been one piece of gear i have come across that i havent been able to accurately rank against others using just the iphone. the same gear stays the same rank when the source is a cd player, the sound is just better for all the gear when a cd player is used.

 

Didn't wade through the tread but if someone's gonna design an amp that obsoletes all here to fore speakers then maybe they need to design some speakers for it.

 

is this really that complicated of a question? obviously since they are completely unknown speakers for the most part that is playing a role in the direction of this thread, but is it really that hard to consider there might be something to the whole speakers from 1982 thing? speakers have come a long way since 1982 a lot because drivers themselves have become much better since 1982. im personally not surprised in the least the amp from 1988 is a better fit nor do i care, im actually quite happy about that for many reasons particular to my daily life so really i suppose the question is...

what direction should i be looking for bookshelf speakers for brighter amps? someone has to have experience with this on here, there just has to be someone.. are there no newer rotel owners on this site???

 

I can relate to the question, but only from way back stuff. My old Yamaha CR-600 sounds as sterile as it looks. It doesn't like ANY bright vintage speaker such as old Pioneer CS99A. It does sound marvelous with large Wharfedale 70 and such. In the older bookshelf world it LOVES Dynaco 40XL. All of which are to obsolete and compromising to do you any good I would assume.
So yes I conclude that your new amp can be tamed with the right state of the art book shelf speaker.
I can't recommend a modern speaker for you because I would be talking about that of which I do not know.

 

Listen to some KEFs and Monitor Audio speakers; find whether they do anything for you.

 

As I stated earlier the Elac F series, Totem Acoustic Sky.... new speakers. The Elac B6 is now on sale for $200 down from $280!
I would think the ADS 710 would be awesome for vintage, or the 620, 630.

 

I'd just like to drop in and say that age does not necessarily have anything to do with sound quality. Good design works regardless of era.

I am running a true triode amplifier into drivers that have history running back to the 1940's. They are still great designs and sound pretty good.

I have owned NEC amplifiers before and while it has been a long time, I recall one sounding dark to me.

Many people here actually are familiar with your speakers, but they are not well regarded. That's not intended as a slam, just to explain the silence on that count. People have not discussed them because usually our intention is to build up members instead of making them feel inferior. My point is only that they are not a wild card in this discussion.

One final suggestion, and I hope this hasn't sounded too harsh... I did not read the deleted posts, but some of the confusion here must be coming from the way your messages are written. Capitalization, punctuation, and clearer questions will help you connect to people who are excited to talk about all this.

Cheers

PS I just attempted to fix some text problems in my own post. I'm not above unclear posts either it seems.

 

ive seen people talk more about speakers that guaranteed sound worse than these speakers. i know these are decent speakers and i know they arent anything special ive already made that clear, i didnt really need you to clarify that as if its the reason why no one has anything to say about them.

i happened to do the research on them prior to purchasing them for super cheap and literally no one had any information past they were sold from 1982-1985

so forgive me for entirely still chalking that to no one knowing about them. you didnt happen to share any info about them other than “they arent well regarded”

well all my friends that hear them say its the best they’ve ever heard a lot of the heavy metal music we listen to, after the same friends went unimpressed by many different previous speakers ive had in the same listening space.

they were the top of the line speaker offered from marantz in 1982, you mean to tell me that marantz and philips electronics couldnt make a good sounding speaker? get real man! thanks for your opinion DUDE

the speakers are absolutely a wild card in this discussion as i would wager i and yourself are the only ones involved in this conversation that have even seen them in person!!

 

Hey man no doubt. U welcome.

 

It's these responses that turn people off from giving you responses you're looking for. Your responses give the appearance that you're looking for a fight, and not necessarily looking for information to help you make a decision.
My suggestion is that you should type out your response first and let it sit for about a half hour, then read it again. You may notice the rough edges and decide to rephrase certain "rough" passages of your response and soften the edges so you'll get the response you're looking for.

Disregard all I've said if all you're looking for is controversy.

 

my suggestion is maybe suggest what speakers i could use for a bright amp? everything else is irrelevant????? what the hell happened to this thread?!?!?!?!?

 

Agreed. Maybe it's foolish to take another crack at this, but just to reiterate we are all here to meet other hobbyists and develop relationships. The majority of us here are pretty excited to meet another audio buddy and we're willing to work it out.

 

if you want to talk shit about my marantz speakers go do it in the thread i created for them, if you wanna talk shit about my attitude take it to feedback,

because last time i checked this thread is for speaker ideas for bright amps!!!

or in this case, speakers for my pm-8004

thats it

 

Dude, don't you see that it's you bringing this thread down? No one responding to you is talking shit, but you're taking it that way. Relax, don't be quick to respond, take a deep breath and take some of the suggestions I've given. I believe you'll notice that we are attempting to help. Don't take things so personally.

 

1. modification: If you are looking for less bright speakers, your best bet would be to install NOS capacitors that have begun drying out or install Lpads where a resistor is in the crossover schematic. This will allow you to tailor the response of the speakers.

2. Other solutions in your chain: It is difficult to diagnose based on the criteria "bright" because even dark speakers will sound harsh with iPhone input. If you are playing MP3 files or streams that are not lossless, then part of your unpleasant brightness is coming from your source. If you can find an inexpensive R2R DAC with an old Phillips multibit chip, you may be able to get a smoother digital in that you can link your phone to.

3. outright suggestions: Generally speaking if your amp is too bright you would want to stay away from anything with a horn or metal dome. Silk dome tweeters could work well.
Other speakers that sounded dark to me included OL Advents with original caps, Genesis inverted dome speakers with original caps, and AR speakers with original caps.

 

you just really must understand that you are telling someone who could enjoy properly placed bose 201 speakers that their totl marantz speakers from 1982 “are not well regarded”

they are the best sounding speaker i have owned bud and i listen to them constantly. does that mean they are great? NO, but what does that have to do with anything? you really went out of your way to tell me my marantz speakers arent good and it was really obvious

i dont take kindly to that

 

now thats some information! really, thank you thats keepin things on track