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I'm done with "fun but fake." Looking for suggestions.

theprofessor

theprofessor

Well-Known Member
I've had my JBL 4312a Monitors for about 10 months or so. Initially, I liked them a whole lot; I found them to be much more forward than my AR-3s, but the boxy and boomy bass is really detracting from my overall listening experience. I don't want something that is bass heavy, but I would like something with improved extension. I have some friends who are willing to lend me some speakers to demo (Walsh 2s and Heresy), but I am open to other suggestions. New or old doesn't matter to me.

My amp is a McIntosh MC2105 and I have a budget of $1,000.
 
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Good call on the JBLs (IMNHSO) - never cared for 'em... and virtually all JBL HF drivers/horns are far too shrill for me.

You might like the vintage ads speakers. Try a pair of L-710 or L-810.
 
Open with good imaging?

Any electrostatic but they will be outside of your budget.

Rogers LS 3/5 A + sub-woofer

I have a set of B&W satellites I am driving with a 2105 along with a powered PSB sub-woofer. It sounds ok to me.

These are not going to make your ears ring like the JBLs will but at a moderate listening level they are more than fine.
 
I got used maggies and a M&K sub for $300, deals are out there. That setup sounds amazing on everything but rock.
 
New or recently used PSB towers, like the Image series, are nice if you were at all interested in going with something more recent. You can find some good deals on those, even new, and they're really nice sounding speakers with a nice, 'airy' extension up top.

Maybe look into some vintage British speakers like older B&Ws or Kef or Celestion...really good imaging for the most part, really easy to listen to top end without feeling like they're rolled off to achieve that. Bass is usually not boomy on the one's I've heard.

It's hard to really know what to suggest, as speaker likes and dislikes are so subjective and personal. I know that I don't like JBLs, pretty much any I've heard, but like the speakers I listed as well as everything that's been suggested by others.
 
go to Barter Town

I see you are a subscriber.
I recommend a set of Dahlquist DQ-10s.
There is/was a set in Barter Town for about 3 bills.
Mine need a little work but its incredible how good they sound.
 
You might try looking for a pair of ESS Rock Monitors. Pretty-much full-range (the woofers get down there), with the "sound clear as air" high end of the big AMTs, and --unlike a few of the other ESS models-- a nicely filled-in midrange. Fantastic imaging, clear sound, very little to dislike with these. If your upstream components are flawed (perhaps suffering from "digital harshness", etc...), you'll hear that, too, but your Mac amp should be fine (delicious, really) with these. You should be able to find a pair within your budget.

There are many other possibilities; too many to list them all.

If you want deep bass extension but without too much bloat, look into transmission line speakers, as well. Done well, they get w-a-y down there.

EDIT: blhagstrom's suggestion of the DQ-10 was actually something I started to suggest, before thinking of a bunch more and changing it to "many possibilities"! It's definitely a good suggestion for another overall great vintage speaker what would be well within budget.
 
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how about some AR 10pi's or AR11's? basically an updated 3, that allegedly aren't supposed to be as laid back...

or how about the mid 90's AR303's, a modern version of the 3's

http://classicspeakerpages.net/libr...r_303_series_brochure_pg2.html#previous-photo

I like my Recoton era AR 312 HO's if you're looking for floorstanders. they handle music and HT very well.

all of these can be found on craigslist/fleabay for under 5 bills....

for $1k, you should be able to find some nice refurbed AR9's...
 
Allison Acoustics. I recently picked up a pair for only $50 and the mid-bass all through to the high end sound pretty accurate and pleasing. I'm learning to like my HPM-40's (later models), I also have Vienna Acoustic Haydns (earlier version) that are one of my favorite speakers. For my HT I'm running Mach One's, but I've found they serve quite handsomely with everything else thrown at them (re-cap is a must as they are over 30 years old). I have some Infinity 4000's that have strong presence, but not harsh, though they may be a little weak for you on the bottom end. With only a couple exceptions, most of my speakers are acoustic suspension. The ones that are not tend to be a bit more "boomy" than the others.

You'll need to provide room characteristics for better feedback since some speakers are very particular about room placement and room acoustics. Wrong match of speaker and floor plan can be disasterous.
 
Well I went from JBL 4311's to New Large Advents...

But if I was buyin with a budget like that I'd go get those Dahlquist's on Barter Town, or some Klipsch Chorus II's...
 
Give the Ohm Walshs a good once over. I love my Walsh 3's and have listened to both 2's and 4's. Very non-fatiguing, quite transparent and the bass (with proper wattage) is crisp and solid. They have actually ended my speaker quest for the past few months!:yes:
 
theprofessor said:
I've had my JBL 4312a Monitors for about 10 months or so. Initially, I liked them a whole lot; I found them to be much more forward than my AR-3s, but the boxy and boomy bass is really detracting from my overall listening experience. I don't want something that is bass heavy, but I would like something with improved extension. I have some friends who are willing to lend me some speakers to demo (Walsh 2s and Heresy), but I am open to other suggestions. New or old doesn't matter to me.

My amp is a McIntosh MC2105 and I have a budget of $1,000.
Click to expand...

Try the JBL L96 if you can

You will be in for a surprise

If mellow is what you seek, try the AR-5, better sounding overall speaker than any of the "3"s in my opinion

These suggestions assuming you plan to stay with approximately the same size box

Jim
 
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My DQ-10s paired with the DQ-1 Sub and crossover sound pretty amazing.
I was listening to kind of blue and 11:11 last night and I am consistently impressed with this set up.

Good luck

Eric
 
Instead of getting rid of the speakers for something else that may have problems of it's own, why don't you fix the problems with your current speakers.

Here is a good article about measuring the JBL L100 and how the author went about "fixing" the problems he discovered.

JBL L100 Upgrade kit

The kit is available from PartsExpress for about $300.00.
 
I'll throw in the DCM TimeFrame's. I got some TF-400's a few days back and have been listening to them daily. Very good sounding speaker with good but not boomy bass :yes:
 
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