Smooth small modern bookshelves

[Nimbley]

It looks like you’re having fun experimenting. One of my favorite things to do is swap around hardware and find what works together. Speakers that sound boring or annoying on one amplifier might be audio bliss on another. I’ve put together multiple setups in all the primary rooms in my house. I enjoy listening to a different sound from time to time.

 

[blademan13]

You are speaking my language says the man with WAY to many receivers, amps & speakers. Experimentation is what I find so entertaining with this hobby

 

[bhairavi]

Haha I said I was done with amps while I have a NAD on the way.

But really, I'm done with amps.

I A/B'd the 555a and the HK430 for a long time last night. They're a pretty good match - both 25w and during/right after the cap-coupled era.

Observations: NAD is darker. Sounds really good with the Viennas. Like a big wool blanket for my ears. The 'contour' function of the HK is pretty subtle compared to the loudness on the Sansui - it only increases the bass +5db. I can't tell a difference in clarity or imaging. Will add the Sierras back in the mix tonight...

 

[bhairavi]

The Fritz Grove didn't sound all that great - very boomy. Might just be the room. They are rear ported and the room is only 12x14 I believe. Will have to try them with the 717.

 

[bhairavi]

Back in the mix - fixed up both the HK and the NAD, and finally got my hands on some Superones, as well as a pair of ADS L300e.




Time to do another head to head (to head...) with the Haydns, Superones, RC10s, Sierras, and the new to me ADS. I've half a mind to take down the B&W 685s installed in my garage, since these are all very close in size.

 

[bhairavi]

Oh yeah and I bought the superones from a guy who had two pairs, unfortunately I got the made in China ones, while the other is made in USA. He agreed to let me trade them out when I'm down that way again.

Also bought a pair of ADS L710s that had blown out tweeters and need a lot of cabinet work. Sadly Richard So is out on vacation, so now I'm thinking I'll buy anither pair of ADS L400s to steal their tweeters and tide me over until Mr So returns.

 

[bhairavi]

Back to report that @rickb119 was right. I swapped the US-made Superones and finally got around to hooking them up for a late night listening session. Very smooth. The Chinese versions were forward and voiced higher. These are fantastic. In fact they sound quite similar to the Energy RC10s, but the Energys have more of the mids scooped, these are a bit more level. Respectable bass. Coherent is the word. Love em. I could live with these for all my near-field needs - I've recently gotten a clearer picture of where things are headed - or rather where they end. Getting rid of most of the amps and basically every speaker that isn't an ADS. This conviction was further cemented by the acquisition of L710s which needed new tweeters. Since Richard So is on vacation, I went and found some donor L400s, and couldn't pass on a deal for some L420s for 60 bucks. These three sets of speakers together yielded enough tweeters and woofers to run two pairs.

The L710s, ADS's smallest three ways, truly are fantastic. That same smooth ADS sound I found in the 1590s and 1290s. Why did I ever stray? But I gotta say, even though I agree a lot of the magic resides in the soft domes, the two ways are wonderful in their own way. I recently picked up a Sansui AU-222, what I consider my final amplifier acquisition, and have it set up in the garage as I work on it, along with the L420s. Man, what synergy! I don't think I've noted such musicality before. Waiting on a mouser order to finish the restoration of the 222, and then the speakers and amp both come inside.

I even re-painted the 222 the same color as the grills on the 420s..






All of which is to say, I think I could be happy with any of these speakers -
Ascend Sierras
Vienna Haydns
Energy RC10s
NHT Superones
ADS L420s

The less impressive for me were the ADS L300e I also picked up from the same guy who originally sold me my L1290s and the L400s, and the Cantons. The L300es will probably become my tester speakers just because they're small and space is at a premium in the workshop. The one leftover pair of Cantons will be sold, as will all of the other speakers except the ADS and NHTs. As impressive as new speaker technology is, especially in the realm of bass reproduction out of tiny enclosures, I just don't need more than one pair of 'smooth small bookshelves'. With that, I conclude this thread. Thanks to everyone for their recommendations.

 

[bhairavi]

Well since all of this I found some Totem Dreamcatchers that are fantastic for nearfield in my office, driven by a relatively modern Sansui A-a7. They really are much clearer than the Energy RC minis I had in their place, but still relatively small at 11" high with a 4" woofer. Of course bass suffers, though I don't need a lot. Only catch with the Sansui is that it has a single set of speaker outs. So today I brought in an amp/speaker switch and took advantage of the biamp capabilities of the Energy RC10s, sticking them under my L-shaped desk and hooking up just the woofers in parallel with Totems - like a pair of subwoofers!

Sounds good but I think I'll have to be careful about sound leakage now - the Energys put out a prodigious amount of (mid)bass.

 

[bhairavi]

Another update: Dreamcatchers were sounding a bit sharp and the bass wasn't very satisfying, even with the Energy RC10s taking over some of the bass duty. Replaced with the NHT Superones. Way smoother with fuller bass! The Superones really are special @rickb119

 

[zenith2134]

Back to report that @rickb119 was right. I swapped the US-made Superones and finally got around to hooking them up for a late night listening session. Very smooth. The Chinese versions were forward and voiced higher. These are fantastic. In fact they sound quite similar to the Energy RC10s, but the Energys have more of the mids scooped, these are a bit more level. Respectable bass. Coherent is the word. Love em. I could live with these for all my near-field needs - I've recently gotten a clearer picture of where things are headed - or rather where they end. Getting rid of most of the amps and basically every speaker that isn't an ADS. This conviction was further cemented by the acquisition of L710s which needed new tweeters. Since Richard So is on vacation, I went and found some donor L400s, and couldn't pass on a deal for some L420s for 60 bucks. These three sets of speakers together yielded enough tweeters and woofers to run two pairs.

The L710s, ADS's smallest three ways, truly are fantastic. That same smooth ADS sound I found in the 1590s and 1290s. Why did I ever stray? But I gotta say, even though I agree a lot of the magic resides in the soft domes, the two ways are wonderful in their own way. I recently picked up a Sansui AU-222, what I consider my final amplifier acquisition, and have it set up in the garage as I work on it, along with the L420s. Man, what synergy! I don't think I've noted such musicality before. Waiting on a mouser order to finish the restoration of the 222, and then the speakers and amp both come inside.

I even re-painted the 222 the same color as the grills on the 420s..

View attachment 3508193




All of which is to say, I think I could be happy with any of these speakers -
Ascend Sierras
Vienna Haydns
Energy RC10s
NHT Superones
ADS L420s

The less impressive for me were the ADS L300e I also picked up from the same guy who originally sold me my L1290s and the L400s, and the Cantons. The L300es will probably become my tester speakers just because they're small and space is at a premium in the workshop. The one leftover pair of Cantons will be sold, as will all of the other speakers except the ADS and NHTs. As impressive as new speaker technology is, especially in the realm of bass reproduction out of tiny enclosures, I just don't need more than one pair of 'smooth small bookshelves'. With that, I conclude this thread. Thanks to everyone for their recommendations.

I'm ashamed to admit that I had never heard of Ascend until today.

Really wish there was a place I could hear all the speakers I read about! I'm not someone who believes that one can assess speaker performance via Youtube's Opus audio codec, regardless of which transducer you're using.

The Ascends look nice. I may just flip the switch on a pair of the bookshelves. I love Made In USA and the fact that they'll run pretty rigorous testing on your actual speakers for a small fee.

 

[bhairavi]

I'm ashamed to admit that I had never heard of Ascend until today.

Really wish there was a place I could hear all the speakers I read about! I'm not someone who believes that one can assess speaker performance via Youtube's Opus audio codec, regardless of which transducer you're using.

The Ascends look nice. I may just flip the switch on a pair of the bookshelves. I love Made In USA and the fact that they'll run pretty rigorous testing on your actual speakers for a small fee.

So I just broke the Ascend Sierras out recently while working on a Sansui D607X in the garage. The combo sounded so good that I brought the Sierras in and set them up next to the L710s and did an A/B today. Using a Fisher 500C, I found much to my chagrin that my wife and I like the Sierra 1v2 better. Mainly this is because it is even less forward and smoother than the L710s. Basically it's a relatively dark speaker and at the same time very clear. Incredibly competent, it can match the bass on the L710, a speaker 4-5 times its volume! And these aren't even the LX versions which go even lower.

That said, the 710s sounded more open. Maybe it's just the enclosure, but I suspect this might be simply because the Sierras are pretty low sensitivity and may need more power than the Fisher can provide at high volumes. Next up I'm going to try them with the Sansui AU-7700.



In the past I've thought if I ever had to move to another country and could only one amp and one set of speakers, it would be the AU-7700 / Sierra combo.

 

[bhairavi]

In the past I've thought if I ever had to move to another country and could only one amp and one set of speakers, it would be the AU-7700 / Sierra combo.

Returning to this thread after another year and a half of buying/trying/selling.

Since I left this thread I've tried the following speakers:
ADS L300e
ADS L400 (small)
ADS L420
ADS CM7
Totem Dreamcatchers
ADS L400 (large)
ADS L710 metal
ADS 570/2
ADS 520
ADS L1290 walnut
ADS L810
Bose 901 series ii+EQ
Bose 901 series 1
NHT Outdoor One
NHT SuperOne #2
KEF C25
ADS L300c
Wharfedale 225
NHT SB1
Mission 8VET
Quad S2
Pinnacle PN5+
Rogersound 3300
Canton Karat 60
NHT SuperOne #3
B&W DM 302

Of all the ones I've tried, I've only kept the ones I've bolded. And ignoring my large ADS, I have become pretty hung up on small. Small is beautiful.

If I had to pick now a pair of speakers and an amp for a temporary move or international travel, it would be the Sansui AU-222 and the Mission 8VET, AKA the made in England versions of the MS-50s.





Which brings me to the present. I'm pleasantly surprised by the size of the Wharfedale Denton 80ths I just received. I don't hear the sharpness or harshness in treble that some folks have complained about. And they're gorgeous. I'm even more excited about a pair of Dali Menuets on their way to me from over the Pacific.