mayank_asthana
New Member
I'll give a backstory first.
I bought the Logitech Z2300 around 10 years back, for use as desktop speakers. It worked great for a few years and then the tiny speakers started vibrating. Binding the speakers with a tight rope reduced the vibrations but it never was good enough. So to replace the speakers, I bought the Wharfedale diamond 10.2 about 8 years back and used it with the subwoofer + amplifier from Logitech z2300. Moved them to the hall to use them with the TV. The sound was acceptable. Then the subwoofer began rattling and vibrating and became quite annoying. Then the proprietary volume controller developed a loose connection. Got it repaired. I recently bought a house and the previous owner left his audio receiver (Yamaha AX 592) there, which sadly wasn't working. But it looked quite beefy and expensive, so got it repaired for Rs 4k. It worked great, but it would sometimes shut off by itself, and there would be a periodic noise from the woofer. And it ended up blowing one of the speakers' woofer. My dad insisted on getting it repaired and it was a very cheap recoling/reconing process for 400 rupees. As expected it doesn't sound close to the other speaker at all. Although I was quite impressed how good it still sounded.
Now, I am quite annoyed with the whole setup and want to get things in order.
Now, let me describe what I want to use them for. I play the keyboard and digital piano and want to get good sound. I generally play with backing tracks from youtube (on tv). So, need to be able to get audio from multiple sources at the same time (probably will buy an audio mixer). We also like to host karaoke parties. My keyboard (Roland Juno Di) has a good mic input with audio effects. For karaoke, sound must be quite loud so that people feel comfortable getting into the groove and singing. Also, connecting a mic will have high frequency feedback and low frequency thuds and pops from the mic, so the amp/speaker should be rugged enough. We also took the existing setup (the z2300 amp + sub + wharfedale speakers + mic + keyboard) to a friend's farmhouse, and had lots of fun. This usecase will be quite rare though, especially in this Covid era.
I would also like to record and master me playing music for youtube in the future.
The main usecase is for TV. I have the iffalcon 65 inch android tv, and videocon HD DTH. Most of the time, youtube or hotstar or a live streaming tv app is playing from the TV. I had been connecting the headphone out from the tv to yamaha amplifier RCA. It worked all right. But, for 5.1 channel audio sources from all these streaming apps, the dialogue is too low and background music is too high, making the speakers unusable for TV. So, I would also like to solve for this.
The old z2300 subwoofer still kind of works, even with the rattling, so would like to still use them if required. Also, the old pair of speakers still do work, so I could delegate it to a secondary setup somewhere. The repaired yamaha amplifier, I don't less willing to continue to use it, lest it also blows up any new speakers I buy.
Other gear that I have - Roland RP 102 digital piano (no line outputs), Lexicon Alpha USB audio interface.
This looks like a tall order as my usecases seem to combine different audio worlds - PA system, Home theater system, casual listening, studio monitor etc. AND I have a comparitively small budget. I am willing to live with shortcomings on some of these usecases.
Listening space -
I have a rectangular hall, where the listening position is quite far and there is not much space between the speakers. The speakers need to be placed right next to the 65 inch tv.
What I have looked at till now -
JBL 308p mkii (saw it at Rs. 15k each on Amazon a few days back, might come back at that price). Although the price is very attractive, since it is a powered speaker and thus don't need to buy an additional amplifier / receiver, I am concerned about the long term ownership cost because it is constructed with cheap MDF and has too much digital circuitry. The directivity due to the waveguide might help with getting a good soundstage, in my living room, where the distance between the speakers is not much and the listening position is far.
Also looked at JBL 306p mkii but it is costlier than the 308P. The JBL 305p mkii is cheaper but may not be powerful enough.
I looked at other studio monitors as well - the Kali audio LP 6, M Audio BX8 etc. More expensive than the JBLs.
I have also looked at a few active PA speakers, but don't think they will sound very good for TV.
AV recievers are ok, but I don't really need 5.1 audio and any of the video capabilities, so why pay for them? I do need the 5.1 to 2 channel downmixing which AV receivers do seem to provide but not the other things.
Haven't looked at intergrated amp + passive speakers, but can tell it probably won't fit my budget.
Any suggestions / dialogue would be appreciated. And would be happy to extend my budget in search of good audio.
I bought the Logitech Z2300 around 10 years back, for use as desktop speakers. It worked great for a few years and then the tiny speakers started vibrating. Binding the speakers with a tight rope reduced the vibrations but it never was good enough. So to replace the speakers, I bought the Wharfedale diamond 10.2 about 8 years back and used it with the subwoofer + amplifier from Logitech z2300. Moved them to the hall to use them with the TV. The sound was acceptable. Then the subwoofer began rattling and vibrating and became quite annoying. Then the proprietary volume controller developed a loose connection. Got it repaired. I recently bought a house and the previous owner left his audio receiver (Yamaha AX 592) there, which sadly wasn't working. But it looked quite beefy and expensive, so got it repaired for Rs 4k. It worked great, but it would sometimes shut off by itself, and there would be a periodic noise from the woofer. And it ended up blowing one of the speakers' woofer. My dad insisted on getting it repaired and it was a very cheap recoling/reconing process for 400 rupees. As expected it doesn't sound close to the other speaker at all. Although I was quite impressed how good it still sounded.
Now, I am quite annoyed with the whole setup and want to get things in order.
Now, let me describe what I want to use them for. I play the keyboard and digital piano and want to get good sound. I generally play with backing tracks from youtube (on tv). So, need to be able to get audio from multiple sources at the same time (probably will buy an audio mixer). We also like to host karaoke parties. My keyboard (Roland Juno Di) has a good mic input with audio effects. For karaoke, sound must be quite loud so that people feel comfortable getting into the groove and singing. Also, connecting a mic will have high frequency feedback and low frequency thuds and pops from the mic, so the amp/speaker should be rugged enough. We also took the existing setup (the z2300 amp + sub + wharfedale speakers + mic + keyboard) to a friend's farmhouse, and had lots of fun. This usecase will be quite rare though, especially in this Covid era.
I would also like to record and master me playing music for youtube in the future.
The main usecase is for TV. I have the iffalcon 65 inch android tv, and videocon HD DTH. Most of the time, youtube or hotstar or a live streaming tv app is playing from the TV. I had been connecting the headphone out from the tv to yamaha amplifier RCA. It worked all right. But, for 5.1 channel audio sources from all these streaming apps, the dialogue is too low and background music is too high, making the speakers unusable for TV. So, I would also like to solve for this.
The old z2300 subwoofer still kind of works, even with the rattling, so would like to still use them if required. Also, the old pair of speakers still do work, so I could delegate it to a secondary setup somewhere. The repaired yamaha amplifier, I don't less willing to continue to use it, lest it also blows up any new speakers I buy.
Other gear that I have - Roland RP 102 digital piano (no line outputs), Lexicon Alpha USB audio interface.
This looks like a tall order as my usecases seem to combine different audio worlds - PA system, Home theater system, casual listening, studio monitor etc. AND I have a comparitively small budget. I am willing to live with shortcomings on some of these usecases.
Listening space -
I have a rectangular hall, where the listening position is quite far and there is not much space between the speakers. The speakers need to be placed right next to the 65 inch tv.
What I have looked at till now -
JBL 308p mkii (saw it at Rs. 15k each on Amazon a few days back, might come back at that price). Although the price is very attractive, since it is a powered speaker and thus don't need to buy an additional amplifier / receiver, I am concerned about the long term ownership cost because it is constructed with cheap MDF and has too much digital circuitry. The directivity due to the waveguide might help with getting a good soundstage, in my living room, where the distance between the speakers is not much and the listening position is far.
Also looked at JBL 306p mkii but it is costlier than the 308P. The JBL 305p mkii is cheaper but may not be powerful enough.
I looked at other studio monitors as well - the Kali audio LP 6, M Audio BX8 etc. More expensive than the JBLs.
I have also looked at a few active PA speakers, but don't think they will sound very good for TV.
AV recievers are ok, but I don't really need 5.1 audio and any of the video capabilities, so why pay for them? I do need the 5.1 to 2 channel downmixing which AV receivers do seem to provide but not the other things.
Haven't looked at intergrated amp + passive speakers, but can tell it probably won't fit my budget.
Any suggestions / dialogue would be appreciated. And would be happy to extend my budget in search of good audio.
