audiodelic
Well-Known Member
yes i have a radio shack spl meter so i want to try and calibrate it using this .... but im not too sure how to use spl meter for 2.1 calibration so hopefully some of the expert members might help and guide me.
Entry level speakers: Wharfedale 10.1, 10.2 or Audioengine A5 or P4
- Thread starter abhiroopb
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psychotropic
Well-Known Member
60 hz sounds a bit adventurous when you're pairing it with the A5s, but if it doesn't sound like you're missing anything, I guess that's good. Perhaps you could experiment with sub positioning to take care of the booming?
Generally what is a good position for the sub? In terms of where I sit at my desk and where the two speakers are?
Right now I have the left speaker about 1.5m away the right speaker also 1.5m away and the sub is just at my feet, it is slightly more towards the left speaker.
The main problem I have is I don't have a long enough RCA connector if I were to move the sub anywhere. However, I wouldn't mind getting a longer one if it would improve the sound.
Any suggestions?
grubyhalo
New Member
Ah I see. I was kind of guessing you might have had problems with large-scale classical work, which appears to be the case. Ofcourse, you could try a CD of the same piece and see how it plays.
While I'm not very familiar with the Symphonie Fastastique, I generally use this version of Carmina Burana to see if a speaker gets flustered playing complex material.
You might want to post a rough sketch of your room with dimensions and markers for the speaks, sub and the listening position...
Unfortunately, I am quite busy this week so I don't think I'll have time to try listening to much. Will have to wait till the weekend! But, please by all means carry on suggesting!
Are the A5's generally good for this sort of music? I mean the main reason I got it was because I primarily listen to rock and pop and listen a little less to jazz and classical. For rock it's great (especially the sound of the guitar and drums). It just starts to get "muddy" in the vocals. Again I think this is the speakers fault.
The IKEA Billy Bookcase is actually quite good as stands for a number of reasons. Firstly, it is 1.06 m in height so it is exactly at my ear level. What I have done is to fill the three shelves of the bookcase with the heaviest (hard cover) books I have. Although the bookcase itself is not very sturdy at all (typical IKEA!) after filling it up with VERY heavy books it is virtually impossible to move the thing. Thirdly, I bought velcro tabs which have sticky tape on them. One side i put on the shelves and the other side I put underneath both the left and right speakers. This keeps it quite firmly attached to the shelves and the shelves in turn are stuck to their positions as I have loaded them up with books. So, in sum the shelf barely shakes at all. There are still some vibrations obviously but very very minor.
Anyway I think the subwoofer placement is the main thing as I moved it around a bit and now it sounds much better.
So, I have uploaded a photo of my room (NOT to scale) and was wondering if you could assist with the placement of my subwoofer. The red X is where the sub was originally (under the glass computer table) and the green X is where I moved it to yesterday night. The main problem with its current location is that it is quite far away from the powered speaker (about 2.5 m) and I need to now go out and buy a longer cable! Picture of my room: This is my room with speaker placements on Twitpic
Speaking of cables...I know there is a CRAZY amount of discussion on what is good/what is bad but what I need are essentially two cables, one that goes from my ASUS (RCA output) to the A5 line in (3.5mm input) and another cable that is quite long (perhaps 5 m to 10 m) that goes from the A5 (RCA output) to the S8 sub (RCA input). Any cable suggestions? Again I don't need anything particularly fancy, but as I want fairly long length I am worried about signal degradation. I want to budget maybe S$20 for each cable, but I have no idea how much these things generally cost!
Anyway, so summary:
1. Placement of S8 subwoofer
2. Where to buy RCA to 3.5mm cable and RCA to RCA cable.
grubyhalo
New Member
I'm not an expert, but the green X seems to be the only possible place for the sub apart from under your desk. Also, I'd probably move the CPU tower off the table or atleast move it horizontally behind the monitor, along the rear wall. Regarding cables, I'm really not familiar with any place ( or website) in SG where you can get cables cheap, a la Monoprice or Blue Jeans. I'm sure more knowledgeable folks would chime in...
Yes aesthetically the room looks perfect right now. Someone has recommended a subwoofer isolation unit, to basically raise the thing of the ground. Apparently it helps with the "booming" effect. Again I will have to have a look and find where I can get this. Sounds interesting, especially as I am having a problem with the "booming".
Apologies if the picture wasn't clear, the tower was also under the desk (not actually on the table). I don't think my table could support its weight!
Is there anything I should be looking for in speaker cables? I have got recommendations for places they may do custom ones. Essentially it is about S$3-4 per meter for the cable and another 10 or so for the plugs (1 x 3.5mm and 3 x RCA).
Like I said I know there are a lot of discussions about which cables work best, etc. but I am looking for a general feeling on what (if anything) I should be looking for. I mean does it really improve the sound? I guess proper shielding is high on my list as the cables are all near my power outlets, monitors and tower.
grubyhalo
New Member
I'm sure you're aware but just wanted to confirm that since you're hooking up a pair of powered-speakers, you're looking at RCA interconnects and not speaker wires.
The price seems to be decent if they use good quality raw cable like Belden for instance and connectors like Canare, etc. I'm hoping some of the resident DIY gurus would weigh-in for more insight...I'm sure you're aware but just wanted to confirm that since you're hooking up a pair of powered-speakers, you're looking at RCA interconnects and not speaker wires.
Yes yes! I've actually already hooked up the speakers and sub it's just the cables aren't that great as they are old and rusted. They one's that came with A5 and S8 were not sufficient (I mean there were a LOT of them but they didn't work with my system). Anyway when I meant "speaker cables" I meant cables for my speaker/sub, i.e. RCA cables with a 3.5mm plug for my A5.
Connectors that were recommended were "Neutronik".
I also found this guy: RDM Cables – connecting you to your audience red dot music who uses Canare cables and G&H industries connectors. Ever heard of them?
grubyhalo
New Member
Sorry, but just wanted to make sure, that's all
If the guy's referring to Neutrik, then it should be good. If it's just a rhyming bootleg, then all bets are off...
Well if it's indeed quality components that go into the making of this particular cable, then it should be OK. I am not a big cable guy, if only for the reason that I've not owned any piece of gear that needed anything more expensive than a cable for 100 bucks. But, I do believe the build quality of the cable would be more important at this price range more than any sonic advantages...
Sorry, but just wanted to make sure, that's all
If the guy's referring to Neutrik, then it should be good. If it's just a rhyming bootleg, then all bets are off...
Well if it's indeed quality components that go into the making of this particular cable, then it should be OK. I am not a big cable guy, if only for the reason that I've not owned any piece of gear that needed anything more expensive than a cable for 100 bucks. But, I do believe the build quality of the cable would be more important at this price range more than any sonic advantages...
Hahah sorry sorry it was indeed "Neutrik"...how do companies come up with new names? Anyway...
To be perfectly honest my budget is in the 100 dollar range as well, so I'm not really looking for anything really special. The cables I have right now are either the ones that came with the A5 or some old 6-10 dollar one's I had lying around. I'm more interested in build quality as I want them to last and not damage anything and also I need one that is long as my current A5 is too far away from my S8 sub
yogi1771
New Member
Which is the best budget subwoofer to pair with AE5's other than the AS8 Powered Subwoofer.
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