High-sensitivity bookshelves

[vkalia]

Anyone know what high-quality high-sensitivity bookshelf speakers are available in India? Budget around Rs 1,00,000.

Looking for something with a FR down to 50Hz or so, 93-94dB sensitivity and a lively, dynamic, punchy sound (ie, no B&W, no Dynaudio, no British monitors or other "polite" speakers). To be paired with a 5-6W tube amp.

Thanks!

 

[ghatgepatil]

http://www.klipsch.com/rb-81-ii-bookshelf-speaker/details#specs

http://www.klipsch.com/reference-bookshelf-speakers

 

[vkalia]

Have the Klipschs gotten any better in the last decade? They used to be quite boomy and distinctly non-hifi in the 90s (except the Klipschorns, which were absolutely divine).

I am woefully out of touch with current trends in audiophile gear, unfortunately, but a quick search of Google shows that quite ambivalent reviews of these speakers.

 

[myriad]

Contrast Audio - A Ukrainian company.
Haven't heard them but they should go with low powered tube amp.
Contrast Audio :

 

[vkalia]

I dont see an Indian dealer for them, though...

 

[john_k_antony]

Try Zu audio bookshelves. They are highly sensitive and tube friendly speakers. They have a dealer in Delhi.

John.

 

[GeorgeO]

Not sure if Lyrita has bookshelves, worth a look. Viren uses Fostex drivers which should be 94-95dB

 

[reignofchaos]

I dont see an Indian dealer for them, though...

Arn systems Bangalore is the distributor afaik.

 

[arj]

Any reason why you are only looking at Bookshelves ? you could look at FS also as for 5-6W SET amps there are very few bookshelves available anyway. from a space point of view the footprint ins the same and if the issue is around smaller space then there are FS which do that well.

This page has a good list of SET speakers..although most are not available in India. Zu could be a good option..they are the opposite of british sound

Omega speakers are also supposed to be very good and have good SET friendly booshelves..you may have to buy from Singapore though as i dont suppose there is a dealer in india

If you are looking indian then Virens speakers are great..he is making a Horn speaker which would fit in your requirements and would be great for a low power amp (considering the Klipschorn do like)
Having owned other Klipsch speaker in the past, the bookshelf can Groove but they have a slightly painful treble (which can be tamed by putting a tissue paper at the horn throat) , and their high freq is not very coherent with the midrange..so the transition although not very obvious can be observed, but they do sound great with tubes.

 

[panditji]

Hi, noticed your location in the Andamans...wow..

 

[vkalia]

Thanks for all the help so far, guys.

Actually, I was at Viren's place on Saturday - had dropped off my SET/preamp for rebuilding, and I heard his horn speakers. They are *mindblowingly* good, and I actually do plan to get a pair for myself - am constructing a house in mainland India and these will go there.

What I want is a system for the Andamans - and arj, you are right: there is no particular reason for me to stick to just bookshelves. The Horns are going to be too big/heavy for the Andamans, but a relatively more portable floorstander might be the way to go. Perhaps Viren's Harmony 1s.

I'll check out Contrast Audio & Zu.

Another option is to perhaps get a beefier tube amp and a pair of Paradigms, but my lord, they have become expensive in the past decade, compared to where they used to be (I dont remember now, but I think i used to own a pair of Paradigm Studio bookshelves before getting Snells, and quite like their sound).

 

[arj]

Thanks for all the help so far, guys.

Another option is to perhaps get a beefier tube amp and a pair of Paradigms, but my lord, they have become expensive in the past decade, compared to where they used to be (I dont remember now, but I think i used to own a pair of Paradigm Studio bookshelves before getting Snells, and quite like their sound).

You've had snells ? Which model ?
Doubt if you will get their sound quality for a reasonable price today !

 

[vkalia]

Used to have D-somethings (IVs?) and then upgraded to the C/V (C something, anyway), powered by a Parasound amp. Sold them when I switched to tubes, as a 3W amp couldnt extract the best out of them.

Ironically, the speakers I replaced them with cost $400 for the kit (assembly required) and while they werent even close to being in the same league as the Snells, I liked the SET-driven sound coming from them a lot more. That's when I stopped obsessing about audioweenie stuff and just went back to listening to music.. or more appropriately, realized that the SET sound does more towards making music sound musical, as long as they are paired with competent speakers.

So now I am on a quest for those competent speakers which pair well with the amp and which I can transport easily to the Andamans.

Viren's horn speakers are going to make up my "big rig" for the mainlands, though. That rig is as close to perfect for my ears as it gets.

 

[Asit]

The Contrast Audio speakers really look interesting, especially the model One Ref3 speakers which at least pair very well with Leben CS 300 speakers (according to Jeff's site: http://jeffsplace.me/wordpress/?p=21).

For the informed members, I have a query though. The Leben CS300 has 3 impedance taps at 4, 6 and 8 Ohms. I took a look at the Contrast Audio site and their speakers have a nominal impedance of 16 Ohms. Higher impedance of the speakers usually means, they are easier to drive and therefore should be easier for the amp. However, I still have the question: can they theoretically match up well with an amp having 4, 6 or 8 Ohm taps?

OT: Arjun, I have recently had extensive sessions with your speaker cables. However, meanwhile, I have changed some of the tubes in my system to Shuguang T-series and Psvane (Pavane) T-series and the tubes are breaking in at the moment. If you want your cables back, I can send them back whenever. But for a fair comparison, I need a bit more time until the tubes break in reasonably. But initial impression is that, these tubes are phenomenal, better than my NOS Telefunkens.

Regards.

 

[moktan]

I think forum member Gobble has single driver, fostex book shelves by Audire. Don't know whether they are still in production.

 

[vkalia]

Well, I got a quote from Viren for his Harmony 1s, which provide usable bass down to 40Hz, and are SET-friendly. That'd be perfect for my needs, so I think i am going to go down that road.

Thanks for the help, all.

 

[john_k_antony]

Sorry to hijack your thread...

I am really looking forward for owning Viren ji's Horne Grande + GM70 SET mono blocks + DHT Pre + Phono stage. I was having conversation with Viren ji a while back and then got really busy with finishing my house work and home theater room build. Since you have heard Horne Grande and very happy with the sound, I would like to hear some feedback on Horne Grande speakers.

1. I generally feel that the horn loaded speakers are pretty shrill / bright. Do Horne Grande has any of those issues. I have heard horn speakers from Klipsch and didn't like them for long listening sessions as it caused listening fatigue.

2. On the paper, the Horn Grande goes down only to 50Hz and Viren ji told me that in a typical room, I can get bass response down to 40Hz. I really don't care the specs on paper . I would like to hear from you about the bass extension of Horne Grande. See I am not looking for chest thumping / earth shattering bass. But good deep bass that is necessary for Hindustani classical instrumentals and for some Rock and Pop songs I listen to.

Thanks,
John.

 

[heliumflight]

Sorry to hijack your thread...

I am really looking forward for owning Viren ji's Horne Grande + GM70 SET mono blocks + DHT Pre + Phono stage. I was having conversation with Viren ji a while back and then got really busy with finishing my house work and home theater room build. Since you have heard Horne Grande and very happy with the sound, I would like to hear some feedback on Horne Grande speakers.

1. I generally feel that the horn loaded speakers are pretty shrill / bright. Do Horne Grande has any of those issues. I have heard horn speakers from Klipsch and didn't like them for long listening sessions as it caused listening fatigue.

2. On the paper, the Horn Grande goes down only to 50Hz and Viren ji told me that in a typical room, I can get bass response down to 40Hz. I really don't care the specs on paper . I would like to hear from you about the bass extension of Horne Grande. See I am not looking for chest thumping / earth shattering bass. But good deep bass that is necessary for Hindustani classical instrumentals and for some Rock and Pop songs I listen to.

Thanks,
John.

Hi John,

I was at Virenji house this Sunday with a FM to hear his DHT + SET GM70/ 2A3 + Horne Grande. If I were to describe the sound in one word- "Live" experience. We heard tracks from a German Rock group, some Jazz tracks, Pink Floyd and Direstraits and it is definitely not bright. In order to get more bass extension I would suggest you go for the GM70 instead of the 2A3. It can easily fill a room of 300 sq ft as they produce a huge sound stage. The Grande is truly for the discerning audiophile connoisseur and also a testament of bespoke craftsmanship.

--
helium
Marantz Cd6002 + Luxman M-06a + Wharfedale Denton 80th Anniversary LE / Vintage B&W DM4

 

[arj]

Sorry to hijack your thread...

I am really looking forward for owning Viren ji's Horne Grande + GM70 SET mono blocks + DHT Pre + Phono stage. I was having conversation with Viren ji a while back and then got really busy with finishing my house work and home theater room build. Since you have heard Horne Grande and very happy with the sound, I would like to hear some feedback on Horne Grande speakers.

1. I generally feel that the horn loaded speakers are pretty shrill / bright. Do Horne Grande has any of those issues. I have heard horn speakers from Klipsch and didn't like them for long listening sessions as it caused listening fatigue.

2. On the paper, the Horn Grande goes down only to 50Hz and Viren ji told me that in a typical room, I can get bass response down to 40Hz. I really don't care the specs on paper . I would like to hear from you about the bass extension of Horne Grande. See I am not looking for chest thumping / earth shattering bass. But good deep bass that is necessary for Hindustani classical instrumentals and for some Rock and Pop songs I listen to.

Thanks,
John.

you have heard the wrong horns on the wrong klipsch and mostly partnered with most probably the wrong electronics

what i mean is klipsch speakers except their heritage speakers are not horn speakers but only have horn tweeters...Andt those also are the metallic ones and unless partnered with really warm amps can screetch. An RF series speaker with tube equipment (low powered ) is not too bad and if you tweak it by placing a small tissue paper on the horn throat it reduces the 2-4khz bump these speakers have and it sounds pretty good .

Regarding specs..they are misleading. the thump you hear in most speakers is not because they go low but because of the SPL they produce. depth and SPL is confused between by Most people as they feel if you feel the bass it is going low.

Nothing is farther from the truth as the thump starts coming in from as high as 80 Hz to down below and even if you get 40 Hz at the 6 db point you will not be worried about extension.

Thats the reason sometimes speakers which go down to 30 hz could feel they have less bass than the one which goes down to 50 hz *eg is a Totem arro which presents great thump but does not go low)


i would suppose the Horn Speaker by Viren would give you all the bass you would need..to be honest i was also waiting for it to develop further untill i fell for a Tannoy deal

 

[john_k_antony]

Thanks you very much helium and arj. The genre of music listened by helium covers pretty much every genre I listen to in western side. I am 101% confident that Viren ji's gear will shine with Indian music very well. I also love rich mid bass and lush vocals. I think these speakers are made for that.

Arj - thanks for clarifying the details on bass extension and the specs. I was always wondering why some expensive speakers like KEF Reference has a lower end around 50Hz while the cheaper range - Q Series has 40Hz or even less. As you rightly said, the quality and quantity of bass from KEF Reference rated at 50Hz is much much better than the Q Series that are rated at 50Hz.

If I am going with Horn Grande, it is going to be paired with GM70 mono blocks . Since it is going to be a "no audition buy", I just wanted to get some more user feedbacks. Viren ji did explain everything to me. But I would like to hear few more audition experiences .

Thanks,
John.