Jamo S-426 Towers?

[Kittu]

Key kittu,

I did a side by side comparo of C405 and C605 and c605 had a lack of bass and some smoothness. They were priced same (2-3k more) and while C605 was in production, the 405 was not, I eventually picked up the 405 because they sounded better in comparison. C605s would definetely need a sub even or sterio setup.

C605s could be new to the shelf than 405s which was older and burned in. I would never know.

When I auditioned the 607 and 405, I found 405 was louder and bright ... Where 607 was much smoother and detailed .

Different ears

 

[BLASTO]

Hey Blasto
If i did decide on the 405's, which I am tending towards for their compactness and size, what deal should I ask for?

This guy at the Jamo store quoted 40k. Is that in accordance? Sounds odd to me..

To answer your question, the 405's and 426's were played with a stereo amp. I just dont recall the name though.
Have you rigged up your kit with a Subwoofer? If yes, which one?
How do they play with a Denon 1612?

I purchased it for 35k 2 weeks back as I liked it a lot and nowhere else I could find it..

Someone else in mumbai has purchased it for 31.5k (Refer : http://www.hifivision.com/what-should-i-buy/10237-marantz-jamo-wharfdale-2.html#post141994 and http://www.hifivision.com/my-audio-video-setup/8996-my-entry-hi-fi-world.html) last year.



So if you are in mumbai, you can get it for around 30k is what I think. If you are dealing with cinebells, they wont come below 35k (I tried a lot).. You can look at other options..

 

[BLASTO]

Have you rigged up your kit with a Subwoofer? If yes, which one?
How do they play with a Denon 1612?

No subwoofer. Do not see a need in near future also.
Generally, stereo amps are much much better than 5.1 amps in the same range for 2.1 setup. This is irrespective of the speakers.

I dont particularly know about the Denon 1612. Others may help.

 

[jayantadak]

@blasto,

Can you suggest me a good book-shelf speaker set (JBL,wharfedales,Infinity types), which will sound good for movies as well as music (movies in particular). At present I use tower speakers, but somehow I feel, book-shelves would do more justice to my requirements. My room-size is 14.5 X 9.10 ft. I feel that the towers might be too imposing considering my room-size. I using a Denon-1604. When I talked to a sales guy in Mumbai (The shop, Juhu), he advised against my plans saying that one should not downgrade the speaker system. Says never downgrade from towers to BS. He says I will always the feel of the towers, which I might have got used to.
Suggest with your valuable suggestions.

Regards

--JAYANT

 

[BLASTO]

@blasto,

Can you suggest me a good book-shelf speaker set, which will sound good for movies as well as music (movies in particular). At present I use tower speakers, but somehow I feel, book-shelves would do more justice to my requirements. My room-size is 14.5 X 9.10 ft. I feel that the towers might be too imposing considering my room-size. I using a Denon-1604. When I talked to a sales guy in Mumbai (The shop, Juhu), he advised against my plans saying that one should not downgrade the speaker system. Says never downgrade from towers to BS. He says I will always the feel of the towers, which I might have got used to.
Suggest with your valuable suggestions.

Regards

--JAYANT

Iam not the guy who provides one stop solution for querries. There are more audio gurus around here who can give you custum fit replies more so than me.

Its always personal preference.

Your room size does not warrent floorstanders for either movies or music.

In my audition, found KEF Q300 bookshelves in par or even more detailed than the C405 speakers I have purchased. But my current room size is 14*23 and my new house which I will move to will have a bigger space. So I selected the floorstands. With stands, the Q300 costs same as my jamos.

Audition KEF Q300 and Mordaunt short Aviano 2s and decide. With the limited audition I had, these were the shortlists in the bookshelves.

For stereo setup, I think a dedicated stereo amp even with your current speakers will improve the sound drastically. A 5.1 amp can make a speaker sound only so so in the stereo mode.

There was a NAD C350 amp for sale for ~10k, it should make your setup sound much better.

Ofcourse, ask comments from others too.

 

[spacemonkey]

I think I auditioned the kef q300 as well.
I for one thought they were too detailed for my taste. Their long range covering the highs gave a perception to me that they were sharper for some odd reason.

My room size ain't large too, Mumbai is an expensive cityto own a house in. But I think I can squeeze in the small 405's somewhere. After all they are just 11 inches deep and 7 inches wide. My Denon 1612 is a tad bit deeper. So it shouldnt be much of a concern jutting out.

Missed the opportunity to audition the Wharfedale 10.1 & 9.2's witH the SW 150 today. Work load. Definitely squeezing some time to goto MZ Audio tomorrow and hopefully to The Den and the Wharfedale dealer late in the evening tomorrow. Sucks that I work and live in the suburbs though.

Heard some crappy Boston Accoustics 5.1 kit today. Didn't like it at all. Must admit, once your spoilt with listening to some good floor standers, you ARE BIASED towards them. Movies suddenly take a back seat cause it dawns on you that you might watch a movie or two a day, but you'll findyourself listening to more and more music more frequently

Well anyways, unpacked the 1612 about 5 mins ago. Now to get some speakers (and a sub uniting req). Wish me luck!

 

[BLASTO]

But I think I can squeeze in the small 405's somewhere.

Must admit, once your spoilt with listening to some good floor standers, you ARE BIASED towards them.

Remember that the C405s are back ported.
You need to place them atleast 1-2 feet away from the back wall and the same distance away from the side wall for optimum performance.

The fotos in http://www.hifivision.com/my-audio-video-setup/8996-my-entry-hi-fi-world.html say a different story though. Atleast one of the speakers were placed SO close to a corner.. It WILL create boominess from what I have seen.. (Or maybe it is in my room only).

These can potentially over power small living places. If possible have a home demo. Your opinion of the speakers (and the Q300) might change.

I will post pictures of my setup for you to decide.

Edit: I think you should read the whole thread I have mentioned above. It gives perspective fromthe owner who has used them in a small room. You also ping him for long term ownership. His opinion might have changed for long term ownership.

Edit2: The thread DO have long term ownership info. My observation was mostly right. You need to look at different options if your room is any close to the thread owner's room.

 

[BLASTO]

Key kittu,

I did a side by side comparo of C405 and C605 and c605 had a lack of bass and some smoothness. They were priced same (2-3k more) and while C605 was in production, the 405 was not, I eventually picked up the 405 because they sounded better in comparison. C605s would definetely need a sub even or sterio setup.

C605s could be new to the shelf than 405s which was older and burned in. I would never know.

When I auditioned the 607 and 405, I found 405 was louder and bright ... Where 607 was much smoother and detailed .

Different ears

Hey kittu, just came accross the below post by core-element when suggesting the thread to spacemonkey.. His observation looks eerily similar to mine.. Maybe same ears??

http://www.hifivision.com/my-audio-video-setup/8996-my-entry-hi-fi-world.html#post121288

 

[spacemonkey]

Wow that is some thread there and that core.element guy sure was helpful, among others. I think I will find myself in a similar precarious situation soon enough with the floor standers. But the trade offs of not going for one of those babies is pretty drastic and huge.

For me the call is in between a nice pair of fs (read: Jamo c405) or a pair of bs + sub for the same price - give or take 35k.
This gets even more confusing by the day

I just learnt about borderlinx and I must say, now I am exploring the possibility of sourcing components from the US as well. Should save me a couple eh?

 

[BLASTO]

Wow that is some thread there and that core.element guy sure was helpful, among others. I think I will find myself in a similar precarious situation soon enough with the floor standers. But the trade offs of not going for one of those babies is pretty drastic and huge.

For me the call is in between a nice pair of fs (read: Jamo c405) or a pair of bs + sub for the same price - give or take 35k.
This gets even more confusing by the day

I just learnt about borderlinx and I must say, now I am exploring the possibility of sourcing components from the US as well. Should save me a couple eh?

When you like the jamos.. I assume your listening preference is mostly same as mine.

Will be interesting to see what you feel of the whafedales.. Let me try some fortune telling.. You will say.. Eww.. hyeah:

Refer to my earlier comments about the whafs elsewhere..

 

[jaudere]

Hi,

I have heard Jamo with Denon avr. Cant remember the models but i think denon was 17 series( it could process audio over HDMI) And the Jamo Were FS with 1 tweet and 2 mid bass drivers. The listening room was very small. May be 10X10 or less. The source was an HTPC. The listening distance was 6 feet.

The sound was just amazing. For the volume that we used, it never overpowered the room.
No boom at all.

I compared audio over optical vs HDMI. The difference was significant. The HDMI gave much fuller sound.

So i would say that Denon pairs well with Jamo and using HDMI Is better option.

The argument that stereo amp in same price range is better than AVR is right but here we take it for granted that the source is ia good cdp with good onboard DAC. If thats not the case, using simple dvdp with HDMI Out and then using DAC Of a good AVR will give better results IMHO.

Having said that, I am using my 8 year old sony dvdp for music (I use netbook as well) with marantz. I am happy with the sound but they say that older dvdp have better components.

 

[spacemonkey]

Thanks jaudere and Blasto.
Will certainly give you guys my feedback. My worry has increased only cause of the space constraints in my living room to house these C405's. I have no problem getting them what so ever but for the lack of space. I might have gobbled up more than I can chew by liking them so much only to realize that I might need to make some drastic changes in the layout of the room to accommodate them. I might have to move my 42" Panny slightly higher from its current position and make some changes to where I house my HTPC and the display cabinets on the sides.

Blasto, I sure hope I dont find them that "eww" cause no matter how much I like the Jamo 405's, I might have to tend towards smaller units, even satellites maybe only for space constraint. I placed the Denon 1612 on the table top below the Panny today and it occupies almost half of the space on the table, leaving little room only for moderately sized bookshelfs. If i were to get the towers, I will have to place them beside the table housing the PS3 + TataSky + Denon AVR 1612 + DLink Wireless Modem.

So basically I am screwed right now, except if i decide to make some carpentry changes in the house. Or go for smaller bookshelf/satellites.

Any feedback on the Bose AcousticMass 6? They seem compact enough to go anywhere and are in the same price range.

 

[BLASTO]

The argument that stereo amp in same price range is better than AVR is right but here we take it for granted that the source is ia good cdp with good onboard DAC. If thats not the case, using simple dvdp with HDMI Out and then using DAC Of a good AVR will give better results IMHO.

Having said that, I am using my 8 year old sony dvdp for music (I use netbook as well) with marantz. I am happy with the sound but they say that older dvdp have better components.

Hey jaudire, You have some undiscovered territory man.. hyeah:
The introduction of a CDP was the single biggest improvement to my setup. You never know what you missed until you hear out. Visit a nearest forum member with 'any' cdp and you will know..

 

[BLASTO]

Hey Space,

Read my post again..
I was not talking of all 'jamo's per se.. It is generalizing..

If you find a 'non rear ported' jamo that you like, Iam sure it will be forgiving on placement. (For eg the KEF Q300/Jamo S426 etc are front ported in comparison).

Iam also not sure about the model jaudire is talking about.. If it was a front ported or sealed, these will not be a problem.. But if it is rear ported, it requires space around it to create soundstage.. Fair and simple..

 

[BLASTO]

Any feedback on the Bose AcousticMass 6? They seem compact enough to go anywhere and are in the same price range.

You are kidding right??

 

[jaudere]

@spacemonkey: Listen to bose before you take a call. All the negatives remarks about bose(as i perceive) is not because of the quality but because of the price they put for giving the quality.

I can't remember where the bass port of was placed in the jamos that i heard. But the speakers were definitely placed 1 feet from back wall and about 1.5 feet from side walls.
By the way you are having too many things in your set up. I dont have tv and my set up is pretty simple. Dvdp,amp &speakers. The netbook comes in place only when its in use. Otherwise its tucked away somewhere to keep it safe from kids.


@Blasto: i have heard denon710 cd player with pma 710 amp with quad towers. Didnt find the combo very impressive. Never got the chance to audition marantz though.

By the way, with the quality i am getting using netbook with creative sound card and with the added convenience of having all my music at one place, I cannot push myself to buy a dedicated cdp.

 

[BLASTO]

I will post pictures of my setup for you to decide.

http://www.hifivision.com/amplifiers/20093-musichall-25-2-review.html#post278153

Notice the distance of the C405s from the sides.
The other speaker pair is not rear ported and can be thrown around.

 

[spacemonkey]

@spacemonkey: Listen to bose before you take a call. All the negatives remarks about bose(as i perceive) is not because of the quality but because of the price they put for giving the quality.

My consideration exactly. I remember growing up and listening to some insane Bose sound. No idea why people are giving them such a hard time. The AcousticMass 6 is almost in the same price range as the rest of the FS/BS+SW I am auditioning. I will definitely give them a listen before i decide on anything. I havent read too many negatives on them, but people just telling people to stay away from them. Strange!

I dont know if any of you guys have had the opportunity to check out their new VideoWave, but that thing absolutely blew my mind. I work in video post production and to sit there and watch a television screen create a full sound scape that can be channeled to any position in the room is just freaking insanely cool and gimmicky. That being said, i think its such a unique way to create such a large soundscape with no additional units. But the 4,67,000 rupees for that television just makes it completely and utterly useless for its price.

http://www.hifivision.com/amplifiers/20093-musichall-25-2-review.html#post278153

Notice the distance of the C405s from the sides.
The other speaker pair is not rear ported and can be thrown around.

That looks like a neat little kit you got there man. Definitely envy you for it. I have a vintage Technics 5.1 Dolby Pro-Logic set SL-EH50 that I am thinking of resurrecting. That was a 5.1 kit though. Maybe try and use the main mini towers with my new Denon 1612 as my bookshelfs? Save some bucks there
No idea what they sound like today. Must be in storage somewhere in my Bangalore house.

@Blasto/@jaudere, out of curiosity, any recommendation for a BS + SW that'll give me the performance of the C405's for the price of the 405's?

 

[jaudere]

sorry boss. No idea about sub. I am stereo man. Have used sub extremely rarely (when i used computer speakers by a company called artis). Sub is easy to buy at difficult to integrate. I mean this is what i have heard.

Many BS Do come down nicely to 45hz which is quite adequate unless your are an action movie buff.

By the way just out of curiosity, have you heard jamo s718? I just loved the sound. They have a side facing woofer. They eliminate need of sub.

 

[spacemonkey]

sorry boss. No idea about sub. I am stereo man. Have used sub extremely rarely (when i used computer speakers by a company called artis). Sub is easy to buy at difficult to integrate. I mean this is what i have heard.

Many BS Do come down nicely to 45hz which is quite adequate unless your are an action movie buff.

By the way just out of curiosity, have you heard jamo s718? I just loved the sound. They have a side facing woofer. They eliminate need of sub.

Haha, what a coincidence. I bought the Artis for my house sometime back as well. The 2.1 kit which allowed me to play off USB drives directly costed me 1650 rupees and man that was some punchy 2.1 for bedroom listening before you goto sleep . I just loved those babies.

I have given the S606's a listen which have a 8" side firing woofer as well, but I kinda ruled out those large towers for lack of space. They'll consume more space in my living room than the rest of the furniture unfortunately. Which is why i tended towards the smaller and compacter c426's and c405's.

I have been doing some reading on the Bose 301's / 201's for BS. They apparently have a range of 20 - 20khz range. And they cost like 18k according to the Bose Website :clapping:

Any thoughts on those?