Speaker selection for listening clasical music

[sanjgupt]

Hi experts
Pls suggest what should be criteria for selecting speakers (bookself) for listening classical music in modertare to low volume & near field listening.. pls suggest few..
What should be output power? Sensitivity?
Bass? Treble? Mid–range? Or any other imp criteria..
Price range: upto 50k

Thanks

 

[sanjgupt]

I hv short listed below speakers

1. mission-lx-2-mkii-bookshelf-speakers
2. fyne-audio-f300-speaker
3. elac debut 2.0 b52 speakers
4. Q acoustic 3010i or 3030i
5. wharfedale-diamond-12.1-bookshelf-speakers

Kindly give your inputs..
Amplifier is going to be AIYIMA D03 Bluetooth 5.0 Digital Amplifiers 150Wx2 Stereo HiFi

Thanks
Sanjeev

 

[Pratyush J]

I hv short listed below speakers

1. mission-lx-2-mkii-bookshelf-speakers
2. fyne-audio-f300-speaker
3. elac debut 2.0 b52 speakers
4. Q acoustic 3010i or 3030i
5. wharfedale-diamond-12.1-bookshelf-speakers

Kindly give your inputs..
Amplifier is going to be AIYIMA D03 Bluetooth 5.0 Digital Amplifiers 150Wx2 Stereo HiFi

Thanks

Since the amp is a constant in this chain, it would be great to take the amp along for an audition so you can evaluate the synergy. Which brand/model of the speaker and amp combination sounds the best to you is something only you can judge. Since it will be a near field listening, i would suggest to go with a warm speaker. WD is surely on warmer side

 

[sachinchavan 15865]

So what properties do you look for in a speaker’s sound for classical music? Also, Indian or Western classical? What is distinctive about it? When you listen to classical, what do you pay the most attention to?

 

[Mahi]

Hi experts
Pls suggest what should be criteria for selecting speakers (bookself) for listening classical music in modertare to low volume & near field listening.. pls suggest few..
What should be output power? Sensitivity?
Bass? Treble? Mid–range? Or any other imp criteria..
Price range: upto 50k

Thanks

Go for active studio monitor speakers # genelec or '' sonodyne ' natural sounding speakers no need amplifier # this is my personal opinion sir

 

[sanjgupt]

So what properties do you look for in a speaker’s sound for classical music? Also, Indian or Western classical? What is distinctive about it? When you listen to classical, what do you pay the most attention to?

My music is mostly Indian classical (vocal, instrumental, Hindustani & carnatic both) . I expect sound from speaker to be highly immersive and warm with lot of good fine clarity (in low to moderate volume).. speaker should not be harsh or muddy in entire freq range.. I should be able to listen long hours without fatigue..
In short, speaker should be able to give almost near perfect represention of artist in front of you..
When I listen, I want to feel bliss of music (hope this is true for everyone) & not keep thinking about technical details of sound system..

 

[sgautam]

Hi, I have similar music preferences. The best I found was Castle Knights 2s, Mission QX2 and Whar 220s in that order. The CK 2s are extremely good for this genre.

QX2 Mk2s are the latest I had and they are excellent for a wide range of music particularly at lower volumes. You can surely shortlist them.

Forgot to add I found the QX2s taking atleast 100 hours before they open up.

 

[ajuvignesh]

Hi experts
Pls suggest what should be criteria for selecting speakers (bookself) for listening classical music in modertare to low volume & near field listening.. pls suggest few..
What should be output power? Sensitivity?
Bass? Treble? Mid–range? Or any other imp criteria..
Price range: upto 50k

Thanks

I had a good experience with JBL LSR 305s. Please audition them and take the call. It is a studio monitor and they are good for near-field listening. It is neutral sounding with good soundstage width. The quality is great.

 

[sachinchavan 15865]

My music is mostly Indian classical (vocal, instrumental, Hindustani & carnatic both) . I expect sound from speaker to be highly immersive and warm with lot of good fine clarity (in low to moderate volume).. speaker should not be harsh or muddy in entire freq range.. I should be able to listen long hours without fatigue..
In short, speaker should be able to give almost near perfect represention of artist in front of you..
When I listen, I want to feel bliss of music (hope this is true for everyone) & not keep thinking about technical details of sound system..

A lot of expectations there! Like for example getting speaker to have fine clarity as well as be fatigue-free (opposing qualities) at this price range is being too hopeful. You’d need to decide which of these aspects you’d forego for the other.

My ideal speakers for Indian classical music (ICM) would be full range - cohesion being more important than dynamics (unlike for western classical). But it’s difficult to get them below a lac or two of rupees. Select speakers that are more natural sounding than hifi-ish as classical music is always with real instruments. A bit of compromise on clarity might be necessary to ensure musicality in the budget range. Also I’d be wary of class D amp for ICM which is so much rasa & bhava based.

Having said that, for Indian classical I believe the source material is usually a bigger limitation than the playback system. That’s because most of it is live concert recordings which have hugely varying sound quality.

 

[sachinchavan 15865]

Further to the above, the DAC selection plays an important role. I feel R2R DACs and the older Philips TDA DACs bring out the texture of voice and instruments far better than the modern hi-Res upsampling DACs that tend to smoothen it out. And in Indian classical the texture (essential to listen to the kan-swars/ shrutis) is quite important.

 

[sudokpr]

@sachinchavan 15865 , wonderful suggestions.
Can you tell me more about the full range speakers?
Will there be only 1 speaker driver to cover all the frequencies?
I did a search online and all I was able to get is car audio system speakers.
If possible can you provide a link or name a full range speaker?

 

[sachinchavan 15865]

@sachinchavan 15865 , wonderful suggestions.
Can you tell me more about the full range speakers?
Will there be only 1 speaker driver to cover all the frequencies?
I did a search online and all I was able to get is car audio system speakers.
If possible can you provide a link or name a full range speaker?

You can read up on full range speakers here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full-range_speaker

Usually these are made by enthusiasts from DIY kits like these: https://www.commonsenseaudio.com/nirvana.html?www.commonsenseaudio.com

You can find a number of threads on the forum by FMs in their FR builds. Like in this thread:

Suggest a 'cost no object' full-range driver for Hindustani/ Carnatic music.

Some of you may already be aware that I'm making 3-way bookshelf speakers which have been voiced by a friend of mine in Calcutta. Having heard and truly enamored by them, a dear friend and my course (batch) mate of my Officers Training Academy days, whom I met after 34 years at Calcutta, wants...

www.hifivision.com

Speaker companies seldom make FR speakers. When they do, they generally cost a lot.

For further technical details/queries, FMs like @yogibear, @Hari Iyer who build FR speakers could guide better.

Fun fact: The tiny Apple Mini pods have full range drivers with passive radiators!

 

[Saviosiddharth]

I have pioneer sa 8800 vintage amplifier which speakers would be good for it...
Wharfedale LINTON Heritage are
MAGNAT TRANSPULS 1000 are any other suggestions

 

[ajuvignesh]

I have pioneer sa 8800 vintage amplifier which speakers would be good for it...
Wharfedale LINTON Heritage are
MAGNAT TRANSPULS 1000 are any other suggestions

Both are good speakers. The only way to find out is to take your amp for speaker audition. Also, take along the music that you know better.