Speakers for classical music under 3L

[ktks1]

In Hyderabad, try auditioning the Eight Audio Satori Ara Be

 

[newlash09]

Hi dear members,

I'm presently listening music via PMC Twenty.23 speakers with amp Accuphase int 250, and schiit ygy as DAC and laptop with foobar as source. I like classical music for which yggy is doing fabulous job. Just thinking, speakers might be dull.
As I long back heard B&W Floor standers don't remember the model name except that they have diamond tweeters and really liked them a lot.
But I need speaker of small size for a small room with rich tonality. Suggest me with your ideas pl

Hi Rahul

As a fellow pmc 20.26 user I know exactly what you mean. Both PMC and ATC are very dry sounding and clinical speakers as they come with a studio heritage. I went from class D, to class AB, then class A and finally tubes to add a sense of warmth and emotion into the presentation.

For your classical needs I would wholly endorse harbeth or spendor. But please stay away from ATC, as they are even more drier than your present PMC speakers. All the best

 

[newlash09]

spendor d7 may interest you...

This is an excellent suggestion, but if my memory serves me right, I think these are floor standing speakers. And will be a overkill for his room. I was thinking more on the lines of a book shelf speaker from their classic series.

 

[Deleted member 15865]

My room is about 8ft x 10ft. Yes rest of the gear will remain same . I feel like the speakers are delivering every ounce of music but lack sparkling. I have not tried much with placement which I would be considering now.

Contrarian suggestion: If those speakers are musical, start loving them and adapt your listening - the lack of sparkling will soon become a non-issue. And don’t compare with others’ systems - we tend to get attracted to the ‘difference’. There’s no holy grail.

 

[jenson]

Looking at room size, feels bass maybe overwhelming the highs...as the pmcs have tweeters...

I have a silly hack which i use in my listening room to the right wall of my listening chair, i have floor to ceiling wardrobe...i just open some of the doors to create "speed breakers" in room, clothes i'd imagine will act as an absorber too all in my head, but objectively, it does control bass to a great extent which invariably leads to sharper mids and highs....try room treatment...hang razai used in winters on side walls or rear...experiment...i am sure you would see results...

I mean..pmcs are one of the best..aint it...

 

[audiopro]

Looking at room size, feels bass maybe overwhelming the highs...as the pmcs have tweeters...

I have a silly hack which i use in my listening room to the right wall of my listening chair, i have floor to ceiling wardrobe...i just open some of the doors to create "speed breakers" in room, clothes i'd imagine will act as an absorber too all in my head, but objectively, it does control bass to a great extent which invariably leads to sharper mids and highs....try room treatment...hang razai used in winters on side walls or rear...experiment...i am sure you would see results...

I mean..pmcs are one of the best..aint it...

Hi dear members,

I'm presently listening music via PMC Twenty.23 speakers with amp Accuphase int 250, and schiit ygy as DAC and laptop with foobar as source. I like classical music for which yggy is doing fabulous job. Just thinking, speakers might be dull.
As I long back heard B&W Floor standers don't remember the model name except that they have diamond tweeters and really liked them a lot.
But I need speaker of small size for a small room with rich tonality. Suggest me with your ideas pl

How loud do you play the music? The accuphase 250 isn't a very powerful amp and pmc likes power. If you are playing consistent at 80db with 95db peaks the amp will run out of steam. I understand what you are saying about the pmc. The pmc is a bland speaker and comes into its own when you go to the 26 model. That's when it sings. Atc is superb for classical. I don't agree with other posts that atc is too dry for classical. it doesn't add harmonics and depends on the dac and amp to do so. Your accuphase and yggy more than compensate for that. There is no other speaker that can reproduce a piano the way atc does. The atc 19 would work BUT you'll need a higher powered amp. Your accuphase pre out can be used with a power amp like the ATC P1 but then your setup gets complicated and cost goes up.

However if I were you, I would save another lac and get the harbeth 30.1 And stick with your existing setup you'll be very very happy. Problem is the pricing in India. He had quoted 4.2L back in 2013 for the 30.1. Maybe he has changed his pricing options. I'd still talk to the distributor and try and get a reasonable price and buy the harbeth and be happy than buy lesser stuff and loose money with time. The 30.1 will work well in your room.

Proac may also be a good option if you don't blast your music. They sound lovely at low to mid volumes. Their bookshelf is very very musical. The proac response db2 would also work well and it's much cheaper than the harbeth. Spendor is again like the pmc. Some of their older models were fun but some are bland.

If you heard the B&W with the diamond then you heard their flagship 800 series. You cannot compare that with the PMC that you have. The lower B&W 705 series arn't very well balanced to my ear. Too hot and gets tiring.

I strongly suggest not to buy a floorstander with this room. Even a small one won't work well. You have a good dac and amp. Just add a sensible speaker and good stands and you are done. Harbeth and Proac will work well in your room. On a side note even the Dynaudio Special 40 would work in this room and it fits your budget.

 

[malvai]

ATC SCM 19 V2. They will pair well with your accuphase... have been a Accuphase user for years.... and am currently using the ATC SCM 19V2 in a 10X12 room with a Symphonic Line RG10 MkIV Reference Amp...
I can tell you with confidence that your amp is awesome and you just need the ATC SCM19V2 or ATC SCM 11 V2
And you're set.... Later get a pair of subs...

 

[sidvee]

I too disagree about the previous comments of atc being too dry sounding. If anything the new in house tweeter of the Atc scm series has better extension then the previous versions and smoother sounding too and perhaps the best in this price range of loudspeakers with the requisite sparkle that the op is looking for. Atc is a very accurate speaker, if one does not have complimentary electronics it will not sound its best. I have been using atc for 8 years now.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[newlash09]

This post just goes to show how we all perceive the same sound differently

Auditioning is the only way to go I guess, as someone's dry is not dry to someone else

 

[sidvee]

This post just goes to show how we all perceive the same sound differently

Auditioning is the only way to go I guess, as someone's dry is not dry to someone else

Here are some professional reviewers opinions on the ATC SCM19v2 as well:

The absolute sound - Neil Gader
" The 19 is not dry or clinical sounding, either. "
Stereo times- Allen Edelstein
" I get the sense the treble is just the tiniest iota forward of neutral. Just enough to make it sound alive in a way I like. "
The stereo times review is exactly the way I perceive the treble of my ATC scm19v2, which is different from the v1 and adds a sparkle.
However I agree, one has to audition in a proper setup to conclude.
Also I have found a significant difference in Entry level ATC floor standers vs the bookshelves. The bookshelves generally sound better to me.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[square_wave]

I tend to agree. I have always found ATCs and PMCs to sound very revealing and musical if they are setup right with appropriate cables, room and amplification. As always, revealing gear will also reveal flaws everywhere in the system. So, in the wrong setup, they can sound dry as well. Also it depends on people's expectations about " what is good sound ". Personally, I like ATC or PMC for classical over Harbeth. But I confess I have not heard the 40.1.

 

[prateekatasniya]

PMC twenty. 24
Now we know why it sounds detailed/dry .( More emphasis on the higher frequencies)
Higher frequencies are higher than lower frequencies which, sadly is not a good sign.

 

[square_wave]

View attachment 46245


PMC twenty. 24
Now we know why it sounds detailed/dry .( More emphasis on the higher frequencies)
Higher frequencies are higher than lower frequencies which, sadly is not a good sign.

That graph shows how the speaker rolls off in the lows from 100 hz onwards. It is a typical graph you see with any speaker. Here is the one for Harbeth SHL5 ( from stereophile). It is a very warm sounding speaker.

 

[powerslave]

I haven't heard PMCs , I have audio notes and have auditioned BBCs so I know what you mean by your speaker being dull . Lot of us ended up with these BBC monitors due to hype and myth "induction" that happens in hifi community . Indian classical is a tricky genre to do justice to for source quality is very diverse and sketchy . If you listen to only Indian classical and let's say never have to play anything heavier like rock etc then you have an easier path to move forward i.e. check Rethm , Blumenhofers (never heard them live but lot of good reviews here about them being lively , one member moved from SHL5s to them), may be some horns from Klipsch to validate if you like the dark side . In an ideal world if Indian classical music was recorded in world class studios , mastered on state of the art media then perhaps a bare wire with 10X gain would be world's best amplifier , however that is unfortunately not the case your neutral speakers/setup while might do great justice to first print LPs , it may not be able to "inject" life into Indian classical material that was not produced in best conditions , so your desire for a more forward/lively presentation or feeling is very obvious.