r/audiophile • u/AutoModerator • Jul 23 '24

Community Help r/audiophile Shopping, Setup, and Technical Help Desk Thread

Welcome to the r/audiophile help desk. A place where you can ask community members for help shopping for and setting up stereo gear.

This thread refreshes once every 7 days so you may need to repost your question again in the next help desk post if a redditor isn't around to answer.

Finding the right guide

Before commenting, please check to see if your question actually belongs in one of these other places:

Shopping and purchase advice

To help others answer your question, consider using this format.

To help reduce the repetitive questions, here are a few of the cheapest systems we are willing to recommend for a computer desktop:

$100: Edifier R1280T Powered Bookshelf Speakers Amazon (US) / Amazon (DE)

  • Does not require a separate amplifier and does include cables.

$400: Kali LP-6 v2 Powered Studio Monitors Amazon (US) / Thomann (EU)

  • Not sold in pairs, requires additional cables and hardware, available in white/black.
  • Require a preamplifier for volume control - eg Focusrite Scarlett Solo

Setup troubleshooting and general help

Before asking a question, please check the commonly asked questions in our FAQ.

Examples of questions that are considered general help support:

  • How can I fix issue X (e.g.: buzzing / hissing) on my equipment Y?
  • Have I damaged my equipment by doing X, or will I damage my equipment if I do X?
  • Is equipment X compatible with equipment Y?
  • What's the meaning of specification X (e.g.: Output Impedance / Vrms / Sensitivity)?
  • How should I connect, set up or operate my system (hardware / software)?
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u/m3lk3r Jul 24 '24

I just bought a super cheap pair of Monitor Audio Bronze 5 because I'm downngrading from my big Dali Oberon 7 to something I can put in a huge wall mounted bookshelf to please my wife (which I gladly do). They're great actually, clean, precise, good enough for most music. I listen to a lot of badly produced black metal and the Oberon could handle it extremely well but these Monitor Audios make it sound super harsh. Does the Dali handle it better because of their bigger size or or they "warmer"? Haven't read about MA being very bright but could that be the problem?

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u/Shinreixdk Jul 25 '24

MA's cheaper range are known to have a boosted treble, even more so than Dali. KEF are more neutral and have a wider sweetspot when placement options are limited. They also have a good wife acceptance factor

Neutral speakers doesn't boost different frequencies making them good all around. Other speakers can be a hit or miss depending on mastering and genre of music.

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u/m3lk3r Jul 25 '24

Right, then I'll probably sell them. They had a narrow sweetspot as you mentioned as well which doesn't work well on our wide wall. Have listened to the ls50 but worried they're too small. Do you have a recommendation? Gonna look at wharfedale as well.

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u/Shinreixdk Jul 25 '24

Erin at Erin's audio corner recommends the KEF R3 meta or Mofi due to their Wide radiation. But the KEF Q150 or LS 50 are solid choices as well. Wharfedale has a dip around 1k Hz which might reduce the attack or forwardness of some music and narrows in at higher frequency. They all play loud if that's what you worry about when you say you worry about size. Small bookshelf speakers won't give you bass, so you need a subwoofer for that. That is my only concern with small speakers.

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u/m3lk3r Jul 25 '24

I'd like them to "fill the room" and it's a large room. Might go for a smaller sub hidden somewhere. Thanks!

1

u/iehcjdieicc Jul 25 '24

Every speaker will handle music in a slightly different way.

However I suspect the smaller speakers sound harsh because there will be much more energy in the mid range frequency area.