Rod,
I'm going to assume these are for home use, not studio precision. You're in
luck, because there are a ton of modestly-priced speakers out there that
perform way above their price. Some care with selection is a good idea,
though, since it is the coupling of the speaker with the room that is as
important than any other aspect of the speaker's design.
Speakers marketed to audiophiles tend to be designed for placement away from
boundaries, several feet out from the back and side walls. That tends to be
best for the creation of the 'imaging' illusion, where ideally the speakers
aurally disappear, and a three-dimensional hologram of sound develops in
your mind. It also allows the designer some predictability of how the
speakers will be used. But, we crazy people arrange the room around the
speakers. Placing such speakers close to a wall (or ceiling) will make the
bass boomy and too prominent.
Fortunately, a lot of the refinement of those trick designs has found its
way into systems made for less fussy application. Generally they are
balanced to work close to walls, and take advantage of that placement's
reinforcement of low frequencies. Ideally, the boundaries become part of the
baffle, part of the design. You trade off the imaging magic for, arguably, a
better sense of balance and presence.
I'd look at Klipsch and Polk, two brands with a long history of making
room-friendly, high-value speakers, and their competitors. If there is a
control to adjust the level of the woofers, great, because that will help
dial them in for your particular conditions. (Tone controls usually aren't
selective enough. Graphic eqs sound lousy IMO.) They also tend to have high
sensitivity, so not much power is needed. Depending on what you are used to,
however, you might find that the transparency of the newer speakers show up
some sonic flaws in your receiver or sources. Amps do vary in quality,
independent of specifications. Hopefully, your Pioneer is in good tune.
Small speakers, like the little British mini-monitors (Epos, Spendor, etc.)
can work okay on the wall because they don't generate much bass. If you like
a big sound, however, you'll need bigger, more sensitive speakers. Rigid
mounting will make for much better focus and low-frequency quality -
something that hanging by wires often lacks unless the mass of the cabinet
is quite high.
Be careful of corners - they can work or very much not work, depending on
the speaker. Staying several feet away from a corner is safe, but there is
no rule that can encompass all the variables of your environment. Both of
your options are hard to experiment with, so that's where models that allow
adjustments may save the day.
One more observation: newer systems tend to have better dispersion of high
frequencies, so while the cabinets may be low, the sound will seem to occupy
the whole end of the room, with height as well as width. Some floor-standers
can be tilted back, to help throw the sound up. Some have tweeters on the
back, which also makes the source seem bigger (Von Schweikert, etc). Lots of
options.
Good luck!
-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of rod smear
Sent: Saturday, May 05, 2012 9:03 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [ARSCLIST] speaker recommendations?
Hello all,
I'm looking to replace my floor speakers with either wall-mount or ceiling
hanging speakers. To be used with a Pioneer SX 255R receiver, 100 watts per
channel. I'd like good sound, but not too expensive. Anyone out there who
might have some recommendations? I'm still using my AR 308's that I've had
for about 20 years, but I need to have sound coming from up above instead of
the floor. Thanks in advance.
Rod
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