Main Speaker Advice please!

AML

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Im going to upgrade my main speakers soon and i have a few questions regarding speaker specs.

I been looking at speakers where i live and rather than quote names i would like to quote some specs and hopefully you can tell me what is better.

1st: 2way/3way. Which would you say is better?

2nd: db. is 92db good? or is lower just as good? (86db)

3rd ohms. 6 or 8?

4th: frequency. 35hz-50khz is this also good or would a lower spec like 35hz-35khz make a huge difference?

5th: wattage. the ones im looking at go from 140-400watts.

others i looked at start at 150watts but dont go as high as 400. also whats this "JEITA" all about?

Finally. does weight and size of the speaker make any difference? (ie 364X1102X391 @ 32.5kg)

Any advice apreciated! :lease:

The reason im asking is becase 1 set of speakers im looking
at are more expensive than the other but the spec differences arent all that big. Is twice the cost really twice the performance?

Still if there is a big difference in sound, then it might be worth the investment.
Last point. I cant actually test these speakers as im buying online. I cant compare, otherwise i would let my ears do the choosing.
 
I'm afraid, in the context of buying speakers, not one of your criteria means a thing.

One manufacturer can make decent sounding speakers with much reduced specs over those you've quoted. Another could put something together with much better paper specs and still be absolute sh*te.

Give us speaker names and models and you will hopefully get good advice based on owners' experience. Throw a few specs in the air and nobody can tell you anything about them.

Now I'm wonderig why you didn't post this on the speaker forum. They never read our subwoofer forum and we never read the messages on the speaker forum. :devil:

Nimby
 
Nimby said:
I'm wonderig why you didn't post this on the speaker forum.

It's there now. :)

I would iterate what Nimby has said as specs on their own are completely meaningless. It is a bit like asking for recommendations for a new car without mentioning names but just quoting the power to weight ratio and number of doors.
 
As with most products the performace/quality -v- price tends to follow a log scale - ie the more expensive an item is the greater amount you have to spend to get a difference. So you will generally notice a much bigger difference between a £200 speaker and a £400 than a £400 and a £600.

The problem with quoting specs is that there is no real industry standard of how these things are measured and whilst higher grade companies may not attempt to confuse people by using an obsure measurement technique there may still be differences.

The best way to decide which to buy is to go to your local hifi dealer and listen to them and decide for yourself. It certainly can be worth while listening to other peoples opinions from the forums if you give the model numbers but always bear in mind that what one person thinks makes a great sound another person can believe it isnt.
 
Sorry, I could have sworn i did post it in the speakers forum! :rolleyes:

Anyway, the speakers i would get arent UK brands as I live in japan.

I actually posted the names a while ago but didnt get any replies which is why i tried the specs approach!

Here they are again with links!

My first choice are these Yamaha NS-8H. Which have the highest specs.

http://www.yamaha.co.jp/product/av/prd/speaker/ns-8hx/index.html


these are also the most expensive ones. Coming in at 60.000 yen each. (300 quid)

second choice would be these Onkyo speakers which are much cheaper with only slightly lower specs.

http://www2.onkyo.com/jp/product/products.nsf/view/43CC43BAFD0A21814925690A001A2933?OpenDocument

these are only 30.000 yen each. (150 quid)

Onkyo have a similar slightly newer model thats about 100 quid more expensive but has almost the same specs.

My final choice is a pioneer speaker which cost slightly more than the Yamaha speakers and are slightly better specs wise.

http://www.pioneer.co.jp/press/release457-j.html

I know these sites are in japanese, but im sure they have US or UK versions?

These really are all i can choose from, I dont have access to other brands here. I want to stick to these 3 choices so please advise me on which is the better choice!

cheers!
 
Let me try to answer with some general ideas based on my experience:

1 - For the same price 2 way is probably better, less components, simpler xover, etc...

2 - Everything else equal, higher efficiency is better, needs less power...

3 - 6 or 8 doesnt matter, what matters is minimum ohms and flatness of inopedance through frequency, particularly if the amplifier is not high quality...

4 - Doesnt matter...

5 - Doesnt matter as long as it can take your amplifier´s power...

6 - Weight and size matter only if quality is equivalent...
 
Thanks lowrider! What do you make of the speakers i have listed here?
I know you guys have probably never seen or heard them, but by looking at them, which do you think is the more appealing. Maybe by specs?
 
For me the Onkyo look like the best value, they also look nicer than the others, IMHO...
 
Ok, I'll bite:


1st: 2way/3way. Which would you say is better?

In theory, in a 3 way speaker, each driver only has to reproduce a smaller part of the frequency spectrum. So in theory, in a 3 way speaker, you could optimise each of your driver better for their frequency (reproducing a narrow frequency band correctly is easier than reproducing a wide frequency band correctly)

However, multiple drivers most integrate correctly to reproduce the whole frequency range. Integrating 2 drivers is easier than integrating 3 drivers. Also the cross over design is more complicated. In addition, for the same price, a 2 way speaker will have higher quality components than a 3 way speaker.


2nd: db. is 92db good? or is lower just as good? (86db)

Sensitivity is a mesure of the loudness of the speaker when you apply a set signal to it. So if you plug one set of speakers to you amp and without touching the volume, switch to the other speakers, the more sensitive one will play louder. But then, maybe you can just turn up the volume button a bit :) Everything else being equal, a high sensitivity speaker (92db) will be easier to drive than a low sensitivity speaker (86db) so it is possible that your amp would have problem driving low sensitivity speakers loud while it could drive the other speakers.

From that, it would seems that high sensitivity speakers are better since you can drive them with a weaker amp however, if you study the specs of expensive speakers, they seem in general to have lower sensitivity than cheap speakers. I do not know the reason but it could be because high sensitivity is a compromise?


3rd ohms. 6 or 8?

Very similar to sensitivity. 8 ohms is easier to drive than 6 ohms. And again, there's a question on why expensive speakers are often 4 ohms? Very old speakers were often 16 ohms, why don't we see them anymore?

As mentionned before, flatness of the load at all frequency is much more important than the "average" load and you'll never see that in a short summary of specs.


4th: frequency. 35hz-50khz is this also good or would a lower spec like 35hz-35khz make a huge difference?

I really doubt that you can hear up to 50khz or even 35khz so I'd say these figures are dodgy marketing driven ones. That said, Tannoy seem to sell quite a few of these "super-tweeters" that are well out of human hearing range. Maybe owners are dog lovers :) Anyone has a better answer?

You should be able to notice 35hz vs 50hz but a "good" 50hz to 20khz is probably better than a "bad" 35hz to 35khz.


Basically, you are taking the wrong approach with choosing speakers. Unless your aim is to quote the specs, you should listen to them not look at the specs. The speakers you are looking at are not cheap, probably a significant part of your entertainment budget. You'll probably listen to them for a few years so invest a weekend or two going to reputable audio shops. You will reap the rewards and it is even enjoyable.
 
Cheers guys! I will do what i can to listen to these speakers before buying them.
It wont be easy though as not many shops have some of these and all you can do is order them.

Ill let you know how it goes! :smashin:
 

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