Harman-Kardon Soundstick III upgrade

nicknack35 · 29 Sep 2017 at 16:50

Howling said:
Yeah I'm not keen on the cloth at the front either, I think the mk1's looked nicer than these - but reviews say these are an improvement so that's what I went for
Currently running them in, already impressed with the mids and the overall clarity - the lows are surprisingly strong as well, which I wasn't expecting from such small speakers - I was expecting to need to add a sub but I think these might kick enough for me, I'll see how I get on with music/movies down the line.

Yep the original ones looked Nicer i agree i used to have the Grill off on mine but after connecting these up these are deffo better built. The cloth is growing on me though. Sound wise the low ends are deffo deeper and clearer. Vocals are Wowing me. And i loved the MK1's

nicknack35 · 29 Sep 2017 at 17:08

Yep the original ones looked Nicer i agree i used to have the Grill off on mine but after connecting these up these are deffo better built. The cloth is growing on me though. Sound wise the low ends are deffo deeper and clearer. Vocals are Wowing me. And i loved the MK1's

nicknack35 · 29 Sep 2017 at 17:30

Howling said:
Yeah I'm not keen on the cloth at the front either, I think the mk1's looked nicer than these - but reviews say these are an improvement so that's what I went for
Currently running them in, already impressed with the mids and the overall clarity - the lows are surprisingly strong as well, which I wasn't expecting from such small speakers - I was expecting to need to add a sub but I think these might kick enough for me, I'll see how I get on with music/movies down the line.

Shame you can't put them on stands you would get a big step up in sound with them i have them on Atacama stands and a MF V90 dac connected to pc via USB

Howling · 4 Oct 2017 at 15:41

Now I've spent some time with them, I'm definitely noticing the lack of lows.. Initially I thought they were strong because I basically wasn't expecting anything out of them, but after running with various 2.1/5.1 setups over the years I guess I've become accustomed to having much more low presence. Has anyone run these with subs - which subs are recommended? Not looking at mad money here but I've never been sub-shopping before so I'm not sure on pricing - is £100 enough for some form of quality?

hornetstinger · 4 Oct 2017 at 15:43

Howling said:
Now I've spent some time with them, I'm definitely noticing the lack of lows.. Initially I thought they were strong because I basically wasn't expecting anything out of them, but after running with various 2.1/5.1 setups over the years I guess I've become accustomed to having much more low presence. Has anyone run these with subs - which subs are recommended? Not looking at mad money here but I've never been sub-shopping before so I'm not sure on pricing - is £100 enough for some form of quality?

BK Gemini at the minimum

Howling · 4 Oct 2017 at 15:48

hornetstinger said:
BK Gemini at the minimum

I'll have a look at that.

Ideally what I want is something with a tight bass kick.. I've used some x.1 setups where the bass is just ... sloppy? Like spilling over where it shouldn't be - just present rather than punchy if you get what I mean. Logically I'd think the smaller speaker size would provide for tighter response? (I'm by no means a speaker guru, as you can probably tell).

Edit: Also to note, the room is reasonably small. Like <20m sq.

nicknack35 · 4 Oct 2017 at 19:02

The lows are not to bad for me i have mine on Atacama stands and up to the wall so that adds bit more to the lows

hornetstinger · 4 Oct 2017 at 19:48

Logically I'd think the smaller speaker size would provide for tighter response? (I'm by no means a speaker guru, as you can probably tell).

No not really.

Generally you want subwoofers with a decent driver size, because typically small subwoofers cannot produce low frequencies, at a decent spl, with low distortion.

Soundsticks are tiny little speakers so will have pretty poor bass response.

I'd recommend something like Q Acoustics 2020i, with a stereo amp or AVR, with a BK Gemini in a smaller room. But personally I recommend 12" subs minimum.

Marsman · 4 Oct 2017 at 19:54

Howling said:
I'll have a look at that.

Ideally what I want is something with a tight bass kick.. I've used some x.1 setups where the bass is just ... sloppy? Like spilling over where it shouldn't be - just present rather than punchy if you get what I mean. Logically I'd think the smaller speaker size would provide for tighter response? (I'm by no means a speaker guru, as you can probably tell).

Edit: Also to note, the room is reasonably small. Like <20m sq.

This is the problem with cheap 5.1/2.1 speakers. Flabby bloated bass. They're fine for gaming, but it's so just noticeable and jarring when listening to music.

It's a lot better with the better 2.1 sets around £100+, but even so, they're still going to have a cheap subwoofer.

There's nothing for £100 that's worth looking at. A subwoofer needs to be well made, and £100 RRP is just cutting it too fine. Minimum would be a Wharfedale SW150 for £150; which although is still cheap, like their 9.0 and 9.1 speakers, would have cost more originally when they first came out. BK Gemini II would be better still if you stretch to £210. Either of those would kick ten shades of brown out of any 2.1/5.1 PC speakers subwoofer.

hornetstinger · 4 Oct 2017 at 20:12

Marsman said:
This is the problem with cheap 5.1/2.1 speakers. Flabby bloated bass. They're fine for gaming, but it's so just noticeable and jarring when listening to music.

It's a lot better with the better 2.1 sets around £100+, but even so, they're still going to have a cheap subwoofer.

There's nothing for £100 that's worth looking at. A subwoofer needs to be well made, and £100 RRP is just cutting it too fine. Minimum would be a Wharfedale SW150 for £150; which although is still cheap, like their 9.0 and 9.1 speakers, would have cost more originally when they first came out. BK Gemini II would be better still if you stretch to £210. Either of those would kick ten shades of brown out of any 2.1/5.1 PC speakers subwoofer.

Yup, when it comes to cheap systems, I'd rather have no subwoofer at all, rather than a cheap one and it'll make it sound worse.

Howling · 4 Oct 2017 at 20:31

Looking at these subs, it seems most (if not all?) seem to have stereo rca inputs - the Ruark MR1 only has single RCA sub out.. Is this going to be an issue :?

hornetstinger · 4 Oct 2017 at 20:35

Sub out is probably combined Left & right signal, unsure if filtred though, and at what hz or slope (whether you use offboard crossover on the sub, or disable it)

So no, shouldn't be a problem single RCA out from the speaker into the sub

Howling · 4 Oct 2017 at 22:45

Ordered the Wharfedale SPC-10. Reviews seem to tote it as the best thing since sliced bread

VaderDSL · 7 Oct 2017 at 19:41

I'm looking at the Ruark MR1 Mk2 as well, can I simply connect my onboard audio on my motherboard to the MR1 with optical?

Marsman · 7 Oct 2017 at 19:49

Yes.

Just in case you were wondering whether a sound card would be needed for improved sound quality:-

No need for a sound card. That won't improve the sound as it's a digital connection. Onboard audio is only used when connecting to the analogue 3.5mm outputs on a motherboard. Optical on the motherboard is acting as a digital transport for the audio data. DAC in the Ruark's converts the data into sound, so whether they are connected to a motherboard or a £200 sound card, it makes no difference.

VaderDSL · 7 Oct 2017 at 19:51

Marsman said:
Yes.

Just in case you were wondering whether a sound card would be needed for improved sound quality:-

No need for a sound card. That won't improve the sound as it's a digital connection. Onboard audio is only used when connecting to the analogue 3.5mm outputs on a motherboard. Optical on the motherboard is acting as a digital transport for the audio data. DAC in the Ruark's converts the data into sound, so whether they are connected to a motherboard or a £200 sound card, it makes no difference.

Perfect! Cheers! I might order a set and an optical cable!

Howling · 8 Oct 2017 at 15:54

Yeah, when mine arrived I realised I didn't have a spare 3.5mm cable lying around - but I stumbled across a fibre cable that I'd had for like 10+ years unused (I think it came with my Logitech Z5500s actually) so I've been using that - sound great

Also, this Wharfedale SPC10 is a great compliment to the MR1s - provides that much needed bass that was... not entirely absent but not really strong enough imho from the MR1s. Makes for an expensive setup though, I only intended to spend a few hundred quid upgrading the HK Soundsticks - ended up spending over £500, that's largely due to the space requirements I had though - I'm sure it could have been done cheaper if I had space for bigger 2.0 speakers.

nicknack35 · 8 Oct 2017 at 17:40

Howling said:
Yeah, when mine arrived I realised I didn't have a spare 3.5mm cable lying around - but I stumbled across a fibre cable that I'd had for like 10+ years unused (I think it came with my Logitech Z5500s actually) so I've been using that - sound great

Also, this Wharfedale SPC10 is a great compliment to the MR1s - provides that much needed bass that was... not entirely absent but not really strong enough imho from the MR1s. Makes for an expensive setup though, I only intended to spend a few hundred quid upgrading the HK Soundsticks - ended up spending over £500, that's largely due to the space requirements I had though - I'm sure it could have been done cheaper if I had space for bigger 2.0 speakers.

Still would have Cost the same. When you take into account an Amp and Decent speakers that will give you enough Bass that your happy with and a lot of the Cheaper speakers don't really have the Quality. The ruarks are pricey but the build quality makes up for the price and they sound nice they do pack a punch for there size room placement is key with them without a sub if you have them close to a wall and on stands they give that bit more to the bottom end