PC speaker advice.. already have a DAC/AMP + headphones

JasonM said:
Have you considered mounting the speakers off the desk, by this i mean at the sides of your desk on floor standing speaker stands.

Search 'QTX Studio Monitor Speaker Stand' on the popular auction site.

Again you maybe have an issue with the 1850's as they sit pointing upwards, and you really need flat sitting speakers for stands.
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i dont want stands. i dont mind speaker stands for the desk but the sides of the desk aren't a possibility. i'll get the 1850s, possibly some isolation foam pads down the line.
next im going to email bk and ask them if they can make shave some cm off the body of the bk gemini so i can fit it around my desk.
 
aoaaron said:
i dont want stands. i dont mind speaker stands for the desk but the sides of the desk aren't a possibility. i'll get the 1850s, possibly some isolation foam pads down the line.
next im going to email bk and ask them if they can make shave some cm off the body of the bk gemini so i can fit it around my desk.
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I don't know anything about the bk gemini sub, however it looks very good quality.

Remember when you get your new speakers, run them in. Start on say 10% volume, then gradually increase power over next 20-40 hours. What I do is leave speakers playing on low level initially, then just walk away. What is happening is the speaker fabric is stretching over this time. One thing to avoid on a new speaker is driving them at high volumes immediately as speaker can be compromised forever.

Another thing that might help, is the Tacima mains conditioners, they cost about £30-35. It depends on the condition of your mains electric's but I've had great success with these improving the sound.
 
JasonM said:
I don't know anything about the bk gemini sub, however it looks very good quality.

Remember when you get your new speakers, run them in. Start on say 10% volume, then gradually increase power over next 20-40 hours. What I do is leave speakers playing on low level initially, then just walk away. What is happening is the speaker fabric is stretching over this time. One thing to avoid on a new speaker is driving them at high volumes immediately as speaker can be compromised forever.

Another thing that might help, is the Tacima mains conditioners, they cost about £30-35. It depends on the condition of your mains electric's but I've had great success with these improving the sound.
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im still trying to find a decent sub for this setup.. i was just gonna get a gemini then i've read reviews the xl200 is better.. and it is a bit shorter... but then they both dont have an auto off function which is a bit annoying.

i dont mind that in my home theatre room but in my bedroom i'd prefer it turns off if needed..
 
aoaaron said:
i dont mind that in my home theatre room but in my bedroom i'd prefer it turns off if needed..
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Not sure if this helps, but I run everything in office from 2 x Tacima power strips. When the computer is off I switch the Tacima strips off on the wall, then everything from then on wards is fully off. Then when i'm using the office I switch them back on again. I've got triple monitors, and LED lights coming from the strips and it all gets isolated together.
 
The Edifiers look good. I have owned and gifted a few sets and have always been impressed.
monitor speakers are simply easier, requiring fewer components.
I've been thinking about upgrading to the edifier r1280db.
 
silk186 said:
The Edifiers look good. I have owned and gifted a few sets and have always been impressed.
monitor speakers are simply easier, requiring fewer components.
I've been thinking about upgrading to the edifier r1280db.
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JasonM said:
Not sure if this helps, but I run everything in office from 2 x Tacima power strips. When the computer is off I switch the Tacima strips off on the wall, then everything from then on wards is fully off. Then when i'm using the office I switch them back on again. I've got triple monitors, and LED lights coming from the strips and it all gets isolated together.
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Got them today and installed them in.

I'm honestly re-evaluating my whole audio beliefs.

For the size, ergonomics, these are INCREDIBLE. The volume it packs is insane. No need for some crap desk amp which only drives them to a certain level or speaker wire everywhere. When did active speakers get this good? I'm 100% sure at this price range they weren't like this 10 years ago.


And I did my normal test of speakers when I know if they're good or not. Does playing them louder make you want to turn them down or not? And honestly, I could just blast these all day. How they manage to not dirtort and way too high for desk levels is incredible. The bass is very very prominent too which I'm surprised with. I did my second test of playing good music (stevie wonder, frank sinatra blahblah vs crap modern music.. normally on crap speakers, i end up preferring the simpler crap... but yeah these passed the test). also I'm very very surprised that its not bad at resolving detail. detail which I honestly don't pay much attention to.

I'm so glad I didn't go with the 350db now because I already feel like this ammount of bass is enough. Anything more would be definitley too muddy. For anyone who has never used a subwoofer, these would definitley be enough. Heck for me.. these are enough. I'm just obsessed with refining and I think the subwoofer will be the final icing on the cake for my desk setup.

Build quality is excellent to the extent I think Edifier will be my next high end audio purchase brand. The build quality is basically like my KEFs...

Thank you JasonM. The midrange on these I feel is enough... the 350db would have been a muddy letdown for my ears as I'm not a bass head.... only in very specific circumstances do I love bass (films, dancing before a night out, gaming and the thumping heartbeat in dishonored 2)



_____________

for someone new to audio, i used to tell them to get a second hand amp and a 2.0 speaker setup from ebay or a clearance line and then get some speaker wire and have fun, then add in a sub later to complete the package.

im so tempted now if its not for a home cinema room (/5.1) to just tell them to get a pair of actives which have a sub out.. why deal with all the faff...




oh and this is all without it being connected via fibre optic because i broke the cable when unpacking it..
 
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aoaaron said:
Thank you JasonM. The midrange on these I feel is enough... the 350db would have been a muddy letdown for my ears as I'm not a bass head.... only in very specific circumstances do I love bass (films, dancing before a night out, gaming and the thumping heartbeat in dishonored 2)
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I'm glad I could help, sometimes I feel i'm not that listened to here, on this occasion it appears I've helped ;).

Don't run those new speakers to hard, they need gentle run in, and I guarantee they will get better over the next couple of days. As speakers run in you will get a more dampened / smoother / rounded sound from them.

Re-bass. In my front room I run Yamaha floor standing speakers (4 main speakers actually + 2 surrounds), they are just setup neutral so cover music, films anything I want. However on certain frequencies I've had the inside door handle in my hallway resonating from very low frequencies (and this is without a sub).

You do need to get your speakers isolated, put your hand flat on the desk with them playing, if you can feel the bass on the desk (that you will) that is muddying your sound.

Also you need to try the DAC thats inside the speakers, as I suspect it will be better then the DAC/Output stage that's on your motherboard.
 
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JasonM said:
I'm glad I could help, sometimes I feel i'm not that listened to here, on this occasion it appears I've helped ;).

Don't run those new speakers to hard, they need gentle run in, and I guarantee they will get better over the next couple of days. As speakers run in you will get a more dampened / smoother / rounded sound from them.

Re-bass. In my front room I run Yamaha floor standing speakers (4 main speakers actually + 2 surrounds), they are just setup neutral so cover music, films anything I want. However on certain frequencies I've had the inside door handle in my hallway resonating from very low frequencies (and this is without a sub).

You do need to get your speakers isolated, put your hand flat on the desk with them playing, if you can feel the bass on the desk (that you will) that is muddying your sound.

Also you need to try the DAC thats inside the speakers, as I suspect it will be better then the DAC/Output stage that's on your motherboard.
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On the DAC... yeah im so dissapointed the fibre optic cable broke. A new one is coming tommorow so I'll give it a play!

My desk is granite so I don't think I'll feel any vibrations but lifting them up does make the sound feel cleaner.

I've just ordered these. Stageek Aluminum Desktop Speaker Stands as i could do with putting my amp/dac for my headphones under the speaker to make things a bit tidier.

do u think those will do the job? (on the rain forest cant link due to competitor i think)
 
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aoaaron said:
do u think those will do the job? (on the rain forest cant link due to competitor i think)
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I found the ones on the rain forest. I think they will be worse than the height adjustable ones I mentioned. The height adjustment is quite important, just an inch makes a difference to how the sounds hits your ears. Also just 5+/- degrees of angle makes a difference to how they sound.

These are mine, the picture is misleading as it's taken from top down, however those speakers are sitting 13inch from the desk, if I could take them another inch higher I would but that's limit of stand. Also ignore the fact they are sitting at an angle, I tried them all ways round and that is what sounds best, namely the tweeters sound better in phase like this.

speakers.jpg


The above speakers are then powered by a S530 below, then I use an Asus Essence ST into the S530.

https://www.edifier.com/ua/uk/speakers/s530d-2.1-subwoofer

I have considered changing my 2.0 speakers out for some Yamaha's that would be better quality, downstairs in my lounge I have proper Pioneer separates and Yamaha speakers, however my office setup is good enough for music while working, so leaving it as it for now.
 
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JasonM said:
I found the ones on the rain forest. I think they will be worse than the height adjustable ones I mentioned. The height adjustment is quite important, just an inch makes a difference to how the sounds hits your ears. Also just 5+/- degrees of angle makes a difference to how they sound.

These are mine, the picture is misleading as it's taken from top down, however those speakers are sitting 13inch from the desk, if I could take them another inch higher I would but that's limit of stand. Also ignore the fact they are sitting at an angle, I tried them all ways round and that is what sounds best, namely the tweeters sound better in phase like this.

speakers.jpg


The above speakers are then powered by a S530 below, then I use an Asus Essence ST into the S530.

https://www.edifier.com/ua/uk/speakers/s530d-2.1-subwoofer

I have considered changing my 2.0 speakers out for some Yamaha's that would be better quality, downstairs in my lounge I have proper Pioneer separates and Yamaha speakers, however my office setup is good enough for music while working, so leaving it as it for now.
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Hmm.. its a tough one. I wanted the stargeek ones because ergonmically they looked really nice.

can you link me to the stands your referencing and I'll have a look at them? Ideally I want something clean looking for the desk setup. the fact the stand would give me desk space is kinda a big deal.
 
aoaaron said:
Hmm.. its a tough one. I wanted the stargeek ones because ergonmically they looked really nice.

can you link me to the stands your referencing and I'll have a look at them? Ideally I want something clean looking for the desk setup. the fact the stand would give me desk space is kinda a big deal.
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These are what i'm using above.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Desktop-...005320&hash=item4663b7fffd:g:1SIAAOSwVP5cLgix

Same company make these, but there over double money and not sure how high they go

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Deluxe-T...008422&hash=item52123b770b:g:CG0AAOSwF~hbzXhD

That's the foam i'm running
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01JRU328U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

These are meant to be good also. There is a youtube channel called PS Audio, and they recommended them.

https://www.studiospares.com/Access...ViL_tCh2JTgkxEAQYAiABEgL8mPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Hope i'm ok with these links....
 
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JasonM said:
These are what i'm using above.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Desktop-...005320&hash=item4663b7fffd:g:1SIAAOSwVP5cLgix

Same company make these, but there over double money and not sure how high they go

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Deluxe-T...008422&hash=item52123b770b:g:CG0AAOSwF~hbzXhD

That's the foam i'm running
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01JRU328U/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

These are meant to be good also. There is a youtube channel called PS Audio, and they recommended them.

https://www.studiospares.com/Access...ViL_tCh2JTgkxEAQYAiABEgL8mPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Hope i'm ok with these links....
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thanks mate! just check them out on youtube.. i think their dimensions might be too big for my desk.. :(
 
aoaaron said:
nope. gotta keep it as clean as possible. sadly space is just not available in this setup :(. the ultrawide has made sure of it.

as far as i know if i get the stargeek stands i shouldnt need foam ?
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Just looked again at them. They have some anti-vibration properties, however can't see how the anti vibration can match actual foam.

All I can really say is try them, see how they go.
 
JasonM said:
Just looked again at them. They have some anti-vibration properties, however can't see how the anti vibration can match actual foam.

All I can really say is try them, see how they go.
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Yup I'll have a go! I need to stop obsessing over these speakers soon as these were just meant to watch youtube videos and play music when i get out of the shower.. anything serious music gaming is the AKGs, and any video/film watching is the KEFs..
 
aoaaron said:
Yup I'll have a go! I need to stop obsessing over these speakers soon
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In life sometimes it worth getting something correct especially something that will be used a lot, then in theory don't have to spent time changing or setting things up again.
 
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