Smooth sounding speakers?

NirK

NirK

NirK

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At the moment I have some B&W 602 S3 speakers....

They do sound good for music but really I use them for films and TV which has a lot of speech.... especially on low quality sources the sibilance is very exagerated on the B&W and the treble is quite harsh sounding...

I would like to get some new speakers which have smooth treble and are very good for speech...

Can anyone reccomend me some speakers that are very good for speech / films etc?
 
Have you tried an equaliser?

If you find speakers which don't reproduce the sibilance, it'll be because they have an inferior high range frequency response.

I've got the reverse to your problem where speech has too much bass sometimes. So I've adjusted just the centre channel's equaliser to reduce bass.
 
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Is it just 2-channel speakers you're after or a surround sound system? What sort of budget are you looking at? What equipment will the speakers be used with?

A few quetions to help narrow it down a bit :)
 
"Low quality" sources?

By that I think you mean they are very revealing when you play something bad?

Try not play bad stuff? Lol

Sounds like you want speakers that's not as transparent and detailed....
 
I already use EQ to turn down frequencies above 4khz (where the crossover is set)... I still find they exaggerate sibilance....

I am looking for speakers which have decent detail in the high end but do not exagerate sibilance at all... I understand it is mainly due to the source and it is simply playing back what is in the source but I do think that the B&W's exagerate sibilance to the point it is quite annoying, maybe this is due to the metal dome tweeter and slightly bright high end....

The gear I am using is a cambridge audio dacmagic and a NAD 326Bee amplifier.....

With high quality DTS soundtracks and EQ they sound pretty good but a lot of the time I use them for things such as freeview TV which has horrible sound quality (something like 128 AC3 audio eugh) and this sound very sibilant and harsh at times... I would like some speakers that are still good, but have smooth / refined high frequencies which in no way exagerate harshness/sibilance and ideally reduce it.

My budget would be about £500 max for a pair of standmounts I already have some stands...
 
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I found B&W speakers paired with a NAD amp a bit bright too, iirc B&W used to use some trickery to exaggerate the treble.

You want natural sounding speakers, something from Quad maybe?
 
shoot1st said:
I found B&W speakers paired with a NAD amp a bit bright too, iirc B&W used to use some trickery to exaggerate the treble.

You want natural sounding speakers, something from Quad maybe?
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Yes natural sounding speakers without exagerated treble is what I am looking for.... I don't think it is the NAD that is causing the problem? NAD are supposed to be pretty smooth? I like the B&W's but the constant exageration of SSSSSSSS sounds just does not sound natural at all..
 
I would think Missions would be good, I had a pair in uni, bought my sister a pair, and one of my friends has a pair, they all have the same smooth signature.
 
NirK said:
Yes natural sounding speakers without exagerated treble is what I am looking for.... I don't think it is the NAD that is causing the problem? NAD are supposed to be pretty smooth? I like the B&W's but the constant exageration of SSSSSSSS sounds just does not sound natural at all..
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Yeah, NAD make good amps but in my experience they don't go very well with B&W speakers - it's down to personal choice of course but I found it too bright.

I know exactly what you mean about the sssssibilance, it would just make me turn it off.

I think the term you're looking for is 'warm', I like warm too, soft and natural, sort of wrapping round you rather than shouting in your face. My first port of call in your case would be Quad - definitely one to add to your 'consider list' anyway.
 
Cool thanks I will try and audition some Quad and also Missions..

Maybe the soft dome tweeters will be better than B&W metal domes...

I think it is quite a lot to do with the source, for example freeview AC3 audio is just horrible... I know the sibilance / harshness will always be there to some extent but I would like some speakers that do not make it sound even worse than it already is by having exaggerated and harsh / metallic sounding treble.
 
I think you should have a look at Kef. The UniQ drivers might offer what you are looking for. The Q series might be a good place to start. They have a very neutral response and also offer the advantage of very wide dispersal with even tonal balance well off axis.
 
lucid said:
I think you should have a look at Kef. The UniQ drivers might offer what you are looking for. The Q series might be a good place to start. They have a very neutral response and also offer the advantage of very wide dispersal with even tonal balance well off axis.
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I tried the KEF Q700 at a local shop.... They did sound good but if anything they were probably even brighter than the B&W's and had even more / sharper treble so I am not sure if they would be good for speech although I may be wrong, I will give them another try with some speech because I like the "dual concentric" drivers (with the tweeter in the middle)... I am liking the look of the Quads, the finish and look of them is very nice as well.
 
NirK said:
I tried the KEF Q700 at a local shop.... They did sound good but if anything they were probably even brighter than the B&W's and had even more / sharper treble so I am not sure if they would be good for speech although I may be wrong, I will give them another try with some speech because I like the "dual concentric" drivers (with the tweeter in the middle)... I am liking the look of the Quads, the finish and look of them is very nice as well.
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That's surprising. Not so long ago I installed a home cinema system based on the Q700 / Q200c / Q100 partnered with an Anthem MRX700 amp. Sources were the usual HD stuff and Sky. I have certainly heard brighter speakers, but you do have to trust your own ears.

I would have suggested speakers with soft dome tweeters, but for the fact they have quite a rolled off top end which tames some elements of sibilance but also takes a little of the sparkle away too. Do try the Quads and similar though.
 
I can recommend Quad 11L2's.Tons of detail without harshness,and a surprisingly big,room filling sound from such a small enclosure.They sound just superb paired with my Marantz PM17 amp,handling everything it can throw at them,well worth a listen.
 
The issue you have is that every component in your chain is fairly "forward". Doesn't really matter which end you start from.
On the dac side, you could consider a nos dac or one with a valve output. Smoother amps include musical fidelity. At the speakers, also dem some spendors, which with the wrong bits are so soparific that you'd be asleep in 2 mins, but might be a great match with what you already have.
 
Mr_Sukebe said:
The issue you have is that every component in your chain is fairly "forward". Doesn't really matter which end you start from.
On the dac side, you could consider a nos dac or one with a valve output. Smoother amps include musical fidelity. At the speakers, also dem some spendors, which with the wrong bits are so soparific that you'd be asleep in 2 mins, but might be a great match with what you already have.
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I agree that the DAC and speakers are forward, but I always thought that NAD 326bee was quite smooth / laid back.. I think you are right that I should change the DAC as well though... I tried an Arcam rdac and it was definately smoother than the dacmagic.
 
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