Quote:
Sonnie wrote:
 As far as the more expensive options, I was mainly curious.
I am having a hard time believing that out of the hundreds of speakers available in this price range that there are not options that are fairly close to the Ascends. But then again, I do realize these have been recommended based on supposedly credible off-axis response measurements and therefore a host of speakers that may be good or even better are quite possibly being left out. |
Yes, all recommendations I have made are based on quantified characteristics.
For anywhere near the price, the Ascend model referenced is the best of which I know that has been verified by credible 3rd party(NRC Lab in this case). However, in your particular installation, even this speaker would not be able to be used to it's potential. You could consider something a step down, such as the Infinity Primus series speakers, and save money, if you are happy with the vinyl covered cabinets.The Primus speakers can be had for extremely low prices, and are among the best performers in their respective price ranges of which I am aware. If you do use speakers mounted/set in a cabinet system, use some sort of material to mechanically decouple vibration. I recommend a high ILD high density latex foam, at about 1/2" thickness, covering the entire bottom of the speaker(s). This particular foam will not easily flatten or lose it's compresion properties, even after 10 years. You can find such foam at custom foam places such as foamonline.com. Also, I know for certain the Primus speakers use an acoustic absorption material inside that is useless for the primary bandwidth in which the midbass driver operates. Replace this with a high performance product such as 2" thick OC705 or no. 8 mineral wool board on all walls, perhaps doubling this on the rear wall. Most acoustic foam are worthless, so I don't generally recommend them, unless you get a verified high grade foam such as Auralex. If you used Auralex, I would suggest using 2 layers of 2" wedge foam and gluing them face to face to create a solid thicker piece for maximum effective use. It also would do some good to apply a 1/3" thick in layers of Peel N' Seal or similar material(Dynamat) to the interior walls to reduce delayed energy amplitude by some degree.
-Chris