Author Topic: Mikee is Stuck in Stereo! Dabbling in Portable Hi-Fi  (Read 82681 times)

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Offline mikeer2002ph

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as for the 'upcoming' speakers...

So far, its a 4 way tie (as far as my idea of imaging/clarity/bass is concerned) to the following BS below the 18K range

1. Klipsch RB-61 - 'Nelson's little HHOORRNNSS' and my first love in spectra ever since i've listened to them circa 2006

2. Infinity Primus 162 - officially scratched off from from my boyfriend's list when we auditioned it with an HK 3490 - 'magulo ang tunog' according to him

3. Mordaunt-Short Aviano 2 - sounds 'ngongo' when auditioned with a CA 840 amp+CA 740 combo in 5th avenue, hoping it will change for the better if bring in my HK 3470.

4. Polk RTi A3 - Listened to this last night at ehome paired with a logitech squeezebox+Bada tube/hybrid amp - I must say the highs are better than the klipsch, but the bass lacks somewhat but I can't be sure until I audition it with my HK3470.
« Last Edit: Oct 14, 2010 at 09:56 PM by mikeer2002ph »
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Offline RastaSega

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have you listened to Paradigm Atoms?

Offline mikeer2002ph

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have you listened to Paradigm Atoms?

Oh yes, auditioned them at Spectra a week ago. Cute and able sounding speakers, perfect for my PC should I convert it to a 'proper' HTPC.

But that's all there is to it, cute. Tinny bass that's the problem although I cant blame the atoms because of its smaller drivers.

Then again, the Paradigm Titans IS ANOTHER STORY. I love it but yes it also happens to belong to another income tax bracket level of several orders of magnitude.

anyway,

Final audition of the 4 shortlisted speakers with the HK3470+Pioneer DV595 DVD/CD/VCD/MP3/WMA Player

1. Klipsch RB-61 - 'Nelson's little HHOORRNNSS' - Still my reference sound for bass, treble, midrange, sound staging and imaging.

2. B&W 685 - way out of my budget (26K cash, 29.5K card according to the snooty sound dimension sales person) but I auditioned it with the HK 3470 anyway (as stand-in to the now scratched off Infinity Primus P162). The B&Ws had PERFECT bass and midrange, SPECTACULAR sound staging/imaging, Highs were ultra refined but lacked that 'tingling' sensation I was expecting.

Note: B&Ws were also the snootiest speakers in the shortlist - perfect with jazz/instrumentals/classicals and vocals with the HK. It sounded crass with rock/dance/MP3s. (i can now hear tormentor say "pairing.. pairing")

3. Mordaunt-Short Aviano 2 - it sounded 'ngongo' with the Cambridge Audio equipment, although it improved the bass and highs enough paired with the HK 3470, alas, it still lagged behind the Klipsch RB-61 as reference for midrange and highs.

4. Polk RTi A3 - Lacked bass with the bada tube amp, but got PERFECT scores with bass and treble (tingling treble reminiscent of the KEF Q50 of a neighbor). Midrange performance isn't as good as the B&W 685,but the sound staging and imaging is at par with the B&W as far as my ears and equipment are concerned.

Verdict
Winner: Polk RTi A3s
1st Runner Up: Klipsch RB-81
2nd Runner Up: B&W 685 (if it were priced at 18K it would have ended at 2nd)

Thank you speakers: Infinity Primus P162, Mordaunt-Short Aviano 2


Finally, after several weeks of auditioning, tedious to and fro equipment shuffling,

I present to you my new speakers, my new love - The Polk Audio RTi A3 Bookshelves (had a little help with blue-tac LOL  ;D)


Grilles on


Grilles off


Left speaker


Right speaker


from my listening spot - look ma, NO MORE TOE-INS!
« Last Edit: Oct 14, 2010 at 10:56 PM by mikeer2002ph »
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Offline Hammerheart

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ganda mikee. congrats and enjoy your new gear.  :) :) :)

Offline mikeer2002ph

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ganda mikee. congrats and enjoy your new gear.  :) :) :)

thanks tormentor! see you here in a couple of days
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Offline audiojunkie

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Congrats! nice speakers... :o  :o  :o
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Offline mikeer2002ph

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Congrats! nice speakers... :o  :o  :o

thank you! come and join rascal101 / tormentor when they come over this week for an audition

also ditched the Palit GTX 260 216SP Video card on my HTPC for the Palit GTX 470 with a built-in codec (no more need for a motherboard to video card SPDIF connector)
« Last Edit: Oct 04, 2010 at 04:42 PM by mikeer2002ph »
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Offline mikeer2002ph

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Tormentor (Joey) - thanks for coming over here at my place last night after our audition of the MAs in greenhills.
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Offline Hammerheart

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Tormentor (Joey) - thanks for coming over here at my place last night after our audition of the MAs in greenhills.

welcome mikee.  :)
thanks for the hospitality...
did enjoy being there,
now i know how you prefer the music to be heard hehehe
nice speakers and system mikee...great details...high details... :) :) :)

Offline mikeer2002ph

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welcome mikee.  :)
thanks for the hospitality...
did enjoy being there,
now i know how you prefer the music to be heard hehehe
nice speakers and system mikee...great details...high details... :) :) :)

Thanks Joey!

will post new pics soon
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Offline mikeer2002ph

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Thank you Mel (Rascal101) for visiting yesterday afternoon.

Now you heard the wisdom behind the my max bass+treble on the tone controls while listening to music with all the racket happening on the street below with the balcony open.

Thank you for letting me audition your X777 passive linestage attenuator + new coils

-Mikee-
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Offline rascal101

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Thank you also for letting me hear your new speakers.

I now have better understanding on the kind of sound you want from your set-up.

I think that next time I should visit much later hopefully with Joey. That way there is no background noise  :)

Offline mikeer2002ph

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Thank you also for letting me hear your new speakers.

I now have better understanding on the kind of sound you want from your set-up.

I think that next time I should visit much later hopefully with Joey. That way there is no background noise  :)

Yep! the racket dies down around 8pm, but perfect auditioning conditions happen 10pm onwards if you want the balcony and street all to yourselves.
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Offline mikeer2002ph

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As you well know, my Klipsch sub is currently on the chopping block supposedly to be replaced by a Polk DSW 500 Pro.

I'm currently auditioning the Polk DSW 500 Pro at home.

Lots of thanks to Richie (it is his personal sub) of E-Home trading.

Standby for verdict..

Let's just say if the Klipsch gets withdrawn, you guys know the reason why.
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Offline mikeer2002ph

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FYI

My Klipsch sub is officially withdrawn, ergo it was fun pitting it against the Polk Audio DSW Pro 500.

Klipsch is it when it comes to music as far as we're concerned here.

Thank you Rascal101 (Mel) for coming over a couple of days ago for a visit/audition.

As usual, hope you like our version of congee.

Thanks too for the snacks and treats.

Your newly redesigned X77 and accompanying coils is a triumph!

Now that's what I call a 'bright' and 'holographic' idea.
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Offline rascal101

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Thank you very much for welcoming me to your home. And yes, I liked your version of congee.




Offline mikeer2002ph

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just visiting

nothing new except for new CD albums, new 1TB hard drive for my growing movie collection and new speaker cabling for the speakers
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Offline mikeer2002ph

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I recently sold my Pioneer DV-595K DVD Player to JerryIdol of PDVD

watch out for the new pics of the replacement DVD/MP3/WMA player
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Offline rascal101

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I hope you have a better one You deserve it  :)

Offline mikeer2002ph

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Dagdag-Bawas mode muna..

Bawas ng stands, DVD Player, dumi unused cabling

Dagdag ng screws (finally had the time to mount the RTi A3s on the wall), Waxed the floor

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Offline RastaSega

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ayos. di ba kailangan ng konting rear clearance ng speakers nyo sir?

Offline mikeer2002ph

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ayos. di ba kailangan ng konting rear clearance ng speakers nyo sir?

what do you mean? well the speakers themselves have a built-in wall mount .. so yun lang yung nilagyan ng screw

here is the a reference pic of an RTi A3 as seen from the back

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Offline mikeer2002ph

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currently home-auditioning a Denon DVD-1710 DVD Player glorified to a CD/WMA/MP3 player bought from Jhelenz

standby for verdict..
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Offline mikeer2002ph

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ayos. di ba kailangan ng konting rear clearance ng speakers nyo sir?

Well its been several weeks na wala yung stands, the bass from the speakers improved A LOT, imaging is still holographic although since the only place we can mount the left speaker on the plywood wall is on one of the inner hardwood frame (about 2 feet from where the speaker stands were located) - the speakers got closer together.

The result is the 'sweet spot' got smaller and moved forward a bit ok pa rin since the speakers are now more intimate when the sliding door is in the 'closed' position.

So far the 'magic' of the power port on the RTi A3 is still working its charm
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Offline jon2

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Well its been several weeks na wala yung stands, the bass from the speakers improved A LOT, imaging is still holographic although since the only place we can mount the left speaker on the plywood wall is on one of the inner hardwood frame (about 2 feet from where the speaker stands were located) - the speakers got closer together.

The result is the 'sweet spot' got smaller and moved forward a bit ok pa rin since the speakers are now more intimate when the sliding door is in the 'closed' position.

So far the 'magic' of the power port on the RTi A3 is still working its charm
my Polk also improved its bass when i mounted it to concrete wall, but it lessen the imaging.
btw, are u eying a polk lsi7 or 9? the lsi series is a bit laid back and warm speaker and for me not good matched with HK.There is something missing, and i think lack of dynamics and lively presentation.just my 2 cents. :)

Offline Nelson de Leon

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my Polk also improved its bass when i mounted it to concrete wall, but it lessen the imaging.
btw, are u eying a polk lsi7 or 9? the lsi series is a bit laid back and warm speaker and for me not good matched with HK.There is something missing, and i think lack of dynamics and lively presentation.just my 2 cents. :)

Baka hirap i-drive na amp?

Offline jon2

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Baka hirap i-drive na amp?
master, cguro nga under power ung lsi7 ko. i'am using HK avr85 medyo madaling mag-init pag nka large ung setting s front for music listening.b4 it was powered by an entry level onkyo receiver and mas lively ung sound and mas extended ung high compared s hk avr85 using hotel california as my reference. sir mikee sori s o.t :)

Offline Nelson de Leon

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master, cguro nga under power ung lsi7 ko. i'am using HK avr85 medyo madaling mag-init pag nka large ung setting s front for music listening.b4 it was powered by an entry level onkyo receiver and mas lively ung sound and mas extended ung high compared s hk avr85 using hotel california as my reference. sir mikee sori s o.t :)

Try mo muna i-set sa small, see if there's a diif.  :D

Offline mikeer2002ph

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my Polk also improved its bass when i mounted it to concrete wall, but it lessen the imaging.
btw, are u eying a polk lsi7 or 9? the lsi series is a bit laid back and warm speaker and for me not good matched with HK.There is something missing, and i think lack of dynamics and lively presentation.just my 2 cents. :)

Well the RTi A3s are currently mounted on a wooden wall (more like a partition wall kinda thing) and I may be lucky with imaging that is still there.

As for my next speakers .. Im thinking LSi 7 or LSi 9, depends on the outcome of the audition at AVshop with my HK 3470 stereo receiver.

I'm thinking you may get varied results between the AVR85, HK3470 and the HK980 (which was the one I auditioned the LSi 7s at AVShop) so im not taking any chances.

Im also aware that the LSi 9s dont have a wall mount unlike the LSi 7s hence may perform differently under certain configurations

Lots of variables hence im taking my time.

Between standmount and wall mount, the only difference in my case (RTi A3s) were the smaller sweet spot - dynamics and presentation are still very much there - especially now when the sliding doors are closed.
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Offline mikeer2002ph

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currently home-auditioning a Denon DVD-1710 DVD Player glorified to a CD/WMA/MP3 player bought from Jhelenz

standby for verdict..

I finished the home audition of the Denon DV-1710. It had a couple of problems hence I've returned it for a refund.

I am still on the lookout for a Pioneer DV-610AV, and hopefully I can still buy one new.
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