Topic: Auditioning bookshelf speakers

[macdon]

In my quest to possibly find a good pair of front bookshelf speakers for an A/V set-up in a 18-20sqm area, I auditioned some speaker brands in Shang yesterday. Budget placed at 20-25K.
Please note that these are subjective opinions as well as first impressions w/o considering yet the brand of amp/gear used, etc. All audio tracks for auditioning.

B&W 685 - very good sounding speaker; very neutral along its highs, mids & lows; transparent & soothing.
Very detailed & romantic. If i came home from a tired & hectic work day - I like to use these speakers to massage me In a way, slight laid back but with enough bass to keep up overall.

Paradigm Titan Monitor - a lively & dynamic set! Very articulative and 3-dimensional. Detailed as well, but somewhat more bass than the B&W. If I want a speaker to keep me up on my toes or an inspiring song, I want to use these speakers.

Focal Chorus 707s - first tone made me reach for my shades 'coz the tweeter is too bright! It somehow drowned the mids & lows. Further listening made me realize that it was also very crisp, detailed and any nuances found in the recording will be greatly amplified by this set - but lets hope it aint the highs
A quick search on the net after auditioning verified that a suggested 100hour break-in is required before these speakers begin to shine......and mellowing out the tweets! Okay. whew....thats good to know.
However, the biggest thing that the Focal chorus 707s got was excellent imaging! I told the salesman to kindly close the center channel, but was totally surprised to find out that there is none!
This would be perfect if you're still saving up for that center channel speaker

PSB Image B25 - I wasnt suppose to include this set in my short list, but it is kinda surprising the quality of music that this set produces......and this set is even far cheaper than those 3 above.
Unfortunately, i didnt get enough auditioning time to properly give it a fair assessment, so i need to audition this set again. But first impression made me put this in my short list - so lets see how this babies fan out

What am I leaning towards to?  - wala! Cant decide which one kasi they all sound great! 

Any thoughts from the audience?

 

[kt]

hey mards welcome dito sa board! lets wait for the other's opinion as well.

we all know that auditioning is the key to all of these n sympre go to which your ears like since ikaw ang gagamit. also as you've said you also have to consider the other gears that you'll be using as well as the environment in your place.

i also did try the B&W and paradigms but their FS specifically the 684 and monitor7.
same findings for the speakers where the Paradigm is more lively while the b&w is more laid back.

i havent tried the focal and PSB.

so for your preference n application...i think its for both HT & audio right? for me i'll get the paradigms esp for movies.

for stereo listening where the center ch is absent...imaging is the impt thing n u can achieve this thru proper placing of speakers where toe-in can benefit the listening point.

the key is to audition all the speakers u can n to play a track that u know well so u can distinguish it among the shortlisted brands. in the end dun ka kung san masaya ang ears mo.

remember that the gears used play an impt role as well as the place that you'll put them. iba sound nila sa demo room and pagdating na sa house mo. they also say the best din if pwede...is a home audition...pero bihira lang stores papayag sa ganun...

goodluck n let us know lang! hehe

[edwin]

In my quest to possibly find a good pair of front bookshelf speakers for an A/V set-up in a 18-20sqm area, I auditioned some speaker brands in Shang yesterday. Budget placed at 20-25K.
Please note that these are subjective opinions as well as first impressions w/o considering yet the brand of amp/gear used, etc. All audio tracks for auditioning.

B&W 685 - very good sounding speaker; very neutral along its highs, mids & lows; transparent & soothing.
Very detailed & romantic. If i came home from a tired & hectic work day - I like to use these speakers to massage me In a way, slight laid back but with enough bass to keep up overall.

Paradigm Titan Monitor - a lively & dynamic set! Very articulative and 3-dimensional. Detailed as well, but somewhat more bass than the B&W. If I want a speaker to keep me up on my toes or an inspiring song, I want to use these speakers.

Focal Chorus 707s - first tone made me reach for my shades 'coz the tweeter is too bright! It somehow drowned the mids & lows. Further listening made me realize that it was also very crisp, detailed and any nuances found in the recording will be greatly amplified by this set - but lets hope it aint the highs
A quick search on the net after auditioning verified that a suggested 100hour break-in is required before these speakers begin to shine......and mellowing out the tweets! Okay. whew....thats good to know.
However, the biggest thing that the Focal chorus 707s got was excellent imaging! I told the salesman to kindly close the center channel, but was totally surprised to find out that there is none!
This would be perfect if you're still saving up for that center channel speaker

PSB Image B25 - I wasnt suppose to include this set in my short list, but it is kinda surprising the quality of music that this set produces......and this set is even far cheaper than those 3 above.
Unfortunately, i didnt get enough auditioning time to properly give it a fair assessment, so i need to audition this set again. But first impression made me put this in my short list - so lets see how this babies fan out

What am I leaning towards to?  - wala! Cant decide which one kasi they all sound great! 

Any thoughts from the audience?

 

For me, a safer option is to get a laid back set of speakers. Using a audio/video receiver does not normally have the finesse of a dedicated audio amplifier, ika nga, medyo rough and tunog. Listening to music on an AV receiver will be quite tiring over time in a dynamic/lively pair of speakers.

As what macdon had stated, it is still best if you could bring home and try the speakers to your set-up.

Just me 2 cents.

[nesty]

In my quest to possibly find a good pair of front bookshelf speakers for an A/V set-up in a 18-20sqm area, I auditioned some speaker brands in Shang yesterday. Budget placed at 20-25K.
Please note that these are subjective opinions as well as first impressions w/o considering yet the brand of amp/gear used, etc. All audio tracks for auditioning.

B&W 685 - very good sounding speaker; very neutral along its highs, mids & lows; transparent & soothing.
Very detailed & romantic. If i came home from a tired & hectic work day - I like to use these speakers to massage me In a way, slight laid back but with enough bass to keep up overall.

Paradigm Titan Monitor - a lively & dynamic set! Very articulative and 3-dimensional. Detailed as well, but somewhat more bass than the B&W. If I want a speaker to keep me up on my toes or an inspiring song, I want to use these speakers.

Focal Chorus 707s - first tone made me reach for my shades 'coz the tweeter is too bright! It somehow drowned the mids & lows. Further listening made me realize that it was also very crisp, detailed and any nuances found in the recording will be greatly amplified by this set - but lets hope it aint the highs
A quick search on the net after auditioning verified that a suggested 100hour break-in is required before these speakers begin to shine......and mellowing out the tweets! Okay. whew....thats good to know.
However, the biggest thing that the Focal chorus 707s got was excellent imaging! I told the salesman to kindly close the center channel, but was totally surprised to find out that there is none!
This would be perfect if you're still saving up for that center channel speaker

PSB Image B25 - I wasnt suppose to include this set in my short list, but it is kinda surprising the quality of music that this set produces......and this set is even far cheaper than those 3 above.
Unfortunately, i didnt get enough auditioning time to properly give it a fair assessment, so i need to audition this set again. But first impression made me put this in my short list - so lets see how this babies fan out

What am I leaning towards to?  - wala! Cant decide which one kasi they all sound great! 

Any thoughts from the audience?

 

Hi Macdon, thanks for sharing.

Btw, yung B&W 685 ba pasok sa 25k?

Just asking kasi, I have not audition this yet but I also heard the Titan medyo matulis tumunog. Yung PSB naman I would say neutral sounding just heard the other day sa alabang and the price is lower the the range you have.

[synchro_01]

be careful with speakers that exhibit too much detail...often times they are the ones who have this fatiguing characteristic. what may be impressive detail, transparency and imaging in the first three songs of the audition might turn out to be listener fatigue after listening to it for an hour or two. Go for musicality instead. If I were to choose from your list I would choose the B&W. They work well with HT gear and stereo gear.

[macdon]

Thank you po sa lahat ng nag reply - appreciate all your comments and suggestions. Basically, I'm just scratching the surface with these speakers and surely an in depth audition is yet to be desired.

Sir Nesty, the B&W 685 barely fits in the budget - but yes, if you shop around you would see that you can score the set for around 25k.......or maybe a bit lower

Yes, the PSB Image B25 is definitely a lot lower - actually, 8k lower
If I may ask, could you describe your auditioning experience between the Paradigm Titan Monitor & PSB B25 from Hi-Fi Lounge in Alabang?
Thank you po.

[nesty]

Thank you po sa lahat ng nag reply - appreciate all your comments and suggestions. Basically, I'm just scratching the surface with these speakers and surely an in depth audition is yet to be desired.

Sir Nesty, the B&W 685 barely fits in the budget - but yes, if you shop around you would see that you can score the set for around 25k.......or maybe a bit lower

Yes, the PSB Image B25 is definitely a lot lower - actually, 8k lower
If I may ask, could you describe your auditioning experience between the Paradigm Titan Monitor & PSB B25 from Hi-Fi Lounge in Alabang?
Thank you po.

Actually, when I went there the set-up was NAD315BEE connected to an AR speaker and I did not like the sound it's dull for me walang dating. So I ask the person in charge to instead connect the PSB B25 to the NAD. And as expected since most say this is the recommended combo (both are in one group of company - NAD and PSB) and it sounded better, laid back mas may dating sa bass and neutral yung treble.

As for the Titan I auditioned that at Shang with a Denon high-end integrated amp  as the store in Alabang doesn't carry it. My impression is ma-high or mataas yung treble ng Titan but it can also definitely sing too.

All of your BS speaker selections are good. It will depend on your ears really. Btw, as for the aesthetic mas may dating yung Paradigm compared sa PSB.

I suggest you put in your criteria also a BS that is more musical over HT sound.

[george441]

Ang hirap mag audition ng speakers.  Iba ibang acoustic conditions, associated equipment used.  You also have to take account the 15 degrees and 30 degrees off axis performance of the speaker.  If possible, try to borrow the speakers and try it at home...some shops allow this. Bright or warm sound is all relative to speaker placement, room acoustics, and equipment matching.

[polaris]

Hello Mcdon,

my 2 cents..

the models you auditioned are good starting point and I agree with most of the comments...best to bring the receiver and source to the audition to make certain you're picking your taste.

some trends though:

- the break in period for the speakers can be long-- the b&w woofer takes a  long time to break in and from my experience while the b&w's have the best compromise use for HT and music at your budget, i also find them preferring to be cranked up more to get the details out...which can be a problem with late night viewing,...but they are very balanced when paired right.

-the FOCAL speakers are a bit lit up in the highs and need to be partnered carefuly...
- paradigms and psb s are fine for movies and music but are less refined but certainly are good value, more for movies than music-- while you are in the budget speaker sector, you might also want to look for MONITOR AUDIO (bronze series- b2), INFINITY(primus line), NHT (not sure if anyone in manila carries it)..and the EPOS (EL series i think),and wharfedale (diamond)..among others..

Lastly, my advice to you in selecting your speakers---  technology and the tools to design them have improved considerably in the last 10 years that it will be rare to find any of the major models to really sound bad.  Differences  at these price levels are not considerable, and to be honest, for AV purposes will be more than sufficient.  You will have to spend 3x your current budget to start noticing the next level sound improvement to this batch you are considering

Also pay attention to your amp/receiver and sources..they are as important.

cheers,

[Philjonc]

audio/HT 50/50? as for audio, again, consider your type of music.

[kid]

some stores are acoustically treated... you will end up praising all the speakers you've auditioned  the best way to audition gears is bring them to your house. the problem is kung papahiram sayo ng shop owner

[accastil]

masaya ito pare...goodluck!
there is no better place to do this but in your own room, using your own gears.

[macdon]

Yesterday afternoon, I trekked to HiFi Lounge in Festival, Alabang to finally audition properly & compare the PSB B25 to those speakers I auditioned last Sunday in Shang. Ayoko kasi patagalin pa at baka makalimutan ko yung mga sounds last Sunday

Like sir Nesty informed above, the PSB B25 was indeed connected to an integrated Nad315BEE, but i requested them to hook it up to their Onkyo Tx-sr604 AVR instead.
The PSB B25 exhibited an open soundscape which was rich in detail, fluid smooth in its high, mids & ample lows and to be honest I prefer this over the B&W 685 which I auditioned last Sunday.
A bit of toe-in and it got a spacious imaging in the center & somewhat made the speakers invisible - even if you look at the speakers, parang hindi dun galing yung sound.
I would say that it has similarities with the Paradigm Titans I heard last Sunday - but just a tad less steroids in the bass department.

I also auditioned their Focal 705s, a smaller brother of the 707s that I heard last Sunday in Audio Visual Driver in Shang. Beforehand, one of our members here pointed me to an add here in pDVD about this speaker being sold by HiFi Lounge since last April '06. With that in mind, I figured this must've been auditioned a lot thru the year - thus baka, tama din si Focal & hopefully hindi na harsh/brite yung tweeter nya 'coz break-in na sya.
Well, I was pleasantly surprised that the tweeter wasnt that bright anymore, which made me focus to its overall characteristics - unfortunately, i find it lacking in both space and depth wherein sound concentrated just in front of the speaker and imaging kinda suffered.

I also tried Mission Volare V1 (or was that V6??) and while it does show more promising than Focal, it didnt give the smooth & open soundscape that the PSB B25 provided........and at less cost to boot!

After all the audio stuff - I requested to try the PSB B25 for HT naman. No center channel connected, no sub and no surrounds - just so I can listen to the front PSB speakers.
The soundscape was there, smooth dialogue.......but somewhat a bit lagging in the effects department. While you may see chaos on the screen......and you do hear them.....but it just wasnt crisp enough to realistically convey the chaos.
Nonetheless, I felt that the PSB B25 are really great speakers & even the cheapest in my short list! I'd recommend them to anyone

Today, I woke up thinking that the Paradigm Titan Monitor V.5 might be the ticket for both audio as well as video - it had that "oomph" factor in it that I may be looking for HT. After some scouting in the net, I found the distributor Hi-Fi Plus in Ermita.
Unfortunately, they run out of Titan stocks Mga mid February pa yata. But I still auditioned their Mini Monitor which was the next size down the Titans.
While I did find them to be a bit bright (might still mellow down after break-in), the sound was definitely crisp & smooth - fully detailed, but a tad short in the bass. Understandable, as I heard the Titans last Sunday in Shang & it DOES have bass forward Sayang lang - walang audi na video eh.

On my way back & passing thru Makati, took a bit of detour & visited Home Theater in Tordesillas st.
I re-auditioned the B&W 685 & reaffirmed my findings similar to my audition of it last Sunday in Shang.
However, Mr. Butch Tuason seemed to have something hidden under his sleeves in the form of B&W 602 s3 which he just remembered he still has 1 in-stock.
Out it came, plug it up, fired it up..........and i believe I was in Nirvana!
After a few mindless curses to myself, I was dumbfounded to say the least

While this post is getting too long, i wont bore you with any adjectives to describe the characteristics of this speaker set, but after a seemingly short auditioned - I haggled to the point of almost begging and finally had those babies wrapped up & tucked to the backseat of my car!

[nesty]

Macdon,

Congrats..

Check your PM.

Thanks,
Nesty

[macdon]

Sir Nesty - Pm replied.
Marami pong salamat sir!

[kt]

aba mards! nabili na pala iba ka talaga! idol! hehe

[AudioAmplified]

Sirs... just some tips on audiotioning.

1) as much as possible try to home audition since the listening room + the gears use can sometimes alter the characteristics of a speaker.
2) try to conduct an A-B-A test since there is usually a bias towards the last speaker tested.
3) if possible try to use the same gears (amp, cables, etc) for all the speakers so that you could compare them apples to apples.
4) bring you favorite CDs so that you can measure them against something that you are familiar with. 
5) take your time... and remember audio is very subjective so let your ears decide for you
6) ENJOY   looking for a good setup is like looking for a spouse... you have to be a good match and the relationship lasting...