Sorry for the huge block of text: title is tl;dr, system at bottom.

I just upgraded my speakers from Fluance Ai41s to Totem Acoustics Bison Monitors, and I was super excited for what I assumed would be a huge change, from $300 actives to $2300 passives.

But when I got everything hooked up and the first record playing, I was underwhelmed. Things like detail and imaging were only slightly better, and now there's pretty significant static from the speakers at even lower levels that detracts from listening. (Before, I could turn it up to max and only barely hear it with my ear to the woofer [due to higher speaker sensitivity? It's a really big difference though]).

I switched inputs to my laptop, and it sounded better: still not night and day improvement, but more along the lines of what I was expecting, and the static is gone.

I'm assuming there's a bottleneck somewhere because I don't think I already hit such severe diminishing returns by $300 bookshelves, so my question is, what should I focus on upgrading from here for an actual improvement in sound this time? Let's say a $2.5k usd budget for a single component, but less is appreciated because I wanna hop off the upgrade train sooner rather than later. Thank you so much for your help!!

My system:
Fluance RT-82 with AT-OC9XSL cart (MC),
Moon 110lp (v1) phono preamp,
Schiit Saga 2 preamp,
Aiyima A07 Max amp (temporary, waiting for a Buckeye Hypex to come in),
Totem Acoustics Bison Monitor speakers,
SVS 3000 Micro Revolution sub
I clean records with Humminguru Ez, stylus with Hudson Hifi gel cleaner

My room:
Small (~12m²/39ft²) bedroom, speakers sitting 4ft apart, 1.5ft from wall, on foam blocks on the same dresser as the turntable (I know...). I bought these monitors with this suboptimal placement in mind because they're supposedly not fussy on that end, and these specs are within the manual's recommendations.

My music:
A lot of post-punk, doom metal, and neoclassical, though I get along with just about anything. Usually averaging ~65-70db at listening position, lower in evenings.

hi all,

i’m a complete noob when it comes to audio/tech stuff. currently looking for the best price/quality pair of monitors (doesn’t matter if active or passive) and amp to listen from aux and my turntable at home.

my budget for the whole system is somewhere between 800 and 1000 euros.

my living room is approximately 25 square meters big.

I mostly listen to bass-heavy music, but also loads of folk/guitar/classic music. I’m looking for something that won’t feel "flat" (previously had a pair of KRKs and hated the nivelation) but will have a rather dynamic output.

flood me with recommendations, cheers!

Which one do you recommend? Dali is twice the price. Something else? Elac is about 300 EUR, and Dali 600 EUR. SO budget 300 and 600 is really max if worth it. EU.

I’m in the market for a great sounding receiver/speaker combination (would like vintage for build and warmer sound, but if modern options are superior can go that route). Martin Logan B1 bundle was a complete let down and has caused me nothing but ear fatigue and hearing damage with how bright the speakers are. Looking for hifi but more tamed, warm sound. My budget is $800-1200. Any help from the community would be much appreciated

I live in apartment so don’t necessarily want something that will shake the unit, something with a flatter/warm response (i know that is a contradiction😂). Also, I’m on Facebook marketplace and OfferUp so vintage units are relatively accessible just need to know what I’m looking for. Thanks in advance!

Budget is $1000 ish can go up or down ksit depends.

Room is about 10 1/2 ft all 4 Walls.

Im considering buying uses/like new

Will he using this for. 4k video+ audio files, Gaming sessions, General Audio use youtube,netflix,crunchyroll.

Tv is LG G5 65’ got it brand new $1300

Will i also need sub and does a sub go for each of those or not needed?

Good to have but not needed. I Have Spotify Premium

Hi everyone,

I recently asked for opinions on my setup in another subreddit, and the general consensus was that the only meaningful upgrade left would be my speakers.

My current setup is:

• Technics SL-1500C
• Audio-Technica VM540ML cartridge
• iFi ZEN Phono 3 preamp
• Klipsch The Fives speakers

What speakers would you recommend as the next upgrade? I’m looking for something that would be a noticeable step up from the Klipsch The Fives and would pair well with the rest of my system.

I’m open to both active and passive speakers (plus an amp if that’s the better route), and I’d love to hear what you’d suggest based on your own experience.

Max Budget 1500€

Thanks in advance!

Bonjour, j'ai récemment acheté une paire d'enceintes Elipson Legacy 3220 dont je suis personnellement très content. (Ma pièce d'écoute fait environ 30m2)

Ces dernières tournent avec un ampli Cambridge cxa81 mk2 et je trouve ça bien mais j'ai pu comparer avec un ampli Atoll in300 evolution en magasin et je trouvais que l'atoll les faisait chanter bien, bien mieux.

Je pense donc me prendre quand je le pourrais l'Atoll in300 evolution avec le da200 qui a été un gros coup de coeur mais je veux rester ouvert et comme je découvre ce monde depuis seulement un an, je viens demander conseil.

Je pense déjà aussi à essayer un hegel h190 ; Rega Elicit MK5 ; Musical fidelity m6si ; Advance paris a10/a12

Comme je suis patient et ouvert au reconditionné/ modèle d'expo/ occasion en magasin, je me donne un budget d'un ampli sous ou aux alentours de 2000€

Le Atoll me paraît aussi une bonne idée, (en plus du fait que j'ai aimé l'écouter) car j'habite en France et que donc la distribution y est meilleure et qu'en cas de besoin, je peux très facilement envoyer l'ampli en réparation etc

! thanks

I'm a tech guy, but I know basically nothing about actual audio gear and speaker setups.

I found this old pair of Polk R30's that have been collecting dust for who knows how long, but they seem to be in good condition. All I know is that they're passive and need an amp (or receiver??) to power them, and that they're easy to drive.

So, my questions are:

1. What do I need to start using these speakers, and what can you recommend?

2. How do they hold up in terms of sound quality? my references are Audeze Maxwell's and Edifier R1700BT's

If it matters, I'm in Canada and plan to use the speakers with a PC, and down the line: a vinyl turntable / record player, and even further down the line: in a small home theater setup.

Budget: ideally under $400 CAD. room dimensions and sitting distance are irrelevant; the speakers will be moving around and I just want to get them working for now.

edit: I got it working with a Pioneer SX-880 that I found. also found a PL-518 lying around. great vintage system and everything sounds great.

First off, my current setup consists of:

Receiver: Sony STR-DE635

CD Player: Sony SDC-CX355 (300 disc)

This has been down and out for a while. I took it apart today and the belts are totally stretched and wont stay on. New ones are ordered and will be here tomorrow. I am currently using a Sony DVD Player that I picked up at a thrift store for $5 and is hooked up with a digital coax cable. It serves its purpose for now.

Cassette Deck: Sony TC-WR545 (doubtful that I will get back to collecting cassettes.)

Speakers: Infinity SM102

When I was 17 in 1992 I bought this system from a local stereo shop. I knew nothing about it other than the Infinity speakers were loud and its was perfect for my 17 year old self. The speakers and cassette deck were part of that original system. Sometime about maybe 20 years ago the receiver and the 6 disc carousel died on me. I replaced the receiver with a craigslist find at the time (the current receiver) and then it rarely got used much in the past 20 years. I picked up the 300 Disc player for about $25 on Marketplace last year and it worked for a while, then it stopped.

The plan is to most likely replace ALL of it and this system can go in my garage arcade. I restore vintage arcade machines so this will fit right in the garage and I think it will be perfect. I want something much nicer for my daily listener in the house.

I have had very little luck in my area with Marketplace or Thrift Store finds. There are a few resellers locally that snatch everything up and then mark it up quite a bit. Every piece I find, I search it and will usually find plenty of posts in the audiophile groups pricing it about half their asking price or just panning it as junk.

Probably the most important part and most likely the first suggestion will be speakers. I have been stuck in the 90s mentality that big, loud floor standing speakers are where it was at. I know nothing about bookshelf speakers. There aren't any stereo shops around me that carry anything I can really listen to. So first off, any suggestions for speakers? I would like to keep speakers to $1000 or less but I am willing to go to about $1500 if it's really going make the difference. I don't know much about them other than youtube but Wharfdale Linton, Denton 85, Denton 1S, and Diamond 12.2i all look nice. My listening room will either be the finished basement which is 32'x30' or the upstairs living room which is rectangular and 15' wide by 40' long. Both are pretty large rooms. I mentioned Wharfdales only because I watched a bunch of videos on them but im open to others, I am just not familiar with what is good and what isn't.

Ultimately I want to upgrade the amp. Receiver isn't needed since I dont listen to FM radio anymore but I do want streaming capabilities such as Sirius and Spotify. I am focusing much more on physical media but I have a Spotify family account and Sirius in my truck. Both are nice options to have. So this category would be Amp and Streamer. Wiim is definitely an option and cost effective. I do love vintage receivers like the Pioneer SX-750 and up line as well as equivalent Yamaha and Marantz but have had no luck finding and deals on them. This category is wide open to suggestions as well as prices. I would like to keep this one under $1000 for both but that limits my choices so I am open to suggestions above that if they are reasonable. No matter what I go with I will need a phono preamp

As for turntable, my daughter has an AT LPX60BT that she uses with some Edifier speakers. She has barely been using it and she is letting me borrow it for a while to really decide if I want to get into collecting vinyls. My plan is to collect both Vinyls and CDs. The CDs are my normal listening while doing other things and Vinyls will be my chill with a drink and really listen. I think I am going to settle on the $600 max range for a turntable. Fluance RT85 was my first thought but I do see some people complaining about their quality. Obviously there are some amazing vintage turntables out there but again, not knowing enough about them and pricing has me hesitant and unable to quickly grab a FB find if it does come up. Fluance, U-Turn, AT, Technics...what are some good suggestions in the $600 and less range as well as maybe some vintage units to really look for.

As for the CD player there are a bunch of 6 disc carousels on Marketplace now and I want to pick either a single or 6 disc to pair with the 300 disc player. I am not worried right now about that category, I have options.

Sorry for the giant wall of text but if you made it this far and have suggestions, then thank you! It's hard to define a budget. I expect before I am done to be at least $3000 into the system which is probably well above "Budget" range but I plan to do it one piece at a time. Any help would be great.

Hi everyone. I’m new to the sub and I kind of need some help with picking my first speakers for my desk. Any guidance would be much appreciated.
My main use are just gonna be for movies, music, podcasts, etc basically for media consumption.
I got to try soundsticks 5 that one of my room mates have and it sounds pretty decent. But before I actually pull the trigger, I’d love to hear people’s opinions from here. Is it a decent speaker for my use case? Price wise I’m flexible since I dont see myself buying several speakers and rather just buy a decent one once than buying twice.
Any suggestions?
Are soundsticks any good for my use case?

Price - ~$300 to $350
Location- my room that has a standing desk which is 48x30

My PC speakers recently broke, they were the discontinued Bose Companion 2 Series II Multimedia Speaker System. I had them for a super long time so I've never needed to replace them and I don't know what to look for in a new PC speaker system. I'm using the Philips SHP9500 for my headphones. I want the best for listening to music, but I don't even know what makes a good speaker. I'm in the US and I have a budget of less then $100, what should I look out for and what are the best options?

I have a 40'x15' condo space with a 9' ceiling and ceramic tile floor (and some thin rugs - wife likes her high heels). I don't want a TV, but I do want a really nice audio setup, almost a buy-it-for-life type of thing. Wife's aesthetic sensibility is important, but so is sound quality. I'm focused on a one box, "just add speakers" solution that I can also integrate with Home Assistant.

Musical taste is varied, mostly will be moderate-volume ambience, light jazz, low-fi, or Lana. There will be 1980s music, lot's of Prince, and a range of tribal, techno, or classical music that might be played at enough volume to feel the bass. I won't be turning the volume all the way up to rattle the walls.

My budget was $5k-$6k, and prefer new equipment… so I narrowed the streaming amp to just a few options:

- Cambridge Audio EVO 150 (beautiful)
- NAD Masters M10 v3 (pretty enough)
- Naim CI-102 (invisible)

And the speakers to:

- Monitor Audio Silver 500 (nice sound, not pretty)
- Wharfdale Evo 5.4 (really beautiful)

My current lean is to the NAD and Wharfedales, for a slightly warmer tonality with room compensation and the visual aesthetics of the speakers as nice furniture. That puts me right at $5,500.

Change my mind.

I am looking to switch my bose 5.1 setup to a 2.1 stereo setup.
Given that the speakers need to hang on the wall near the ceiling due to internal cabling, I am considering the Dali Alteco C1.

They seem adequate, but the fact that they are multipurpose (can also be used as height surround speakers for atmos), makes me wonder if they will equally good as a pure stereo speaker.

Does anyone have experience with these speakers, or any other "on wall near ceiling" speakers to recommend?

Budget is max 300 euros per speaker, in EU

Hello everyone.
I'm going mad on the used market in Italy, trying to find a pair of decent speakers at or below the 200€ mark. I'm ok paying more for shipping, that's just a relative point to stop myself from slowly going above it as I find cool deals. I'm upgrading from a pair of Sony SS A290.

Since there's a bit of choice on the used market, I'd love 3 way speakers and wooden color outside, and also tall because the Sonys are 40cm in height and I wouldn't want a pair that's shorter (yes, they're speakers and they're supposed to be listened to, but I have this very peculiar condition that about 10% of the sounds I hear, I hear through my eyes!).

Also, I know only little of hi-fi, I'm just getting started, but most of the sellers seem to know less than me: what should I ask them to do in order to see if the foam is still good or will need replacement soon? Most will just say "the speakers are all fine, all original" when they're from the '80s or '90s and as far as I've read that's quite a while for the foam (and the capacitors, but I can change those)

Thanks a lot in advance!
I highly doubt it, but if there a good choice for new speakers, I'd take it to save the trouble of the used market.

Thanks again, this was long-winded, I realize

Budget: 200€ without shipping

Location: Italy

I’m looking to get some JBL 305p mkll’s on a slight budget and I’m wondering if I have everything.

What I currently have in my cart

JBL 305p’s
Focusrite scarlet solo 4th gen dac
Anker zolo cable
1/4 trs cable x2

I would be playing from a 2018 Mac mini from tidal

Is this everything I need?

Hi everyone,

I am a complete beginner to the audio world and I'm looking for a solid pair of active PC speakers. My budget is €200 and I am buying from Italy (Europe) .

For a €200 budget, I've been told it is much better to look for a 2.0 system rather than a 2.1, since a 2.0 should offer better component quality and vocal clarity for the price.

Here are the details of my room and setup:

▪ Room Size: Around 3×5 meters.

▪ Layout & Use: The system will be used mainly for watching movies. My bed is positioned directly in front of the monitor, so I will be watching either sitting at my desk or lying down on the bed.

▪ Source & Concerns: I will be connecting the speakers to an old Acer laptop. Since it's quite old, I'm worried the internal sound card might degrade the sound or cause annoying background static/hissing.

▪ Future Plans: Down the line, I definitely want to expand this setup by adding a subwoofer and a dedicated media/video player.

Given that I'm a beginner, need a clear upgrade path for a future subwoofer, and have a layout where I switch between the desk and the bed, what are the best 2.0 active speaker options available here in Europe under €200?

Thanks in advance for all your help!

Sadly, my Sonus Faber Electas (original, 35 yr old) have expired. I'm now searching for an adequate replacement. My budget is around €5,000, and must be available in Europe. The current Sonus Faber Electa Mk3 is out of my price range. I have had demos of:

Magnepan 1.7X
Audiovector R1
Audio Physics (can't remember model)
B&W 702 S3

Under consideration:

Dynaudio Contour 20
Diapason Adamantes V
Some other Sonus Faber model (but I'm wary that they are now just a brand name as part of Bose)

My room is 6m x 6m. Source is vinyl. Power amps are Vacuum Tube Logic MB300 monoblocs (350W).

It's difficult to make direct comparisons as all the demo rooms, and systems, were different. I liked the B&Ws but I would prefer a small, 2-way on stands. The Audiovectors were also good, especially clarity and imaging.

Any thoughts?

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this reddit page, and am just getting into audio. I've purchased the martin logan EM ESLs, after hearing a demo at best buy and falling in love with them.

After looking through many reddit threads, there seems to be no recommended go-to setup for beginners.

My goal is to stream from my phone to the speakers via Spotify. My question is: What is the recommended setup I can use for these speakers (please give reccs for integrated amp+wires brands or amp+receiver+wire brands that I can purchase)? Trying to keep the rest of audio setup budget within $2k.

I'm based in the U.S. with a living room that is 12x17 and 11ft ceilings. The speakers will be ~10ft from the couch.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I recently set up a vintage system featuring a Marantz PM 550 DC integrated amplifier (~65W per channel) and a Marantz TT2200 direct drive turntable.

I'm now looking for a pair of speakers to complete the setup. Since I live in an apartment, I need something suitable for a shared-building space to avoid troubling the neighbors with uncontrolled low frequencies.

• Room size: Medium / Apartment living room
• Listening habits: Mostly listening at moderate to low volumes
• Placement: Close to the wall / on a side cabinet
• Budget: i don't know (lower than 500 euro) (around 200-300 euro)
• Location: EU

I’m looking for speakers that complement the warm, musical Marantz sound well.

What would you recommend for this amp? Any classic pairings or specific models I should look out for?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Hi all,

Curious to get your input on the below.

I'm looking to upgrade my current amp and speakers. Currently using the Yamaha A-s301 with Monitor Audio Bronze 5 floor standing speakers. Purely for music and not films etc. I'm set up in a mid sized loft and use a mix of wired streaming, CD and Vinyl.

The old set up has been great and I've had no regrets to be honest. But I'm thirsty to see what other experiences are out there.

My budget is £3.5 - £4k max (UK) and I would prefer to buy new rather than used. The Audiolab 9000A Amplifier with Wharfedale Super Lintons (with stands) have really got my attention at the moment and are what I'm leaning towards. Also considering the lower priced Arcam A25+ amp. Also open to floorstanding options.

I listen to a wide variety of stuff (classical, ambient, rock, metal, alternative, folk) and I'm not looking for something overly sterile / analytical. Mostly interested in immersive big sound with good sound stage.

Have heard alot of people talking about the KEF R3 Metas, but buying separate stands and people saying they're very analytical puts me off a little.

All suggestions welcome 😊

Hello colleagues! I'm thinking about swapping my D90SE+Bluesound Node system for the EVERSOLO DMP-A6 MASTER EDITION GEN 2. I'm currently matching this system with an Advance Paris A10 in a my living room 20 Mts.

Do you think that it's a good idea? Specially comparing DACs. Budget: I don't want to spend more than 1200 usd.

If I jump into the Eversolo, I would use the topping for my desktop (Dali Cupid + Fosi Audio ZA3 Amp + iFi Zen DAC v2), because my DAC is the weak link of the chain I think.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I'm located in Santiago, Chile!

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a subwoofer with a budget of €250 max, and I'm totally fine buying used.

My current setup is a Denon AVR-X2600H with a pair of Argon Audio Forus 5 bookshelf speakers.

I mainly listen to music, so I'm looking for something that can play deep, clean bass, not just loud bass. My room isn't very big (about 3.2 × 3.2 meters), so it doesn't need to be extremely powerful, but I'd like to really hear and feel the low frequencies.

What subwoofers would you recommend in my budget? Used models are absolutely fine.

Thanks in advance!

Budget: under 1000 USD
Location: US

I am looking for a long-term analog preamp and have narrowed my options down to the Schiit Kara F and the Topping Pre90 with its extender. Price difference is minimal (Topping + its extender is a tad cheaper).

I’d love to hear people’s thoughts about these preamps. For those who own one or the other, what do you think? Have they served you well? How do they sound?

Further, are there any other analog preamps in the under 1000 range that I might consider?

Any and all advice is appreciated. Thank you!

Not a total expert with the digital stuff, wanting to move away from MacBook to DAC via usb, and make use of a Mac Mini Roon core to a Roon end point with coax output to the DAC. Location is USA, budget is $1,500 or less (used).

No library playback, Roon-Qobuz streaming only, don't need processing, etc. and the DAC is limited to 24/96. Hoping for easy and reliable use, not a bunch of futzing around... AI says to consider output clock quality, output driver design, and galvanic isolation - I can deal with power supply at a future point.

In no particular order, a not-so-short list is:

Holo Red, PS Audio AirLens, Sonnet Hermes, Metrum Ambre, Lumin U2 Mini, Denafrips Arce, Limetree Bridge, Bricasti M5, Eversolo T8 (don't love the screen...), Silent Angel M1T, Matrix TT-1, Volumio Rivo

Most of these seem to check all or most of the boxes, used availability varies. Some a bit older than others (worry about support, compatibility, etc.). Reviews seem generally positive.