I have a record player I’m currently using a jbl charge 3 as a speaker for, and I really want to upgrade my sound setup because my car is better than my house. The problem is I’m in about a 1200 sq ft house, and there’s not a ton of room in any room. Any ideas on how to pimp out an audio setup without too much floor space?
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It sounds like if you want “car audio” you want “party” speakers (i.e., bass) If youre in a house without neighbors, get at least a 10 inch sub to pair with some bookshelf speakers .
Almost all my gear was used. Don’t get new. There are tons and tons of people getting rid of “grandpas” old sound system (because all anyone uses now are airpods and Bluetooth soundbars) so you can get crazy good deals on solid gear.
Also dont forget, speakers aren’t headphones. They dont just sound the same e everywhere. The room and placement is probbaly 50-70% of the sound. So experiment with placement and buy some rockwool insulation panels to put in the corners. With small rooms youre going to have a lot of peaks and nulls, especially if dimensions are even
Feel free to pm me, im glad to help people get the most out of their room And gear.
Give us a budget to work with. As a general rule, a small space for a single person a pair of studio monitors are your best bet. Then if budget allows, get a sub for 2.1. The price range for this is from a few hundred $ to $20k.
Poor man: Yamaha HS5 or 8. $500-$800 + a Topping D50 III $250’ish and some cabling.
You can go cheaper, but this is really a budget sweet spot. KRK, Schitt and Adam Audio are woth considering to shave a few bucks.
Rich Man: Genelec 8351 for $10k and a 7050 sub for $1350 USD.
One note: studio monitors dont neccessarily sound good to listen to for enjoyment. Yamaha hs series for one, are not that enjoyable, theyre good for monitoring mixes though on the lower end.
My main enjoyment setup is a pair of smg-a’s, defiitely not something youd use for mixing, but very enjoyable to listen to. And some miller kriesel satellites as well.
I have HS7s for mixing, and theyre fine, but not “fun”.
2 questions, what’s your budget, and do you want a separate amp?
I scored an Edifier pair of powered speakers (no amp needed) for 15 bucks at goodwill. You can find them on sale on Amazon for as low as $100-200 every now and then. I was pleasantly surprised at how full and clear the speakers are. Great for tight on space/budget.
Another great budget option with more bass are the THX Logitech computer speaker 2.1set w/ sub (another set not needing an amp). I have a set that’s at least 20 years old and sound crazy good for sub $200 price point.
My other setup is a really nice Revel Concerta floor standing set with SVS sub, the complete opposite of budget and space saving. So I’ll leave the midrange w/ amp options to someone else.
I went for a 2nd-hand, budget, setup and it is decent enough for my usage. Medium clarity and throw. I agree that a pair of studio monitors is probably your best choice.
Behringer K6 NEKKST STUDIO MONITOR (pair) 100
Behringer Firepower FCA610 125
Cables balanced TS 6.35mm 34
Are these all excellent? Definitely not, but can be picked up fairly cheap, as they are legacy gear.
This Yamaha receiver https://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio_visual/hifi_components/a-s801/features.html#product-tabs
And Ascend Acustics CBM170 https://www.ascendacoustics.com/products/cbm-170se-bookshelf-monitor-single?variant=40047176843318 These are bookshelf speakers but aren’t tiny, sacrifice a couple of inches of space for the better sound. These out perform $1000 speakers.
And a subwoofer, but I can’t make a recommendation
Or if you want best sound for less $ a larger JBL like the boombox or partybox 310
Get a surround sound receiver that has Dolby ProLogic (it lets you expand 2 channel into simulated 5 channel). You’ll want to make sure it has optical input and possibly Bluetooth functionality.
Got a couple of really high quality 125-150W RMS studio monitor towers or just tower speakers.
Get any random 8-in or 10-in down firing active subwoofer.
If you feel compelled you can fill in the other channels… grab some 50W RMS cheaper bookshelf speakers for those.
You should be able to accomplish this whole feat for less than $400 used on Facebook marketplace.
A good quality used receiver should be around $100. Good studio monitor speakers as I expect should be around $200, sub and extras no more than $100.
There is no reason to go out and pay $5,000 for an audio setup when you can build it yourself with a little knowledge for a couple hun
Agree to get all used, but optical is silly. I’ve never known a single other person except myself to use it. And I only use it for 1 specific reason. Also, a lot of receivers dont have Bluetooth but you can get an adapter so cheap online. Id actually wager a receiver with built in Bluetooth is likely shit tbh. (Most consumers gear after 03 ish is shite so try to go older if you can). Or spend more for newer boutique stuff.
Also surround sound is a bit silly in a 300 sq ft room but ydy.
Optical is for device compat. It’s extremely versatile. One can cock around with other goofball connections and cabling if ya want, but few things beat an optical signal with is basically immune to EM disruption, and most quality audio and HT equipment support it.
Also please don’t talk out of your ass regarding BT on receivers while simultaneously advocating for a cheap BT piece of crap of Amazon lol
Your zeal to shoot down my ideas, which are generalized advice for somebody without too many clues reveals your own lack of knowledge. Stop talking and start learning.
The Bluetooth adapter quality is not really of importance (also, I dont use Amazon, been against them for many years). I merely stated that a consumer receiver with built in Bluetooth is probably not built to the standards of an older unit without it. Its well known that the more “features” they try to shove in consumer gear, the less quality the gear usually is. I dont use bt for quality music listening myself, but I realize quality has improved.
Sure, optical is fine. I just dont see a use for it for most people (maybe their tv?) And I do use optical in the studio although it can cause a lot of issues with bad cables and things not being super clean. Its not rock solid stable like you think, especially in studio use and field recording where stability matters. High quality optical cable is a must in that case.
Also, they only have a record player. Why would they need to dink around with optical?
I was confused why youd recommend surround sound to someone who only mentioned music listening as well. It seemed odd.
Sorry you got offended!
If you are looking for a cheap way, that has good sound, these dell surround systems are often on Craigslist. I paid $15 for mine, and it’s loud enough for a small place…too loud to turn up full in my 850 sqft.
Yeah: A decent pair of AKG headphones :)
More seriously, Dali makes some really nice sounding speakers for their small size and relatively low price.
I’m very satisfied with my AKG headphones. And thanks for recommend Dali, I’ll have a look into their stuffs too!
Honestly, those on wall speakers look about perfect, thank you so much! Now to convince the husband this is a necessary expenditure.
Yes, that does sound like the most difficult part of the endeavor. I wish you the best of luck and hope for your success.
While I don’t have any personal experience with their current lineup, I’ve never known anyone to have complaints about their quality. My own 30 year old Dali’s still sound as great as they did when I first got them.
I had some sound bars and wasn’t satisfied, so I put together a little system for tv and music. Micca OoO bookshelf speakers laid horizontally. Arylic B50. It has hdmi so you can arc control it with your tv and has sub out. Also a dsp that you can tune with a phone app. Theater Solutions SUB8S low profile sub that you can hide behind a couch or under an entertainment center. All Amazon stuff. Decent bookshelves, powered sub, and small receiver will sound better than plastic sound bars.
I have had a pair of M-Audio BX4s for a few years now, brilliant for the price, no issues so far.
I always used to say 2.1 computer speakers. For decades it was the best bang for your buck, and super compact as a bonus. $50-$100
But these days a sound bar with a sub has much better value while taking up almost no space. $100-$insane
If you’re going soundbar, there’s a lot of resources to find what’s best for you, but rtings is pretty much the gold standard for electronics reviews:
https://www.rtings.com/soundbar
If you see one you like, look it up there first if it’s a substantial purchase for you. It’ll help avoid lemons and make sure you’re not overpaying for a brand name or buying a “black Friday” model
I’m not trying to come at you personally, but I’m an audio enthusiast and I can say definitively that sound bars are complete trash. Even high-end like Harman Kardon, you just cannot produce quality sound with those dinky speakers.
I’m with you on this. Soundbars made great progress, but the great ones are still great “soundbars”.
If you have the space, go 2.1 bookshelves instead of soundbar+sub.
Yes please do what this person says… And well, myself too lol
It’s not wine snobbery or anything like that, it’s just physics. No matter how good a quality a sound bar is made, you have small speakers, and you simply cannot create the full range of sound frequencies.
There are fabulous three-way bookshelf speakers that you can supplement with a sub
We all get used to whatever we’re listening to in a moment, but our audio life does not have to sound like a talking greeting card, it can be so much better with just a little bit of trying
I made a pair of panel speakers (a.k.a. distributed mode loudspeakers) recently—they sound fantastic, take up almost no space being only slightly away from the wall, look like sleek fabric acoustic panels rather than bookshelf speakers on the wall, and were pretty darn cheap (~$65 for the pair with dual exciters on each). I’m still in the process of hanging them properly as my rear LR, as they’re only 2 ft squares. I want to create a pair of 2 ft × 4.5 ft panels for my front LR which should sound even bigger and fuller, especially after a little EQ magic. Even just a single panel in a room though would be pretty good.
I also got a baby bass shaker to put under the couch for movie oomph; you could go for a normal sub too if you feel the low end needs more, but try just the panels first.
I really want to do a writeup of the discoveries I’ve made once I’m done; my background and degree are in audio engineering so I’ve done a lot of research and testing. To start, I recommend using Dayton’s “high roll” exciters, I like their sound better. My panels each have one of these and one of these.
References:
I am integrated into the Sonos ecosystem and it works great for having the whole house being connected without running wires or taking up a lot of space. Yes, the app is garbage but the speakers sound really good. It’s great having the continuity of walking from room to room and having the music follow you. I have the Sonos Amp hooked up to a pair KEF bookshelf speakers for my fluance record player which can play what’s on the turntable to my other speakers throughout the house.
