dome tweeters anyone?

[colterphoto1]

I've been trying, really trying, to use Klipsch speakers in my home office. It's 14 x 14 and I have the speakers on milk crate stands in the opposite corners from my desk. It's paneled in Mahogony (on of the niceties of an older home). I've been enjoying a pair of simple Dahlquist M904's, 10" 2-way refles cabinets with 1" soft dome tweeter for years. Bought them for soft jazz listening during my college days and love em.

I've tried the Heresy and KG4's, both of which sound good on their own, but at 'office' volumes the horns just screech at me compared to the Dahlquist. The Klipsch horns are just so forward and pushing guitars and upper mids at me that I find it uncomfortable. Realize that I usually listen quietly enough that I don't have to turn down much to pick up the phone. Do I have something amiss acoustically, or are my current speakers just better suited, or maybe it's just that it's what my ears are used to. They are exceptionally smooth, maybe a bit bottomy if anything, with subdued upper mids and sparkling highs. WIth the KG's if I turn down the treble so the guitars aren't in my face, the cymbals go away.

Does anyone else out there prefer a non-horn setup for certain listening conditons or music types? I just need some reassurance that it's OKAY to not have Klipsch in every single room (sadly this is where I am a lot of hours of the day)

Maybe this is the room for Forte's? Is their three way better than KG4's two-way?

Michael

[Jeff Matthews]

I think you're right they we you have it, Michael. Klipsch seems to be made for rocking. Don't want to rock? Get some B & W's. [] Actually, I was impressed with those little Bose speakers in terms of how they get that kind of sound through them. Not rockers, though.

[3dzapper]

CP1 do you have a pair of KG-1.1s laying around? I was amazed how good they sounded with a CDP and a Dynaco SCA-35 in a dorm sized room at the 3D Worlds last summer.

I can't say if they would be any better than your current set-up though. That's up to you.

Rick

[colterphoto1]

I tried these KG2's they were pretty similar to what I have. Deep bottom, sparkly top, just not distinct and crisp enough at low volumes. Maybe I'll try my RF3II's, but they're in the MBR right now and I love them at low volume.

Michael

[Cornwalled]

Hey Mike!

There's certainly nothing wrong with having another brand of speaker. I have a similar situation. I use Near 20Ms for softer classical, jazz, and when my ears get tired from the Corns. I couldn't imagine using one pair (or brand) of speakers for every situation. There are multiple brands that I like, all with different sounds- VMPS, Radia, Fried, etc.

Don't feel compelled to use Klipsch everywhere, just because of the brand. That would drive me nuts.

-Jon

[fmushkin]

Since my office speakers are "near field," I went with Kef Q-15's on either side of my computer. I used to use Klipsch KG1.2's that way, but the sound broke down within a couple of feet of the drivers. The Uni-Q design cleared that up.

[NOSValves]

Vintage Integrated tube amp would be the perfect ticket. Dome treeters are for Pxxxxxx LOL !!

[sunnysal]

I have tried three speakers in my bedroom system, some chinese speakers from jinglang that I distributed for a short time, my current klipsch ref 3's and a pair of 1980's Infinity bookshelf speakers with soft dome, all sounded great with my McIntosh integrated but I have to say that I stayed with the Klipsch because of the great dynamics...each speaker/system/room/music has its use...I love the look of the Jinlang "aurum cantus" though, they sit in my HT system now as surrounds. warm regards, tony

[Thoriated_Tiger]

My bedroom is roughly the same volume as your 14x14 office, and I run a

pair of Fortes in it. They play low, they play loud... they always

sound good.

In the cell I laughingly call 'my office', I have a very tiny pair of

Infinity RS1000 driven by a 1978 Pioneer SX-680.. works just fine at

micro volumes.

I'm very tempted to get a pair of SB2s and see what that'll do in this environment..

But for a 14x14? man, stick a pair of Fortes in there. []

[MarkBK]

I use JBL Control1's in the bedroom - in the corners near the ceiling. They sound great for background music,etc. As it has already been said - other brands are okay to use if you like 'em! Of course, you could try some of the Reference series Bookshelfs - RB7's RB35's, etc - would look great in Cherry too!

Mark

[Speedball]

I have the KG4.2's and they excell at low volume detail with a 45 watt Denon receiver. After all the zillion or so posts I've read, I would suggest trying tubes in there somewhere.

[DrWho]

Did you remember to turn off the EQ on your computer when swapping speakers? []

I kinda like the sound of your dahlquists and I certainly can't

pinpoint anything 'wrong' with them. Though it does feel like they're

missing something...I just don't know what.

And with the layout/acoustics of your room, I can see why the KG's didn't sound right either.

Have you considered trying to find a speaker that you could mount from

the cieling instead of having them down on the floor behind the desk?

You've got a ton of RB series speakers...I would try temporarily

mounting a pair up high to see what you think. And then we can go about

running more wires through the attic, lol [] (so maybe it's a good

thing the insulation project has been delayed...)

[colterphoto1]

Did you remember to turn off the EQ on your computer when swapping speakers? []

I kinda like the sound of your dahlquists and I certainly can't pinpoint anything 'wrong' with them. Though it does feel like they're missing something...I just don't know what.

And with the layout/acoustics of your room, I can see why the KG's didn't sound right either.

Have you considered trying to find a speaker that you could mount from the cieling instead of having them down on the floor behind the desk? You've got a ton of RB series speakers...I would try temporarily mounting a pair up high to see what you think. And then we can go about running more wires through the attic, lol [] (so maybe it's a good thing the insulation project has been delayed...)

Yes I turned the computer EQ off. ( the iMac iTunes has a 10 band built in) And I'm not even using the LOUDNESS button on the HK, it's so ballsy, just pretty much flat eq there too.

The M904's are very tame in the upper mids, where the horns tend to scream at me. I just like them better because they are more subdued. And they can rock out pretty well.

I've got the HK 730 in there now guys. It's on all the time, can't see putting tubes in the office. This receiver also powers some speakers throughout the house as well. I don't like hanging them because I don't want to put screws in the paneling, it's a very rare wood, you know.

M

[MarkBK]

[

........I don't like hanging them because I don't want to put screws in the paneling, it's a very rare wood, you know.

M

If it's Phillipine Mahogany - it's not that rare (used for skids etc all the time) Although a lot of wood is mis identified as Phillipine Mahogany.

In any case - mount from the ceiling - that's what I did using the JBL brackets for the Control 1's.

mark

[Erukian]

What i say is my opinion, i don't mean to force it on anyone, it's just my opinion formed through my experiences.

I owned Klipsch RB-25's, i've also logged dozens and dozens of hours with a friends pair of klipsch heresys that he let me borrow them when on vacation.

So i've formed my own opinion of klipsch speakers, i have to say, that given it all, 90+% of all recordings out there (ht and music) seem to be mastered for studio monitors, which _always_ seem to involve a dome tweeter. Using klipsch somewhat emphasizes the highs with their horns in a, to me, unnatural way.

Now I have great respect for the engineering work that PWK did, but i found that from listening to setups at magnolia, and a lot of audiophile recordings i've borrowed from friends, that it's easier to enjoy the music on dome tweeters.

Maybe it's because i'm 21, and my ears haven't started failing yet, maybe when some of you guys get older you start losing hearing on the upper end and when you hear klipsch it's like your hearing is partially restored. I don't know, but i can't go back to horns after getting used to dome, it just feels harsh going backto horn!

Now i'm not trying to say Polk is good (they have their highs horribly recessed) but some brands like B&W just do it right.

My two cents,

-Joe

[Tom Mobley]

Michael,

did you ever read that updates and mods thread about a trivial

crossover mod to tone down the highs on the Heresy's? Mine sound

much more balanced at all levels with that mod,. IIRC all that's

needed is to move a wire on the T-2A to a different tap. Don't

like the results? put it back, no big deal.

[Marvel]

I also use nearfields in my home office (Alesis Monitor Ones), with sik

dome tweeters. Plenty of high end, but then I am only three feet from

them. Six feet away, around the corner in the bedroom are the Heresys.

I usually listen at such ridiculously low volumes, I can imagine that

most of you would be saying "Turn it UP!!!"

But most things are rather quiet at our house right now. We are trying

to have a good Christmas, and have some fun, but we aren't too rowdy.

Nothing wrong with domes at all.

Bruce

[DrWho]

What i say is my opinion, i don't mean to force it on anyone, it's just my opinion formed through my experiences. I owned Klipsch RB-25's, i've also logged dozens and dozens of hours with a friends pair of klipsch heresys that he let me borrow them when on vacation. So i've formed my own opinion of klipsch speakers, i have to say, that given it all, 90+% of all recordings out there (ht and music) seem to be mastered for studio monitors, which _always_ seem to involve a dome tweeter. Using klipsch somewhat emphasizes the highs with their horns in a, to me, unnatural way. Now I have great respect for the engineering work that PWK did, but i found that from listening to setups at magnolia, and a lot of audiophile recordings i've borrowed from friends, that it's easier to enjoy the music on dome tweeters. Maybe it's because i'm 21, and my ears haven't started failing yet, maybe when some of you guys get older you start losing hearing on the upper end and when you hear klipsch it's like your hearing is partially restored. I don't know, but i can't go back to horns after getting used to dome, it just feels harsh going backto horn! Now i'm not trying to say Polk is good (they have their highs horribly recessed) but some brands like B&W just do it right. My two cents, -Joe

lol, I'm 21 too and love the horn sound....it very much is a preference thing. I've had some time in the studio though and can say confidently that mixes on "dome tweeters" and "studio monitors" translate very well to horn loaded speakers....the trick is making sure you have good amplification (as horns will really bring out the flaws that higher distortion dome tweeters help to hide). Try listening to your studio monitor type speakers at 110dB+ (you know, live concert levels)...it just ain't gonna happen.

But for low level listening there definetly are some great advantages to the "dome tweeter" crowd (though don't tell the old guys with tubes and cornwalls) []

[boom3]

I have a study that is 11 x 14, and there's a lot of furniture in there as well as my desk. I use two Dalhquist DQ-10s to listen to music at moderate volumes. It works very well. The room is just too small for another pair of Cornwalls.

[Deang]

I know you DIY, have you rebuilt those DQ networks?