Serge Auckland wrote:
Sharad wrote:
Don Pearce wrote:
On Wed, 22 Nov 2006 14:49:54 +0530, Sharad wrote:

Hi,

I listen to acoustic and vocal music. I love intimate close miked
vocals and a lot of detail in my music.
After listing to a few speakers, I have narrowed down to KEF iQ9
floor standers.
Now I need to select a matching amplifier. Any suggestions?

I have read some good reviews for the new Rotel RA-05 in W-HiFi.
Going by the specs, a combination of RA-06 + RB-06 sound exiting, if
I use them to bi-amp the KEF iQ9. I have read that Rotel matches
well with B&W, but I haven't auditioned the B&W yet.

The choice of speakers is not cast in stone yet, so suggestions are
welcome on that front too.

Thanks,
Sharad

Choose the amplifier on the basis of features - does it have the
inputs you need? Does it have enough power for your speakers? Does it
look right in the room? The amplifier has advanced in design so far
today that you will be unable to tell them apart by sound.

As for the speakers, they need to match your room rather than the
music. Your room may be bright or dull - reverberant or absorptive,
and that is what will eventually determine which speakers work best.
Nobody here will be able to tell you which (they are fooling
themselves if they try). You need to get friendly with a good dealer
who will let you "try before you buy" a few different models so you
can make up your mind.

Finally one piece of advice I always give. If one particular speaker
makes you go "WOW, that's great", send it back to the dealer. You
won't be able to live with it in the long term, because good speakers
don't do that - they are invisible in the acoustic sense.

d


Thanks for you advice Don.
I will surely try to hear the speakers in my listening room before
making the final decision.

I would like to mention that different speakers do sound totally
different to me, based on the music I am playing. For example, the
ones that play good beats and dance music (Polk, JBL, Jamo X series,
etc.) turn out to be poor performers when reproducing voice, or timber
of a violin.


This shows that 'speakers (all 'speakers) have different amounts of
colouration. The mark of a *really good* 'speaker is one that sounds
good on all sorts of music. Now of course, if you only play one type of
music, then choosing a 'speaker for that type alone can be a solution,
but one that I suggest, you may come to regret. Some 'speakers have
peaky treble which superficially passes for greater detail, others may
have a boomy bass, which passes for "rhythm and timing". Better is to
find a pair that work on all sorts. Male and female speech is a good
test - does it sound like a real 'speaker, can you hear the acoustics of
the room it was recorded in?- Then move on to music.

Thanks! I will surely try this.



It was an interesting discovery for me that EPOS M5 is better at
reproducing voices like Nora Jones, and Diana Krall, than EPOS 12.2 or
EPOS 22; though the M5 sound starts distorting as soon as you insert a
dance CD. I wonder if amps too have similar characteristics.

No, apart from facilities, these days amps only differ in the amount of
power they provide and the amount of current they can drive into low
impedances. This means that except for extreme loads and within their
power rating, they will all sound the same. I am, of course, referring
to modern Solid State amplifiers. Valved (tubed) amplifiers can have
much higher levels of distortion and limited power at frequency
extremes. (although there's no good reason for this, flat power delivery
with low distortion was solved in the late '50s and early '60s) Single
Ended Triodes are particularly bad in this respect. Their output
impedance is so high that their frequency response depends greatly on
the impedance characteristic of the loudspeaker they are driving. Those
that love SETs, (there are several on this NG) obviously like the
combination of high distortion and whatever frequency response results
from their choice of 'speakers. I suspect, however, that it's not a case
of preferring intrinsically the SET sound, but one of finding the SET
sound different, hence better.

I do hear a lot of vocal Jazz and Indian music, which is closer to Jazz in terms of sound. So if I
have to compromise, I would choose something that is good on the vocal/timber front. I can always
use the Definitive Supercube II from my home theater, to help out on the booming dance music front
when I need, which would not be too often


Your comment above regarding the M5 sounding better on voices but
distorting on dance CDs could have several reasons. Two immediately come
to mind:- you're playing the dance CDs louder than the gentler jazz
singers and/or the dance CDs are mastered very heavily compressed and
distorted to make them sound louder, and the M5s, being smaller, can't
cope with the excessive bass energy.
Probably both, and also an artificially boosted low end.


S.

Thanks Serge. Your advice is very useful, and focuses on exactly what I was looking for.
I will surely keep these points in mind.

Regards,
Sharad