Stereo Speakers

[Old55]

Tommy, for your larger speakers what amp will you use? The amps RMS at 8 ohms?

 Approximately how large is the room?

What are your needs? Simple full range speakers for home theater and casual music listening? Radio and MP3 or quality sound? Do you watch a lot of movies?

[Old55]

As Don said I have friends who are into high end sound here in the States, Hong Kong and Philippines. There is a strong knowledgeable active audiophile community in Philippines.

Having said that you can put together a lovely sounding fun stereo home theater system for a reasonable amount of money. 

[Jake]

Good morning guys,

I have similar requirements Tommy T.  And as Howard suggested, perhaps I should research more about bluetooth sound systems.  It practically eliminates the speaker wires running all over the place but of course, you need to plug in each BT speaker to a wall socket for power.  I hope the latest BT technology has improved regarding compatibility issues with various devices, like BT headphones, speakers and the sound quality beyond the living room.

Logitech has served me well over the years for 2.1 (left/right and bass) sound system for computers.  For TV, I think I may go with a sound bar sitting below the TV or actually attached to it.  For private listening, I hope my existing BT headphones (used with my MP3 and laptop) can be mated to that particular sound bar.

A separate home theater or surround system with front, center, woofer and rear speakers requires more thought in their final placement.  That's why, I rather go with bluetooth to give me more flexibility and hopefully, less headaches.  

[Jollygoodfellow]

13 hours ago, Tommy T. said:

Can anyone suggest a place where I can buy stereo speakers besides a mall store? I don't trust buying anything online that I cannot listen to and test for sound quality.

Looks like everything you need here.

http://bettercomponents.com.ph/

[Tommy T.]

8 hours ago, Old55 said:

Tommy, for your larger speakers what amp will you use? The amps RMS at 8 ohms?

 Approximately how large is the room?

What are your needs? Simple full range speakers for home theater and casual music listening? Radio and MP3 or quality sound? Do you watch a lot of movies?

Thanks Old for your response.

Yes, I am thinking no more than 80-100 watts at 8 ohms RMS.

The living room is 3 x 4 meters - not very big - but it also opens up to an open entry, dining and kitchen area with combined space of about 6 x12 or so. But the main sound would really be for TV in the living room with the stereo just filling in the other spaces.

I am not a true audiophile, but I appreciate sounds as true as possible - I used to go to rock concerts and symphony. I know and don't expect to get super sound but I want better than "average" - does that make sense. I don't listen to radio but do have an extensive library of MP3 and other digital music - mostly jazz and classical.

8 hours ago, Old55 said:

Having said that you can put together a lovely sounding fun stereo home theater system for a reasonable amount of money. 

I like the reasonable amount of money part, especially... but have no clue what things are worth here...

[Old55]

Not CD's or DVD's?

Mostly MP3 digital and cable TV, that's easy!

I not an expert but a used 5.1 home theater integrated amp or receiver with room correction would be perfect for you. Buy used have it shipped balikbyan box from Canada. And several years old is fine. The two brands I suggest are Denon or Onkyo used $250-$500. Be sure it has room correction that's important for typical block rooms. Also your room is nearly square.

For speakers this may seem off the wall but I suggest a new 6 to 8 inch full range single driver. They aren't truly full range and are not perfect but may be perfect for you. The two drivers can be easy shipped from Canada with the receiver. Budget for drivers ~$75 to $200 each.

If you watch DVD movies buy a subwoofer driver and power panel. This would be for movies and if you like rock music. For Jazz the full range drivers are magic! Classical is more difficult it requires a quality three way speaker of some size. However a full range using MP3's I think you're good. 

What you will do is have a craftsman in your area build the full range speaker cabinets for you. Two options. A box or a horn. Go with a horn, many plans online Youtube or other places. Use a plan that matches your driver. Simple. Same with a sub easy to have built per plan that matches the panel (amp) and driver.

Quality plywood like Baltic Birch is best, but any quality plywood without voids will do. Don't use MDF. Philippines humidity could cause issues and I doubt you can find qualtiy MDF there. Search online to Madisound for drivers or other places but Madisound is honest and has good prices also some plans. Markaudio are very good quality drivers for the money. I have owned two or three pair of Fostex single drivers in box horns over the years the Markaudio are nearly as good. My son and i may build a large horn with those later this summer.

 

 

[Tommy T.]

46 minutes ago, Old55 said:

I not an expert but a used 5.1 home theater integrated amp or receiver with room correction would be perfect for you. Buy used have it shipped balikbyan box from Canada. And several years old is fine. The two brands I suggest are Denon or Onkyo used $250-$500. Be sure it has room correction that's important for typical block rooms. Also your room is nearly square.

 

Wow! So much information!

Yes, we do watch video movies - all of them are already on external hard drives, many copied from DVDs. Same with the music. I lived on the yacht so compacted everything onto the hard drives to save space. I realize that, in some or many cases, that may have compromised sound quality... We hope to also stream video if we can get a good internet connection.

Goodness! What you are suggesting for amps and speakers sounds really fantastic - and your approximate price ranges are okay with me... But it sounds a bit complex - especially constructing my own speaker boxes and so on. Plus, I would need coaching - not now, the house isn't even built yet! - on how to do shipping with the balikbayan boxes. I have heard of them and know, roughly how they work, but have never tried using them. Then I wonder about import customs and I have also heard - from a few years ago - about theft of valuable things from them... I will do the online research and think about the purchasing - I am fairly adept at that...

You have given me a lot to consider. So will take a look around online and re-educate myself. I will definitely keep you informed (does that sound Filipino to you??) on my progress.

I used to be much more attuned (pun intended) with speakers since I worked next door to a company like SpeakerLab in Seattle. And a friend actually worked at SpeakerLab and had the most incredible speaker set-up you can imagine! I am much more pedestrian than that these days... I am amazed I am not totally deaf already from the aural abuse I subjected myself to...

Thank you so much for your wonderful ideas!

Edited July 14, 2019 by Tommy T.

[Tommy T.]

9 hours ago, Jake said:

have similar requirements Tommy T.  And as Howard suggested, perhaps I should research more about bluetooth sound systems.  It practically eliminates the speaker wires running all over the place but of course, you need to plug in each BT speaker to a wall socket for power.  I hope the latest BT technology has improved regarding compatibility issues with various devices, like BT headphones, speakers and the sound quality beyond the living room.

Logitech has served me well over the years for 2.1 (left/right and bass) sound system for computers.  For TV, I think I may go with a sound bar sitting below the TV or actually attached to it.  For private listening, I hope my existing BT headphones (used with my MP3 and laptop) can be mated to that particular sound bar.

A separate home theater or surround system with front, center, woofer and rear speakers requires more thought in their final placement.  That's why, I rather go with bluetooth to give me more flexibility and hopefully, less headaches.  

Thanks, Jake! I love the idea of wireless speaker connections. I am still finding my way with BT - I don't always get it right due to lack of experienc - but I am learning. I can always try the BT and, if it is not satisfactory, return to twisted pair technology if necessary.

There are a lot of great ideas here. I will be shopping tomorrow for the computer/small TV speakers. I will think a while and maybe do a bit of research for now to see what's out there relative to Old's ideas. Meanwhile we are ever closer to starting to build our new house - it is taking forever to get through the planning stages!

Those Logitech speakers sound great for my computer/small TV. I don't do gaming, just same as what I told Old - movies, videos, music. I had not thought of (nor even heard of) a sound bar - what kind of drinks can I order there? 

I will definitely get some headphones - maybe even spring for noise cancelling? Especially so L can listen to her Filipino music if she wishes or watch the Tagalog TV or Kardashians and I won't have to hear it either!

Old has some great ideas for the home theater concept but did not mention if BT was part of that. My system can be fairly simple - just two speaker (or two sets), one on each side of the TV should do it, I would think? So, if they need to be wired, it's not such a big deal. I lived with that for how many years???

[Tommy T.]

1 hour ago, Old55 said:

Don't use MDF

What is MDF? And would marine plywood be okay? So far I find that to be superior to "regular" plywood that I see here - which I consider rubbish, loaded with voids and generally poor quality... I never heard of Baltic Birch before.  I know birch from Canada (eh) but that sort of plywood? Totally foreign...

Back in the day, speaker surrounds from SpeakerLab and others were made almost exclusively from particle board - which I have never liked - but it was economical and it DID work - I heard it! I will never use that - too much resin glues that irritate my sinus and lungs...

Edited July 14, 2019 by Tommy T.

[GeoffH]

11 minutes ago, Tommy T. said:

What is MDF?

 

MDF stands for Medium Density Fiberboard, it's better quality than particle board but it's not natural wood.  Some high quality MDF products have a very smooth dense finish, to the point where it's looks contiguous and you can only tell it's not natural wood by the complete lack of grain (not to be confused with High Density Fiberboard, which is made of compressed wood fibers... sometimes called Hardboard).

 

 

Edited July 14, 2019 by GeoffH