@hchavers I don’t know about that, but at 10.5" tall they are pretty much a squatty potty height (for most people) meaning that guy would be REALLY short)
@Kyser_Soze There are loony audiophile reasons you might design a speaker this way, but if you’re considering a pair of $39 Polk speakers, you can rest assured that you really don’t care about that enough to learn the ludicrous mathematical justifications behind it.
In short: It can be ‘better’, and presumably is in this case due to the internal design of this speaker (crossover configuration, baffle positions/angles) but if you flipped these over while someone was out of the room, they almost certainly wouldn’t hear a difference when they came back.
@Kyser_Soze There is little if any noticable difference whether the tweeter is above or below the mid driver. Polk has been doing this since my old Series 1 Monitor 40s from way back when and even on low tables they provide a good sound as the rear speakers.
A lot of floor standing speakers have a mid driver above the tweeter and then the rest of the array below. This is basically the same thing except without the lower array.
First thought: 86 dB@1W/1M is not very efficient. Second thought: Why on Earth is the woofer over the tweeter?? My OCD is in overdrive. Probably pretty decent sounding speakers, though. However, I need more speakers like I need a hole in my inflatable head.
@stevekirks Above 91 is considered efficient, more than about 95 is extremely so. I dont think I’ve ever seen something over 100. (85-87 is getting power hungry.)
@RedOak It’s not that it’s a “problem” it’s that your amp is working its ass off and you’re not getting a lot of output for the amperage.
Low efficiency ratings like this (and it’s low) simply mean garbage components. Obviously the trade-off is the price point - but personally I’d spend a little more on drivers to get the value out of my amp. At this price point it’s worth it to buy them just for the cabinets and load them with decent components.
@Pufferfishy@RedOak It doesnt mean “garbage components” by any means and is much less significant in home audio than car audio. Also, having fewer drivers will result in a lower dB/W efficiency rating simply because that’s how electricity works. A terrible crossover configuration (or potentially a very good crossover with tight limits) can make it worse since the test is performed at 1KHz (speakers and crossovers generate different impedance at different frequencies) but Polk would have to go out of their way to build extra crossovers worse than their standars Monitor series for that to be an issue…which doesnt make much sense.
If you compare bookshelf speakers, even the $1300 KEF LS50 is rated at 85dB sensitivity at 1 watt, 1 meter but their cheaper $900 tower speakers are 91dB.
@PooltoyWolf et al -
Since some of you seem to know how this stuff works, maybe you can help me out?
I have this power amp: https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/bgw/500.shtml
How do I match it up to a set of speakers to get the most volume out of the smallest set of speakers?
It’s currently driving a set of “Little Red” studio monitors in my home studio. They’re nice, but not quite loud enough to be heard over my drum kit, even when I play softly.
Pretty sure what I really need are P.A. speakers instead of studio monitors. For this specific use - playing along to recorded music on drums or bass, and/or amplifying vocals over a full band when I have the occasional jam session - volume is more important than sound quality.
Lest I give you the wrong impression, my “studio” is not a recording studio - no separate control room (which is what the Little Reds were made for), etc. - just a smallish room in my basement where I have all my instruments and amps set up.
Anyway - the point is, I need to stop abusing those Little Reds and find a set of P.A. speakers that are a good match to the power amp, will get loud enough to make my ears bleed, but still fit in the limited space I have. I’m thinking probably 12" speakers - if a 10" pair could give me the volume I need, even better - I could get a used pair of 15", two-way P.A. speakers really cheap (from the same guy who gifted me the amp & the Reds), but they’re too big for the space and overkill in terms of volume.
Not necessarily looking for specific speaker recommendations (although that’d be appreciated, too), more looking for a good explanation of how to match speakers to power amp.
Assuming you don’t change the amp, you can get more volume by choosing speakers with a higher sensitivity and/or a lower impedance.
Your Little Reds have a reasonably high sensitivity at a 92dB and a fairly low impedance at 6 ohms. In theory, and all other things being equal, a speaker with a 95dB sensitivity and the same impedance would sound twice as loud as your Reds when driven by the same amp at any given volume level.
However, before you go searching for new speakers, I’d suggest trying another amp if you have one available. The unit you have now is reasonably powerful, and should probably be able to blow your speakers if played at full volume. The fact that you’re having trouble getting adequate volume out of that setup causes me to suspect that your amp may not be delivering all the power it should.
@Aspirant_Fool Thank you for the reply!
So, first, you’re referring to the popular Tannoy Little Reds; these aren’t those.
These were manufactured by a company called Audiomarketing, LTD which was based in Connecticut.
They actually look nothing like the Tannoys, they’re in a bright red cabinet and have separate woofer & tweeter.
There is almost nothing to be found about them on the internet, at least not that I could find.
Here’s the best I could find, basically just acknowledges their existence and not much more: https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/little-red-monitors-not-tannoys.603135/
Also, a couple of archived ads from 1978 Billboard magazines: Shortened link 1 Shortened link 2
And yes, the amp would absolutely blow the speakers at full volume, that’s my problem - amp has plenty of power but I can’t send enough of it to the speakers to get the volume I want. I’m pretty sure I’ve already done some damage to at least one of the tweeters. I’ve pretty much learned the max volume they can handle, if I push it past that point, they start to sound bad and if there are peaks at certain frequencies, they start to sound really bad.
Interestingly, if this provides any insight, their max volume is basically at unity gain on my system - if I’m using that term right - mixer input gains (from iMac headphone out) just enough below clipping to have some headroom, channel faders at 0, stereo sub mix/main faders at 0, VU peaks a tiny bit above 0, output volume knob to the power amp at the “<” mark indicating unity.
The power amp also has trims on the back but I can’t remember where I have them set.
Anyway, long story a little bit longer, I’m pretty certain these Little Reds just aren’t designed to put out the kind of volume I’m looking for. I think P.A speakers that are designed to stand up to a lot more punishment are the way to go for this application.
I’d still use the Reds for casual listening, just not for power and volume. (reference to a young Pete Townshend quote from The Kids Are Alright film.)
I’m going to go take another look at the back of the speakers and see if I can find any specs, e.g. sensitivity or impedance. I’ll post again if I find anything - maybe post some pics too.
@Aspirant_Fool Sorry, no more info on the speakers, but it’s pretty clear they won’t do the job.
The question really is what specs to look for in a ‘louder’ set?
Just as a random example, the first 10" unpowered speaker I found on Sweetwater says, “350W RMS power handling” with “700W Peak Power capacity” and it’s 8 ohms - since the amp puts out 200W (per channel) into 8 ohms, does that mean those speakers could handle every drop of power the amp could throw at them? And will that translate into more volume than the Little Reds?
I think the Reds’ woofers are 12" - does larger cones necessarily mean more volume?
I assume the PA speakers are made of much more robust material - Reds are paper, I think.
I really should know how this stuff works since, funnily enough, I spent 10 years working as a live-sound and studio engineer (>15 years ago at this point)…
Thing is, I knew how to operate the stuff (and I have a very good ear, I’ve been told), I was just never able to grasp the principles behind how they work.
Amps, watts, impedance - all that stuff confused the hell out of me.
Turning this dial has this effect - that I understood.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Hope this isn’t too obnoxious of a thread-jacking, but since I’ve come this far, how about some pics!
Interesting about the Reds you have, I’d never seen them before. I’m from CT, and have seen some products from the company around, but probably couldn’t add anything meaningful to what you’ve already found.
Two main points in response:
First, yes, if the speakers say they can handle more than 200 watts at 8 ohm, they should be able to take the full output from your amp and give you more volume. That doesn’t mean they necessarily will take the full power safely for every sound you might play back through them, but they should at least give you some headroom to fool around with.
Second, no, a larger cone doesn’t always mean more volume. There’s a lot of complex math involved, but some of the factors at work are the materials and the design of the drivers themselves, and the tolerances of the electrical components inside the speakers. If all other things were equal, i.e. identical construction/materials/electronics, a bigger cone should be able to make more volume, but it would probably need more power to get there.
Since you don’t have detailed specs for the speakers you’re using now, it’s hard to make a really informed decision about what you need to get where you want to be. That being the case, my suggestion is this: Go to a local pawn shop/flea market/thrift store/whatever, get the cheapest pair of speakers you can find detailed specs for, take them home, hook them up, and start playing. You shouldn’t have to spend more than $40, and you’ll have a known reference point to work from if they don’t meet your needs.
Which is exactly why I’ve never been able to grasp some of the principles at play, I have trouble even with simple math.
Thanks for your help.
It occurred to me that I may be able to try some speakers before buying. Have to call in a favor and hope for some generosity, but if I can arrange it, this’ll be the best way to find what I need.
@PooltoyWolf Derp, thanks - I never did point that out before jumping in. I tend to prefer ‘sensitivity’ because I think it’s more suggestive of the actual effect in practice. A more efficient/sensitive speaker can get louder with the same amount of power input, but the more important factor for most people is going to be the greater dynamic range that’s generally available to a more sensitive speaker, and ‘efficiency’ doesn’t really capture that relationship in an intuitive way.
@DennisG2014 Glad to help! Don’t get discouraged by the math stuff, understanding of the higher-level concepts is still possible without detailed knowledge of the math behind them. At the end of the day, power handling and volume are mostly just a case of ‘make sure the numbers match’, with the difficulty in your situation being that the relevant numbers for your speakers seem to be lost to history.
Looks good. But also seems like you’ll want a subwoofer (at least $100) and a receiver/amp (pick up a modern-looking one from a thrift store on the cheap and you should be golden) to go with this speaker to make it work…
What’s that? That’s more expensive/involving than picking up a 2.1 soundbar from Best Buy? Huh…
@heartbleed
If you’re into vinyl, you actually wouldn’t want a dedicated subwoofer and you likely already have an receiver. This would probably be a decent upgrade if you had cheaped out on the speakers.
@2many2no@heartbleed@thechilipepper0 I can second that cheap lepai amp. I’m using it to drive a pair of outdoor speakers (also Polks!), and it’s been a champ.
@2many2no I’ve no complaints. It goes louder than I’m comfortable with and has survived 3 winters outside. Only feature I wish it had was Bluetooth, but wasn’t hard to find a cheap adapter.
@FirstLast87 Yes, but I’m pretty sure if you check with NASA, they’ll confirm that speakers have come standard in all of their satellites since 1997. Even in the base models…
@RedOak I see your point, but in all honesty the kind of person that gets an email saying they’re backed up on a weekend, posts Monday morning demanding a response, and then within 20 minutes is already on the phone to get Samuel L. Jackson to give him a refund is probably better off not being around Meh, though.
@djslack Don’t get me wrong - in no way was I excusing that impatient behavior.
But more customers = a healthier Meh. More customers = higher Meh buying volume and better prices as well as opportunities for products where the lower volume might otherwise make them unachievable.
He has bought 7 times. That’s probably better than a fair portion of the registered usernames.
Money is money and being too picky about whether someone is a good match for Meh doesn’t pay the bills.
I’d be very happy to see a repeat of the following from the early Meh days - I need a backup - it works wonderfully as an Echo Dot streaming music sound improvement feature in the basement shop.
They are magnetically shielded so they can be close to a TV. Ok for surround system I guess, small room, sub woofer would help, beginners stereo system, college dorm etc… Not like the old “Monitor” line of speakers…
@Bumplepimp@gfreek CRTs are great. My 34’’ Sony Trinitron HD CRT is a thing of beauty, and my old video games actually look good on it.
And it weighs about 200 pounds.
@Bumplepimp@gfreek@Limewater I have a 55" CRT projection TV from way back when. Its a really early HDTV that I uograded to for that new-fangled HDMI at the time. Still works great in the basement and looks gorgeous!
@Bumplepimp@gfreek@Pufferfishy From what I can tell, these were originally marketed in 2011…and maybe earlier. So…CRT…
Maybe they were hidden in the back of the warehouse…
@Bumplepimp@gfreek@Limewater I still have one of these too. When I moved it upstairs as a secondary TV, it took three of us to push it up the steps. SO front-heavy! Works and looks great still. Got it at a closing of a Circuit City outlet store.
Any speakerheads want to school me on whether to keep an old pair of JBL 2500s alive (looks comparable on specs) or replace 'em with these newfangled honkers? Thankyewverrymusch. http://gph.is/1aimWmi
I was given a couple of good standup Polk speakers and a center channel, along with a decent receiver, a couple of years ago, so I grabbed two of these to complete the rear channels of the surround sound setup, with a subwoofer to come in a couple of months. I’m pretty sure Meh is just selling these for me, specifically.
I’d like to mount these, or maybe put them on stand; does anyone have any recommendations? A guy in the Amazon reviews said to just buy some L brackets, which is fine if you don’t want to angle them, but not great for my setup.
I’m gonna have to buy some speaker wire. I want to outfit everything with banana plugs, too, as I’ll be moving in a year or two and I want to make that process a little less painful. First time doing all this stuff.
@harveydanger I have a couple VideoSecu stands I got from amazon a while back for my Monitor 30s. Not sure about their “PA” claims but adjustable height, the little clampy thingies easily fit and tighten down for a good hold, wire runs through the stand and you can adjust the angle to point them anywhere if desired.
These should also have a little hanger on the back so a decent screw in the wall and they’re good.
So, I knew they were non-powered, and a comment was made that they could be driven through a computer, or whatever. I didn’t really expect to have to buy plugs or speaker wires, etc. Yikes…So, Now I need to buy speaker wires, and maybe that little TI amp, and then plugs, and then try to figure out how to connect it to my older computer. BAH!!! Any help would be appreciated. I saw the TI amp, wires, and connectors on The Mothership, but tjhe single plug is for a tablet, ipod etc. Doesn’t look Computer appropriate. Please HELP!!! And thank-you in advance!!
@Mandamm use an aux cable like the one linked below between the computer headphone jack to the amplifier. Then speaker wires from the amplifier to the speakers. Some of the amplifiers don’t include a power adapter, so watch for that. aux cable
I figured I would get it at some point… I am Not an Audiophile. The cables I saw on Amazon didn’t show that plug. TY for your kind assistance. If you ever need Medical Advice, I’m your Gal…lol RN
Specs
What’s in the Box?
2x Bookshelf Speakers
Price Comparison
$90 at Amazon
Warranty
5 Year Polk Audio
Estimated Delivery
Monday, July 13th - Thursday, July 16th
Remember these are non-powered speakers, so you’re gonna need to connect them to an amp or powered output on your TV, computer, etc.
Price point? Really?
/giphy sad
69.99 at Ebay
@somf69 plus $33 Shipping
Do these really have enough bass for a movement?
@hchavers “Movement,” as in the Brown Note?
Probably not powerful enough for that.
@cadmore you got my vide
@hchavers I don’t know about that, but at 10.5" tall they are pretty much a squatty potty height (for most people) meaning that guy would be REALLY short)
“Good for the price” and Meh are not two things I typically associate with one another
I don’t have the commitment of the other guy, but have to say… Not pop sockets? PASS!
@shiranissosexy They sold those two days ago. The daily pestering is over.
@shiranissosexy That was so 3 days ago…
@narfcake @shiranissosexy @shahnm
Someone say pop socket? They’re awesome!
EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!
I’ve never seen a speaker with the tweeter at the bottom. Is this better?
@Kyser_Soze There are loony audiophile reasons you might design a speaker this way, but if you’re considering a pair of $39 Polk speakers, you can rest assured that you really don’t care about that enough to learn the ludicrous mathematical justifications behind it.
In short: It can be ‘better’, and presumably is in this case due to the internal design of this speaker (crossover configuration, baffle positions/angles) but if you flipped these over while someone was out of the room, they almost certainly wouldn’t hear a difference when they came back.
@Aspirant_Fool @Kyser_Soze
Agreed with @Aspirant_Fool.
In theory, if your placement of the speakers was odd, like on a shelf above face level and close in, a tweeter on the bottom might be helpful.
@Kyser_Soze There is little if any noticable difference whether the tweeter is above or below the mid driver. Polk has been doing this since my old Series 1 Monitor 40s from way back when and even on low tables they provide a good sound as the rear speakers.
A lot of floor standing speakers have a mid driver above the tweeter and then the rest of the array below. This is basically the same thing except without the lower array.
Wtf meh, this is now the fourth thing I’ve bought in 5 days…
First thought: 86 dB@1W/1M is not very efficient. Second thought: Why on Earth is the woofer over the tweeter?? My OCD is in overdrive. Probably pretty decent sounding speakers, though. However, I need more speakers like I need a hole in my inflatable head.
@PooltoyWolf What would be an efficient rating?
@stevekirks Above 91 is considered efficient, more than about 95 is extremely so. I dont think I’ve ever seen something over 100. (85-87 is getting power hungry.)
@PooltoyWolf @stevekirks I’m thinking Klipsh, JBL, Infinity, Altec,to name a few, made speakers over 100db efficiency.
@PooltoyWolf exactly! They will need more power captain! Them lil amazon class d amps will barely deliver volume unless they are turned up to 11
@gfreek @stevekirks You are correct. Moreso I’ve never seen one in person. Haha
@PooltoyWolf while efficiency might be a factor, most mainstream AVRs wouldn’t have a problem with that.
I’ve tended to be far more concerned about the actual sound characteristics of a speaker than its efficiency rating.
Efficiency is more likely to be an issue with headphones where the power of the driving (mobile) device is far more variable.
@RedOak Thats fair, though I run tons of vintage stuff so I do need to consider it a bit, especially with the tube stuff.
@RedOak It’s not that it’s a “problem” it’s that your amp is working its ass off and you’re not getting a lot of output for the amperage.
Low efficiency ratings like this (and it’s low) simply mean garbage components. Obviously the trade-off is the price point - but personally I’d spend a little more on drivers to get the value out of my amp. At this price point it’s worth it to buy them just for the cabinets and load them with decent components.
@Pufferfishy @RedOak It doesnt mean “garbage components” by any means and is much less significant in home audio than car audio. Also, having fewer drivers will result in a lower dB/W efficiency rating simply because that’s how electricity works. A terrible crossover configuration (or potentially a very good crossover with tight limits) can make it worse since the test is performed at 1KHz (speakers and crossovers generate different impedance at different frequencies) but Polk would have to go out of their way to build extra crossovers worse than their standars Monitor series for that to be an issue…which doesnt make much sense.
If you compare bookshelf speakers, even the $1300 KEF LS50 is rated at 85dB sensitivity at 1 watt, 1 meter but their cheaper $900 tower speakers are 91dB.
@Pufferfishy @xj94
It’s a $19.50 speaker.
@PooltoyWolf et al -
Since some of you seem to know how this stuff works, maybe you can help me out?
I have this power amp: https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/bgw/500.shtml
How do I match it up to a set of speakers to get the most volume out of the smallest set of speakers?
It’s currently driving a set of “Little Red” studio monitors in my home studio. They’re nice, but not quite loud enough to be heard over my drum kit, even when I play softly.
Pretty sure what I really need are P.A. speakers instead of studio monitors. For this specific use - playing along to recorded music on drums or bass, and/or amplifying vocals over a full band when I have the occasional jam session - volume is more important than sound quality.
Lest I give you the wrong impression, my “studio” is not a recording studio - no separate control room (which is what the Little Reds were made for), etc. - just a smallish room in my basement where I have all my instruments and amps set up.
Anyway - the point is, I need to stop abusing those Little Reds and find a set of P.A. speakers that are a good match to the power amp, will get loud enough to make my ears bleed, but still fit in the limited space I have. I’m thinking probably 12" speakers - if a 10" pair could give me the volume I need, even better - I could get a used pair of 15", two-way P.A. speakers really cheap (from the same guy who gifted me the amp & the Reds), but they’re too big for the space and overkill in terms of volume.
Not necessarily looking for specific speaker recommendations (although that’d be appreciated, too), more looking for a good explanation of how to match speakers to power amp.
Thanks in advance!
@DennisG2014
Assuming you don’t change the amp, you can get more volume by choosing speakers with a higher sensitivity and/or a lower impedance.
Your Little Reds have a reasonably high sensitivity at a 92dB and a fairly low impedance at 6 ohms. In theory, and all other things being equal, a speaker with a 95dB sensitivity and the same impedance would sound twice as loud as your Reds when driven by the same amp at any given volume level.
However, before you go searching for new speakers, I’d suggest trying another amp if you have one available. The unit you have now is reasonably powerful, and should probably be able to blow your speakers if played at full volume. The fact that you’re having trouble getting adequate volume out of that setup causes me to suspect that your amp may not be delivering all the power it should.
@Aspirant_Fool Thank you for the reply!
So, first, you’re referring to the popular Tannoy Little Reds; these aren’t those.
These were manufactured by a company called Audiomarketing, LTD which was based in Connecticut.
They actually look nothing like the Tannoys, they’re in a bright red cabinet and have separate woofer & tweeter.
There is almost nothing to be found about them on the internet, at least not that I could find.
Here’s the best I could find, basically just acknowledges their existence and not much more:
https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/little-red-monitors-not-tannoys.603135/
Also, a couple of archived ads from 1978 Billboard magazines:
Shortened link 1
Shortened link 2
And yes, the amp would absolutely blow the speakers at full volume, that’s my problem - amp has plenty of power but I can’t send enough of it to the speakers to get the volume I want. I’m pretty sure I’ve already done some damage to at least one of the tweeters. I’ve pretty much learned the max volume they can handle, if I push it past that point, they start to sound bad and if there are peaks at certain frequencies, they start to sound really bad.
Interestingly, if this provides any insight, their max volume is basically at unity gain on my system - if I’m using that term right - mixer input gains (from iMac headphone out) just enough below clipping to have some headroom, channel faders at 0, stereo sub mix/main faders at 0, VU peaks a tiny bit above 0, output volume knob to the power amp at the “<” mark indicating unity.
The power amp also has trims on the back but I can’t remember where I have them set.
Anyway, long story a little bit longer, I’m pretty certain these Little Reds just aren’t designed to put out the kind of volume I’m looking for. I think P.A speakers that are designed to stand up to a lot more punishment are the way to go for this application.
I’d still use the Reds for casual listening, just not for power and volume. (reference to a young Pete Townshend quote from The Kids Are Alright film.)
I’m going to go take another look at the back of the speakers and see if I can find any specs, e.g. sensitivity or impedance. I’ll post again if I find anything - maybe post some pics too.
edited to add: This is the only power amp I own.
@Aspirant_Fool Sorry, no more info on the speakers, but it’s pretty clear they won’t do the job.
The question really is what specs to look for in a ‘louder’ set?
Just as a random example, the first 10" unpowered speaker I found on Sweetwater says, “350W RMS power handling” with “700W Peak Power capacity” and it’s 8 ohms - since the amp puts out 200W (per channel) into 8 ohms, does that mean those speakers could handle every drop of power the amp could throw at them? And will that translate into more volume than the Little Reds?
I think the Reds’ woofers are 12" - does larger cones necessarily mean more volume?
I assume the PA speakers are made of much more robust material - Reds are paper, I think.
I really should know how this stuff works since, funnily enough, I spent 10 years working as a live-sound and studio engineer (>15 years ago at this point)…
Thing is, I knew how to operate the stuff (and I have a very good ear, I’ve been told), I was just never able to grasp the principles behind how they work.
Amps, watts, impedance - all that stuff confused the hell out of me.
Turning this dial has this effect - that I understood.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Hope this isn’t too obnoxious of a thread-jacking, but since I’ve come this far, how about some pics!
Back of the Little Reds:
My “studio” viewed from the drum throne:
@DennisG2014
Interesting about the Reds you have, I’d never seen them before. I’m from CT, and have seen some products from the company around, but probably couldn’t add anything meaningful to what you’ve already found.
Two main points in response:
First, yes, if the speakers say they can handle more than 200 watts at 8 ohm, they should be able to take the full output from your amp and give you more volume. That doesn’t mean they necessarily will take the full power safely for every sound you might play back through them, but they should at least give you some headroom to fool around with.
Second, no, a larger cone doesn’t always mean more volume. There’s a lot of complex math involved, but some of the factors at work are the materials and the design of the drivers themselves, and the tolerances of the electrical components inside the speakers. If all other things were equal, i.e. identical construction/materials/electronics, a bigger cone should be able to make more volume, but it would probably need more power to get there.
Since you don’t have detailed specs for the speakers you’re using now, it’s hard to make a really informed decision about what you need to get where you want to be. That being the case, my suggestion is this: Go to a local pawn shop/flea market/thrift store/whatever, get the cheapest pair of speakers you can find detailed specs for, take them home, hook them up, and start playing. You shouldn’t have to spend more than $40, and you’ll have a known reference point to work from if they don’t meet your needs.
@Aspirant_Fool @DennisG2014 As an FYI, sensitivity = efficiency. Two terms used interchangeably.
@Aspirant_Fool
Which is exactly why I’ve never been able to grasp some of the principles at play, I have trouble even with simple math.
Thanks for your help.
It occurred to me that I may be able to try some speakers before buying. Have to call in a favor and hope for some generosity, but if I can arrange it, this’ll be the best way to find what I need.
@PooltoyWolf Derp, thanks - I never did point that out before jumping in. I tend to prefer ‘sensitivity’ because I think it’s more suggestive of the actual effect in practice. A more efficient/sensitive speaker can get louder with the same amount of power input, but the more important factor for most people is going to be the greater dynamic range that’s generally available to a more sensitive speaker, and ‘efficiency’ doesn’t really capture that relationship in an intuitive way.
@DennisG2014 Glad to help! Don’t get discouraged by the math stuff, understanding of the higher-level concepts is still possible without detailed knowledge of the math behind them. At the end of the day, power handling and volume are mostly just a case of ‘make sure the numbers match’, with the difficulty in your situation being that the relevant numbers for your speakers seem to be lost to history.
Got a Humidifier during the Mehathon and now three sets of Polks!
Everyone upset about the positioning of the drivers - you know you can
Just turn it upside down if you want the tweeter on top
@thechinglish but it has little feet.
@RiotDemon @thechinglish Or hang it from the bottom of your shelf … just sayin
@RiotDemon @thechinglish Flip 'em over and put on some Little Feat.
@RiotDemon @thechinglish the little feet become… little ears or horns?
@RiotDemon @thechinglish
@thechinglish lay them on a side
@G1 @RiotDemon @thechinglish
https://www.npr.org/2014/09/01/344273825/the-story-of-little-feats-fame-destruction-and-revival
Looks good. But also seems like you’ll want a subwoofer (at least $100) and a receiver/amp (pick up a modern-looking one from a thrift store on the cheap and you should be golden) to go with this speaker to make it work…
What’s that? That’s more expensive/involving than picking up a 2.1 soundbar from Best Buy? Huh…
@heartbleed
If you’re into vinyl, you actually wouldn’t want a dedicated subwoofer and you likely already have an receiver. This would probably be a decent upgrade if you had cheaped out on the speakers.
@heartbleed @thechilipepper0
Here’s a small stereo amp that would most likely drive these speakers in a small to medium room.
$29.88 at Amazon.
@heartbleed I no longer invest in speakers that need wires.
@2many2no @heartbleed @thechilipepper0 I can second that cheap lepai amp. I’m using it to drive a pair of outdoor speakers (also Polks!), and it’s been a champ.
@heartbleed @Helot @thechilipepper0 How does it sound with the Polks? I almost bought the Daytons to go with it.
@2many2no I’ve no complaints. It goes louder than I’m comfortable with and has survived 3 winters outside. Only feature I wish it had was Bluetooth, but wasn’t hard to find a cheap adapter.
@Helot Thanks
When it comes to speakers, you can have small, good, and cheap. Pick any two.
@shahnm I emphatically prefer large speakers.
Can I use these as satellite speakers?
@FirstLast87 Yes, but I’m pretty sure if you check with NASA, they’ll confirm that speakers have come standard in all of their satellites since 1997. Even in the base models…
/image MIR
@shahnm
I’m in! …As long as India doesn’t shoot it down.
/giphy India space power
/giphy imperfect-barred-lilac
Remember when people cared about expensive stereo systems?
For like their records and stuff?
Now you have like a mono cellphone speaker and half the time it’s ok for podcasts…
/giphy /shrug
/buy
@dragoncmndr It worked! Your order number is: surprised-unclear-cockatoo
/image surprised unclear cockatoo
If the quality is anything close to their headphones, I can’t wait to read the comments.
https://meh.com/forum/topics/polk-audio-hinge-wireless-bluetooth-on-ear-headphones
@cinoclav that norm guy sure was pissed lmao
@uninflammable Yeah, I’m sure gonna miss ole’ Norm.
Direct link to Norm’s upset (two posts, one after the other):
https://meh.com/forum/topics/polk-audio-hinge-wireless-bluetooth-on-ear-headphones#5ca21affcd971e0d0e5551db
Seriously, hopefully he’ll give Meh another chance - even if the response time can be variable, my experience is they fix the issue.
@RedOak I see your point, but in all honesty the kind of person that gets an email saying they’re backed up on a weekend, posts Monday morning demanding a response, and then within 20 minutes is already on the phone to get Samuel L. Jackson to give him a refund is probably better off not being around Meh, though.
@djslack Don’t get me wrong - in no way was I excusing that impatient behavior.
But more customers = a healthier Meh. More customers = higher Meh buying volume and better prices as well as opportunities for products where the lower volume might otherwise make them unachievable.
He has bought 7 times. That’s probably better than a fair portion of the registered usernames.
Money is money and being too picky about whether someone is a good match for Meh doesn’t pay the bills.
@RedOak fair enough, I can see your point.
It’s 2019…how about we score some Google Assistant speakers…you know, a nice set, maybe that retails for 179 and MEH can sell them for 49
@fastharrydotcom
But this is Meh.
@fastharrydotcom
I’d be very happy to see a repeat of the following from the early Meh days - I need a backup - it works wonderfully as an Echo Dot streaming music sound improvement feature in the basement shop.
@fastharrydotcom @RedOak agreed. I use this most days and worry the battery will go.
@fastharrydotcom Yes, Yes - have 2 of these. Great sound - plugged a cheapy bluetooth receiver in and guys use it all over the shop.
They are magnetically shielded so they can be close to a TV. Ok for surround system I guess, small room, sub woofer would help, beginners stereo system, college dorm etc… Not like the old “Monitor” line of speakers…
@gfreek Do you still have a CRT tv?
@Bumplepimp @gfreek Magnetically shielded because they were probably originally made to be sold mostly in 3rd world countries.
@Bumplepimp @gfreek CRTs are great. My 34’’ Sony Trinitron HD CRT is a thing of beauty, and my old video games actually look good on it.
And it weighs about 200 pounds.
@Bumplepimp @gfreek @Limewater I have a 55" CRT projection TV from way back when. Its a really early HDTV that I uograded to for that new-fangled HDMI at the time. Still works great in the basement and looks gorgeous!
@Bumplepimp @gfreek @Pufferfishy From what I can tell, these were originally marketed in 2011…and maybe earlier. So…CRT…
Maybe they were hidden in the back of the warehouse…
@Bumplepimp @gfreek @Limewater I still have one of these too. When I moved it upstairs as a secondary TV, it took three of us to push it up the steps. SO front-heavy! Works and looks great still. Got it at a closing of a Circuit City outlet store.
It isn’t an actual frequency response curve graph, but wow, including roll-off specs? Is this Meh?
gauche-morbid-macaw
OK, I tried about eight times to get a good giphy on that and they were all gross or depressing. I just wanted a freaking goth bird!
@TurtleTamer /giphy can be a cruel mistress at times!
Any speakerheads want to school me on whether to keep an old pair of JBL 2500s alive (looks comparable on specs) or replace 'em with these newfangled honkers? Thankyewverrymusch.
http://gph.is/1aimWmi
Usually a sucker for speakers, but I already have a set of infinity SM towers in the basement from the 90’s that I’m not using at the moment.
Are we limited to just one of thes too? What am I going to do with one speaker?
@jzmacdaddy
What’s in the Box?
2x Bookshelf Speakers
@jzmacdaddy actually, by your counting method, today’s limit is 6, twice the normal Meh default!
Dive in, the water is warm!
I was given a couple of good standup Polk speakers and a center channel, along with a decent receiver, a couple of years ago, so I grabbed two of these to complete the rear channels of the surround sound setup, with a subwoofer to come in a couple of months. I’m pretty sure Meh is just selling these for me, specifically.
I’d like to mount these, or maybe put them on stand; does anyone have any recommendations? A guy in the Amazon reviews said to just buy some L brackets, which is fine if you don’t want to angle them, but not great for my setup.
I’m gonna have to buy some speaker wire. I want to outfit everything with banana plugs, too, as I’ll be moving in a year or two and I want to make that process a little less painful. First time doing all this stuff.
Exciting!
@harveydanger …waiting for it…
@harveydanger I have a couple VideoSecu stands I got from amazon a while back for my Monitor 30s. Not sure about their “PA” claims but adjustable height, the little clampy thingies easily fit and tighten down for a good hold, wire runs through the stand and you can adjust the angle to point them anywhere if desired.
These should also have a little hanger on the back so a decent screw in the wall and they’re good.
@RedOak waiting for what?
@xj94 I’ll check them out, thanks!
@RedOak Heh heh heh… mount.
@shahnm @harveydanger there you go. Mehtizens are getting lazy, missing that one.
/giphy awestruck-careless-donkey
Do they have headphone and auxiliary jacks?
@academic11 They’re non-powered, and only have input for speaker wires from some kind of amp.
Okay, fine.
/buy
@The_Tim It worked! Your order number is: forceful-glorified-brass
/image forceful glorified brass
I ordered four and got two
. I am replacing JBL 2500s, but I’ve heard the JBLs are a bit “bright”
@dinkster meh.com/support
So, I knew they were non-powered, and a comment was made that they could be driven through a computer, or whatever. I didn’t really expect to have to buy plugs or speaker wires, etc. Yikes…So, Now I need to buy speaker wires, and maybe that little TI amp, and then plugs, and then try to figure out how to connect it to my older computer. BAH!!! Any help would be appreciated. I saw the TI amp, wires, and connectors on The Mothership, but tjhe single plug is for a tablet, ipod etc. Doesn’t look Computer appropriate. Please HELP!!! And thank-you in advance!!
@Mandamm use an aux cable like the one linked below between the computer headphone jack to the amplifier. Then speaker wires from the amplifier to the speakers. Some of the amplifiers don’t include a power adapter, so watch for that.
aux cable
I figured I would get it at some point… I am Not an Audiophile. The cables I saw on Amazon didn’t show that plug. TY for your kind assistance. If you ever need Medical Advice, I’m your Gal…lol RN