We have the L100 classics and the Joseph audio were one of the few we heard at capital audio fest that my wife really liked. Otherwise, she just thinks the 100’s beat most there.
I took the advice of some on the thread saying play around with speaker positioning some more. I moved the 803s around the room some today and now have them wider and closer to the wall. They are currently 8" from the back wall and previously I had them 20". I think the extra foot away from my listening position has made a big difference and they are imaging much better. I have a wider image and vocals are centered nicely. I found myself starting off in "critical listening" mode and then drifting off getting lost in the music today. I put on the black faced Harvest CD of Dark Side of the Moon to listen to a couple of tracks and ended up getting absorbed in the music and listened to the whole album. I started off listening to the album "Little Creatures" by The Talking Heads today. I quickly realized you can't critically listen to "Then She Was" because the song is so good I had to get up and dance. I've lost some 3D depth but the image is SO much better it's worth it. The bass is a little too boosted at the moment but I have some vintage Siemens tubes that run leaner than my current Amperex tubes and may try swapping those out. The dual 7" woofers do not need any wall reinforcement. I'm able to crank the speakers a little louder, and they like to be cranked. Need to listen more to know if I will decide to keep them as my main speakers. I was adhering to the old axiom "move your speakers out in the room as far as you can" thinking it was better. In this case it was worse. I think my room wasn't too small for the speakers. I was just too close to them. I'm still considering whether to change speakers or not. This is the best I've heard them so far.
How close are the 803’s to the frontwall? To these eyes they seem to be too close to the frontwall. I’ve my 804’s around 4,5 feet out from the frontwall and the sound image is very good in width, height as well as depth.
I had a thought regarding your comment above about the bass being boosted with closer wall placement. Since they are ported to the front (this is good) they are less likely to be affected by placement close to the wall. You would probably benefit from using “bass traps” in the corners to tame the bass reinforcement. Alternatively, and a more simple option, is to place foam plugs in the bass ports of your speakers. This can reduce bass output but at the benefit of tightening up bass response by increasing back pressure. Just a thought.
I would move speakers so they are at least 50 cm from the back wall, a 100 cm would probably be even better. I predict a more natural bas and an altogether more open midrange.
Yeah that's what i thought but moving the speakers out kills the image. I don't think you read the thread because I discussed this at length.
They are 8 inches. Previously I had them 20 inches from the wall but i think they were too close to my listening position. I mentioned this in the post above. If my speakers were 4.5 feet from the wall they would be in the center of my living room and would not be practical.
They are front ported. The bass still increased dramatically although it would be worse if they were rear ported to be sure. I like the idea of the plugs. I'll have to see if i can find something to plug them. I am aware that on paper this location is not ideal at all. I'll try my Siemens tubes today as i know that will tame the bass. From a practical standpoint, 20 inches from the back wall is about all I can do before the speakers start to take over the room and I have a wife to consider.
Can you move you listening position further back? My experience says there significant gains to be made.
No i'm sitting on a couch against a wall. I agree with you that the sound would be a lot better in a better room
Oh, that can be a problem. I thought your initial placement seemed better on paper. Being close to the back wall can mess with imaging unless you are right on the wall. If you are a foot or two from the back wall, try sliding the couch out another foot and see what happens to the imaging. The extra foot might be all you need to delay the reflection off the back wall. I've also found that when speakers announce themselves when toed in then try firing them straight down the room. If you haven't tried these two things, move your seat and reduce toe-in then give them a whirl before spending money.
We live in a 3 dimensional world Steve. Those speakers you recommended are sexy. And I do have a thing for British speakers that are still made in England. All my B&W's were made there before they sold out. The day they sold out twas a sad day for me for the brand that got me into hifi.
I can’t recommend the PMCs highly enough, Pete. Great sound and wonderful finish. I have the Diamond Black to fit the rest of my system but the other wood finishes look beautiful. Lots of great speakers recommended by other posters too, good luck in your search.
Well I've been doing some fiddling and listening the last 3 days. They sound the best to me close to the wall with the ports plugged. These speakers just like to be cranked. They come alive and sound wonderful at a certain volume. Below that and they pretty good but not as involving. In general speakers sounds better louder but these its a big difference. Plugging the ports makes a large difference in the amount of bass. Thanks to @UCrazyKid for the port plug suggestion as it gave me the flexibility to put them where they sound the best. If you've heard the 800 series you know they have a lot of strengths. Accurate. Revealing. Full range. Involving. They don't color the sound. They don't add sweetness or liveliness. I think that's why the brand doesn't seem all that popular on this forum. But they do have their strengths. The weakness in my room is wanting to be cranked, and thus they need to be as far from my listening position as possible so I can turn them up. The current location leaves me with a wonderful but 2 dimensional sound. So I have to decide if I am going to replace my speakers that give me everything to add that 3rd dimension. I am going to need to listen more to make that decision. As buying gear is so much fun I have been scouring online sources and reading up on as many speakers as possible. My conclusion is the speaker I would want the most is probably the Spendor D7. The A4 might work also but I'm concerned that line won't be as resolving and refined as my 803s. I like that these Spendors image well, are smaller and are true full range with nice full bass. @avanti1960 I seem to recall you mentioning that you had listened to the A series and the D series. Do you recall the differences? I think I will look for a good deal on the D7s and if the right price comes up I may take a chance and keep the ones I like the most. That deal on the A6R is inviting at $2300 delivered. But I would like to have end game speakers and I'm concerned the A series would leave me curious about the D series.
I am curious about some of the smaller manufacturers like Salk and Joseph Audio. My concerns are that there aren't a lot of reviews on them and if I didn't like them, would I be able to resell them? Both companies make incredible looking speakers. JA seemed out of my price range although i'll keep an eye on them on the used market.
There are plenty of Joseph Audio reviews, and they are virtually all highly positive. The original Pulsars used would fall roughly into your range.
Right now there are 3 sets of Spendor D9's in California on audiogon. It's like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife.