Speakers for Jazz

Correction: In reference to post #60 above, that should read $495. I must have been feeling extra dyslexic that day.

Sorry... My bad...

 

I believe we are talking about speakers and not McIntosh amps.

B.T.W..., Macintosh equipment is class A/B, not "B".

 

I used to own Technics speakers. They were decent in their price range but not what I needed. They're very warm-sounding. If you really like how they sound and you don't find yourself insanely cranking up your bass and treble controls to achieve tonal balance by all means keep them till you can afford better ones.

And indeed you don't know what you're missing till you upgrade. I went from 12¨ woofers , 3-way Technics, to big Klipch floorstanders. Night and day bro.

 

You are right, class A/B I knew there was a reason that they didn't sound very good.

I think OP should stick with his current speakers, unless he upgrades drastically to say a single 604 or Quad 57 I don't think he's gonna notice a difference. Also depends on the rest of his playback equipment, which I can't see because I'm still new.

 

The OP has a terrific 1200 TT, a terrific Nak cassette player, and one of these beauties :



I think any low-end JBL, Polk or Klipsch towers would make a night-and-day difference given the quality of his existing rig, on which the only weak link are the speakers. He says he's perfectly happy with his currrent sound despite of being aware of this, but it's evident he's gotten the upgrade bug. He's just some hundreds of bucks away from terrifically better sound. I say go for it; you only live once. His move, and his priorities.

 

i propose to choose JBL GTO939 - excellent speakers for the bass, jazz sounds
Or you can select some speakers from this overview
Best Car Speakers for Bass and Sound Quality in 2019
Sure, i not 100% sure in some ratings
but my speakers are one of the best - 5 starts)

 

Rich, get these while they are still discounted for the holidays. In a smaller space, you will have plenty of tuneful bass from these, the mids are wonderfully rich and fulsome, and the highs are delicate and not strident. They also image like mofos.

Oh, and did I mention real wood veneer?

I upgraded from the Dentons to a pair of Spendor SP3/1R2's ($3200 new), and the difference in performance wasn't as dramatic as you might expect. The Dentons are lovely speakers.

 

I had a set of these for quite a few years. When I bought them they were described to me to reproduce everything but rock music very well. In other words they weren't heavy on bass. The first words out of the salesman mouth at the shop where I bought them was these are not rock speakers. Probably because of my longish hair at the time. I thought they reproduced everything I listened to including jazz very well. The description in the link said the bass could be a little overblown at times but I didn't find that to be true and I've never heard them described that way from anyone I know who has owned them. I always thought the bass was what it should be and not overly accentuated. You should be able to pick them up on the cheap right now but make sure you get the the stands. They were sold separately at the time and were rather expensive and I don't know how hard they would be to find now. They allow you to adjust the angle of the speaker up and down for you listening position.

 

A friend recently picked up a pair of these at a yard sale and he likes them.

 

I play electric bass, love upright and agree that a great playback setup should be outstanding with ALL music genres reproduced faithfully.
For best clear, clean bass note pitch definition I'm a big fan of acoustic suspension sealed box woofers in general over most ported designs.
As a rule a sealed box woofer provides tight clean bass notes without any notes being swallowed by port phase cancellation or over exaggerated port excited room modes which can happen with ported boxes.
I use SVS 12" sealed subs (stereo) to carry frequencies down to the mid 30s.
For un-goosed well engineered recordings I turn on ported 15" Velodyne deep subs for extra support on down to low 20s.
Modern recording techniques especially "re-masterings" and internet goosed sources tend to have excess boom in the bass frequencies so I may be forced to turn off the deep ported subs to keep the playback from getting mushy and just use the sealed cabinets.
If I could have only one or the other I would probably go with an all in one speaker box with sealed woofers like an old pair of restored AR3a classics.
OR I might go with Quad electrostatic panels as what bass they provide is for the most part clean tight and non boomy.
To my ears I prefer a limited tight bass over a more impressive blur and boom.
I believe modern punched up out of whack non linear recording styles came on the scene sometime in the 70s and then got real bad once digital replaced vinyl.
Bass was not allowed to be overpowering back in the earlier days as it tended to make one's stylus jump out of the groove!
So to my mind there are TWO different bass "eras" and styles.
I much prefer a linear approach but modern sound is often not about fidelity.
It is about marketing and making a loud noise.
Obviously I believe that by having two sets of subs it gives me the choice to have two different ways to handle bass in my room.
Nothing beats bringing sweet clean non boomy bass into the mix even when the engineers over do it like happens a lot with modern bloated sounds.
Plus it helps me to hear the notes clearly so I can steal the ideas the bassists bring to the music.
If you love bass as much as I do you simply have to work with what is on the recording to get best bass resolution.
This works for me.

 

Thanks for the input. I'm still sort of clinging to my crappy Technics three-way floor-standers and their 12" subwoofers but I will seriously entertain this option...looks like Music Direct has a 60-day return policy, maybe I should just give them a try.

 

Keep in mind that the Kevlar woofers need a LOT of run-in time to loosen up. At first they will sound a bit forward/crisp, then they will sound kind of muffled and weird, before finally snapping into place tonally and showing what their true character is. If you get them, do wait until the very end of the 60-day evaluation period before making any conclusions.

They also benefit from mass-loaded stands (these are a very good budget choice) and bi-wiring.*

*I use the affordable Canare 4S11 cables widely sold on eBay, available in different lengths.

 

I heard that somewhere as well. Thanks.

 

Good grief! There's more wiring than in most AC circuits. Looks like you could get electrocuted just setting up those speakers.

 

Quote from member, Ghostworld..

“If you're not a base head and want REAL clarity and quality, the Spica TC50 (avg. price $300-$400 but you can get lucky) are extremely clean sounding (yet not icy) and throw a huge soundstage that is astounding. For little speakers, you've never heard a bigger one. The technics you now have are junk and any decent vintage speaker will kill them. For cheap? Look for some old Advents or KLH or better AR. Good brands you could get lucky and snag: Spica, Snell, Allison, KEF. Stay away from Sony, Technics, Pioneer, Fisher, and most major manufacturers who DON"T ONLY MAKE SPEAKERS. Kef make great small speaker. Triangle titus.... just skim craigslist, skip the brand names and look up anything interesting. It's a treasure hunt!”

There definitely are exceptions......Sony DID in fact make speakers, really good ones too. At $16k, they better be good.
I’ve never heard any SS-M9ed’s but have heard there counterparts, SS-m7 and m3. I’ve owned a pair of m3’s for 6 or so years and they pumped out their share of jazz.

But, Ghostworld was right, Sony made other things as well.

Sony ES SS-M9ED loudspeaker

 

Great article. The “Chemistry” album with Houston Person he mentions is terrific; was not familiar with it before.

 

I would seek out a pair of KLH Model 6. I’ve had both those and the Model 5 and preferred the 6’s with jazz. Shouldn’t cost much for a decent pair, and sometimes you can find them fully restored (the crossovers often need rebuilding on such vintage speakers).

I prefer Audio Note speakers these days, but they are WAY more expensive. I definitely still have a fondness for the KLH 5 and 6 though.

 

Watch local Craigslist’s for a good/refoamed pair of Snell Js or Es. I think they’d be impossible to beat in that price range.

 

Oh, hush!

Seriously, if any of you have bi-wirable speakers, I urge you to give it a try. I was astounded by how much more, uh, controlled and punchy my system sounded, with both the Dentons and with my Spendor SP3/1R1's.

 

Rich, I don't think you can go wrong with those Wharfedales for the money.

 

I still think OP should step up and get a mono integrated and a single quad or 604

 

I play mostly jazz and blues as well as some classic rock and classical. My B&W 703s do an excellent job on all genres. Should be available used for around $1000-$1500. The smaller Dynaudio floor standers are also excellent and can be had used at well under $1k. Can't remember model numbers right now, but they made some very good 2 ways.

 

I have a hard time believing that a tiny pair of bookshelf speakers are going to justice to a jazz trio. Yes they will image well, but I like a solid foundation when I listen to music (and a sub is not the answer for jazz, especially not a cheap one).

If OP is running a vintage Maratnz, I am even more convinced that a pair of KLH 5 or 6 would be excellent, or as others have mentioned Acoustic Research AR3 or AR3a - but the AR speakers will likely be over $1000 for a decent pair. The KLH will be under $500. Dynaco A25 would also be a nice option.

 

Elac debut 2.0 B 6.2 $300 a pair they sound fabulous I mean really fabulous for this price you might consider these because I like jazz and I listen to him what chance it sounded fantastic.

 

I bought two sets of Altec Lansing 203 speakers over 25 years ago and they sound awesome with any kind of music, they have 12" woofers, 4" midrange and a tweeter. They handle 150 watts of power and you know you have good speakers when they can handle any kind of music you can dish at them. I paid 340.00 dollars for a pair back then.