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Suggestions for replacing bookshelf speakers, $2k budget


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Hey StereoNET'ers,

 

I'm thinking about upgrading my front Jamo C803 Bookself speakers in my home theater setup. My center is a Dali Zensor, Jamo S60 backs, HRS12 Sub and a Onkyo 656 amp. I could move the Jamo's to the back channels but I think they are to big for that unless I get floor standers, but in my current place I can't get the floor space (see pic).

Any suggestions for new front speakers or run out models that may out perform the Jamo's for ~$2000? I'm think the Jamo's sound good, but possibly little flat. Is there a speaker I should look at with a bit more personality to them? I could do with a bit more bass/warmth and wider sound stage when comparing them to my Sony MDR-1A with a Fiio Olympus 2. It will be a mix of games, movies and music, so all rounders.

 

Would you guys have any recommendations that would be worth the purchase and stuffing around selling the Jamo's? I like the look of the Elac Debut? Uni-Fi? Or something else? Or should I just sit tight and wait till I have the space for floorstanders?

 

lounge_pic.jpg

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Don't rush in. Have a listen to KEF LS50s, preferably in a home setting. They have an enviable reputation for a good reason and they will certainly not sound flat. I wasn't impressed by their looks but once these babies working you won't even notice. Their performance with video is so good you will be looking for intruders in your house or jumping up to answer your mobile. They are uncanny.

 

My experience auditioning at a dealer was disappointing. It wasn't until I took them for a home audition that I understood how good they really are. After a hundred hours or so running them in you will be even more amazed.

 

They do need to be on a solid stand. They are NOT supposed to be on a bookshelf.

 

You should be able to pick up a new pair for under $2000 if you haggle.

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2 hours ago, PauliD said:

Hey StereoNET'ers,

 

I'm thinking about upgrading my front Jamo C803 Bookself speakers in my home theater setup. My center is a Dali Zensor, Jamo S60 backs, HRS12 Sub and a Onkyo 656 amp. I could move the Jamo's to the back channels but I think they are to big for that unless I get floor standers, but in my current place I can't get the floor space (see pic).

Any suggestions for new front speakers or run out models that may out perform the Jamo's for ~$2000? I'm think the Jamo's sound good, but possibly little flat. Is there a speaker I should look at with a bit more personality to them? I could do with a bit more bass/warmth and wider sound stage when comparing them to my Sony MDR-1A with a Fiio Olympus 2. It will be a mix of games, movies and music, so all rounders.

 

Would you guys have any recommendations that would be worth the purchase and stuffing around selling the Jamo's? I like the look of the Elac Debut? Uni-Fi? Or something else? Or should I just sit tight and wait till I have the space for floorstanders?

 

lounge_pic.jpg

Personally own 2 pairs of JAMO C803's and to be frank, you will be at a loss to match or best them with anything less than $4K.

The JAMO C803 will eat the KEF 50;s for dinner in so many ways, this would be a disasterous downgrade :) 

Sadly I don't have an upgrade other than to buy another pair :) that is what I did :) 

To add, to get the best from them and liven them up, bi amping and high passing at 60Hz is one way, again, did that and very satisfied with the results

 

(diving for cover now)

Edited by Guest
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Don't rush in is good advice :) I rushed into buying a sub and it took me 3 different ones to be happy. Can't afford to do that again!

 

I do like the look of the LS50 is black and copper cone, but yeah I worry they 125Bmonster's comments concern me. I'm looking for an excuse to buy the wireless ones to go in another room tho anyway :D

 

Sime I'll keep an eye out for the B&W CM5s2 for an audition.

 

 

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$2000 is a great budget for bookshelves - especially for 2nd hand.  See if you can try the bookshelves people have already mentioned.  Personally I'm on the lookout for B&W PM1s myself - look them up - they may have the warmth you are looking for.

 

I bought a C803 and could not live with it myself.  I swapped it for an Elac BS244 the very next day - the C803 simply outputted too much bass in my listening area.  If you love the C803 signature though (and it works well in your setup) - you might want to consider other changes - like another amp.  It can complete transform your setup and may breathe life into your speaker.  The C803 is as close to a floorstander I've heard and works well with games/movies.

 

Warmth - Dynaudio Contour S1.4 regularly goes down under $2k - if you can find it...

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1 hour ago, 125dBmonster said:

Personally own 2 pairs of JAMO C803's and to be frank, you will be at a loss to match or best them with anything less than $4K.

The JAMO C803 will eat the KEF 50;s for dinner in so many ways, this would be a disasterous downgrade :) 

Sadly I don't have an upgrade other than to buy another pair :) that is what I did :) 

To add, to get the best from them and liven them up, bi amping and high passing at 60Hz is one way, again, did that and very satisfied with the results

 

(diving for cover now)

 

If I were you I would be doing the same. I must have had  wool in my ears when I heard the Jamos. They do have more of a pronounced mid bass hump than the LS 50,which makes them seem larger than they are but I agree with  @Spukee,I couldn't live with them  either,but for boom boom movies and games they may be OK

 

Different strokes and no offence intended

 

 

Edited by rantan
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It's not as fun as buying new speakers, but have you tried experimenting with the EQ section of the Onkyo to get the tonal balance/warmth you are after? It looks to have a reasonably flexible EQ - I reckon with some tweaking you should be able to at least address the issue of not having enough bass and or "character".

 

You could potentially also address the imaging problem more effectively with room setup changes and acoustic treatments than by buying a different speaker. I realise that these are often fixed and non negotiable though.

 

Sorry for being so boring ;-)

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@Pops110 the listing has been removed :( I will keep an eye out though now I know they are a good speaker.

 

@Stevesie maybe a little boring but a great and cheaper place to start. I'll experiment with the EQ and see how I go.

 

Do you think toeing them in like I have in the photo is too much? I angled them so they are facing flat in the main seating position. I just looked back at the manual again and it is a bit vague on details about how much, but it does also suggest I may have the speakers too far apart compared to my primary listening position. I'll have to break out the tape measure when I get home.

 

Here is a link to the manual for those interested https://www.manualowl.com/m/Jamo/C-803/Manual/423444

 

Thanks for the input everyone!

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7 minutes ago, PauliD said:

Do you think toeing them in like I have in the photo is too much? I angled them so they are facing flat in the main seating position.

 

I normally aim them at the listening position when possible, as you have done, but you can experiment for sure and see what works best.

If it were me, I'd be replacing the shelves under the speakers with decent stands, and moving them in a little to get the left one out of the corner. I personally find tables and shelves to really negatively affect the performance of a speaker.

 

Small changes in EQ can make a huge difference in how much you enjoy a speaker. I make small changes, then listen for a few days and then tweak again. You might even find just upping the sub level a touch gets the result you are after.

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I did some searching on youtube for the  BW PM1 and CM5s2 and wow do those cones have some throw! I went home and took my covers of to see what the Jamo's can do with the same song and they barely move in comparison even at a solid volume. Lots of air out the back port though. Anyone know why that is? Is it the small driver in the BW having to move more to output the lows? BTW I know youtube clips are in no way useful to judge sound quality but give you idea of how they look and move :)

 

Side note I did some rearranging of the speaker layout. I got some rubber isolation material from Bunnings to put them on, remeasured everything to get a better triangle layout of the speakers and listening position. I even printed a protractor off the web to make sure it was with in 22-30 degree of each ear, moved them about 14cm of the wall and removed toe in angle I had. The music play back did improve the stereo effect widening everything which is great. I can post a pic if you guys are interested.

 

The next thing was mucking about with the EQ. I focused on music first and played a couple of tracks I familiar with with the Pure Direct setting on the amp, this also turned off the sub which I'm starting to prefer for music even though I'd say I love me some good bass! But maybe it's because it wasn't setup right for music is why I preferred it off. The Pure Direct mode was a good way to establish a baseline.

 

The amp has 3 EQ presents with is nice so I can do settings for music, movie, games. The only thing I'd like on the amp would be a way to turn the sub off when the EQ is on. As soon as I change from Pure Direct or Direct to Stereo the sub is automatically included. So for the Music setting I have put the sub EQ to all -6db on all sliders and have the tradition smile shape on the sliders in the EQ. Sounding better already, but will need some more time to absorb the changes over the weekend where I can sit for longer to listen carefully and at a good volume.

 

So thanks for the input guys. I have some tweaking to do that the wife just loves but also some speakers to keep an eye out for a good deal on :)

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  • 2 months later...
34 minutes ago, PauliD said:

*Update*

 

I brought some ELAC 244.3 speakers from a SNA memeber.

Very happy so far, :D 
 

 

 

Good choice.

They look really nice. There is something about the sound of ribbon tweeters that appeals to me. I only have them in cheap desktops.

Checkout this video about the woofer "extreeme" testing, https://youtu.be/Ua95wiuIa4I 

 

Might be worth checking out the IsoAcoustics speaker stands. You can get them quite low but not sure if they will still be too high for you on those shelves.

 

Edited by SteveC
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Depends on your seating position - but looking at your photo - I don't think it should be toe'd in as much as your C803.  On my setup, there's a toe in that works well no matter which side of the 3 seater couch I sit on.  I prefer that.

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On 07/02/2017 at 8:02 PM, PauliD said:

 

 125Bmonster's comments concern me. 

 

 

 

 

Me too

:D

 

There are compact book shelf systems and then there is this little concern

IMG_1576.JPG

Did the 2K budget though, opps

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On 07/02/2017 at 3:24 PM, 125dBmonster said:

Personally own 2 pairs of JAMO C803's and to be frank, you will be at a loss to match or best them with anything less than $4K.

The JAMO C803 will eat the KEF 50;s for dinner in so many ways, this would be a disasterous downgrade :) 

Sadly I don't have an upgrade other than to buy another pair :) that is what I did :) 

To add, to get the best from them and liven them up, bi amping and high passing at 60Hz is one way, again, did that and very satisfied with the results

 

(diving for cover now)

 

I had the Jamo Concert 8, which are better than the c803 and the Kef Ls50 was overall better in particular voice coherence and imaging. There would a lot of speakers in the $2-4K range new or used that would be better than c803 such as the Lenehan, Dynaudio 160, Proacs, used B&W D805 etc

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