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Speaker Advice for Bitzie System

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Ash View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Sep 2015 at 8:25am
Active monitors like the Equator D5 or Mackie MR5MK2 can still give good results that are enjoyable to listen to.

To be critical of them though, if you want the same level of transparency that Bitzie-HD540II is giving you, only a well-designed power amp into well engineered passive speaker drivers is going to get there. Active monitors I've listened to just didn't have the extreme purity that I expected them to have (being really critical) but if they're good enough for composers to produce music on, they may be enough for you too. I don't know.

I don't want to be a grim reaper to any of your plans. Maybe go to a store so you can listen/audition some after doing some prior research. Some of the cheaper active monitors (below £500) likely offer significantly better value for money than many of the top/flagship stuff. Doesn't matter how well marketed the top stuff is, in the end, it's still held back by the same inadequacies, IMHO.
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miT View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote miT Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Sep 2015 at 10:00pm
Of the pairs I demo'd, I only started enjoying them when they got over £500. Everything I tried below that price level (which I believe the D5s are?) severely lacked in high frequencies, but the rest of them weren't exactly clean anyway!

I don't think you're the grim reaper. I think you're telling me what I feared but also needed confirmed: for my tastes, I can't go cheap and be satisfied! A shame but that's life.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote suede Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Sep 2015 at 10:12pm
Hi Tim.

I'm currently using a pair of Ruark MR1 active desktop speakers with my Bitzie and I think they sound more than alright for the price and given their small size. Especially so after replacing the freebie speaker cable with a custom made Spatia that John was kind enough to make for me.

Now they aren't exactly HiFi but they're really quite good at what they do. Maybe they're just a bit on the bassy side, but then that could easily be down to their placement, which sadly is far from ideal...
Proprius, Reflex M, Solo UL, Bitzie, CuSats & Spatia
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Sep 2015 at 10:25pm
Tim, I've been a member of this forum for over two years and have only recently really began to enjoy speaker reproduction. There are many layers of complexity with typical speaker audio that results in a very congested, coloured and unenjoyable listening experience. I used headphones like the HD250, HD540II and now K1000 to teach/guide me to what the speaker reproduction should extrapolate to. They have been stepping stones and have served me well whilst I've slowly been learning.

I'm fortunate to have been able to work and invest a considerable amount of my earnings into summit-fi equipment intended for the long haul. Now I'm just standing on the shoulders of great people like Graham and other knowledgeable members, able to piggyback on their experiences and suggestions whilst I reflect on what would be the next most sensible course of action.

Whilst a HD540II at low/moderate volume from Bitzie is a wonderful experience, it is nice to now dive into the whole body experience that high fidelity speakers can provide.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote miT Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Sep 2015 at 10:50pm
Originally posted by suede suede wrote:

Hi Tim.

I'm currently using a pair of Ruark MR1 active desktop speakers with my Bitzie and I think they sound more than alright for the price and given their small size. Especially so after replacing the freebie speaker cable with a custom made Spatia that John was kind enough to make for me.

Now they aren't exactly HiFi but they're really quite good at what they do. Maybe they're just a bit on the bassy side, but then that could easily be down to their placement, which sadly is far from ideal...

Thanks suede. I remember reading that in the active monitors thread. The bass comment concerns me as I'm used to clean mids and bass through a sub... How do you find the highs? Sparkly or veiled?

Originally posted by Ash Ash wrote:

Tim, I've been a member of this forum for over two years and have only recently really began to enjoy speaker reproduction. There are many layers of complexity with typical speaker audio that results in a very congested, coloured and unenjoyable listening experience. I used headphones like the HD250, HD540II and now K1000 to teach/guide me to what the speaker reproduction should extrapolate to. They have been stepping stones and have served me well whilst I've slowly been learning.

I'm fortunate to have been able to work and invest a considerable amount of my earnings into summit-fi equipment intended for the long haul. Now I'm just standing on the shoulders of great people like Graham and other knowledgeable members, able to piggyback on their experiences and suggestions whilst I reflect on what would be the next most sensible course of action.

Whilst a HD540II at low/moderate volume from Bitzie is a wonderful experience, it is nice to now dive into the whole body experience that high fidelity speakers can provide.


Your GSP journey has been helpful to me too Ash! When I went to demo the AKG K812s, the salesman played me a set of similarly priced monitors (in a soundproof booth ) and while he didn't even try to set up angles, etc, the imaging blew me away!

I have enjoyed the whole body experience for a while with my cinema system (passive monitors + the 18" subs), but the Bitzie-PC system is elsewhere. I'd happily stay with the headphone route except that I'm rarely alone now and therefore need to not be isolated. The stereo imaging would be fun to experiment with too as cinema setups are differen't (even in stereo) but we'll have to see.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 09 Sep 2015 at 11:06pm
I'm not a fan of subwoofers, which is why I selected the Mark Audio 12PW, which goes down to around 50Hz before any significant roll-off. Careful application of a driver like this could probably have it reproducing subwoofer frequencies in less quantity (controlled, not overpowering or resonant) but still reaching down enough to cover the lower limits of human hearing. Pair that with something like the 7P so that you then have almost the entire audible band of frequencies conveyed at very similar dB SPL. The adjacent drivers, having similar cone profiles should blend well (disperse into each other) and because they are of low and similar mass should also blend well.

Subwoofers often have large and/or heavy cones so because the physical behaviour would be so different (e.g slow) compared to midrange/treble drivers, it would likely result in a less natural integration, which would then require more layers of complexity to correct.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote miT Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 Sep 2015 at 10:26am
Originally posted by Ash Ash wrote:

I'm not a fan of subwoofers, which is why I selected the Mark Audio 12PW, which goes down to around 50Hz before any significant roll-off. Careful application of a driver like this could probably have it reproducing subwoofer frequencies in less quantity (controlled, not overpowering or resonant) but still reaching down enough to cover the lower limits of human hearing. Pair that with something like the 7P so that you then have almost the entire audible band of frequencies conveyed at very similar dB SPL. The adjacent drivers, having similar cone profiles should blend well (disperse into each other) and because they are of low and similar mass should also blend well.

Subwoofers often have large and/or heavy cones so because the physical behaviour would be so different (e.g slow) compared to midrange/treble drivers, it would likely result in a less natural integration, which would then require more layers of complexity to correct.
I wanted to stay quiet but I have to defend an injustice.

Sub drivers are like speaker drivers in that the best ones are completely neutral, but from what you've said above it sounds like you haven't heard good ones? To be fair I'm confident most people haven't! The ones I started out with sounded as coloured to me as most speakers do. In comparison I chose my current drivers because as with your Mark Audios, they are known to be extremely neutral. I used to have to check that the cones were even moving at times! But you have to be dedicated to spend over £5k/sub (which is what mine would have cost if I didn't assemble them myself)...

Hmm... That's probably why I find so many sets so muddy; the lowest frequencies shouldn't be heard from speakers. Even a person with total hearing loss can confirm this; put them next to a live cello and they will feel the bass through their body. It is impossible for smaller drivers to replicate that air movement realistically and yet that is what natural sound (i.e. Sounds in the real world rather than through speakers) is; a perfect blend of the frequencies you can hear with the ones you feel. I'm sure I remember Graham saying somewhere on here that you need 18" drivers for the most realistic sound (practicalities aside)...

Now that I've defended high-end subs I'll clarify all that drivel with the statement that if I was designing money-no-object speakers without listening room constraints, etc, I'd have different driver sizes culninating in an 18" driver for the bottom. That isn't going to happen though so I've not thought about integration/frequency clash . Could you imagine the sound though??


Edited by miT - 10 Sep 2015 at 10:59am
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