Question:
Looking for speakers that match specs below?
Ace Gene Vincent
2015-07-22 06:56:43 UTC
Thanks to all that have help so far on my quest for the right speakers here is what i learned so far & need in the speakers i want
( efficient / 40 watts in to 8 ohms 91db per watt @ 1 meter / Frequency response: 5Hz to 60kHz Total harmonic distortion , ported or bass reflex ) they will be for my new Rotel rx 504 receiver in the photo , i want the best for this machine, nothing more nothing less , just right
Eight answers:
2015-07-23 08:41:28 UTC
Sorry I took so long to find your question. I was on a road trip and I'm not one of those people who take the internet with them.



Lets start by looking at some of the specs you state.



The 5 Hz to 60 kHz thing is not feasible and others have already pummeled you over this. But you admit that you are still learning and that is admirable. We are all still learning but some of us just don't want to admit it. "When we stop learning, we die" a wise man once said.



The range of human hearing is universally stated as 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz.(20 kHz.) However the range of acoustic sensation goes far below that. Perhaps you have heard of the "brown note" - 6 Hz - which is the most destructive to the human body. The Nazis (of course) built a brown note machine as a weapon. Luckily it was never deployed. It used gigantic horns on a flatbed truck driven by acetylene gas. It was massive and needed to be. The lower you go, the larger you need to be. It's common sense and simple physics. A very small speaker may be able to reproduce some low tones but not with any kind of volume. And volume is what is needed. It is a phenomenon of human hearing. It is less sensitive the lower you go. This is called the Fletcher / Munson equal loudness contour. All this means is that not only do you not want extremely low frequency performance but you need gigantic speakers to get it. Furthermore, there are only one or two instruments which can produce notes with fundamentals that low. Key word, "fundamental." A contrabasson can produce some really subterranean notes but they are all harmonics. They do not have that "ground tone" - the first harmonic - fundamental. The only instruments which can produce fundamental pitches below 20 Hz are the pipe organ and electronic instruments. These tones are perceived - felt more as shaking than musical tones. A really big orchestral big bass drum will also send out a shock wave that is in that region.



Above 20 kHz adds nothing. Most people can not hear much above 10 - 15kHz by the time they reach age 20. If you have supertweeters that go up to 30 kHz (and some do) you are only entertaining dogs.



Your receiver is old enough to qualify as a vintage piece. It has a silver face and that counts for something particularly when it is not silver painted plastic. Therefore, if I owned it, I would use vintage speakers with it. But lets back up a little. I have no idea where you got this receiver or what has been done to it. When I get a vintage piece like this I take off the cover before even turning it on and look for capacitors that are swelling. If I find any, I replace them. I also clean the potentiometers and switches with Caig DeoxyIt electronic component cleaner. I also do such things as power it up connected to measuring instruments and dummy loads. You just never know what will happen when you turn it on. That being said, I have no idea if you have already tested this receiver but you may want to consider having it looked at by a pro - for cleaning, if nothing else.



The speakers I'd use for a room that size would be something substantial with at least 10": woofers. Sansui made a lot of "big, hoinkin" speakers. Pioneer did too. JBL and Altec have become so collectible that their prices are out of reach by ordinary folks. RSL (rogers Sound Labs) made "JBL killer" speakers and the collectors still haven't inflated their prices.



However, it has been said almost ad-nauseam, that speakers need to be auditioned - listened to before buying. You can say that with just any piece of audio gear. But you can't do that mail order and the days when "stereo shops" existed are long gone. Best Buy is a joke as are the discount stores. But this is how people become collectors. They buy a set of speakers, don't care for them or think there ma be something better for their equipment and needs and buy another set. Thrift stores can be goldmines. Ive scored some nice vintage speakers at the Goodwill thrift shops but they invariably need work - rotted woofer surrounds and blown tweeters replaced with cheap radio Shack drivers are the norm.



But that's what I'd do if I were you;. I'd ignore specifications as far as frequency response goes - 40Hz to 15 kHz is perfectly adequate - and look at vintage speakers on eBay, fairly large, efficient ones.



You might also consider a kit from Parts Express, Madisound or Zalyrton. That way, if you don't like the sound, you can swap out drivers instead of the whole speaker - just like the first tinkerers did in the early Hi-Fi days.



That's something else you should look into - early Hi-Fi. It's fascinating how it all started back in the late 1940s and you seem to have "caught the bug" so you have something in common with those guys who wanted something more than the tinny sound of a Philco radio with a built in record player.
?
2015-07-27 13:26:17 UTC
Hello Ace



It always amazes me how many know so little about hi-fi. First there is nothing wrong with your receiver, many vintage receivers are better sonically and better built than what's being made now. I would agree thought with the post you liked is with older units its a good idea to have it serviced because capacitors go bad after 10 plus years and this can cause a major problem.



How you came up with the specifications you think you need sorry to say makes no sense and is irrelevant. Speaker specifications don't tell you anything about sound quality, but they are helpful in matching the speakers and amplifier so they work well together. The two specifications on speakers that are important is efficiency and impedance. But the bigger factor is the specifications on the amplifier, then you can choose the right speakers. You want to look at how much power it delivers at 8 ohms, and then hopefully it will tell you how much power It delivers as the impedance drops or rises. A good quality amplifier will come close to doubling its rated power from 8 ohms to 4 ohms and maybe even to 2 ohms. The lower the impedance it can drive and the more power it can deliver this indicates a well built amplifier. This then also makes it much easier to pick speakers.



For every 3db over the speakers rated efficiency you need to double your amplifier power until you reach the desired sound pressure levels you hope to achieve. Then you want to look at the speakers impedance. 8 ohms is the easiest impedance for a amplifier to drive, and as the impedance drops it requires more current from the amplifier, this is why you need a good quality amplifier if you choose speakers that have a more difficult impedance.



After all that, in most cases your safe with most speakers but if its a big room and your wanting to get reasonably loud volumes choose high efficient speakers.



Choose from good brands which can only be purchased from your independent high end audio video stores.



Kevin

40 years high end audio video specialist
Ace Gene Vincent
2015-07-23 09:46:15 UTC
TO OCTEP

That's a lot of great info well appreciated, and pretty much what i needed to know, the receiver has been properly cleaned and looks ok inside but not checked with a meter, one reason i have been learning is because i have a tandburg 1010 in my bedroom its 35w p channel im using sony 6inch 50w 6 ohms and the bass feels the room up and its fat, it feels like its going though the bricks in the was and reaches all the way to the living room, and in the living room a had a sanyo dca 30 it was a 30w p channel and i was using pioneer 40 watt in to 8 ohoms and the bass filed up the room nice but when i connected this rotel amp to the pioneer speakers it was not as good as the old sanyo dca 30w the rotel is 40 p ch so why is it not powerful, then i connected the sony 50 watt speakers to it and it sounded nice and modern but still didn't feel the room with fat bass, then i put two sonys in one channel and it was a nice step up but still not filling the room up with bass, i just don't no what it wants from me and because its 40 and ive never had 40 before i just needed to learn all i can so i can get that sound im looking for, my sanyo is gone due to bad wiring i8 even got new speaker wire, ive gone out of my way to get back a good sound and its not happening for me at mo i cant just get another amp, if the rotel is crap then its best to be polite when you tell me cus i cant trust a rude person, im noting a lot of info you have given and will start from there but i will have to take a chance on the new speakers before i buy a new amp,,, Thank you mate you have helped a lot :)
2015-07-22 07:02:51 UTC
Hmmmm...... whch sources do you want to use that will be able to deliver 5Hz at the low end or 60 kHz at the high end?



And how big is your room? For 5 Hz, the distance between the speakers and at least one wall must be larger than ~15 meters (lets say 50 feet).



You're showing a (presumably) run of the mill FM receiver. FM is, just in itself, limited to 30 Hz...15 kHz.
Daniel K
2015-07-22 11:07:25 UTC
How many times are you going to ask this very same question here? Matching a pair of speakers to a normal receiver is NOT rocket science. Pretty much any 8 ohm bookshelf or floor standing speaker will work just fine. Move on with your life.
Nightworks
2015-07-22 23:45:08 UTC
Look - you've got a basic, 40 year old receiver, which wasn't particulary good, even when it was new. Any basic loudspeakers from Tannoy, Kef, Wharefdale, Polk, B&W, Monitor Audio, Mission, etc. will be fine.



You're trying to overcomplicate the situation. Speaker matching is only important if you're trying to hook up something like a 12wpc triode valve amp, to a pair of horn speakers. For your ancient Marantz, almost any basic loudspeakers will work. Just remember, if you're buying brand new speakers, you'll be crippling their sound by hooking them up to such an old amplifier.
Emdog
2015-07-22 07:03:00 UTC
Why would you need speakers that go up to 60khz? General limit to humans is around 20khz. Is this for your pet dog or bat?
2015-07-26 18:41:08 UTC
I WOULD GET 500W speakers btw NICE AMP


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