EOengineer
Shredder
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- 1,235
Yup this makes sense and is sound practice. It’s always a good idea to have something that gives you the big picture, and then something else you can use to throw a microscope on that ever important midrange.
Adam Monitors & Room Measurements
- Thread starter Jarick
- Start date
Jarick
Rock Star
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- 3,165
Today I picked up some bigger Isoacoustics stands, the 155. I had the 130 which are the little ones I used for my Genelecs and after trying a few stands I like the speakers on the desk. But those 130's were small for the Focals and WAY too small for the HS8's.
The 155's are much better for a desktop speaker and should work perfect for 5-8 inch monitors. I added the pieces to angle them up as well. These are also much more stable and I have no concerns about say a cat jumping on top of them.
Sonically they seem a little more open with the bigger stands, maybe a combination of a little more space off the desk and a little less transfer? I dunno, but it sounds good.
I know $120 seems a bit steep but the build quality on both the 130 and 155 are really good and they're pretty well thought out stands.
The only thing is I wish you could get some medium size tubes to change the height between the low and high settings. It goes from about 3" tall to 8" tall, and would be nice to have something in the middle.
Anyways, still undecided on keeping the Focal vs Yamaha. Both have their ups and downs. The Focals sound both punchy and crisp and the size is fantastic, but there's a bit of a hole in the midrange. The Yamahas are warmer sounding with the more forward midrange and less punchy but with deeper bass, however they really need more space for the sound to truly develop so for near listening it's not as good.
The 155's are much better for a desktop speaker and should work perfect for 5-8 inch monitors. I added the pieces to angle them up as well. These are also much more stable and I have no concerns about say a cat jumping on top of them.
Sonically they seem a little more open with the bigger stands, maybe a combination of a little more space off the desk and a little less transfer? I dunno, but it sounds good.
I know $120 seems a bit steep but the build quality on both the 130 and 155 are really good and they're pretty well thought out stands.
The only thing is I wish you could get some medium size tubes to change the height between the low and high settings. It goes from about 3" tall to 8" tall, and would be nice to have something in the middle.
Anyways, still undecided on keeping the Focal vs Yamaha. Both have their ups and downs. The Focals sound both punchy and crisp and the size is fantastic, but there's a bit of a hole in the midrange. The Yamahas are warmer sounding with the more forward midrange and less punchy but with deeper bass, however they really need more space for the sound to truly develop so for near listening it's not as good.
Jarick
Rock Star
- Messages
- 3,165
Pulled everything out of my room and have been moving speakers on stands around for position just using my laptop on a small table with an audio interface.
I think the winner are the Yamaha HS8's. There's just more clarity with these speakers. Focals sound more impressive for low end but missing midrange frequency so it sounds a bit smeared.
One thing I found that sounds pretty good is to run them really close to the walls but then use the "room control" to lower the bass and low mid frequencies. Before I was finding them to sound a bit muddy, but now they sound clearer.
I thought about downsizing, but nothing else in this price range has the same clarity without hiss. I think I'd have to go up to the $2k range to truly get some improvement. The HS7 and HS5 don't have the same balance in the frequency response (skewed more towards high-mids and treble). And there's a lot of opportunity with my room in terms of treatment.
Even the Genelecs that I tried were disappointing. I keep putting them back up hoping to get blown away and am not. Maybe they are just too small. They have fewer annoying frequencies but they seem to be missing everything under 150 Hz which is a lot of energy. And they just sound kind of bunched up with the rest of the frequencies somehow.
I think the winner are the Yamaha HS8's. There's just more clarity with these speakers. Focals sound more impressive for low end but missing midrange frequency so it sounds a bit smeared.
One thing I found that sounds pretty good is to run them really close to the walls but then use the "room control" to lower the bass and low mid frequencies. Before I was finding them to sound a bit muddy, but now they sound clearer.
I thought about downsizing, but nothing else in this price range has the same clarity without hiss. I think I'd have to go up to the $2k range to truly get some improvement. The HS7 and HS5 don't have the same balance in the frequency response (skewed more towards high-mids and treble). And there's a lot of opportunity with my room in terms of treatment.
Even the Genelecs that I tried were disappointing. I keep putting them back up hoping to get blown away and am not. Maybe they are just too small. They have fewer annoying frequencies but they seem to be missing everything under 150 Hz which is a lot of energy. And they just sound kind of bunched up with the rest of the frequencies somehow.
