[luv-main] Some decent speakers for PC's
For ages now I have been trying to find some speakers that were reasonably priced that were a step above the average offerings found for PC's. Now I will define some terms here. Reasonable price being 3 to 400 dollars. Peformance wise, my main sound system has been in use now since the very early 1980's (I think). The amp is a Pioneer A88X, still a well rspected amp. The speakers being Magnaplanar MG2A's, these are regarded by people that know them is amongst some of the best speakers ever made. The sound being clean and clear, unfortunately these cost something in the order of $1800 in the early 80's something like $6000 to $8000 now. Such level of funds one only wishes to spend once. A few years ago I purchased a 2 speaker Bose PC system this was and advance but was still not good enough. Around 6 months ago I came across a reference to speakers made by a US company called MAudio. A number of points got my interest. First is the company makes professional recording equipment. The second the speakers are fairly large and heavy for powered speakers and use wood (MDF board) cabinets. A number of reports particularly mentioning the AV30 model. I located the dealer in Melbourne and rang them, they said supply was no problem, the price being just under $300, so I picked a pair up. The speakers are of typical powered speaker construction but the size being 220x155x160 (LxWxH). I set them up on one of my systems and tried them out. Initally I was a bit so so on them, but after using them for a number of weeks it became __QUITE__ clear they were a _major_ step up, giving a good clean sound. The reason for my initial reaction is the speakers give a somewhat "brighter" sound than I am used, ie they have somewhat higher treble content. This was cured by dropping the treble control 1 and half db. I was so impressed I decided to get a second set for my development setup. I rang the dealer again to make sure they were availble. They stated that the next model up was on special for slightly under $400 if I wished to consider them. This is the BX5a. These are of similiar construction but are larger (250x175x200) have a kevlar cone on the base speaker (both Bx5a and the AV30 being two way). Also both box's are identcal both having there own electronics. I purchased a set and these were set up in place of the AV30's these being transferred to the development bench. The performance of these give an impression of being better than the AV30's. May mention all of my setups including the Magnaplanars are in differnt rooms so it is impossible for a direct comparison. The BX5a's also can put a __GREAT__ deal of sound without stressing the speakers or in any way butchering the sound. They have some dissadvantages though. The first is the Volumne controls are on the back of the speakers. The second is unlike the AV30's they have no protecting grills on the front. One thing this means is you _______MUST___BE___VERY__________ carefull if laying the speakers down on there fronts unless the surface is dead level as this can put pressure on the dome tweeter. I did have a look at the inside of the AV30's and the construction is quite good. On the whole I am quite happy with both systems, at last getting good sound from my PC's. A last point is as the speakers are designed as monitors for mixing consoles both of them have balanced inputs. the AV30's have both 1/4 inch TRS sockets and RCA sockets. The BX5a's only have the 1/4 inch socket but this will take standard 1/4 inch Tip and Sleeve mono unbalanced plug no problems. The only supplier in Melbourne is StoreDJ, 394 bridge Rd Richmond. Tram route 109 stop 22 is just out side the shop. The only connection i have with the shop is to have purchased the MAudio speakers there! Lindsay
thanks for all that, very interesting. decent speakers have been on my to-buy list for ages (waiting for me to have the time and inclination to do the research to figure out what qualifies as "decent" - until then i've got an OK-ish 2.1 PC speaker system which doesn't offend my ears most of the time) On Tue, Oct 25, 2011 at 07:56:47AM +1000, Lindsay Sprinter wrote:
[...] A few years ago I purchased a 2 speaker Bose PC system this was and advance but was still not good enough. Around 6 months ago I came across a reference to speakers made by a US company called MAudio. A number of points got my interest. First is the company makes professional recording equipment. The second the speakers are fairly large and heavy for powered speakers and use wood (MDF board) cabinets. A number of reports particularly mentioning the AV30 model.
I located the dealer in Melbourne and rang them, they said supply was no problem, the price being just under $300, so I picked a pair up. The
are these the same as these[1] (found via google[2])? if so, $150 inc. delivery sounds like a good price. Apple also have the AV40[3] model for $229. dunno how they compare to the AV-30. hmmm. they look the same as [4] & [5], which are $155 and $169 respectively rather than $300 - did you buy two sets? or have they dropped that much in price since the new BX5a was released? [1] http://store.apple.com/au/product/TY276X/A M-Audio Studiophile AV 30 Speaker System The Studiophile AV 30 compact powered speakers make it easy to enjoy full, rich sound even when space is limited. They're designed with the same critically acclaimed technology that has made M-Audio monitors popular in recording studios around the world. Three-inch composite woofers for punchy lows Cooled silk dome tweeters deliver clear, crisp highs Tweeter wave guides for exceptional stereo imaging Amplifier with top-quality components A$ 149.95 In Stock Free Shipping [2] http://www.google.com.au/search?q=AV30+speaker [3] http://store.apple.com/au/product/H6103X/A/M-Audio-Studiophile-AV-40-Speaker... [4] https://www.storedj.com.au/products/MAU-AV30MK2 [5] http://www.djwarehouse.com.au/shop-by-brand/m-audio/m-audio-studiophile-av30... craig -- craig sanders <cas@taz.net.au> BOFH excuse #444: overflow error in /dev/null
Lindsay Sprinter <zlinw@mcmedia.com.au> wrote:
For ages now I have been trying to find some speakers that were reasonably priced that were a step above the average offerings found for PC's.
This is an informative and interesting post that may influence my future purchasing decisions. It should have been sent to luv-talk, however, per Luv mailing list policy. Please direct follow-ups to luv-talk.
On Tue, 25 Oct 2011, Jason White wrote:
Lindsay Sprinter <zlinw@mcmedia.com.au> wrote:
For ages now I have been trying to find some speakers that were reasonably priced that were a step above the average offerings found for PC's.
This is an informative and interesting post that may influence my future purchasing decisions. It should have been sent to luv-talk, however, per Luv mailing list policy.
Please direct follow-ups to luv-talk.
Problem is for a particular technical reason (Note 1) I am not on luv-talk, so its either luv-main or no informative posts such as this. What is your judgment on this. I am not trying to make trouble here but if I cannot see luv-talk I am NOT going to post on it. Note 1: I am on a dial up line that is currently running at only between 9600 to 12,800 bits per sec (dead slow) the traffic on luv-talk was plain murder on the download times, so no luv-talk. Given Telstra's chronicaly bad technical work on such services these days I do not expect this to change anytime soon. It taking me nearly 12 months to get it this good, The speed is below the minimum for a dial up (19,200 is the minimum) but it does work and it __is__ reliable, something I definitely __CANNOT__ say about radio (in this part of the world anyway). Large downloads are done in the internet cafe in town 30 kilometres away. This is capable of downloading 700 megabytes an hour, good :-). Lindsay
On 25 October 2011 11:28, Jason White <jason@jasonjgw.net> wrote:
Lindsay Sprinter <zlinw@mcmedia.com.au> wrote:
Problem is for a particular technical reason (Note 1) I am not on luv-talk, so its either luv-main or no informative posts such as this. What is your judgment on this.
The latter option.
Just post to luv-talk and ask people to CC you in their replies.
On Tue, 25 Oct 2011, Jason White wrote:
Lindsay Sprinter <zlinw@mcmedia.com.au> wrote:
Problem is for a particular technical reason (Note 1) I am not on luv-talk, so its either luv-main or no informative posts such as this. What is your judgment on this.
The latter option.
_______________________________________________ luv-main mailing list luv-main@lists.luv.asn.au http://lists.luv.asn.au/listinfo/luv-main
Ok, no worries I will no longer post any more such reports. Is this not a bit rigid and in the end self defeating. The post being a genuine attempt to help the community. But luv has spoken...........sigh :-( Lindsay
On Tue, Oct 25, 2011 at 11:17:32AM +1000, Lindsay Sprinter wrote:
Ok, no worries I will no longer post any more such reports. Is this not a bit rigid and in the end self defeating. The post being a genuine attempt to help the community.
But luv has spoken...........sigh :-(
well, one member had spoken. i'm another member and i've got no problem with your post on luv-main. IMO as with any generic hardware it's a grey area, could go on either luv-main or luv-talk. overall, i'm happy to find out about decent speakers i can use with my linux systems and don't care whether it's on l-m or l-t. i can't see that it's any less linux-specific than the general discussions we've had on motherboards and disks and ram and graphics cards and so on that we've had here. Some of those M/B etc discussions have been specifically about linux compatibility issues, but most of it has just been generic hardware stuff with no overt connection to linux at all. craig -- craig sanders <cas@taz.net.au> BOFH excuse #150: Arcserve crashed the server again.
On Tue, 25 Oct 2011, Lindsay Sprinter <zlinw@mcmedia.com.au> wrote:
Ok, no worries I will no longer post any more such reports. Is this not a bit rigid and in the end self defeating. The post being a genuine attempt to help the community.
http://planet.coker.com.au/luv/ The best thing to do is to create a blog and get it syndicated by Planet Linux Australia as well as the LUV Planet I run at the above URL (because the committee don't want to run one). Then you can publish almost anything you want. For blogging with low bandwidth there are a variety of blog clients that you can use which allow you to edit your blog posts offline and then publish them via XML when they are complete. This takes little bandwidth and is a reliable operation as the data originates on your hard drive so the publishing process will be retried if necessary. Even without a blog client program the typical blog server will allow you to publish via your web browser and will tend not to lose your data if the server is temporarily unavailable. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/
On 25/10/11 12:17, Lindsay Sprinter wrote:
On Tue, 25 Oct 2011, Jason White wrote:
Lindsay Sprinter<zlinw@mcmedia.com.au> wrote:
Problem is for a particular technical reason (Note 1) I am not on luv-talk, so its either luv-main or no informative posts such as this. What is your judgment on this.
The latter option.
Ok, no worries I will no longer post any more such reports. Is this not a bit rigid and in the end self defeating. The post being a genuine attempt to help the community.
But luv has spoken...........sigh :-(
Lindsay
I un-subbed from luv-talk because the discussions tended to range VERY far from the Linux topics - in particular some spectacularly misguided opinions were voiced about rape, religion, certain politics, etc. that turned me off. I'm still interested in hearing about interesting techy stuff that isn't totally Linux-specific though. Can we have a luv-tech list? :)
At 12:30 PM 10/25/2011, Toby Corkindale wrote:
I'm still interested in hearing about interesting techy stuff that isn't totally Linux-specific though.
Can we have a luv-tech list? :)
That might be the answer. I'd certainly subscribe if it was created. 73 de VK3JED / VK3IRL http://vkradio.com
Tony Langdon <vk3jed@gmail.com> wrote:
At 12:30 PM 10/25/2011, Toby Corkindale wrote:
I'm still interested in hearing about interesting techy stuff that isn't totally Linux-specific though.
Can we have a luv-tech list? :)
That might be the answer. I'd certainly subscribe if it was created.
I would too. Being a separate list, it could be filtered and prioritized appropriately. I suppose the idea would be: luv-main: Linux and Luv organizational topics only luv-tech: technical topics not specifically Linux-related luv-talk everything else I can think of only one negative side to this proposal: more work for already hard-working mailing list administrators. That might be enough to kill the proposal outright.
Jason White wrote:
Tony Langdon <vk3jed@gmail.com> wrote:
At 12:30 PM 10/25/2011, Toby Corkindale wrote:
I'm still interested in hearing about interesting techy stuff that isn't totally Linux-specific though.
Can we have a luv-tech list? :)
That might be the answer. I'd certainly subscribe if it was created.
I would too. Being a separate list, it could be filtered and prioritized appropriately.
I'd still like all the luv lists to land in gmane, so that I can basically ignore them except when I'm idling in my newsreader. Just not QUITE enough to interact with the gmane and luv admins.
Trent W. Buck <trentbuck@gmail.com> wrote:
I'd still like all the luv lists to land in gmane, so that I can basically ignore them except when I'm idling in my newsreader. Just not QUITE enough to interact with the gmane and luv admins.
This was discussed once before, and I can't remember what the reasons were for not doing it. I do recall finding those reasons unconvincing, however.
Trent W. Buck <trentbuck@gmail.com> wrote:
I'd still like all the luv lists to land in gmane, so that I can basically ignore them except when I'm idling in my newsreader. Just not QUITE enough to interact with the gmane and luv admins.
This was discussed once before, and I can't remember what the reasons were for not doing it. I do recall finding those reasons unconvincing, however.
Just to drop in, the committee is following the discussion and considering the idea to establish a luv-tech. All the best, Lev
On Tue, 25 Oct 2011, lev@levlafayette.com wrote:
Trent W. Buck <trentbuck@gmail.com> wrote:
I'd still like all the luv lists to land in gmane, so that I can basically ignore them except when I'm idling in my newsreader. Just not QUITE enough to interact with the gmane and luv admins.
This was discussed once before, and I can't remember what the reasons were for not doing it. I do recall finding those reasons unconvincing, however.
Just to drop in, the committee is following the discussion and considering the idea to establish a luv-tech.
All the best, Lev
_______________________________________________ luv-main mailing list luv-main@lists.luv.asn.au http://lists.luv.asn.au/listinfo/luv-main
I point I would like to make here is the more the lists are fragmented the less likely one will get an answer to a question. Also if one wants everyone to be on both luv-main and luv-tech what is the point of spluting them. Lindsay
On 26.10.11 08:09, Lindsay Sprinter wrote:
I point I would like to make here is the more the lists are fragmented the less likely one will get an answer to a question.
Ahh, there is that, but those staying off a specific list are those not wanting that traffic, so probably wouldn't reply to what they didn't want to read, perhaps? ;-)
Also if one wants everyone to be on both luv-main and luv-tech what is the point of spluting them.
Errm, my take is that the point of splitting the traffic is to indulge sorta-nearly-linuxy-techism by omnivores, while regulating the more staid diet of true ridgy-didge-linux-n-nuffink-else gourmands. i.e. (Assumption != true) If our sysadmin stalwarts need to prioritise "a life" over twiddling more list stuff, then a workaround might be the old "OT:" subject tag, which works well on some lists. We could then each procmail such stuff to /dev/null or other hells, according to taste. Erik -- Do not do unto others as you would they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same. - George Bernard Shaw
At 03:29 PM 10/25/2011, Jason White wrote:
I would too. Being a separate list, it could be filtered and prioritized appropriately. I suppose the idea would be:
luv-main: Linux and Luv organizational topics only
luv-tech: technical topics not specifically Linux-related
luv-talk everything else
That's my understanding of the proposal. 73 de VK3JED / VK3IRL http://vkradio.com
At 01:05 PM 10/25/2011, Andrew Chalmers wrote:
On Tue, 2011-10-25 at 12:30 +1100, Toby Corkindale wrote:
Can we have a luv-tech list? :)
Great idea call it:
luv-maker
I prefer the original idea of luv-tech myself, but whatever works. :) 73 de VK3JED / VK3IRL http://vkradio.com
/* CC'd to the committee as a real request */ On 25/10/11 12:30, Toby Corkindale wrote:
Can we have a luv-tech list? :)
I think that's a great idea, I've got some old IDE drives I want to let people have for free and that would be the perfect place for it (they've had Linux on them, but that's about as close as it gets to on-topic for luv-main I think). I've no intention of subscribing to luv-talk. cheers, Chris -- Chris Samuel : http://www.csamuel.org/ : Melbourne, VIC
On 25.10.11 12:30, Toby Corkindale wrote:
I un-subbed from luv-talk because the discussions tended to range VERY far from the Linux topics - in particular some spectacularly misguided opinions were voiced about rape, religion, certain politics, etc. that turned me off.
+1. I did the same, for the same reasons. (Mind you, careless crossfire made _that_ discussion singularly dangerous to participate in.)
I'm still interested in hearing about interesting techy stuff that isn't totally Linux-specific though.
Can we have a luv-tech list? :)
+1 -- We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldn't want to meet. - Stephen Hawking
PS, Hmmmmmmmmmm, it seems i may have made this a bit sort of "flame"ish, Oh well, this one is certainly not happy with the current situation. After a considerable amount of time thinking I decideced at least to give my view point on the current problem here. As far as I am concerned trying to change someones mind is a battle lost even before ones has purchased the weapons and organised the army, simply not worth the pain. Now I have always maintained in order to understand something properly one __MUST__ have a good background on the basic principles. Any kind of suppressing discusions of such subjects is a major backward step. A far as I can see from the replies on this thread this is actually shunned on these lists in favor of _only_ linux discussions. A Linux desktop system consists of way more than the kernel and a bunch of libraries and other programs. I believe one should be able to discuss and post items on these other topics without being belted over the back of the head with a line of words ;-). The advice given to either post to luv-talk or simply to pretend the moderaters have walked off a cliff just dodges the issue and this is effectively forcing ignorance in some form and this is something I have no time for, and I do mean __NO__ time for. Important point, this last item is something that __REALLY__ bothers me, that is the group is in some way enforcing some level of ignorance. Lindsay
Lindsay Sprinter <zlinw@mcmedia.com.au> wrote:
Now I have always maintained in order to understand something properly one __MUST__ have a good background on the basic principles. Any kind of suppressing discusions of such subjects is a major backward step. A far as I can see from the replies on this thread this is actually shunned on these lists in favor of _only_ linux discussions. A Linux desktop system consists of way more than the kernel and a bunch of libraries and other programs. I believe one should be able to discuss and post items on these other topics without being belted over the back of the head with a line of words ;-).
I don't think this last sentence accurately characterizes what I wrote earlier in the thread. I specifically made a favourable comment on the content of your post and then suggested that it should be taken to luv-talk in accordance with well established mailing list policy. That wasn't intended as a criticism or an attack, and I apologize unreservedly for any ofence caused. It is clear that the subject of the post was not specifically Linux-related, and as such, it didn't belong on luv-main. You could have made it easier for yourself and for everyone else by following the advice given later in the thread of sending subsequent posts to luv-talk and asking people to include you in the CC field so that you would receive copies of replies without having to subscribe to luv-talk. That would, in my respectful opinion, have been the sensible and rational response. I also hope this is the end of the matter and we can all put it behind us now.
On Sat, Oct 29, 2011 at 05:24:16PM +1000, Lindsay Sprinter wrote:
The advice given to either post to luv-talk or simply to pretend the moderaters have walked off a cliff just dodges the issue and this is
the moderators haven't 'walked off a cliff'. there's a long-standing semi-official policy and practice that they only step in in extreme situations. given that, it's reasonable to assume that unless a moderator tells you otherwise then your posts are OK. also, "all things not expressly forbidden are permitted" is far better and more pleasant than the reverse. somebody posting technical but not specifically linux-related stuff doesn't even remotely qualify as an extreme situation. and as i've said before, happens quite frequently with other non-linux-specific hardware topics like motherboards, graphics cards, disk drives, routers and so on. (drivers, compatibility, and configuration tips for these things are linux-related. specs, performance, price, suppliers and so on - pretty much everything else - aren't).
effectively forcing ignorance in some form and this is something I have no time for, and I do mean __NO__ time for.
Important point, this last item is something that __REALLY__ bothers me, that is the group is in some way enforcing some level of ignorance.
i think you're way over-reacting. *ONE* list member asked you to move it to luv-talk. Jason's no more the official voice of LUV than I am, or you are, or any other non-committee member. some others have agreed that it's probably a better place, and others have said it's OK on luv-talk. and i still think that non-linux-specific hardware discussions are a grey area that is equally appropriate for either luv-talk or luv-main. and i also think that *all* that Jason's request succeeded in doing was replacing a useful and interesting thread about hardware with a quite boring one about list policy. which is one of the practical reasons behind the mostly-hands-off moderation policy. most things die down of their own accord, but attempting to shut them down generally prolongs them and makes them worse. craig -- craig sanders <cas@taz.net.au> BOFH excuse #412: Radial Telemetry Infiltration
Dear Linux users, (Most of this is over my head but) I need to copy some old analogue audio cassette recordings into mp3 files. Two nights ago I found an old cassette deck being thrown out for a Council pickup day. How would you go about getting the analog stereo output of that into the single microphone input line that most PC's/laptops have? Can it be done through cable connections or can it only be done by playing it and using a microphone to record it (which would have to result in a loss of considerably more sound quality). Also, can an older Hi-Fi amplifier be interfaced with wire to a PC? On Tue, Oct 25, 2011 at 10:38 AM, Lindsay Sprinter <zlinw@mcmedia.com.au>wrote:
On Tue, 25 Oct 2011, Jason White wrote:
Lindsay Sprinter <zlinw@mcmedia.com.au> wrote:
For ages now I have been trying to find some speakers that were
reasonably
priced that were a step above the average offerings found for PC's.
<snip/>
On 25/10/11 11:39, James Sinnamon wrote:
Dear Linux users,
(Most of this is over my head but) I need to copy some old analogue audio cassette recordings into mp3 files. Two nights ago I found an old cassette deck being thrown out for a Council pickup day. How would you go about getting the analog stereo output of that into the single microphone input line that most PC's/laptops have? Can it be done through cable connections or can it only be done by playing it and using a microphone to record it (which would have to result in a loss of considerably more sound quality). Also, can an older Hi-Fi amplifier be interfaced with wire to a PC?
You need a simple cable. 3.5mm TRS on one end, 2x RCA on the other. Eg: http://jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=WA7014 Make sure to use the "line in" connection, not the "mic" connection on your PC. Fiddle with volume levels to ensure you're getting a loud, but not clipped, signal. However in actual practice I find it's much faster to just download a new digital copy of your album from the internet. I wouldn't bother transcribing from tape unless you have something particularly rare or hard to find. -T
On Tue, 25 Oct 2011, James Sinnamon <james.sinnamon@gmail.com> wrote:
(Most of this is over my head but) I need to copy some old analogue audio cassette recordings into mp3 files.
The wiring part of your question has already been answered. In terms of encoding I suggest FLAC0. It doesn't take much space by today's standards and means that you don't lose any quality. After storing the FLAC0 files somewhere safe (EG a RAID-1 array in your PC or server and a couple of backup disks) you can then create MP3 files for actual use and you will always have the option of creating higher quality MP3 files, OGG files, or maybe some new future format when you need it. -- My Main Blog http://etbe.coker.com.au/ My Documents Blog http://doc.coker.com.au/
participants (13)
-
Andrew Chalmers -
Chris Samuel -
Craig Sanders -
Erik Christiansen -
James Sinnamon -
Jason White -
lev＠levlafayette.com -
Lindsay Sprinter -
Nathan Williams -
Russell Coker -
Toby Corkindale -
Tony Langdon -
Trent W. Buck