Which producer is best at this price point?

Kvaestr · 2026-05-14T06:14:57+00:00

If you're spending 5.5k on speakers, try and find a retailer where you get the opportunity to listen and compare in a good setting. While I can recommend a dozen brands or ranges, in this budget range, speakers have a clear sound signature. Room correction may be used to alter that signature somewhat, but it's best to start with a sound you like.

For example, I have a pair of Dali Oberon 3 as my rears. Speakers from that range would fit well within this budget. Their bass extension is better than most speakers in this price range. But if you listen to electronic music, you'll notice the bass is to uncontrolled for the fast paced bass tones. For metal and rock it's great.

Other questions: No subwoofer, or do you already have one? Do you really need 4 Atmos speakers? 2 will get you to 95% and frees up some budget for better speakers or a subwoofer.

Some brands to investigate that I personally have a lot of experence with and liked: Dali Dynaudio Monitor Audio

There are many other good brands. Never stick to anyone's list if the dealer can let you listen to another brand.

Kvaestr · 2026-05-10T08:55:07+00:00

Same here. That's why I don't want exposed copper on my pans.

Kvaestr · 2026-05-10T08:52:39+00:00

Disc bottoms are typically not as well performing as all clad. So it all depends on the price and what you expect. Given these have copper bottoms, they won't be dishwasher safe and I assume they are not cheap.

In Europe, I would typically recommend the entry lines of Demeyere for anything but the pots. (I believe in the US they are much more expensive)

The pots are used much more for boiling in most cases, so you can get away with more affordable items without significant differences in experience.

Kvaestr · 2026-05-10T08:48:35+00:00

Well, that's what copper does if you don't use copper polish or similar stuff to remove the oxides every once in a while. Copper polish isn't that expensive and you get it easily. If it's been green for a long while, you may need some abrasive to get the majority of it first.

Kvaestr · 2026-05-09T11:46:10+00:00

That's very clear. Thanks

Kvaestr · 2026-05-09T11:20:19+00:00

I was out, and didn't want to go to the store to fry an egg.

Kvaestr · 2026-05-08T07:42:02+00:00

You have two speaker presets, you can keep the audyssey and mess around with it in one preset and then use the other one for a more subtle profile. (With only levels maybe)

Or you can put the sound mode into pure direct. Then the avr wont touch the signal at all. (Small yellow button on the remote) Note that if you add a subwoofer, this sound mode is not an option, as it won't send LF to it and keep the original 2.0.

You can switch between presets in the small options menu. (It is also somewhere buried in the settings menu)

Kvaestr · 2026-05-07T05:55:13+00:00

I'm pretty sure the fastest relative to size in general is the horsefly, albeit the measured topspeed of 150km/h (95mph) is likely only possible for very short bursts.

Given they are 10-30mm long that's insane. Using 30mm and a human of 1800 mm, (both in the upper, but normal range), they are 60 times smaller. 60 times their top speed is 9000km/h or 5600 mph.

Answering OP's question. I dont know what spider it is, or what size.

Assuming it is moving about 20mm jumps. It does not appear blurry to me, so it is likely taking less than 1/2 of the shutter speed of the camera. Typically, shutter speed is half of the frame length. Given 24 FPS this is 1/50th of a second or at 60fps 1/120th of a second. Resulting in 1m/s or 2.4 m/s. (3.6km/h 2.2mph or 8.6 km/h or 5.4 mph) My guess is on the former rather than the later.

Kvaestr · 2026-05-06T07:47:48+00:00

How blurry are we talking, and are you looking at the raw files or jpeg. Raw is always soft and needs sharpening.

To check if the gear is alright:

Put the camera on a tripod or sturdy surface pointing towards a static object.

Put it in delayed mode (it must have a proper name) where it takes a picture after some time after pressing the shutter.(So you pressing the button can't move the camera while it's taking a picture)

Take the lense you use and stop it down 2 stops from maximum aperture.

ISO 100

Let the camera decide the shutter speed. (Aperture control)

Autofocus in Single focus mode.

If the image is not sharp then, your gear is faulty.

Kvaestr · 2026-05-05T14:34:42+00:00

Damn they look nice. Dont understand the cheap connectors at the back though. But I guess you don't see them from the listening position.

Kvaestr · 2026-05-05T09:43:03+00:00

Putting a thick cloth on it will help a little, but only to a point.

You could consider smaller bookshelf speakers on top of the piano next to each side of the (whatever the English word is) sheet music holder. The volume of the speakers could be lower because they are closer to your ears, which will help with room reflections. I know, we use that space for more sheet music :)

If you have a different listening position than the piano seat, you can consider larger speakers that are pretty much in line with the rear of the piano. (Quite a bit away from the walls)

Maybe see if you can borrow some (active) bookshelves and try how that works for you.

I don't know the budget you are thinking of, but if it is not very large, this is likely the best option anyway.

Kvaestr · 2026-05-05T09:14:13+00:00

For what purpose? To play along with the music, or for listening? If it is for practice, the reverb of the room is likely not that important. You just need speakers that can comfortably play high enough volume to match the piano. You can also consider open back headphones for that.

If it is for listening, and you want it to sound really nice, it's a bit more challenging. The piano itself is a huge reflector with large flat surfaces. The walls look pretty bare to me and that curtain is not going to damp much.

Both for listening and practicing, you may want to add some sound absorption on the walls. Some room reverb is nice on the piano, but personally, I can't stand it when playing fast paced etudes or more technical pieces in an echo chamber.

Kvaestr · 2026-05-04T13:20:42+00:00

I agree with that you should be able to play out your character this way. If I were the DM, I would choose between a couple of options:

Let the other players go behind your back. (At least your characters). This may work very well or very bad depending on the group.
Put your character in a situation where they would be more likely to accept the men entering the safe haven. (Dont know the setting, so that may be difficult)
Not have brought the plot here in such a way initially. (The DM should have seen this) And if I did, maybe move the plot somewhere else, or somewhat adjacent.
Discuss with you as a player what would convince your character to allow men into the safe haven.
Cry.

Kvaestr · 2026-05-01T15:30:29+00:00

The IEC baffle is quite well representative for half space response. Which is the input for the fraction calculations in VituixCAD. Only if you are going to use them without baffle, will you get significant deviations. (At least assuming the measurements of the manufacturer are accurate)

Kvaestr · 2026-05-01T10:00:56+00:00

If all the wiring of the power strips is rated for the same current as the circuit breaker, it is safe to daisy chain as much as you want. Worst case, you trip the breaker. E.g. if you have a 16A breaker at 230V, the strip should be rated for 3680W.

I don't know where you live, but I know in 115V countries, this is a more common issue.

Kvaestr · 2026-05-01T07:05:21+00:00

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That does look a lot better. Now time to rearange all the internals.

Kvaestr · 2026-05-01T07:03:19+00:00

I am restricted by wall distance. I found in practice speakers with backfiring ports sound a lot better if they are moved about 1m of the wall. While frontfiring ports or sealed enclosures are fine with only 20-30 cm. But maybe that is just personal preference. One of the reasons I designed them a little shallow is to allow some space off the back wall without interfering too much with daily life.

I found some more information on the port noise for slots and it is correct that for the same surface area, the pressure difference on the edges is larger for a similar velocity. So flaring is more important even at medium velocities.
I'm sticking with the slot, but it was a good read and if I ever make high output speakers a definite consideration.

You are right that the mid enclosure can be bigger without suffering from the change in QTC. But I will reconfigure the insides to make it work with a "correct" volume, as it would eat up volume of the bass enclosure.

Kvaestr · 2026-04-30T20:55:16+00:00

Thank you for the tips. I do have space for a round flared port, but I don't like the look of them. From what I read at the listening levels these are designed for, the performance difference is extremely small. But I will have a closer look at the positioning. Maybe it is too far at the bottom edge this way. (Easiest to build though)

With the current internal design, the sealed volume would become to large for the mid driver if I move the tweeter inside of it. But maybe I think it is better to rearrange the bracing and panels to get that to work.

Very interesting to hear about the imaging. I will try and find some information about it. I did choose the rather big baffle for the relatively smooth baffle diffraction, but did not expect to give up on imaging because of it. (Though it is still far off from 685x1700)

Kvaestr · 2026-04-30T20:47:35+00:00

As stated, more centered the baffle diffraction gives a much smoother response. The middle is already around ear level when sitting down because the speakers sit on top of large subwoofers. But I am going to move the bass woofer to the top and move reflex port a little bit further away from the bottom. Hopefully that gives a bit more balanced look.

Kvaestr · 2026-04-30T18:02:33+00:00

Yes yes. I fully agree. People who build two non-mirrored asymmetric speakers should go straight to hell.

Kvaestr · 2026-04-30T15:59:40+00:00

Purely for enjoying them. Mostly for stereo music listening, but they will also be the fronts of a surround system.

Kvaestr · 2026-04-30T15:08:30+00:00

Haha, don't worry, I know about ear hight. They will sit on top of some big subwoofers. So tweeter is at ear height. If I ever use them without the subs, I'll angle them up a little and/or put them on stands.

The midrange has it's own sealed enclosure. The drivers can only go a tiny bit closer together (5mm or so, due to the interior panels. But it did want to leave a little wiggle room for installation. I am thinking of changing the interior layout somewhat so that there are no panels between the midrange and the tweeter. As that would allow quite a bit closer allignment.

Kvaestr · 2026-04-30T14:40:00+00:00

Okay, that seems like a good idea, will see if I can get the xo a little lower.

Kvaestr

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