Monitor Audio or Energy?
May 30, 2008
After perusing the web for days reading everything I could
about Monitor Audio and the Energy RC series, I stumbled across your
review of the RS6 as well as the Energy RC-70.
I’ve actually listened to the RS6 and was quite surprised at how great it sounded.
But I currently have Athena AS-F2s as my mains and I am looking to upgrade very soon and
these two speakers are on my very short list.
Much to my avail, I can’t find anywhere within 100
miles of me to audition the RC-70s. I guess what I’m asking you is, which do you
think is the better speaker between the two? I can get them at about the same price for a
complete 7.1 setup. My receiver is a Denon AVR-3808 and my sub is a Hsu VTF3.3. My room is
about 2900 cubic feet on the third floor closed off from the rest of the house with a
door.
I apologize for asking such trivial questions, but I can’t
audition the RC-70s myself locally and I don’t want to gamble on the RS6 without a
professional opinion! Thanks!
Chris
First off, I can't tell you which is the better
speaker. Preference in sound is subjective and what I like will almost certainly differ
from what someone else likes. In this case the "better" speaker is the one you
think sounds the best. Unfortunately, you've indicated you've got a problem since you
can't audition both.
The good news is that the Monitor Audio RS6 and the
Energy RC-70 are both excellent speakers. In the case of the RS6, I was really impressed
with how much sound I heard from what I consider a modestly sized floorstander. The RS6s
have lots of bass and plenty of energy. Their sound was pretty lively and therefore they
really grabbed my attention as soon as I hit play on my CD player. The Energy RC-70s were
quite different. Although their bass went deep and they captured the rhythm of the music
in an engaging manner as the RS6s had, they didn't have the "wow" factor of the
RS6s. I don't recall the RC-70s sounding nearly as up front, nor having the same sense of
immediacy I heard with the Monitor Audio speakers.
Which speaker you choose really depends on how you like
to hear your music. No matter what you decide, I think you'll end up buying a good-looking
and, more importantly, great-sounding pair of speakers.
Digital output from the iPod?
May 23, 2008
There are several products on the market now that take the
digital output from the iPod, which I can feed into my stereo system, thereby using the
DACs in my processor for decoding. Since it is a digital signal I assume I can just get
the cheapest one. Do you agree?
Jim
If the method by which all of these products derived
the digital signal were the same I would agree. Unfortunately, they’re not. The Wadia
iTransport does take the digital signal directly from the iPod. There may be others. But
there are also some products that use a bit of trickery. Some of the docks that purport to
take the digital output from the iPod actually take the analog signal instead -- already
converted by the iPod’s internal DACs -- and then use an internal analog-to-digital
converter before outputting the digital signal. This of course defeats the purpose of
getting the digital signal from the iPod in the first place. So be careful which product
you buy and be sure to read the fine print. It might even be worth a call to their
technical support before plunking down your money. Better yet, just get the Wadia and be
done with it.
Better imaging
May 20, 2008
I want to get better imaging from my speakers. I have tired
to work on speaker placement and don’t have the ability to change any of my
components at this point. I have Yamaha speakers that are placed on large bookshelves, but
they are not quite equidistant from the listening position. Do you have any suggestions?
Edwin R.
Here are a couple of suggestions. First, if one speaker
is farther away from you than the other, try slightly adjusting the balance control on
your receiver or preamplifier. If the left speaker is closer, for instance, adjust the
balance to the right just a bit. Your goal is to try and get the same sound-pressure level
from each loudspeaker at the listening position. That may tighten up the imaging some.
Second, try adjusting the toe-in of speakers. Pointing them more toward the listening
position, and perhaps angling them down toward you by slightly raising the rears, can help
to focus the sound even more. These two suggestions are free -- you don’t have to buy
anything -- but they can have dramatic effects on imaging and soundstaging.
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