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Comment by Gordonjcp | Hacker News Reader

Are there any of those compact speaker systems that actually sound good, though?

Are there any $15 wines that taste good or $500 DSLRs that can shoot good video footage or $50 dress shirts that look good? For most people the answer is obviously yes, and for some the answer is obviously no. And the one group will never convince the other group that they are wrong.

No. You can't change physics. What usually suffers is the midrange(woofer) because everything is tiny. So you get high frequencies, and then usually some paltry subwoofer. There is no replacement for displacement.

This!. I've been searching for a set of speakers for my lounge room with a nice big cone in them, but I just cant find that is not priced for audiofiles. I have been looking second hand, but everything I can find is over 40 years old and the cones have all started disintegrating.

If you have some diy desire and skill, you can get a lot of bang-for-your buck from the speaker kits from Parts Express (https://www.parts-express.com/speaker-components/speaker-sub...). The sound quality of their kits is surprisingly high! In addition, there can be a lot of satisfaction when you're listening to them, knowing that you built them yourself.

I actually bought a couple pairs of these Dayton bookshelf speakers with AMTs for surrounds with my Totem mains and center a few years ago. They sound fucking GOOD for $60. Far better than all this satellite and soundbar crap. If I was on an absolute budget, I'd get these as my mains, and the acoustech subs that I use for my computer($240) at the time. SOLID.

https://www.parts-express.com/Dayton-Audio-B652-AIR-6-1-2-Bo...

Yeh, unfortunately you're going to have to spend some bucks for quality. I'm still using my fathers 50 year old ESS Model 5's in my upstairs office and they sound amazing. Original woofers too! I just refoamed them, easy. I love the sound of the HEIL air motion transformers.

Downstairs is all Totem I bought 20 years ago.

I would love some JBL L100 with the 12 inch cones, but I just can't justify the $8K they are here in Australia.

I'm in Australia, and there are still plenty of good options around.

I got a pair of Dali floorstanders for around AU$1000 a few years back on sale. The Dali Oberon (which I think is the replacement) is $1500 when not on sale right now.

You can get B&W 603s for under AU$3000.

Sure, you aren't getting a 12" woofer - but these are lovely speakers.

Oh yeah, I have a really nice set of JBL floorstanders in a 5.1 cinema set up I bought when I left home 30 years ago but I have never been fully satisfied with the sound. I'm sure its the mid range from the large cones that I'm missing.

The subwoofer I bought at the time doesn't have a large cone on it. The mistake I made I think.

Love the look of those, I'll have to listen to them. $5000 here in the states.

Yes - the Sonos Arc + sub + 2 rear channels sounds amazing after using the built in sound tuning, and got a pretty damn good review in What HiFi.

Doesn't everything get a good review in What HiFi? I gave up with it.

That's one I've already listened to, and it's atrocious. It sounds like 1990s car speakers.

I feel this may be hyperbole.

I have a pair of ($30) Yamaha NS-BP200 and a 48 year old Sony STR-7045 ($50) and an Onko CP1200A (free).

They sound really good to me as the amp is really good at driving these speakers, and my Onkyo turntable benefits from excellent phono from the amp.

Of course, I can help you drop $50,000 easily on a system and you may still be unsatisfied.

I recommend setting a budget and just getting what you can. Also, the used market has amazing stuff. Have a look as well at NAD as they have some very small amps with phono and even subwoofer like D 3020 v2 or D 3045. Those are are very compact.

I also have an Onkyo TX-18 from 1990 that still works great.

Even the USB powered Logitech z120 which costs a few dollars sounds good enough even for movies.

I guess you watch movies where all the dialogue takes place over a telephone and there's no music?

Most people think so. Audio nerds don't.

Sony HT-A9 (+ a sub) has been praised, but it is not cheap.

Sony’s speaker quality isn’t great. Had to replace an HT-5000 sound bar last year because the center began distorting.

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