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3way replacement for my 2way

I’m thinking of replacing my Triangle Comete EZ Bookshelf speakers with some 3 way speakers and seriously considering purchasing either 2nd hand or new.

My Triangles are good about 85% of the time, they’re somewhat forward, not very forgiving and lack that warm feeling of a 3 way.

My Triangles currently are on the company’s accompanying stands about 24” from the back wall and about 20” from the side walls and towed in projecting to my couch’s center. My room is 12’x 11’ w/ a 10’ ceiling, in addition the room has a tray in the center giving the center an additional 1’ of height. The floor is carpeted, no furniture other than a couch against one wall facing the equipment and record storage racks on the other wall, one window on the side wall is treated with thick room darkening curtains, basically the room sounds pretty good.  

I’m running a Carver Crimson 275 Amp that’s hooked up to a Parasound ZPre3 Preamp. I mostly listen to vinyl on my Orbit U-Turn TurnTable equipped w/ a Ortofon Super OM20 Cartridge stylus that’s hooked up to an IFi Zen Phono Preamp. 

I get that it’s a “Mid-Fi” set up but it lacks some warmth that I feel is a result of my 2 way’s extreme forward output. 

Like I mentioned prior, my Triangles sound great at times, they just always have that in your face high going on, sometimes more than others. 

I’m looking for 3way speaker recommendations in the $2k - $3k Ballpark that have a nice balance of Highs, Mids & Bass. 

I know there’s some really great speakers out there and not to sound obnoxious, but please don’t recommend some great pair of used speakers that even if I spent six months full time searching the internet I won’t be able to locate. 

Not into Klipsch,No B&W’s or Polks. My music tastes are Blues,Jazz, Big Band, Reggae & Classic Rock if that helps. 

I’d love to hear your thoughts.


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Showing 3 responses by elliottbnewcombjr

elliottbnewcombjr
5,140 posts
 
No subs: I think: bigger woofers, no ports (12" or larger),

IF something like the KLH-5 (as an example only) then plan on an eventual stereo pair of self-powered subwoofers (this or a future space).

front firing, no ports, located by mains.

IF you plan on sub-woofers, you could get them 1st, use with your existing 2 way, then select main replacements, subs in place.

Use pre out to sub, sub back to main in method to relieve both your amp and speakers from low bass duties.
elliottbnewcombjr
5,140 posts
 
I have not heard them, just noticed:

KLH 5 includes some adjustability which I bet your current speakers could benefit from

"It has a three position acoustic balance control whereby the listener can dial up or down the speaker’s mid and high frequency presence to better match one’s listening environment. All Model 5s come with a 10 year warranty."

No speaker knows what space it will end up in, and, you may use speakers in various spaces. I’m a big fan of in-room adjustability. 3 optional positions is much easier to keep matched left to right than my vintage setup of L-Pads, wonderfully flexible but a pain to balance precisely. However, when you get it right, they are KLH 5’s customized for your space.
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To have some help, an inexpensive sound meter can be helpful, I just ordered one

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YS9442C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

best of luck choosing,

Elliott
elliottbnewcombjr
5,140 posts
 
I hope you do well with your choice.

Regarding the KLH 5 three position optional attenuation, it is not a gimmick, and purposed for your type of problem, i,e, the last sentence:

"

In addition to upgrading its drivers, Geist overhauled the M5’s crossover, a 13-component network that uses iron-core inductors and Mylar capacitors. "The crossover is all 2nd order, 12dB/octave," Geist explained. "The low-pass woofer and high-pass midrange cross over at about 380Hz, low-pass midrange and high-pass tweeter at 2850Hz. The crossover is comprised of four inductors, four capacitors, [and] five resistors. Three of the resistors are used in the attenuation circuit for the switch located on the back panel."

Taking different-sized rooms and varying acoustics into consideration, Geist incorporated a three-position attenuator switch (marked "LO, MID, HI") on the M5’s backside (above a pair of gold-plated binding posts), a holdover from the original M5—sort of.

"The switch attenuates/decreases output above 400Hz," Geist explained. "I’m not a huge fan of attenuators on loudspeakers because of the affect they have on voicing of the loudspeaker. So, I repurposed the attenuator switch to deal with difficult room acoustics. The amount of attenuation is relatively small (0, –1.5dB, –3dB), over a broad frequency range. The idea is to pull some excess energy out of an overly bright listening room."

https://www.stereophile.com/content/klh-model-five-loudspeaker

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