Fritzspeakers


Once again I seek advice from the gallery. I want to set up a small and relatively inexpensive system in my bedroom sometime this spring. Hardwood floors, french doors, and a new set of stairs to the patio come first. I considered moving my old Carver pre and amp in there, but then add a stand, cd player and speakers and it began to seem a bit much. I saw that sleek little unit by Shanling that is a "music center" acting as an amp, cd player, and tuner. This would be perfect as far as size goes. I'm thinking about matching it up with some of the 4.5 or 6 inch single driver speakers by Fritzspeaker. Any opinions? I don't really need "audiophile" sound as much as some background music. I've looked up reviews on both and both have relatively good reviews, but how about them together? As always, any and all advice is appreciated.
sprink
Jaybo,

Have you heard the Martin USA loudspeakers? Will you characterize their sound and/or compare to other speakers? Thank you.

Jim
Have a set of the Fritz Carbon 7s here on audition. Great speaker - looking at selling my Merlin VSMs to pick up a few bux and replace them with these - actually end up with better bass!

I have heard a number of his smaller models any of which would be ideal for the desktop application you are designing. I agree with Lindisfarne, Fritz is a great guy who is committed to building great speakers - and is more then willing to give accurate real world advice to help you make the right choice.

I have never seen the Shanling but have owned a number of iPod/Squeezebox/USB DAC systems. I have developed a few criterion:

1) minimize the number of oomponents - less footprint, fewer cables, fewer tweaks

2) some kind of external remote so you don't have to stop working on your computer to mute for a phone call etc

3) no reason to worry about the system doing 100db, its just not the way I listen when I work - remember you are going to be listening nearfield from 3-6 feet

Right now I would be inclined to look for something from Taiwan or China with a USB DAC and amp in one package, preferably with a remote.

Anything over 10-15 watts should give you plenty of level
Sprink,

That Shanling unit is really cool. I've seen/heard it a couple of times and I would love to own one for a bedroom/office system. You could use any high-eff. speaker of your choice, including the budget models from Fritz or Tekton.

Another great choice for a small system is a pair of Quad 12L active loudspeakers and a cd or universal player that has variable volume control. I'm using this type of simple system today using an Oppo 970 Universal player with level-2 mods from EVS, plus the Quad active speakers. It is a killer small/simple system. The Oppo has built-in variable volume control, so the whole system works via remote. It also plays DVD, SACD, DVD-A, etc., so it is a full blown digital audio/video playback system using only 2 components (Oppo/Quads).

Enjoy,

TIC

Enjoy,

TIC
He is a GREAT guy. I just did not really warm up to the single-driver hemp thing.

You may have different ears.