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Golden Ear Aon Bookshelf speakers

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dfullmer26

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Golden Ear Aon Bookshelf speakers

PostTue Oct 18, 2016 3:44 pm

Hello! I'm new to the forum, but have had a Hauptwerk organ in my home for almost 8 years now. Other than some occasional use of a pair of low-end powered monitor speakers, I have almost exclusively been using headphones. However, I'm ready to expand my horizons and add an amp, speakers, and a sub. I am running HW4, and use a Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 audio interface, and my organ is in a carpeted room that measures about 12' x 16' with 9' ceiling. I'm thinking of starting with 6 bookshelf speakers for my intro to multichannel audio. Someone has recommended the Golden Ear Aon 3 ultra high performance bookshelf monitors (https://www.goldenear.com/products/aon-series). They have a ribbon tweeter, which some have told me has a more pleasing, natural sound. Admittedly, I have very limited knowledge of audio hardware, and I'm frankly quite overwhelmed with the myriad options out there. I am committed to buying some quality equipment from the start, and want to have a system that I can be very satisfied with now and can build on later, if desired.

Does anyone have experience with these speakers? I would love to get some thoughts on this before spending nearly $3,000. Thanks for any advice you can give!
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magnaton

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Re: Golden Ear Aon Bookshelf speakers

PostTue Oct 18, 2016 5:51 pm

Speakers and Subwoofers generate lots of good discussions on this forum. Here is what I would suggest for starting your research:
Check out studio monitors also known as near field monitors.
Search this forum for "Studio Monitors" and make note of the brand and model numbers being discussed.
Review pictures and specs on the Post photos of your Hauptwerk systems forum section and take note there.
Do the same on the PCorgan forum.
By doing this you can capitalize on the prior work that others have done which could save you some time.

The nature of the organ music with complicated harmonics and long sustained notes and pedals, can really tasks speakers. I've tried some various bookshelf speakers and while they sound great with modern music or movie sound tracks, they can't handle the dynamics of the organ, at least the ones I've auditioned. The weakness shows up pretty fast.

My take on ribbon tweeters is they offer a more precise and directional sound. This is fine for studio work where you sit in the "sweet spot" to critically listen and mix recorded tracks. If you are stopping at just 2 speakers (stereo) then you are probably okay. Studio monitors that incorporate ribbon tweeters usually cost more. A dome tweeter gives a more dispersed sound so the sweet spot is less defined (as per my reading), this is just fine for pipe simulation and when adding 4 or more speakers for a multi channel design.

Shameless studio monitor plug: I personally have 3 HW references where individual setups started with some average to excellent 3 way or full range speakers; one guy was actually using several cabinets from a Rodgers organ (speakers designed for organ use). After demoing a multi-channel studio monitor setup, they all dumped their audio setup and never looked back. :)

Finally, as fantastic as studio monitors are for Hauptwerk you'll need something to handle the 16' and or 32' stops. That means a decent full range speaker or a subwoofer. Many of the studio monitor brands offer a Subwoofer in their respective product series. Consider the sub that works for your budget and specification. In other words, perform an independent research for a sub.

Keep us informed on your progress.

Danny B.
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dfullmer26

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Re: Golden Ear Aon Bookshelf speakers

PostWed Oct 19, 2016 4:35 pm

Thanks for your thoughtful response, Danny. I'm combed through the forum posts and have concluded that I'll go listen to some of the speakers I'm interested in.

Two final questions for now:
- Do you have a strong preference for powered vs. passive studio monitors?
- I'm looking at two different sub woofers. The line that I'm looking at has three models with frequency response down to 18 Hz, 14 Hz, and 12 Hz in the different models. Would you think that 18 Hz would be sufficient, or do you think I should go for one of the lower ones?

Thanks again for your help.

Dan
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Re: Golden Ear Aon Bookshelf speakers

PostWed Oct 19, 2016 5:47 pm

dfullmer26 wrote:Thanks for your thoughtful response, Danny. I'm combed through the forum posts and have concluded that I'll go listen to some of the speakers I'm interested in.

Two final questions for now:
- Do you have a strong preference for powered vs. passive studio monitors?
- I'm looking at two different sub woofers. The line that I'm looking at has three models with frequency response down to 18 Hz, 14 Hz, and 12 Hz in the different models. Would you think that 18 Hz would be sufficient, or do you think I should go for one of the lower ones?

Thanks again for your help.

Dan


I'm assuming you're referring to the GoldenEar Forcefield subs. Truthfully, as far as frequency range is concerned, I don't think you'll notice much of a difference in either one of them. It has been a while since I've listened to those subs, and, when I was messing with them last, the 5 had not been released, so I have never heard it. I think you will be happy with any of those three, honestly.

And, on that note, take those ratings with a grain of salt. They probably aren't 100% accurate - they never are.

I can say that my Triton 2's go LOW, REALLY LOW and plenty low enough for my taste, but it's probably not really 16Hz as claimed. I did build a sub, though, the TubaHT by Bill Fitzmaurice that will shake the foundation of your house. It is for my church installation, though, not my home. But it is definitely down in the 10-16Hz range.

http://forum.hauptwerk.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=15009
Drew A. Worthen
Master of Music in Composition - Butler University
http://www.drewworthen.com
Director of Music & Website Admin - Greenwood UMC
http://www.greenwoodumc.org
Design Engineer - American Sound and Electronics - Indy
https://americansound.cc/
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magnaton

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Re: Golden Ear Aon Bookshelf speakers

PostWed Oct 19, 2016 10:33 pm

dfullmer26 wrote:Two final questions for now:
- Do you have a strong preference for powered vs. passive studio monitors?
- I'm looking at two different sub woofers. The line that I'm looking at has three models with frequency response down to 18 Hz, 14 Hz, and 12 Hz in the different models. Would you think that 18 Hz would be sufficient, or do you think I should go for one of the lower ones?


My preference is for active (powered) monitors. I have a few friends who are audiophiles and they talk about pairing the right amp with the correct speaker design; not to mention active crossovers, shielding, linear frequency curve, etc. The active monitors that have been discussed here on the forum are bi-amped so the drivers have a separate amplifier perfectly matched to it. Thus the correct amp and driver paring has been done for you. Lots of competition in this market, especially in the $300 to $500 per pair price range. Be sure to compare the technical specs as well as the sound. If the decision is tough (i.e they all sound good), then go for the best deal. It should be noted that once you make your brand/model decision, any additional pairs you may want to add in the future should be identical to the ones you are buying now. I'm referring to having multiple speakers in a audio group where you engage a HW algorithm to spread notes & ranks among them. Having identical speaker sets gives you that option.

Your Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 has 10 output channels (5 stereo pairs) ready to go; 20 if you want to add an ADAT and incorporate your S/PDIF port. :D So if you want to go big and stay within budget check these out:
http://www.monoprice.com/Product?p_id=605800
They have a 5" version too. I have a friend with 8 stereo pairs and they sound really good. The only caveat is they make a pop or thump when turning them off due to a faulty circuit design. But that is more of an annoyance than a sound quality issue.
http://forum.hauptwerk.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=14747&p=109854
From the looks and specs, I suspect these are the previous generation or early prototype M-Audio studio monitors, now licensed to Monoprice.

Regarding you sub woofer question, I'm still auditioning those myself as I decided to put my HW expenditures elsewhere for now. I'm currently using an old pair of large 3-way speakers (13" woofer) with distributed mids. The specs show a low of 25 Hz and they sound great! I don't own any samples sets (yet) with a 32' stop so these work just fine. In the meantime, I too have narrowed my sub choice to a single SVS PB-2000 or a pair of PreSonus Temblor T10 units.

Danny B.
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TheOrganDoc

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Re: Golden Ear Aon Bookshelf speakers

PostThu Oct 20, 2016 1:51 pm

If you have a store nearby that has speakers set up for listening tests,
Please, Take a CD of your own playing,
or a Pipe Organ CD that you feel is as true to live, as possible,
and play it at your store of choice, at normal Pipe Organ sound Level !
Hopefully, they will let you do that !

If Not, then "PLEASE search Hauptwerk's Installation Manual",
for their recommended Speakers.


From my experience Producing Organ sounds through Speakers Live,
Is Very Much More Difficult, than Reproducing prior recordings ! :roll:


Personally, I am using 8 Behringer B2031A Self Powered speakers
, and a commercial 18" subwoofer with 300 watts RMS power.

I am Not at this time Using HW's note separation scheme's at all,
as I decided to use all 10 outputs with their own separate speakers.
I then Selected Complete Ranks, and sent them to individual Speakers !

I now find my Realism, and Spacial Character is much improved, for the past month, and I love it !
Keep with it, the experience is Most Rewarding !
Mel..............TheOrganDoc...............
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pedro

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Re: Golden Ear Aon Bookshelf speakers

PostThu Oct 20, 2016 2:59 pm

I have been trying out different speakers and amps for years.
Right now i am using 6 of the big Klipsch -Reference speakers.
For amp i am using a Yamaha 7.1RX A1010.This one you can use in Multichannel mode so you can send different audio signals to the 3 different pairs of speakers.
Really think this amp and speakers sound good together,but then i dont know what other peoples system sounds like to really compare.
Pete
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dfullmer26

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Re: Golden Ear Aon Bookshelf speakers

PostThu Oct 20, 2016 3:43 pm

Thanks, everyone for your helpful insights! I'm excited to get my audio up and running. I'm quickly learning that there are as many ways to produce audio on a VPO as there are VPO's!
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Re: Golden Ear Aon Bookshelf speakers

PostTue Nov 22, 2016 9:30 am

dfullmer26 wrote:
Regarding you sub woofer question, I'm still auditioning those myself as I decided to put my HW expenditures elsewhere for now. I'm currently using an old pair of large 3-way speakers (13" woofer) with distributed mids. The specs show a low of 25 Hz and they sound great! I don't own any samples sets (yet) with a 32' stop so these work just fine. In the meantime, I too have narrowed my sub choice to a single SVS PB-2000 or a pair of PreSonus Temblor T10 units.

Danny B.


For what it's worth, I have a SVS PB-2000 and I love it. If I could afford a second I wouldn't hesitate to buy again (although the tube version might be easier to place...) HOWEVER, if I had to do over with my budget then, I would have opted for stereo subs and I've eyed the presonus tremblor t10's for that very reason. While they might not dig as deep technically, I think the benefit from dual subs would outweigh any cons. I find in my room that it would be MUCH more satisfying having dual subs just because the sonic coverage would be so much more equal and you would have the added benefit of spl gain just by the mere fact that you have dual subs anyway. (Not to mention the fact that few people truly want 16hz blaring away full SPL in a home anyway. Sounds like a good idea until everything starts to shake and room nodes practically make you dizzy.) That said, I don't want to discourage the SVS. The thing is built like a tank. It is very well made and their customer service is second-to-none. Not to mention their deal where if you buy and decide to upgrade within one year, they will give you a full credit back for the first sub (minus shipping) to put toward the larger sub (this is how I went from a SB-1000 to a PB-2000.) At the bare minimum, I think introducing some presonus subs (that have XLR ins and outs) to add gravitas to manual divisions would be a good addition to my setup now.

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