Surround speaker advice

[STiFU]

So, I recently bought the Ultima 40 Mk2 plus Surround set by Teufel and I love it as far as the sound is concerned. To be honest, I was going to buy something cheaper but my friends and colleagues talked me into buying Hifi while not having any proper background knowledge, which I now suffer the consequences from. Of course I got into trouble with my neighbors due to the volume pretty quickly. Even at low volumes the bass seems to penetrate the building a lot, so I started researching a little. I think I found some reasonable explanations for this and I thought someone around here might be knowledgable enough to confirm or disconfirm. The good thing is that the kind people at teufel allow customers to send back their products within 8 weeks, so I can just get a different set of speakers now.

 

The subwoofer is obviously the most critical part of the system. As soon as I turn up the volume a little, the penetration becomes really high. It is a downfire-subwoofer (membrane / bassreflex on bottom) and it seems to be well established that these put all the bass in the floor to make you FEEL the bass physically. This is obviously bad for my neighbors. I guess I need to replace this one with a regular frontfire subwoofer.

 

But here comes the part I am not so sure about. The front stereo speakers also have two bassreflex speakers with channels leading out to the back. The problem with that is, that I have to put the speakers pretty close to the wall, like 10 to 20 centimeters, due to the room geometry. I assume that this now works the sameway as with the downfire-subwoofer: The bassreflex-channels pump a lot of the bass into the wall, due to the distance not being big enough. This would also explain why my neighbor on the other side of that wall says that it'd feel as if he was sitting right in front of a bass speaker. So I am thinking, I should replace the stereo speakers either with bassreflex speakers having the channels at the front or get a completely different speaker architecture. I am also considering getting smaller booksheld speakers, e.g. the ones on the rear from the Teufel set. I mean there is still the subwoofer for the bass and I prefer all channel stereo over stereo when listening to music anyway.

 

Any thoughts are welcome...

[Bikerdude]

I am also considering getting smaller booksheld speakers, e.g. the ones on the rear from the Teufel set. I mean there is still the subwoofer for the bass and I prefer all channel stereo over stereo when listening to music anyway.Any thoughts are welcome.

That ultima set is very nice ineed, but as you found out entirely unsuitable for use in a flat.

 

I have a similar setup which cost £700 all inc the Amplifier, Celestion F30 floorstanders, F35 center and F10 rears and Denon 1906 reciver, but crucialy no subwoofer. The F30's have a 3" rear firing base port and I have heard frequences as low as 20-30hz from them. To isolate them as much from the floor I've used spiked feet and they inturn sit on 1.5"x9"x9" concrete tiles, which for the most part it works at low volumes but when watching movies I have the tone set to low and the dynamic range to nightime.

 

But I would have to concede that even my setup used considerately is capable of annoying the neighbours, so on the subject some advice I can give is to get speakers with thick/dense housing as possible as they will transmit less bass to what ever they are sitting on and even than get some sort of isolation mounts/feet. But above all you need to do some research, I can offer advice etc, but I dont know as much about audio setups as I do about computers

 

I saw that you referenced a Uk website, so with that in mind do you have the equivelent of a Richer Sounds over in Germany..?

[STiFU]

I only referenced the english site so you guys can read it. Teufel is actually a very good german company and they offer their product over their own webpage. In fact, you can only get it directly through them. No resellers at all...

 

I don't know Richer Sounds, but visited their site right now. I am not sure we have something like that here, but what makes them so special?

[Sotha]

Howsabout a pair of Really Good earphones?

 

I once was thinking about what 5.1 audio system I'll get for my computer for playing games, but after a lot of thinking (and being on a student budget) I ended up with relative cheap system, which -in retrospect- was a good choice because nowadays I always use headphones in order not to disturb Those Other People.

 

I use a simple pair of Sennheiser CX300II for everything: playing, listening to music while working or during commuting.

[Lux]

I got a Klipsch Quintet setup that I got a chrismas steal on ($220 regularly 550) and an eight inch downfiring Klipsch 350SW sub that has separate gain. If you turn down the sub gain the speakers are barely audible outside an insulated wall.

 

I use a nice set of cans when I need to be quite though.

 

I wouldn't sell your speakers as they look really nice. Just use them when no one is home. Like Sotha mentioned, a nice set of cans is the way to go when you don't want to disturb others.

[STiFU]

Well, I use it as a home entertainment system as well as for listening to music and as such, replacing it by headphones is not really an option. Also I never felt comfortable wearing a headphone. They tend to heat up my ears and simply sit uncomfortably. Maybe I should try an expensive one for once.

 

Of course the setup looks and sounds really nice... Here is a picture of how it is placed at home (on that picture, I hadn't done the cables yet). But I am almost sure I can get a setup that looks just as good, but is suited better for my flat. After all, I get the whole retail price back from teufel, so why not take up on that offer?

[Lux]

Diggin the cabinets, like the modern clean look. Really like that clock hanging on the right wall. Neat. A Ford Mustang over the TV?? I thought you were from Europe...

 

Yes that is a LOT of speaker for a space that size and I'm sure you can totally drive your neighbors nuts! Still, I wouldn't get rid of them personally. I'd just follow Biker's tips and moderate the volume but that's me.

[STiFU]

A Ford Mustang over the TV?? I thought you were from Europe...

I love american muscle!!! Dodge Challenger!! :wub: But the Shelby GT.500 there is also one hell of a car!

[Lux]

I see. I'm not much for muscle cars though I live in th US. Though I like the older Shelby, Challenger, and Camaro mUCh more than the new ones though the new Camaro is the king of that bunch. The GT500 is a neat car and I dO like it mainly because it was small. I like smaller cars and generally high revving and nimble.

 

My dad owned a couple MG's growing up and my uncle owned an Mini Cooper S, so I'm more partial to smaller more maneuverable cars.

[7upMan]

Howsabout a pair of Really Good earphones?

 

I once was thinking about what 5.1 audio system I'll get for my computer for playing games, but after a lot of thinking (and being on a student budget) I ended up with relative cheap system, which -in retrospect- was a good choice because nowadays I always use headphones in order not to disturb Those Other People.

 

I use a simple pair of Sennheiser CX300II for everything: playing, listening to music while working or during commuting.

 

For exactly the same reason, I treated myself to a beautiful Qpad QH-85 headset: http://www.qpad-germany.de/de/shop/a:46,rc:3,n:kopfhoerer-qpad-qh-black

 

The sound is perfect for everything, really, it plays music, video and games very well. Although it's just a stereo headset, with my Asus Xonar I have a pretty good surround simulation that is enough for me.

 

I had a Speed-Link Medusa 5.1 headset before, but its sound could just not compare to a really good stereo setup. Also, the manufacturing quality was god-awful. :-/