Yamaha HS8 matched pairs?

[Arpangel]

One, of the purposes of being in London right now is to try and hear these HS8’s, I managed it yesterday, and they sounded very good to me, plenty of detail etc.
So I'm going to retreat back home and maybe order a pair on sale or return.
I may be imagining it, but they did sound a lot clearer than my Behringer's, more open, but who knows? all I know is I need to replace these Behringer's.
They are selling the HS8’s singly for £260 each, but you can buy a matched pair, is this worth it? as they a quite a bit more expensive than buying two separately.

[tea for two]

Aaaaah if you wanted the Hs5 there is a pair at £99.99 + delivery in cash converters 12months warranty. I saw it in the shop in person. Hs5 pair is £300 in Thomann.
I looked on cex they had Hs8 pair £350 when I suggested them a month earlier as Mike Oldfield used Hs8 and Hs5 for Return to Ommadawn album, butt they don't at the moment.

[Wonks]

If you had a treated room, then matched HS8s will help with stereo imaging. But without acoustic treatment, your room will affect the balance enough that it won’t be worth the extra.

[Arpangel]

If you had a treated room, then matched HS8s will help with stereo imaging. But without acoustic treatment, your room will affect the balance enough that it won’t be worth the extra.

[tea for two]

In my untreated room I got a pc desktop subwoofer and satellites to get the bottom I want : Harman Kardon Soundsticks.
They are not clear they are muddy butt by comparing to commercially released big hits with heeevee Bass I can get Bass levels better in a mix. Also they have a EQ dial which is handy.

At under £500 :
Adam T8V worth considering as they go a trifle lower in the bottom compared to HS8.
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/adam-audio-t8v
Price T8V pair are aboot £100 less than HS8 pair.

Eris 8 discussed on another thread have a slight hiss at least those that have owned them noticed this.

[Arpangel]

In my untreated room I got a pc desktop subwoofer and satellites to get the bottom I want : Harman Kardon Soundsticks.
They are not clear they are muddy butt by comparing to commercially released big hits with heeevee Bass I can get Bass levels better in a mix. Also they have a EQ dial which is handy.

At under £500 :
Adam T8V worth considering as they go a trifle lower in the bottom compared to HS8.
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/adam-audio-t8v
Price T8V pair are aboot £100 less than HS8 pair.

Eris 8 discussed on another thread have a slight hiss at least those that have owned them noticed this.

The reason I'm going for the HS8 is because they have a tight sound, compared with a lot of other designs that IMO are way too bass heavy, that's the last thing I need in my boomy room.

[tea for two]

in my boomy room.

Let us know on ere foruume how Hs8 fair in your boomy room.
My room is a bog standard room in an 80s flat.

When I mentioned HS8 to you a month earlier on a thread ere as Mike Oldfield used them, you dismissed the HS8. Same as with Adam T8V now. If the HS8 don't work ooot in your room then check ooot T8V.

[Hugh Robjohns]

When I mentioned HS8 to you a month earlier on a thread ere as Mike Oldfield used them, you dismissed the HS8.

Tony is nothing if not consistent in his inconsistency....

[Drew Stephenson]

The reason I'm going for the HS8 is because they have a tight sound, compared with a lot of other designs that IMO are way too bass heavy, that's the last thing I need in my boomy room.

If you're after a really tight bass, have you considered a smaller main driver? Focal Alpha 65? Dynaudio LYD 5?

[tea for two]

When I mentioned HS8 to you a month earlier on a thread ere as Mike Oldfield used them, you dismissed the HS8.

Tony is nothing if not consistent in his inconsistency....

I'm similar I miss loads of things unless handed to me on a plate.

::

If you're after a really tight bass, have you considered a smaller main driver? Focal Alpha 65? Dynaudio LYD 5?

Sweet Drew. I didn't know there were such relatively affordable Focals. I like the Focal sound for Rock, Hard Rock, Metal, Grunge. Also it's no slouch for Acoustic, Orchestral.
I held off on Yammy Hs5 bargain pair (in cc) I could collect in person because of their brightness and relatively thin bottom.

I looked for a review after your post. Hugh did a rather favourable review of Focal Alpha 65 Evo.
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/focal-alpha-65-evo
"Prior to running them in, my initial impression of the 65 Evos was of a rather tight bass that had a hint of ‘cardboard’ about the sound character. But after leaving the speakers running in the background for a few days, as per Focal’s advice, I found that the bass had filled out considerably to give an impressively deep and powerful yet fast and precise low end.

Stereo imaging and depth, as well as the musical dynamics, were all to a pleasingly good standard, too, delivering a wide and stable listening area and a very involving and musical sound. I was able to hear easily into complex mixes, and to resolve the timing and tuning relationships between bass and kick drums pretty well.

The entire frequency response was impressively flat in my room, starting from around 40Hz, with no major resonances or dips, which is a very good result. The low‑end extension really is quite impressive for a cabinet of this size. The top end is obviously well extended and clean, but perhaps not quite as smooth or effortlessly airy as more expensive monitors can usually manage."

[Arpangel]

When I mentioned HS8 to you a month earlier on a thread ere as Mike Oldfield used them, you dismissed the HS8.

I don’t like things that a lot of other people use, generally.
I can understand a smaller driver may be better, but theres a cut off point for me, anything below a minimum of an 8 inch driver just sounds small to me, and doesn’t have enough umph.
I tried Focals, had them for about two days, awful, terrible aliasing distortion.

[tea for two]

When I mentioned HS8 to you a month earlier on a thread ere as Mike Oldfield used them, you dismissed the HS8.

I don’t like things that a lot of other people use, generally.

This would then be nearly every gear you ever purchased though.
Anyhoo if the HS8 works out in your boomy room then I'd be glad to know, then I can audition them when cex have them in stock with their 14day online purchase return policy.

[Hugh Robjohns]

I tried Focals, had them for about two days, awful, terrible aliasing distortion.

I dread to think what you were doing to them!

[Arpangel]

I tried Focals, had them for about two days, awful, terrible aliasing distortion.

I dread to think what you were doing to them!

Playing my DX7 through them at fairly low volumes, and some vocal takes, it was very noticeable, this didn’t happen on other speakers I had, conclusion at the time? get rid of them, I really don’t need this.

[Hugh Robjohns]

You haven't said which model of Focal, but I'll eat my Audio Precision owners manual if you heard aliasing.

Intermodulation distortions from some weird connection or gain structure issue I can believe more easily.

Its also possible that the Focal speakers were revealing system issues your other monitors couldn't.

[Arpangel]

You haven't said which model of Focal, but I'll eat my Audio Precision owners manual if you heard aliasing.

Intermodulation distortions from some weird connection or gain structure issue I can believe more easily.

Its also possible that the Focal speakers were revealing system issues your other monitors couldn't.

Hugh, it was definitely the speakers, I cant remember what model they were exactly, this was about 10 years ago, and they had 8 inch drivers.
I just swapped them out and the issue disappeared, never to return.
Ive had other speakers exhibit similar issues, a pair of Tannoys, my ears are sensitive to this and I can tell straight away by playing certain things, some do it, some don’t.

[Hugh Robjohns]

Like I said....

[James Perrett]

Ive had other speakers exhibit similar issues, a pair of Tannoys, my ears are sensitive to this and I can tell straight away by playing certain things, some do it, some don’t.

I can believe that you've heard things with Tannoys that you missed with other speakers. But it isn't the fault of the speakers - they are telling you that there's something wrong with something else in your setup.

I had this when I first hooked up my Tannoys to a Leak amplifier. I had always felt that the amplifier was pleasant enough but something wasn't quite right. As soon as I heard it through the Tannoys I noticed that the amplifier was actually singing along to the music - producing a slight whistle that changed as the music changed.

[Arpangel]

What I heard was like a mechanical fault, something vibrating along with the music, coming from the tweeters, as soon as anything hit that frequency it would sound like a clashing of frequencies, choirs made this happen easily.
The Tannoys I later found out needed a voice coil repair.
The Focals exhibited similar symptoms, I replaced them with my Spendor SP1's driven by my Quad 405 and they sounded fine, no issues. Also I checked every time with Sennheiser HD600 phones, no issues. The Focals were really the only thing I could see for this distortion.

[Drew Stephenson]

Was this in a treated room?

[Arpangel]

Was this in a treated room?

No, but they exhibited these issues in any room they were used in.

[James Perrett]

What I heard was like a mechanical fault, something vibrating along with the music, coming from the tweeters, as soon as anything hit that frequency it would sound like a clashing of frequencies, choirs made this happen easily.
The Tannoys I later found out needed a voice coil repair.

I've had a similar issue with one of the tweeters in mine. Fortunately they are easy to service and in this case I found that there was a little corrosion on the magnet which had bubbled up and was rubbing against the voice coil. Once I cleaned off the corrosion and refitted the diaphragm it was back to working perfectly.

[Hugh Robjohns]

What I heard was like a mechanical fault...

And yet on the flimsiest of non-remembering of any real details whatsoever you completely dismiss all Focal speakers on the basis that 'they have 'aliasing distortion'.... and Tannoys for having 'something similar'.

It would be funny if it wasn't so hugely frustrating for the credibility of the forum.

[jimjazzdad]

[...] It would be funny if it wasn't so hugely frustrating for the credibility of the forum.

Ah well, anyone who has visited the forum more than a couple of times knows that Tony is...hmmm...incredible?

We all have our foibles. It keeps life interesting.

[tea for two]

Nearly every audio gear I've purchased been based upon SoS magazine reviews as well seasoned SoS foruumes experiences views.

When Drew mentioned the Focal 65 Evo, thereupon reading Hugh's review I am intrigued to audition them.
https://www.soundonsound.com/reviews/focal-alpha-65-evo
Same as after Arpy's audition of HS8 depending on his views I may well audition HS8 as well.
Although I'm more intrigued for the Focal.