Upping my audio fidelity - tiny apartment edition

November 14, 2015 1:34 PM

I've been listening to CDs on a crappy thrift store boombox for years now, and would like to buy some equipment to get me to a higher level of audio quality. The complication is that I live in a small apartment with small children, and don't have the space for a standard component stereo system.

I've looked at some of the Bose and Tivoli single-unit options, but am skeptical about the price being worth it. Ideally, I'd like to find something that can sit on a single shelf or desktop - do I have any good options here?

posted by ryanshepard to Shopping (14 answers total)

what kind of music? how much money?

the big issue is bass. to get good bass you really need big speakers and powerful amplifiers. that's not cheap and not child friendly. so that drives you in two directions:

1 - give up on the bass to some extent, and get good, small speakers and a decent amp. this is the kind of solution that reddit's /r/budgetaudiophile does well.

2 - exploit how your brain and ears work to make something that sounds liks it has bass, even though it's small. this is what bose and tivoli do well.

really, it's up to your ears which path you go down. personally, i find (2) has a "boomy" sound that's tiring after a time. but that's just personal choice. bose and tivoli are very good at what they do and lots of people like them.

(i guess i am trying to explain what you are paying for in 2. you really need to listen to these things in a neutral space, which is hard if you don't have friends with equipment and time.)
posted by andrewcooke at 1:50 PM on November 14, 2015

oh, i forgot subwoofers. you can add a subwoofer (basically an extra speaker just for bass) to (1) to try fix the bass. it costs more money and adds complexity, but it's a popular way of improving (1).

so it's all a trade-off around bass, money and how neat it looks. and what kind of sound you like.
posted by andrewcooke at 1:57 PM on November 14, 2015

Denon and Onkyo also do very decent, very compact units that pair well with good small speakers.

(I'm in category 1: I'm not really fussed about bass.)
posted by holgate at 2:04 PM on November 14, 2015

While it's not the most convenient, if you're going to put any money toward audio equipment, it really is worth it to get a receiver and unpowered speakers. You can get a great set-up without throwing tons of money at it, and it will sound great. Those Bose units are nifty but totally not worth the money.

If I were you, I'd start with a receiver and a decent pair of bookshelf speakers. Here's some links from BudgetAudiophile over at Reddit that have lots of options in lots of price ranges:

Speakers.

Receivers.

Then you'll just need some wires (just get the cheapest audio cable you can find) and whatever CD player you want to use as your input (your computer will work just fine, unless you want a dedicated thing. The important thing is that if you're going to throw your money at something, most of it should be in the speakers. That's where you'll get the biggest bang for your buck).
posted by Lutoslawski at 2:20 PM on November 14, 2015

Is this for solo listening to to fill the room with sound? You could use headphones to carve out some relaxation for yourself. Lots more bang for your buck that way in terms of equipment.
posted by a halcyon day at 2:44 PM on November 14, 2015

The Tivolis are more aesthetically appealing, but Bose has much better sound quality for a similar footprint, IMO.
posted by quince at 2:56 PM on November 14, 2015

Hello, I used to sell high-fi and home theaters. We had a few jokes: No highs, no lows, gotta be Bose.

B.O.S.E. - Better Off with Something Else.

I highly discourage going with Bose. I've been away from the biz for a while but their stuff is way overpriced.

Also, notice that Bose is always in it's own area at most retailers. They pay for that because it makes them, look fancy and exclusive but also because you can't compare them to any other systems.
posted by 4Lnqvv at 4:19 PM on November 14, 2015

I don't know your budget, but if you are totally ruling out a small component system, I'll recommend the (now discontinued but still for sale) Klipsch KM3 bluetooth speaker. At close to $300, it's not the least expensive thing around.

I use this in my kitchen, and the sound is very good. It reliably connects to my iPhone, iPad, and Chromebook via Bluetooth, plus it has a regular 1/8" plug if you just want to plug it in to a jack.

Positives: Good clear sound for many types of music with very present but not-too-boomy bass. PLENTY loud. Comes with a remote.

Negatives: The remote is flakey. At least on mine, I have to keep the remote aimed for several seconds at the unit for it to respond. There is also no tone or separate bass control. This hasn't been a problem for me, but just FYI.

I'll throw this into the mix as well: you may also want to consider the Amazon Echo. Granted, part of what you are paying for is the Alexa technology and all that comes along with it. It's not the best possible sound for a bluetooth unit of its price, BUT the sounds is really good for the size of the unit. Keep in mind it's not stereo, but most small single-box units don't have much stereo separation anyway. The big selling point, especially if you are an Amazon Prime member, is that you can can stream tons of music with just voice command. You can also upload your own music library to Amazon for a small annual fee.

As I said, if you are strictly trying to get the best sound per dollar, the Echo is not it, but the voice-control feature may be worth it to you. And it's all in a unit about the size of wine bottle.
posted by The Deej at 5:26 PM on November 14, 2015

For a one-piece solution you might check out Sonos wireless speakers. Lower end model ($199) will likely work great for you in your small apartment, with a much clearer, nicer sound than from your boombox. But it needs to connect to your network (wired or wireless) with your music stored on a computer or tablet/phone. The higher end model has a direct input for a CD or other player but the price goes to $599.

We had a few jokes: No highs, no lows, gotta be Bose.
In the pro sound world, the joke is "Bose: better sound thru marketing" mocking their tagline "better sound thru research".
posted by cilla at 5:30 PM on November 14, 2015

I use my computer (with ripped CDs) and a pair of KRK Rokit 5 powered speakers. For $300, it's a darned good sound system, and all fits on my desktop. My Mac's build-in D-A is good enough, but there are third-party D-A converters you can get if you want higher fidelity, such as the AudioEngine D1, but if you're after that level of quality, you'll probably want speakers fancier than the KRKs.

If you want to fill a room, this isn't the setup for you. The Rokit 5s are near-field monitors, meaning that you want to be relatively close to them with them aimed right at you. They're not going to rattle the windows with the bass, but as long as you put the bass ports against the desk, you get decent bass up close. They're not moving enough air for major thumpy-thump, but they're very robust and won't self-destruct when you accidentally click on a link to a YouTube video that has the volume maxed out.
posted by DaveP at 4:01 AM on November 15, 2015

Audioengine a5's were basically made for this scenario.

Or yea, KRK rokits or little mackies.

Don't buy anything from m-audio.
posted by emptythought at 5:22 AM on November 15, 2015

since people are chiming in with suggestions, here's mine. the ATC SCM7 are small enough to fit on a bookshelf, and sound excellent, but require a fair amount of power (there's a trade-off between efficiency and bass response - by being less efficient these can sound like larger boxes). for a smaller room something like the NAD D 3020 will power them fine. that includes digital inputs and bluetooth, so you can connect up either a computer or your phone as a source.

those are solid components from companies with a decent reputation and should sound great. you don't need to spend a bunch on fancy wires. total price would be around $2,000.
posted by andrewcooke at 5:27 AM on November 15, 2015

to get good bass you really need big speakers and powerful amplifiers. that's not cheap and not child friendly.

Not particularly apartment-friendly either; in our building it is definitely the bass that travels furthest and is most thumpa-thumpa-thumpa annoying.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 12:13 PM on November 15, 2015

Are you still listening to CDs, or are you also trying to move to digital music (CDs, streaming, etc).

Many of these solutions won't play CDs. At least, I know Sonos won't. I can totally voice for how good the Play1 sounds though.

But also consider how much room your CDs take up in your house.
posted by reddot at 6:29 AM on November 22, 2015