I wonder if the wood finishes affect the sound to any perceptible amount. Doubt it. Perhaps a full wood cabinet option would be a better option to offer, instead of a simple outer covering.
Cabinet: 15mm Fiberboard HMR.E2 Moisture-proof with internal bracing. Either painted or real wood veneered.
wood veneer will not affect sound. keep in mind these need at least 200 hours break in before they are truly balanced. male vocals were always lacking until around 200 hours, i’m guessing this is around the area where the passive radiator kicks in and that took a bit longer to flex out it seems. these work best in a medium sized room.
Sounds good! My current room is medium sized, but mainly in a PC station setup.
Any (non-rack mount) amp recs around ~$1000? Something like Crown XLS 1002(rack) or Emotiva BasX A2/XPA-2, NAD C 268 are all I’ve got in mind currently. Or Yamaha A-S01, if I end up needing a receiver for a TV later on.
They use fiber board for a reason in almost all speaker cabinets.
It consistently manufactured with consistent density and you want the air to move in the space, but you don’t want the cabinet itself to resonate, and fiberboard (short of VERY expensive wood laminates like Panzerholz/Tankwood) is one of the better materials in this regard.
don’t know crown or emotiva, don’t like the new NAD stuff and Yamaha is going to be to lean, you’re going to want an amplifier that has some body.
I’m biased but I think Rega works quite well and they are refreshing the range so outgoing elex-r and elicit-r models can be had for good prices at dealers. I have not heard elex-r but elicit-r has body and plenty of detail, would match well sonically I think, maybe even better than my Aethos.
At Dreamonoids in TX for example there is an elex-r for sale at 900 USD.
https://www.dreamonoids.com/pre-owned
How does the extension specification thing work, when it says:
Low Frequency Extension: 55Hz, 50Hz, 45Hz (-3 dB, -6 dB, -10 dB)
I have to make sure my amp has a -10dB switch, to get 45Hz…? There seems to be no such switch on the speaker itself. My current amp has no switches:
This is not a popular opinion? Or you just happen to be a Rega dealer? =p I suppose I haven’t spotted a better option yet, so I emailed the shop guy about the item condition and stuff.
This amp lists power output for 8 and 6 ohm, but I presume it works fine with 4 ohm or whatever speakers, too?
i’m biased because I’m a happy Rega owner, not a dealer, so personal preference is involved.
Try to get it on trial before you buy, if there’s a Rega dealer near you, alway a good idea to go to the shop and get an idea about how they sound.
They don’t rate for 4 ohm but that shouldn’t be an issue, you can check with the dealer how much it will output at 4 ohm.
On a more general note, seems you already have an amp, the sensible approach would be to first find speakers that you like and only then go out to find a matching amp… maybe even take some time to save up to get a 2k’ish budget for amp, these speakers respond well to a better amp.
Ok. What would my options here be? I recon I only need 200W max still, but I could upgrade to tower speakers later(350-500W?). (That Elex-R has sold)
I can’t imagine how my A-100 would compete at all with anything at the $500+ mark lol. My current speakers will probably sound a lot better with such an amp.
Currently looking at: Philharmonic BMR bookshelf, Ascend Sierra LX/2-EV, Buchardt S400 MkII. Then later would be BMR tower or maybe Tekton tower. Or Harbeth.
I’d recommend throwing SB Acoustics Ara in the mix. I’ve compared it with BMR and A500 myself and found it to better it for my tastes.
Unless you deaf, or are driving something with a big woofer, or insanely inefficient, you will probably get stupid loud on <30W.
More power can be nice if you have a big woofer, in the speaker that has actual bass extension (most don’t, even towers), it will generally give more control of the bass, but you really don’t need a ton of power for monitors.
500W be like
Well what am I supposed to think, when the speaker spec says 350-500W lol. Divide by 10? Completely ignore? 
Ara, not Ara Be? So how do the FR specs work… “FR = 49-25000 +/- 3dB”, but then “Bass port tuning freq = 36.5Hz”. So it can reach to 36.5Hz, even tho the FR only says to 49?
BE includes the BE tweeters. I haven’t tried the soft dome but both tweeters are known to be good. Depends on your system.
BE is 45-30khz so it goes a little lower. I would just look at the reported FR and not worry about the port tuning. You can see the FR graph from the manual
I would also recommend you take into consideration how YOU like to listen and your room dimensions along with how much space you have to position the speakers and your preference for where you want to sit. Lower sensitivity speakers MAY require more power, it depends a bit on what you want out of the system in it’s entirety based on your habits.
Smaller speakers MAY give you more leeway in positioning them relative to the space you have available to use. Larger speakers can play lower, personally i still enjoy subwoofers for my own bass preferences especially when i want to really energize the room and move quantities of air. Otherwise for critical listening and pure performance i don’t much use them often anymore.
Your choices in speakers are as wide open as there are stars 
in the sky. 
Get your finances and room in order, Go watch the LOTS video on youtube in reference to basic speaker placement by New Record Day. Get a realistic grasp of what volume levels you really enjoy, i assume there is no wife factor and you have freedom to use this room purely for music. Once you have your budget fully in hand, is there a possibility to visit a HiFi shop within a reasonable drive to you. This may help you better set your expectations.
Good luck and happy hunting, half the fun of this hobby is in the hunt for equipment 
The usual way to measure frequency response is at the to -3dB point.
If you imagine the FR a of the speaker in a free field, it’s something like a long flat like that tapers down below about 100Hz, depending on the speaker the point it starts to curve down and how quickly it curves down will vary, the 49 point in this case is 6dB’s down from the highest point.
The port tuning frequency is irrelevant, it’s a function of the speakers design, and it will to some extent reinforce the bass response, but that’s already accounted for in the 49 number.
Having said all that, you don’t listen to speakers free field, so what it sounds like in a room, will depend a great deal on the room.
If you are a Bass Head, unless you are spending insane amount’s on a speaker you’ll verily likely find that all speakers lack sub bass, unless you use a sub, so it becomes about can you cross it over at a usable point.
For reference my speakers are 4 ft tall full towers, have a 10 inch carbon fiber driver with a 10 inch passive radiator, and no one would think they are bass monsters.
For most people the best options are probably stand mounted with a sub, if you need the bass extension.
But as has been pointed out so much of it depends on the room and how you listen.
And speakers really are things you want to hear before you buy if you can.
Really, not that much bass with 10"+10" passive rad? What is the FR? I would think that should easily hit 30Hz, if these 6"s are hitting 33-35Hz! Maybe your room is large, so there’s a lot of dissipation?
From one bass head to another - if you want bass in your room get a sub or even better get two, treat the room well and cross the speakers with care and patience. Don’t rely on specs on paper and think this will be solved with bookshelves or standard towers even.
It’s unfortunately not worth it enough for me to do with how I listen to music these days, but that’s the only real way to get the best bass possible.
The specs on my speakers have the -3dB point at 22Hz, for point of reference.
To me they have plenty of Bass, but a lot of people have unrealistic expectations as to how much bass is actually on a recording.
Nothing wrong with wanting more, subs are just easier to adjust for preferences.
That coupled with the difficulties with bass and rooms.
