@mihorn You would not be hijacking my thread if your speakers are to be compared to much larger speakers. I do think videos on Youtube tells us next to nothing about the SQ of a system, although many folk seem to believe the opposite.
Big speakers, are they really the best way to get great sound?
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to listen to some very large speakers that are considered to be at, or close to, the pinnacle in speaker design and ability. Needless to say, the speakers retail in the mid to high $300k range. These speakers, and I will not be naming them, were sourced by about $800k of upstream gear. Room size was about thirty by twenty, maybe a little larger.
To say the the overall sound was BIG would be accurate, but also I noticed something else, that I typically hear with big speaker systems. Generally, the speakers were right on edge of overloading the room, depending on music, the dreaded bass boom could be heard. But, the whole presentation was greater in impact than most any smaller speaker system, yet it was almost unlistenable for the long term.
The question I asked myself, is do we really want this type of presentation in our home audio systems? The speakers threw a pretty large soundstage, but also made things sound somewhat larger than life. I also thought that this type of speaker is akin to the large box dynamic speakers of yesteryear. For example, a set of large horns from Altec Lansing or similar was reminiscent of this sound. Makes me believe that if one has a big room, a similar sound can be obtained from most any large speaker system and at a fraction of the price.
I listen in a very small room, and by necessity in the near field, yet I think the overall intimacy of this type of listening experience is better for me, your thoughts?
- ...
- 203 posts total
I have neither of those selections, nor do I stream. I prefer classic rock, especially in SACD format. I use an Oppo95 through a 22 year old Yamaha RX-Z9 RECEIVER with over 30,000 hours on it. |
Those big speakers do well on C. Rock but delicate music. I heard JBL Everest with Luxman 300B amp from my friend 30 years ago. He also had A7 VOTT. I was in heaven listening Rickie Lee Jones (Pop Pop). One of serious limitation for big horn speakers (compression driver) is the dirty and rough sound. Only thing it does well is hard hitting sound such as a drum. I don't want to listen C Rock all the time. My system does well on all kinds of sources (CD, MP3, MP4 (YT music), MOV, etc.) and genres (Rock, vocal, classical, small chamber, Piano, violin, audiophile, fusion, etc.). Live recordings below. Many of them are YT downloaded MP3. Alex/WT Schbert - Fantasie C Dur, Allegretto, Vivaldi - Winter (Four season) Mozart: Violin Concerto No. 3 - Hilary Hahn, Lidia Borda - Cuando silba el viento Stars Fell On Alabama - Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong |
1st, no audio reproduction is perfect. I know my system is not perfect but my system is closest anyone can get in reproduction audio. You are right and I agree that most/all my recordings sound "cupped". I know its because all original records are cupped in some extent. I said all audio systems in the world are flawed, also all recording equipment are flawed too. Ex.) All microphones in the world are not made properly. Same problem for mixers. I only know how to make them properly and I’ll start to make proper microphones soon. Alex/WT |
@mihorn Your statement is a little presumptive, don’t you think? I heard your system at the last THE show; let’s just say that it might behove you at the next show you attend to actually go around the various rooms and have a listen to what the other exhibitors are doing. |
- 203 posts total