2. amps-preamps
  3. 190892-150037

Quality of recording while evaluating speakers

Melody Gardot, Diana Krall, and others.

The above recordings are done so well they sound absolutely Great in most systems. And then there are recordings that are not as open and have trouble filling the room enjoyably and yet the melodies are very good and it's unfortunate they didn't do a better good job in the recording studio.

So how do you evaluate a speaker other than to be familiar with a recording on how it sounds in your system versus how it sounds in another system.  Basically we are at the mercy of Recording quality when we listen to our systems.

Even more painful is home theater streaming when the music is wonderful but the quality sucks and once in a while it sounds really good but this can be rare which is sad.

So speaker manufacturers have to deal with these issues and we put up with poor recordings and how does this factor into your decisions when evaluating new speakers?

So we end up buying really nice speakers knowing that so much of what we will eventually listen to Will not have been recorded very well making things a bit frustrating at times.  There's only so much that can be done to make things sound better given these limitations. So how does one cope with all this?

 

emergingsoul
limomangus's avatar
limomangus
1,289 posts
 

You want something that will test your record recordings and sound listen to DISCO, people hated it but it will drive your system to the fullest extremes....most people hated it then in the 70s and now 50 years later...but man,I was a rocker From Beatles to Stones ,Led Zeppelin....but now I listen and I enjoy it ,just listen and enjoy.....

imjerrys
13 posts
 

Generally speaking, the quality of a recording is not very important for comparative evaluations as long as there are good dynamics and extension in bass & treble.

The key is to use the same recording for the comparisons.

OTOH, I was comparing my 32-bit 384kHz recordings to the same recording saved as 24-bit 384k. They were close, but the 32-bit music has slightly better resolution in the upper treble audible on B&W 805 D4 Signature speakers and Meze Elite headphones. There would be value in using the 32-bit recordings when comparing speakers or other components to understand ultimate high frequency performance. 

emergingsoul OP
1,075 posts
 

@imjerrys 

Interesting points. I'm impressed you can tell the difference between 32 and 24 bit. Maybe more so using headphones which I'm not really familiar with that much.

I have a tube of amplifier and I am milking the benefits of using better tubes to see if that helps improve speakers before I decide to buy new speakers.   Solid state amplifiers provide no means to do this clearly, although changing bit rates can influence how a speaker performs.  So many variables

More to discover