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Do speakers choose your music preference

I wonder if my preference for chamber music and jazz is driven by having replaced my older full-range KEF Ref. 107/2s with Ref.1 monitors and a pair of Velodyne HGS-15s -- I did find that resetting the crossover to the subs from 40 Hz to 80 Hz made the setup sound larger and large orchestrations more enjoyable. I replaced the 107/2s because I was sure the fully-balanced zero-feedback design of the Ayre preamp and amp would not tolerate inserting the KEF KUBE between them. Charles Hansen had warned me not to insert anything between them. Now I’m wondering if KEF Ref. 207/2s or Wilson Sophias might tilt my music preference back toward the symphonic venue.

db
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millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Was about to write no, speakers haven't driven it. Yes Moabs make classical sound so doggone good you just can't get enough of it. But they do that for rock too. And jazz. So was going to say they don't drive it, not like I go out shopping for music just because I know it will sound fabulous on these speakers. 

But then, wait a minute. Didn't you just pay a small fortune for a White Hot Tchaikovsky and a One Step Patricia Barber? Not the kind of thing I would have done before with my other speakers. So yeah, maybe, a little.
berner99
214 posts
 
Other  way around.

Remember hating JBL 100s (boom boxes) 40 years ago.  That was reflective of my tastes in music/speakers then and continues to now (not that I don’t listen to some rock and really like bass sometimes). 
daveyf's avatar
daveyf
2,838 posts
 
I think not only do speakers choose what sounds best on your system, but also your room does too!
How many folks are going to be able to play Stadium size rock concerts in their tiny den with little speakers employing 4" drivers and do that music any kind of justice? Same goes for large concert hall venues trying to be reproduced in a similar setting/speaker. OTOH, if you have a huge room with large floor standers that can drop down deep into the bass, then the ability to portray large scale will definitely be there--but maybe not intimate sounds? I think speaker manufacturers well know this...
cd318
2,636 posts
 
Of all the speakers I have had, only one had the kind of bass performance that you could feel in your chest, the Tannoy R3s.

When I used to attend pub gigs my entire body was usually hit by a threatening impact of sound - some of it distortion due to the necessary but not ideal placement of the speakers.

I don't think I'd ever want to listen to pub rock at home - I didn't always like it back in the pub. I can imagine very few home systems satisfying fans of that live amplified sound. 

Quite amazing what a 100 watt Marshall amp can put out during 'High Heel Sneakers' or 'Stormy Monday'.
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islandmandan
1,260 posts
 
I would advise you to listen to some Tannoy speakers. They just play most music extremely well, jazz, rock, classical. Most models won't play in the low 20Hz range, but very few speakers do.

Subwoofers are your friends. 
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