@alexberger,
Great posts.
An historical perspective is usually a very good thing to have. No wonder so many would be 'influencers' might seek to belittle it or even eradicate it completely.
The reduction in size and the almost universal deliberate tilting of the FR means that accuracy is usually the first thing that's sacrificed.
Even in 2021 it's very difficult to find a pair of loudspeakers (or headphones) that have a flat frequency response.
Although it is encouraging that mastering engineers still seem to prefer loudspeakers to mix on as opposed to headphones.
[Apparently mixes done on headphones transfer to loudspeakers less well than those done the other way around].
Hopefully sites like ASR will continue to expose such practices and thereby give users advice on how to EQ these design characteristics out to match their taste and their room.
The very best example of imagery that I ever heard was during an audition of a Quad ESL. The baritone sounded palpably three dimensional between the speakers.
So of course I had to buy them.
However my experiences at home were not so good (I later learned on here that my Naim amps were not the best match - the seller was using Quad amps, valve I think).
Still, I have to admit that no speaker that I've heard since (>25 years ago) has been able to recreate such 'reach out and touch' imagery as those Quads did.
There is a huge amount of circumstantial evidence suggesting that loudspeakers are getting better, but are they?
Well, if they are, then perhaps folks like Amir at ASR will be able to demonstrate that in due course.
Great posts.
An historical perspective is usually a very good thing to have. No wonder so many would be 'influencers' might seek to belittle it or even eradicate it completely.
The reduction in size and the almost universal deliberate tilting of the FR means that accuracy is usually the first thing that's sacrificed.
Even in 2021 it's very difficult to find a pair of loudspeakers (or headphones) that have a flat frequency response.
Although it is encouraging that mastering engineers still seem to prefer loudspeakers to mix on as opposed to headphones.
[Apparently mixes done on headphones transfer to loudspeakers less well than those done the other way around].
Hopefully sites like ASR will continue to expose such practices and thereby give users advice on how to EQ these design characteristics out to match their taste and their room.
The very best example of imagery that I ever heard was during an audition of a Quad ESL. The baritone sounded palpably three dimensional between the speakers.
So of course I had to buy them.
However my experiences at home were not so good (I later learned on here that my Naim amps were not the best match - the seller was using Quad amps, valve I think).
Still, I have to admit that no speaker that I've heard since (>25 years ago) has been able to recreate such 'reach out and touch' imagery as those Quads did.
There is a huge amount of circumstantial evidence suggesting that loudspeakers are getting better, but are they?
Well, if they are, then perhaps folks like Amir at ASR will be able to demonstrate that in due course.
