Best Speaker for classical music

@atmasphere ,

’Again, what makes a speaker good for one genre makes it good for another.’


If only all loudspeakers were created equal.

Then we could buy the delicate Cerwin Vega CL -15 for those Ashkenazy piano concertos and the bombproof Harbeth SLH5s for those full blast Motorhead live concerts and simply not notice any difference.



’You can’t point to anything about classical music that makes it particularly harder to reproduce.’


How about the following?

The widest variety of instrumental textures and vocal ranges?
String, woodwind, brass and percussion.
Soprano and alto, baritone and tenor.
Often all of them at once!

The greatest dynamic range?
Classical (along with jazz) has probably fared best throughout the loudness wars.

The most meticulous recording quality?
For years and years classical was the ONLY genre that many engineers and producers paid careful attention to.

Even today it’s the classical fans that tend to complain the most about the reduction of digital radio bitrates.

I suspect it’s also the classical fans that are the happiest with their lot musically.

So much choice and variety and a history that goes back centuries.

How about the following?

The widest variety of instrumental textures and vocal ranges?
String, woodwind, brass and percussion.
Soprano and alto, baritone and tenor.
Often all of them at once!

That is why I mentioned the Soria series recording in my last post.

The greatest dynamic range?
Classical (along with jazz) has probably fared best throughout the loudness wars.

That Taiko recording I mentioned has similar dynamic range (that is why audiophiles play it), and that Black Sabbath recording can shut most systems down regardless if you try to play it at a lifelike level. OTOH a lot of Deutsche Grammaphon recordings from the 1960s and early 70s seemed to have hardly any dynamic range at all.

The most meticulous recording quality?
For years and years classical was the ONLY genre that many engineers and producers paid careful attention to.

The Beatles got a lot of attention too- which is why its so worth it to find the UK pressings of their material. There are many other good examples of care and attention in recording. It is true that the hifi era was ushered in with classical music. But if found its way to other genres soon enough!

Even today it’s the classical fans that tend to complain the most about the reduction of digital radio bitrates.

I know plenty of people that complain about that! But it would be interesting to find out who the listeners of what genre are that actually complain the most. I didn't know there was any polling about that.


Anecdotally speaking, a friend of mine founded the metal scene here in the Twin Cites (Earl Root, RIP). He was also **way** into vinyl. He told me that when metal heads came into his record store (that's how he actually made his living) they really loved the fact that he had vinyl because it could get the cymbals right that the digital stuff just didn't.

Cerwin Vegas were built to be loud and durable. They are just as bad for rock as they are for classical. They are not genre specific any more than the JBL L-100.

dkarmeli334 posts01-05-2014 11:07amYou're right if the system can play classical music well then it can easily play everything else!

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Yes, any speaker can perform light jazz/medium orchestra jazz.
Full jazz orchestra, not just any old speaker will do. 
CM requires ~~finesse/delicacy in  full midranfe fq's.
I  May have found one. 
Not sure, but I think so.

If price is no object:

dc10audio L'instrument Grand Voix

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Oh yeah, these may do the trick, 
But price???
weight/size??
wife friendly??  
These and other considerations may be a  road block.

atmasphere9,559 posts10-27-2020 11:36amYour taste in music will have nothing to do with the speaker, since what makes it good for classical will also make it good for rock, metal, jazz, folk and so on. This is because its impossible to make a speaker favor a certain genre; if someone is able to do so they would be a millionaire overnight!!


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Humbly disagree, 
Any speaker can play R&R, blues, grundge, hiphop, reggie
Jazz requires a bit more finesse.
CM (at least full blown symphony orchestra) requires  even more finesse/nuances/fidelity vs all other  musical genres. 
Full symphony orchestra requires a  ~~special speaker~~Midrange demanding.