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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
thecarpathian
4,310 posts
 

"Truth is I'm not really happy with my system..."

"Overall I'm happy with my system..."

Why bother, I'm out.

mulveling's avatar
mulveling
1,850 posts
 

Krall & friends are indeed well recorded, but not so much as to be an outlier. Mainly it’s such simple, sleep-inducing music that it seems to magically avoid exposing most systems’ major problem areas - and this is why it’s such a popular choice in gear demos. To me - it’s not good choice.

I have a large collection of vinyl plus a decent digital / FLAC library. This is comprised of a lot of hard rock, heavy metal, pop, alt rock, new wave, & soundtracks - not much "audiophile approved" material. I’d say at least half of it (a bit more than half) sounds "really good" or better (with some real stunners), and I try to pick from here where when I get new gear. The other half...is unfortunate. It’s hard for me to enjoy that material, even if I love the music :(

immatthewj
1,793 posts
 

"Truth is I'm not really happy with my system..."

"Overall I'm happy with my system..."

Why bother, I'm out.

LOL!

denydog
9 posts
 

Kind of like @emergingsoul, I can only compare one speaker to another. So I find it best to rule out as many variables as I can.  So comparing speakers using different recordings is a non starter. I use a recording I know well, and have heard on many systems. One example is on Hope by Hugh Masekela, Stimela.

The best sound I heard with this song was on a system at a dealership with Wilson Shasha speakers and Bel Canto Ref 600 Mono block amps I think. I heard a very dynamic sound that sounded very obviously like the live concert that it was. I've heard that song on many other systems with different speakers, but of course the other equipment was also different. And I only hope it's the same mastering. Plus different rooms, and on and on it goes. But I do my best.

BTW I listen to all kinds of music and recordings in regular sessions.

carlsbad2's avatar
carlsbad2
1,586 posts
 

nope.  evaluate using recordings that you know personally and know exactly what they should sound like.  

I had a friend come over to listen to my stereo.  he put on a song I didn't know and in 10 seconds said "your channels are reversed".  I had just swapped out a component before he arrieved and he was right.  

Evaluate that the recording sounds like you expect it to on the best system you've ever heard.  

As I upgraded my system, using the same songs, I was always amazed when an upgrade would reveal things i'd never heard before.  that would not be revealed to me on a track I didn't know very, very well.

Now most of us will tend to listen to tracks that are well recorded but that is for a different reason.

One track I like is Sympathy for the Devil, not known to be well recorded.  but most of us heard it over and over on bad systems, probasbly spinning worn out vinyl on a cheap player with a junk stylus, in our youth.  Put it on with a good system and there is a lot of detail in there you never heard before.   oh yeah, you no longer need to turn it up to enjoy it.

Jerry

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