[klaatumail] Re: speakers of 'the house'... (no kk)
- From: Tree <tree@xxxxxxx>
- To: klaatumail@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2012 14:40:04 -0700
Interesting discussion about speakers.
I think most speakers end up with some coloring of the sound. This has as
much to do with room dynamics as it does anything else. Some speakers are
better than others producing stereo imaging - and some are better than
others with their low frequency response. However - a good speaker in a
bad room can sound all wrong and a poor speaker with some EQ and low volume
levels can sound reasonable in a small room.
Probably the most accurate speakers have too flat of a response curve for
most people to really like their sound. Put two identical speakers in
front of a blind folded person - and they will pick the ones played a bit
louder - or the ones with some extra bass/treble kicked in.
I am also curious about the physics that would result in a speaker sounding
better with age. Not saying it isn't possible - but it isn't obvious to me
why that would be.
At any rate - if you want to really hear a pretty accurate flat
representation of the music - get yourself some studio monitor headphones.
You probably won't like the sound because you other headphones (or
speakers) will have more bass - and the music will sound "flat". It's all
relative.
For just over $100 (or less if you look around - but be careful about
getting ripped off with fake product) - you can get a very nice set of
headphones that are not going to add much of anything to the music. Sony
MDR-V6's have a long history and are used by many recording professionals
(look them up on Wikipedia). You can spend more for headphones - but not
really do much better. Yes - there are headphones that have a lot more
BASS - but they are a different type of product.
I decided to buy a second pair of these so I could listen to something with
someone else plugged in. I debated about buying a more expensive pair and
figured that the other part would probably sound different. Like a man
with two watches - it would be hard to know which one was "right".
Audio is complicated. If you like what you hear out of your speakers - be
happy. If you think you have great bass - good. However, go find an audio
generator - hook it up to your subwoofer and play around from about 18 to
35 hz - and walk about the room. Unless you have put a lot of $$$ into
fixing up your room to eliminate reflections - you will find various spots
in the room where a certain frequency just isn't there. The spots change
with frequency. Room dynamics totally interact with your speakers and
change the sound. Headphones really are the only way to eliminate the room
from the sound (again - unless you spend a lot of time/$$$ on fixing up
your room).
BTW - I saw the movie Brave in Hollywood at the El Capitan theater. They
had the new setup with two rows of speakers on the ceiling. It was totally
awesome.
Tree in Boring, OR (who uses a pair of Roger Sound Labs Elans for L/R -
Klipsch for the center channel and a couple of small Polk Audios for the
rear - along with an old Miller & Keisel subwoofer that I bought on
Craigslist with a Hafler DH-200 bridged to run it (400 watts). My Oppo
BDP-95's stereo output goes to a homebrew stereo amp using separate LM4562s
for each channel with a regulated 15V power supply which can drive a pair
of MDR-V6s to uncomfortable volume levels if desired with a dynamic range >
130 db).
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