One of the best videos you've made Paul! You have actually made me re think my speakers and question, if they are optimal for the type of music I listen too. Thank You!

@Paulmcgowanpsaudio

3 жыл бұрын

How very kind. Thank you.

Conductor = speaker designer. It's as simple as great. Thank you Paul. May you, your family and your team at PS Audio stay safe in these times. I learn each day thanks to you and your YT-channel. Best regards from Germany

Enjoyed this talk very much. Thank You!

Great vid, Paul! I like the explanation using the conductor as an example. Very true. Everyone's ears are different. Buy the speaker that sounds good to YOU. Doesn't matter who builds it. You're the conductor!

This is my favourite video of yours - great explanation!

May I add that room acoustics and which type of music is played through a specific set of speakers makes quite some difference too.

@joeyg7458

4 жыл бұрын

Lars Willems totally agree..For jazz, instrumental classical I prefer a focal however for rock and techno and metal I prefer the kef

@larswillems9886

4 жыл бұрын

@@joeyg7458 got wharfedale myself for pop, house and Two steps form hell. Sounds warm yet detailed.

@sachinsharma-bz6bu

4 жыл бұрын

@@joeyg7458 try Tekton ulfberht tower speakers, every genre will sound fantastic..

@justinparkman3585

4 жыл бұрын

I bet thousands of dollars pounds have been wasted due to not improving room Acoustics

@larswillems9886

4 жыл бұрын

@@justinparkman3585 jup, indeed

I actually achieved what Paul has been searching for his whole life.. Real sound! When you sit back eyes closed and it sounds perfect! I'm a perfectionist if a track sounds off i hear it instantly.. And yes i use EQ it is a must.

@wally6193

2 жыл бұрын

most people don't listen to their systems with their eyes closed, I could never figure out why. Your first sense is sight, then hearing. So take away the first sense so that the second sense moves to the forefront. I don't know, but I learned to that 50 years ago to get the most out of the system/music. I've even seen Paul listening to system he is testing with his eyes open and that was just recently. Hmmmm.

Paul- just discovered your channel and have loved the vids. You have a very good speaking voice / presentation style and you do an excellent job of explaining topics (which are typically complex) and engaging people. 👌

@Paulmcgowanpsaudio

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks, and welcome!

great video, thanks Paul!

#1 reason I love this channel. Honesty.

Thanks​ for​ your​ practical​ advice

I really just want my speakers to not emphasize any part of the spectrum, that's why I chose PSB Imagine T3. Paul Barton did research at the NRC up in Canada to establish a scientific basis for his designs. 40 years later he made the T3s, building upon a desire to have those speakers just disappear. It's not that other speakers are bad, it's just that they color the sound

Here's my take: loudspeakers are, like Paul said, very imperfect. Like a person, you like that one but not this one... Got that early on and always DIY'd my own loudspeakers. I exploit the weaknesses; i always liked extended range, deep bass and focused highs, result: i use 15inch woofers only and, slot tweeters, that give me the sound that I LIKE. Forget spending thousandsss on flat frequency response speakers, you'll be spending lots of time CONVINCING yourself you like em cause, they have good reviews...

@ronbradshaw7404

4 жыл бұрын

@Fat Rat Yep! exactly!, that's why i make new loudspeakers when i feel like it!. I made JBL 4530 ''scoops'' replicas, with 2225 woofers, made some more ''high end'' ones with JBL 2235's and Mundorph AMT tweeters, etc, etc. Speakers dedicated to rock and house, and some for jazz and funk!. I made some Spiralhorns with a full range Fostex, as my go to sleep/ wake-up music in bedroom. I love ALL of those speakers!, they match MY tastes, and, match the music im into depending on my mood! :) . Don't ask a single pair of speakers, as good as they may be, to reproduce Rock AND Jazz, with the same Karisma!.

@ronbradshaw7404

4 жыл бұрын

@Fat Rat Yep, im at 13KHZ max hearing now :( so, i bump-up the response to compensate!. The harmonics in music are so important.

@ScaleCrawling

4 жыл бұрын

You will only lile those imperfections until you losten to a recording that does not flatter those particular imperfections. If you want a good speaker you should avoid such imperfections to the largest extent possible.

@ronbradshaw7404

4 жыл бұрын

@@ScaleCrawling Well, i've been making my own loudspeakers for 43 years now sooo...

@ScaleCrawling

4 жыл бұрын

@@ronbradshaw7404 That doesn't automatically make you equivalent to Harman International. Theoretically, you could've made terrible loudspeakers for 40+ years, like Bose for example.

Loved the video, loved the framing, loved the pose

i always wondered why some speakers sounds beautyful with some amps and others not, and vice versa. i have switched about 4 times of (vintage) speakers and 5 times from (vintage) amp to find a perfect balance and combo (and found it) thanks for the explenation.

Kudos Paul! One of your best!

@Paulmcgowanpsaudio

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks!

Key word. Personal. We all listen differently and find different elements appealing. Why I always let my friends adjust the sound of my system when they come by for a visit or even when they are in my car. I find it very interesting how different each of my friends are and what they find that sounds good. Good question and great explanation Paul.

Paul loved that explanation!

You are very diplomatic in your answers and explanations! If there was a post of Audiophile Ambassador, you would be at the top of the list. 👍😀

Great vid babg on keep up the great work 👏👏👏👏🙏🙏🙏👍👍👍

Thanks so much for the video and your candor on these topics. I just started watching your channel today and already subscribed. Speakers indeed seems to be one more of those "choices" in audio. Like other folks here, I like different speakers for different music. Just started tinkering with DSP and active crossover. I think I am getting sorta good results from a sub-woofer for the first time.

Interesting response. I have four different rooms with different systems in my house, one being a mix/master studio I use for classical pipe organ recordings. Once mastered, I listen to the mix in the other three rooms plus two cars. When I am close the recordings mostly DSD and high-res PCM begin to gel in all locations. Each room has a different response, which gives me a feel for how a listener would hear the master at a desk, mid-fi living room, and cost is no object listening room. Once past the freq response issue, I have learned with lost of listening that I have preferred amounts of speaker directivity to control room reflections and imaging; and I have preferred amounts of damping on the speaker/amp combination that accentuates the dynamics and growl of the organ without flabby ringing in the bass. I am also sensitive to edge diffraction and over time have found I prefer the image from bipolar speakers like your IRS Vs. Finally, I have found that the best of the best are using great drivers coupled with exemplary crossovers to reduce the distortions that happen in the crossover areas and muddy both the response and image. And so on... it never stops.

I think there's a lot more than frequency response involved in making a speaker sound good. Some speakers have lousy dispersion. The listener needs to be in the exact right spot before they sound any good. The stereo image may be poor, which also may be related to inadequate dispersion. Some speakers have slow transient response, so the music seems to drag rather than sound lively. Some speakers may present a fluctuating impedance nightmare to the amplifier so that the electronics can't sound their best.

Midbass is king :) Nice video Paul.

Excellent vid. Very well said and explained Paul. Thanks.

Great explanation

With my speakers the cello sounds nice and robust and solid through my speakers (with the 10" woofers strengthening the bass med to the 4" FR drivers). And the clangy old school '60's electric guitars are really sharp and clangy as well (with the 4" FR driver's keen upper med).

Hi I like my music to sound great when I’m sitting in front of it.but I also like the same music to sound great when I’m moving about the whole space.its a difficult one .

Speakers are very personal. The sound heard is in the ear of the listener. Personally I'm not into heavy bass. I like the mid and hi tones best. But that's my preference.

@arkman8109

3 жыл бұрын

I second that.

old is gold,mine KLH, 3 wy, ADS, 2 wy small studio or discoteque wall mounted, fabric w rubber suspension,fav speakers are like chicken recipes,everyone has their own

I like what you said Sir Paul. Speaker is personal.

Paul, that is the best explanation so far. A painter's pallate. inexact science. No wonder there are so many different sounding speakers.

What are your thoughts on adding a hardwate eq into the chain? Giving a 50% volume from the audio interface; equalizing in consideration with the frequency charts and your tastes; having a volume knob to control that into the amplifier; final stop the passive monitors;

I like my B&W speakers but I do have a very good base to bring out the sound. I find it preferable as this way you can manipulate the ultimate sound better to suite your room.

I have a pair of tad me1. The sound is just wonderful. Yet they needed a little more help down at the bottom end . So I have ordered a pair of Rel s/510’s. I can’t wait. Those and a new set of kt120’s for my ARC vs115 will bring a whole new listening experience, hopefully.

Great explanation. Also kind of eliminates the review that says this is a great speaker. Just means it is great for the reviewer. Also, some speaker designers like a totally flat response. To me, all the work they do to get flat results in killing low level detail which results in an accurate but dead sound. I find less is more when it comes to cross overs and shaping of response with DSP. I'd rather have a colored but engaging sound with all the toe tap and emotion that comes with it.

@Evil_Peter

4 жыл бұрын

As with anything that caters to subjective experiences you have to find reviewers that either share your tastes, or ones that can explain things well enough that you can draw your own conclusions from them. And of course reviews are just the first step towards finding what you want to try out for yourself.

Good episode Paul. I agree that loudspeakers ( often in combination with amp and cables) are a personal thing. It has to do with the amount of money you want to spend, roomsize and and the kind of music you like, not to forget other people you have to live with . Once you have said 'happy wife, happy live' and i totally agree with that. I consider myself very lucky guy that i could buy a stereoset in this poor world.

@C--A

4 жыл бұрын

No wife and live alone so I can do what ever I want to my room 😁 just finished my bookshelf speakers stereo HiFi set up and gradually adding 3 more wall mounted speakers for 5.1 blu ray, 4K blu ray movie discs & 5.1 SACD 🎶

and then it also depends how the sound engineer mixed up the recording. I now use a physical mixer to adjust sound (esp. recs from the 80s) - not frequently, but I can.

Got to love eq’s

Got my Infinity 7kappas for medium music, Vandersteen 1s for jazz and Cerwin Vega AT15s in the basement for rocking the neighbors to Iron Maiden. Up the irons Paul! Hahahaha

@jmfloyd23

4 жыл бұрын

I own a pair of at-15’s my neighbors enjoy them as much as I do lol

Some people search for the most extravagant and premium price for show

I owned pair of Dunlavy SC Ill's and thought they were very musical and accurate. Mr Dunlavy approach to his speaker designs where to match all of the drivers to + - 1.5 DP for both speakers. I down sized my home and sold the Dunlavy's and bought the Definitive Technology Mythos ST's to do two channel and 5.1 AV With the ST's being driven my the 5 channel amp I wasn't that impressed. But when I connect them to my VAC PA 100 100 tube amp it really made a difference in the two channel listening experience!! So upstream equipment can also really make a difference

I don’t want my speakers to ‘sound’ I want them to disappear when I play music.

@Scottlp2

3 жыл бұрын

Depending on what size sweet spot you want/will settle for, check out omnidirectional (eg Ohms), open baffles and Maggie’s.

@naturalverities

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, if the recording is up to the task. Show me a speaker that can make a bad recording sound "good", and I'll show you a speaker that will surely make a good recording sound horrible. Far too little attention is paid to the quality of recordings, and far too few mastering engineers prefer a faithful lifelike presentation over their "signature" voicing. The same goes for too many speaker designers. Most designers of "audiophile" speakers in any price range have at least some commitment to true fidelity and won't release a product until they achieve it to a satisfactory degree.

I've used Linn speakers for nearly 40 years now. I had the great fortune to meet their speaker design engineers before buying. It gave me a great idea of what I was buying, knowing the design philosophy 😁

Speakers have character. More so than amps.

@slumking112

4 жыл бұрын

Great fuckn observstion.....

@SlinkiestTortoise23

4 жыл бұрын

That isn’t strictly true, high quality transformers, capacitors and well designed power supplies make a huge difference in the way an amplifier sounds. Cheap components and bad amplifier design tends to make the sound brittle and fizzy. A top of the line transistor amp is a marvel of electronic engineering and design and requires a lot of research and development. Admittedly, lots of modern amps have IC’s to replace whole circuits and this keeps the cost down and designs can be very similar but take a REGA Brio for example and compare that to say, a £200 Yamaha amp and you will immediately hear a world of difference. I think it’s fair to say each component has a factor to play and matching equipment carefully makes a big difference. Speaker companies, especially in bookshelf designs have pretty much nailed a very high quality standard for a good price point, say £350 - £400 and then it really comes down to your personal taste. B&W, Dynaudio, Kef, Monitor Audio etc all make superb speakers and again, it just depends on what you think sounds good for you. There’s not really a right or wrong once you spend a certain amount as they are all very comparable.

@Roamany-Jones

4 жыл бұрын

I want the 'character' to come from the recording not the speaker

@ryanwilson5936

4 жыл бұрын

Roland Jones But none of that recorded character matters if it isn’t properly represented through the output driver.

@ryanwilson5936

4 жыл бұрын

Slinky Tortoise Changing the speaker will have a greater impact on sound output than changing any other electrical component in the signal chain unless you do something very drastic. This reminds me of guitarists that want a different sound and spend three grand on a new amp when spending 100-200 on a different speaker would have given them a much more significant change.

This perfectly explains why I was getting sound that I loved from my Dynaco A25's while my friend's top of the line B&W's did absolutely "zilch" for me. He swore that Janis Joplin sounded exactly like what I was hearing...he had heard her "live" in a small club when he was attending college in New York. :/

@eelcosterringa1374

4 жыл бұрын

Involvement of the late Ejvind Skaaning means a lot!

@freethot333

4 жыл бұрын

@@eelcosterringa1374 I had to have bought 8-10 A25's used back then! :O I just realized that I have 9 cabinets "still"... with nearly as many woofers and tweeters! I actually preferred the earlier Scanspeaks to the later Seas tweeters. :) Somewhere along the line with multiple amps, mostly tubed, I noticed a difference.

@jackmills5071

4 жыл бұрын

@@jim9930 I have a question for you. What do you think about dsp or eq to match recordings to a room? I've seen guys in live sound heavily eq to improve in room sound. Is it possible that the average joe with good ears can improve the sound of a recording to their room, without destroying what the sound engineer was trying to create with that recording?

This is exactly why I look for very good cabinets that I can purchase cheap because of compromised drivers. I remove the drivers, purchase my favorite sounding drivers and favorite crossovers and recreate in order to best serve my ears.

number 2 love you paul

I listen to the sounds around me when someone speaks to me, the sounds outside or when the neighbour plays guitar.. Then I know how I want my speakers to sound. As natural as possible. Also room acoustics are important. So always try at home if possible or do a little tuning..

I’m now in state see you soon

I hear ya. 👍🏽

JBL had this figured out over forty years ago when they built L300's.

I have a pair older Mission speakers that I’ve kept instead of the newer speakers that’s well reviewed.

Maybe B&W does that on purpose because they know most customers will have bad rooms, and the lean midbass will reduce muddyness caused by room modes and placement up against walls, giving their speakers a sense of clarity and a clean sound. If speakers are out in free space like they should be, they need a hell of a lot more low end output to sound flat.

My old 80s Technics stereo sounds bad it's bi-wired and I changed the crossover capacitors but it still sounds bad I even reversed the mid rang terminals and it actually made the high frequency sound better for some unknown reason but as the evening progressed it seemed to deteriorate again so I'm at a loss as to the problem I cannot see any internal blown caps inside it just sounds like it's not loud enough and lacks clarity !

I get to this video, because I'am always wonderd why the same song sound much more energetic and alive on a good club speaker system than a normal headphone stereo speaker system at home. Even when I am rekording the audio from the club, this sound great on the same headphones.

Cone materials qts and motor efficiency last but not least enclosure.....the latter playing a crucial role....

A very good explanation, ultimately aural beauty is in the ear of the beholder 😊

Slightly different direction with the same end. Guitar players may try several amplifiers looking for just the right sound. Yet ( to me) it’s the cabinet and driver combination that have the most impact on how the sound is transferred to the air blasting into your ear holes. Finding the perfect synergy between Guitar, amplifier and speaker is a life changing experience. For me it was a soldano astroverb and lucky 13 412 cab with a beautiful Charvel guitar... if only I could have brought it all home ... stupid empty wallet!!!

@genesmith4019

4 жыл бұрын

Agreed. LoL An old friend is an acomplished rock guitarist. He is a doctor by trade and can afford anything he wants. At one time (before his divorce) he had over twenty pricy amps. He was looking for his sound. Well when he was 53 or so he found it- And I must admit it is his best sound yet. But I'm often reminded of that short clip of Jimi Hendrix playing an acoustic guitar. That short gem convinced me it is the brain and fingers and a true artist can shine through a junk instrument. However if a certain kit makes an artist feel best it will generate the artists best work. Paint brushes, Drumbs, Cameras, or scalpels- they're tools only.

@PooNinja

4 жыл бұрын

Good tools make every job easier, But do the best you can with what you have.

Paul mentions that B&Ws tend to sound lean. While this may (will) be true in many cases, mine don't sound lean at all. B&W's can indeed sound very rich! And that's what i would like to be my message here. In addition to the room acoustics, every link in the chain is partly responsible for the rich sound. For 40 years in the hobby, I have learned that the sound and soundstage of B&W (depth, width, placement), highly depend on the electronics used. All brands do so... but B&Ws in particular can 'grow' enormously as the quality of the peripherals improves. Using them with less suitable (matchable) devices, will reduce the quality to the same extent. I certainly understand what Paul means here: You take the same peripherals (your base setup) and then multiple brands of speakers to compare. Indeed, the outcome then could be that B&W's sound analytical by comparison. (Although I think they always have enough midrange to at least sound rich enough in that area.) Combine B&W's well (via trial and error / advice) and you could (hopefully will) achieve a sound that's far from thin or lean (or harsh in the upper end, as some do claim). Nice one Paul! As are all your vids! Very educational! Thnx 4 making them for us !

@bznkyp968

3 жыл бұрын

Clean sounding or lean sounding? kzread.info/dash/bejne/eWWlqNqHYaavZ6Q.html

I agree.

If you enjoyed this, look up Andrew Jones. I've never hear anyone who can make a speaker seem so simple while making it so complex!

@str1xt

4 жыл бұрын

I have the TAD Ce 1’s. They are extraordinary speakers.

Hi paul, i am from belgium and watch you all the time thanks for all the information, i learnd a lot and keep doing thanks to you ! I have 1 question , differents about plastic cabin and wood , any recommondations ? Greetings murat

@ronbradshaw7404

4 жыл бұрын

Salut!. Tu imagines un Stradivarius en plastique?............

@savcimurat2720

4 жыл бұрын

Stradivarius don't have speakers so this is not the answer i was looking for

Dynaudio is one of the best speaker manufacturers that pride themselves on making speakers with a very flat frequency response. The problem with speakers like that is you only listen to recordings that were done very well, which limits your listening enjoyment.

Best speaker I have ever heard are JBL B&W AR Ls 98 Legacy focus

I don’t think there is a technical reason so far as understanding this question correctly. Maybe but it’s only as far as semantical consideration. The reason some speakers sound great is because we like them, as much as cars or food. Sometimes I think it’s great to apply a technical reason to understanding but audiophile HiFi looses itself to a potential market by trying to analyse things to levels we can’t understand. If I can’t answer why do I like this food or car, then there is no point trying to answer it. I just don’t think it helps. In fact it hinders, makes audiophile HiFi exclusive. And we want to make HiFi non exclusive, not the other way around. As HiFi is music essentially. That’s my approach Paul, in any event.

Get your room acoustics right as well as set-up and most speakers these days will all sound good just different.

Is the Bookshelf speakers come a long way since the late 70's and early 80's . Ive Just bought a new 30amp Polk receiver and hooked my old cd,cassette player and photograph with a additional preamp which I had .Since my living room is 16x20 - will a high quality bookshelf speaker do my setup justice in sound quality .Trying not to buy those big bulky floor speakers , I had some big one's but had previously gave them too my son. Been looking at the Klipsch R-51 M bookshelf for my system . Any comments welcomed , a little puzzled with the change in specs through the years . Right now I'm using a pair of JVC old 60watt speaker bookshelf and they just don't have the thump that I want . Any recommendations would help . Don't want to break the bank for speaker , but I want a good sound -or better than what I have . Santa would bring me a pair early if I ask . MB in Arkansas

Had a pair of B&W CDM 7se years ago. Would never describe those as 'lean'. I liked them a lot with Rotel 981 or 991 power amps but also with some EL34 tube monoblocks. Those tube monoblocks where powerfull but extremely non-linear. If you play'd a tone sweep the tone would come and go, sometimes almost disappear. But man, they where able to hold your attention for hours, like magic. Never had the opportunity to hear some PS Audio speakers though.

@swinde

4 жыл бұрын

It was probably the speakers that caused the dip. Most Tube amplifiers are very flat from about 40 to 10,000 Hz. (Or better) True for solid state as well. The speakers might have a lower mid range to make the bass strong and the highs sparkle. To test the amp you need a quality tone generator with a Log sweep function and a triggered sweep oscilloscope.

@janvanrookhuijzen8309

4 жыл бұрын

@@swindenormally yes. But with the same speakers and a 300b tube amp or the Rotel amps the cdm7se's did not have these weird dips.

@swinde

4 жыл бұрын

@@janvanrookhuijzen8309 In that case, I do not have an answer, do you?

@janvanrookhuijzen8309

4 жыл бұрын

@@swinde not really, point is the cdm7se sounded beautiful and 'magic' with the el43 monoblocks even when those were probably the worst amps I ever had. When it comes to enjoining music there's more engineering to do than finding perfect flat.

New to audio and have been educating myself through your videos. This is a bit up off topic, however, maybe you can give me some quick general advice. I have these frequency options to adjust on my AVR; 63Hz 125Hz 250Hz 500Hz 1kHz 2kHz 4kHz 8kHz 16kHz Voices sound a bit thin/ harsh and lack depth. Can you recommend what I might try using these options?

Hi Paul. Please help me with this....should i run 10 atmos/surrounds off my emotiva basx500 ( 5 channel) in series or paralel? Power amp can do 4ohm loads. Thanks for your time

I miss diatone speaker its one of a kind and im trying to find others

How do we hear all of the components of the original sound out of a speaker EG a piano and a singer , when the original frequencies would have been integrated to a new frequency when originally produced?

I personally don't like lean sound neither do I like muddy sound. Having said that I would rather have rich sounding systems than one that sounds too thin. Most systems don't do vocals and treble very well. Majority of systems give you rich bass rich lower midrange, but fall shot when it comes to upper midrange and high frequencies, mostly sounding thin and disjointed. This problem mostly arises from poor designed speakers, which in my opinion is bout 90 percent of speakers, may be more.

@Tacet137

4 жыл бұрын

Powerfull tweeter and its motor helps a lot with that

@arkman8109

3 жыл бұрын

That's why I use my Altec horns on all my speakers.

hallo! wich mich are you using there? would like to buy this

Hey Paul, fellow Old Dude here. Remember the so called 'New England sound', e.g. KLH Model 5, versus the 'West Coast sound', e. g. JBL L100 (it's baaack!). Not to mention the BBC licensed monitors, e. g. LS3/5A et al. (they never really left, just mutated when KEF stopped manufacturing the original drivers).

@stephensmith3111

4 жыл бұрын

@Fat Rat Not a problem, my friend (with the communications; not the virus, big problem there). Both of you be well, be safe. And happy listening. :-)

@stephensmith3111

4 жыл бұрын

@Fat Rat Thanks for the info, much more than we get from American News. We sometimes get a little bit from BBC or DW, but ours tend to be too U.S.-centric. Fair amount about Hong Kong though. I'll have to find some Australian news feed.

@stephensmith3111

4 жыл бұрын

@Fat Rat Not at all, my friend, I rejoice in any and all success over this scourge, regardless of where. The truth shall set us free.

@stephensmith3111

4 жыл бұрын

@Fat Rat I just found the KZread feed for your ABC News. They were giving the weather. I need to remind myself that it's just past the winter solstice for you.

Nice explanation, but unfortunately it is much more complex. Especially the proportion between direct sound and reflected (diffuse) sound in a room plays an essential role that cannot be maintained within the whole frequency range.

Because the owner of said speakers also has a EQ.

When testing a set of speakers, what would be the most dynamic song that you could think of to test it with?

@jpatrickmoore5158

Жыл бұрын

It depends on what you mean by "dynamic." A digital recording of The 1812 Overture with canons would probably give you about as much dynamic range possible. If I want to audition speakers, two recordings that come to mind are, You Make Me So Very Happy," by Blood, Sweat and Tears, the Audiophile remix, and "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," by Crosby, Stills and Nash. Both have some excellent low frequency notes that don't come through on lower quality speakers, as well as some good high notes that will tax the high frequency response.

@TrollFalcon

Жыл бұрын

@@jpatrickmoore5158 that's precisely what I'm talking about. My favorite go to is DMT by Shpongle.

Paul you mentioned "Linn sound" or "leaned Sound" you don't like?

I prefer neutral sounding speakers and the ability to use DSP EQ to tailor the tonal balance to my preference. It’s unfortunately the best way in a world of buying speakers online without ability to run through actual listening tests prior to purchase. I miss when I could go through listening and comparing speakers at my favorite store. Well, but even at that time speakers would sound different in my own room acoustics and still having some EQ abilities could help.

@C--A

4 жыл бұрын

I personally avoid DSP EQ as its artificially changing the sound character, produces a artificial sound from the speakers.

@ThinkingBetter

4 жыл бұрын

@@C--A If you listen to music from a digital source and your DSP is in the digital signal path, there is no "artificial changing" besides exactly what your algorithms do. Thus, it all boils down to the math of your audio processing algorithms. Modern digital audio processing with sufficient sample rate and resolution can be done much more precisely than analog audio processing in fact. Of course if your source is vinyl, it's not great to use a DSP EQ as it will add both an ADC and DAC in the path. That's rather horrible. But if your music is digital, DSP EQs can be great and are here to stay. What DSP EQ made you get this opinion?

When you say mid-bass, what do you mean? 100Hz?

Ears. Great video :)

ధన్యవాదాలు!💐

@vamshhi5535

4 жыл бұрын

Ye vooru anna

I hear about your upcoming speakers a lot... any news when we can expect to be able to buy them? ;)

@jonnyk15

4 жыл бұрын

Fat Rat thanks, I hope so!

@jonnyk15

4 жыл бұрын

Fat Rat honestly no I’m actually looking forward to the final design of Sprout speakers

@jonnyk15

4 жыл бұрын

Fat Rat gonna be tough to beat those Buchardts.

What frequency range do you think of when you think of midbass?

@cary3428

4 жыл бұрын

SwirlingDragonMist I’ll say 80 to 100. But you and I both would like to know the range Paul’s referring to.

That’s problem with audiophile mindset brands . Do things overly ,mess it up , try something which doesn’t exist and we go after tuning , never ending story. Fat , chestier sounding speakers sacrifices Details and Dynamics . Will not suitable all types of music . It’s only good for old 70, 80, classics hits only . That’s way many people hate latest albums by thinking highly compressed. Sounds too much heavy bass and loud. If recordings has lean character we should able to hear lean or if it has thick sound, it should be thick .. Music should be musical and dynamic with possibly timbre accuracy.. that’s all we need .

like i always say it all depends on what you listen to, how you listen and what you want it your music to sound like. every manufacture has a different sound signature. Speakers and placement will make the biggest difference in your music. personally some of the more popular and lets say pretty speakers are voiced on the bright side which, imho gets old pretty fast. but like the saying goes 'theirs in ass for every seat'.

@StewartMarkley

4 жыл бұрын

I also like the saying, opinions are like assholes, everybody has one. 😁 You can always modify the voicing of a speaker with some equalization, as well as adjust for differences in tastes of the artist, recording engineer, producer and mixing engineer and yourself, some hearing deficiencies, music genres, some room response anomalies, etc. A little EQ can be a good thing.

@gtric1466

4 жыл бұрын

@@StewartMarkley i agree to a point. i have had several EQ's / DSP's thru the years and was able to attenuate the sound to a certain degree without adding lots of filters, which takes experience to get right but i always had speakers that were voiced to my liking. eq wont change the voicing it will always be there, look at what Auduessy and Ypao does the eq. is all over the place. i understand Dirac works well but haven't had the opportunity. The point of the topic is to educate the newbies that have the impression they can just buy the coolest looking or popular brand speakers and they will be happy especially if on a fixed budget. i'm sure you've been on ebay and see how many of them are for sale. we want them to understand depending on there listening environment, how and what they listen to and placement options as well, that there buying something that will encourage them and they will enjoy. Shawn from Zero Fidelity gives an honest educated review but yeah you always need to hear them with an open mind.and possibly a touch of manual eq of course...

@StewartMarkley

4 жыл бұрын

@@gtric1466 Voicing is the application of equalization via driver parameter alteration or crossover filtering. It will be present of course but can be nullified or adjusted to your liking via crossover modification or external equalization. Then there are all of the other uses of EQ that I mentioned. EQ has a bad reputation but the judicious and proper use of it can often get you where you want to go with sound, which is why it's widely used in the production of recorded music.

Is this why people always say it takes a few hundred hours to bed speakers in? So that whatever they are made from 'settles' in?

........because they are made by *Bowers & Wilkins* , of course!

which wire connects are Ya using ?

A lean speaker might sound better than a "robust" one in a bad room, or with an aggressive amp.

I enjoy comparing speakers frequency response against my own hearing. There are some that work better with my deficiencies at around electric guitar frequencies LOL

Room acoustics tend to provide more colouration than speakers. Mid base is not there to to make everybody sound chesty. It is there to make the bang bang bang of rock music sound louder.

@swinde

4 жыл бұрын

Room acoustics are a totally separate issue. We have to start with the most accurate speakers.

Then why not studio monitors?

What speakers would you recommend for your product

@swinde

4 жыл бұрын

@Lloyd Stout If the speakers and amp are accurate, it should not matter what music or sound is played. Room size and effects are actually a separate issue.

Only talk about frequency response differences? Nothing about speaker setup, room effects, dispersion aka directivity, transient response, spectral decay, imaging and soundstage, cabinet resonances? True there is only so much that Paul can address in a short video, but there are so many other things that can make huge differences in the sound one hears from speakers that should at least have had a quick mention. Equalization can mitigate frequency response differences but differences in dispersion, transient response, spectral decay, imaging, cabinet resonances, etc. are not customizable like frequency response is so they are the ones to focus on when deciding on a speaker. These are not generally specified in manufacturers specifications and would not be understood by consumers and most audiophiles anyway as the optimal and audible thresholds are not well understood. So judging the sound of speakers should focus more on qualities other than tonal balance knowing that the tonal balance can be modified by speaker and listening position setup, room variations, and equalization. The other aspects are fixed and unmodifiable so they deserve the greatest scrutiny when assessing speaker quality.

Dear Paul, if the impact on tonality by speakers is much bigger then that of electronics - and it surely is! - then it is in speakers that one should invest their budget. How about spending 80% or more of the budget on top-speakers, and little on electronics and cables? To press the point: Why did and does PS Audio focus on top-notch electronics? You sell the Sprout with Elac B6.2. That is somehwere around 30% speakers, 70% electronics. But a proper BHK set would be somewhere north of $10.000. A set of matching speakers would be above $40.000 then...

@kirarittberg5088

4 жыл бұрын

Good point. I have always thought of the speakers as the heart of the system and should be the bulk of the budget. It seems that the trend these days has been moving towards expensive electronics and medium priced speakers. I don't think this gives the best bang for the buck when any decent amp can sound excellent with great speakers. The argument that sound quality and cost do not fully correlate is very true for speakers, but good speakers will usually be expensive. Highly efficient speakers will save money on amps, so I have always gone that route.

Is Paul sitting on an underground studio?

I have 25 yr old mission speakers, on a cupboard in my kitchen, that sound as good as my new B,W floor standers in my main room, if I'm cooking I switch them on in kitchen, I've come to the conclusion, that I will never be happy,with my system.