what Makes A Speaker "Good"? (Moved From White Van Syndrome)

[Steve Eddy]

Originally posted by cowanrg
its sad that so many people have NO idea what good audio sounds like.

Good audio sounds like whatever sounds good to any particular individual. Why feel sad for them? They're satisfied with their purchase and are obviously getting an immense amount of pleasure listening to music with them.

Who should we REALLY feel sad for? The happy white van purchaser who's kickin' back groovin' to some tunes with a big grin on their face or the "audiophile" who's never really satisfied with anything for any length of time and who spends more time fretting, tweaking and upgrading their gear than listening to music purely for the sake of music?

I wish I were an animator. I'd love to do a little vignette with the "audiophile" as Sisyphus, struggling, straining and agonizing trying to push his rock of an audio system to the top of the hill of Sonic Bliss.

After a moment the non-audiophile struts by with nothing but a cheap boom box, so wholly immersed in the music that he's totally oblivious to the Sisyphusian audiophile and just as happy as he could ever be.

So again, who should we REALLY feel sad for?

se

[cowanrg]

its very intersting to me why they chose speakers as a product? they probably looked at the company called bose, and realized if they can legitimately sell crap and have people LOVE it, then there has to be a future for them.

truth is, most people have NO idea what good speakers sound like.

ON-topic, there is nothing worth using in those things. i have a friend who is a repairguy for audio, and he gets them brought into his shop quite often, and he says there is really nothing you can do except replace the crossover, drivers, and cabinet. everything about them is bad.

[Steve Eddy]

Originally posted by cowanrg
truth is, most people have NO idea what good speakers sound like.

But what exactly constitutes a "good speaker"? What if a speaker sounds good to you, but doesn't sound so good to someone else? Does that make it a "good speaker"? By the same token, what if a speaker sounds good to someone else, but doesn't sound so good to you? Would that be a "good speaker" or a "bad speaker"?

se

[fdegrove]

Hi,

But what exactly constitutes a "good speaker"?

A Bose speaker obviously...they must be the best speaker and just like Adolf's Volkswagen they suit everyone's taste.

Good post isn't it?

Didn't think so...

[cowanrg]

what i said was pretty clear and IMO should not have any confusion.

bose is not what a GOOD speaker sounds like. a good speaker is something that is able to properly reproduce what signal its getting. some speakers do this, others dont. there is a large difference between a speaker making sound, and one reproducing reality. IMO, bose simply turns the music into a sound, not really even trying to make it sound like the original.

there is taste to be applied in these assessments of what a speaker does, but i think to some degree, we could discount some things as "good" speakers (piezo buzzers, etc..) whereas they may produce sound indicative of the source, it is not a recreation of it, but merely a false representation of it.

[Timn8ter]

Steve's not suggesting we go out and buy speakers from a van, necessarily. Remember how excited everyone got when it was discovered that the RS 40-1197 is actually a Fostex FE-103 in a stamped basket? What if this is one of those things? If somebody has a pair of these and they don't mind ripping into them, then let's find out what exactly they are. Steve could be right. With a little tweaking they might be great.

Steve,
At first I couldn't believe what I was reading after all that nonsense on that e-whatever forum. I like the way you think.

[cowanrg]

and what im saying is that i have ripped into them, our store did an article for a local newspaper, as well as a friend who had contributed his experience (he repairs speakers). they really are worthless.

it would be cool if you could just brace them up, put in a nice crossover, etc.. but it wouldnt be worth it.

[sam9]

At the age of 14 I bought a "Swiss" watch from some guy in Frankfurt who claimed he was willing to sell it cheap because he had an "emergency" and needed the cash for train fare to Hamburg. I was embarrased afterward because I though I had taken unfare advantage of him. My dad explained what had really happened and told me to cheer up as it was cheap education.

Maybe that guy moved on from watches to speakers.

[Steve Eddy]

Originally posted by cowanrg
what i said was pretty clear and IMO should not have any confusion.

Without any qualifications as to what constitutes a "good speaker" I found it rather ambiguous.

a good speaker is something that is able to properly reproduce what signal its getting.

Ok. That's one definition. But what if the one listening to such a speaker doesn't particularly like it? Does that mean it's a bad speaker or a bad listener?

there is taste to be applied in these assessments of what a speaker does, but i think to some degree, we could discount some things as "good" speakers (piezo buzzers, etc..) whereas they may produce sound indicative of the source, it is not a recreation of it, but merely a false representation of it.

But it's ALL a false representation. Purely an illusion.

se

[Steve Eddy]

Originally posted by Timn8ter
Steve's not suggesting we go out and buy speakers from a van, necessarily.

Nope. Wasn't suggesting that at all. Just saying that if someone buys a pair and enjoys listening to them, they're a "good speaker." Basically I'm just saying that "good speaker" is ultimately in the ear of the beholder. At least the only "good speaker" that has any particular meaning to the listener. All the objective specs and measurements are for naught if the listener doesn't enjoy the results.

Steve,
At first I couldn't believe what I was reading after all that nonsense on that e-whatever forum. I like the way you think.

Thank you for the kind words. Though I'm afraid you lost me on the "e-whatever forum" reference.

se