Why do good speakers make it sound like it was live!!!!!!!!!

[bob123]

If good speakers make it sound like you were there at the concert or somthing then good speakers are PA systems as all concets have PA systems playing into the crowd.
As it is a well know fact that most PA speakers are very poor quality and are just built to withstand punishment why dod people insist on saying this????????????

[sqlkev]

I actually don't prefer the concert sound.
Love to hear the sound of instruments non amped though.

[ruerose]

"sounding live" has a LOT to do with how it was recorded, of which most popular music is close-mic'd if mic'd at all.
Classical recordings are generally mic'd with only a couple microphones wherever practical.

Most "live" instruments in the classical sense are not amplified, and are not in the same class as say, a marshall stack or a synthesizer.

A "live sounding" speaker is one which generally plays back EXACTLY what the source material has recorded, without "flavoring" or "smearing" the recorded sound. Hence, if you play a direct-to-tape recording of a small ensemble stereo mic'd from front-center of a amphitheater, it "should" sound exactly as if you were seated where the mic's were. Conversly if you listen to a Brian Eno recording, it will not sound "live" in the sense, but would sound exactly as what was recorded to tape.

"How the artist heard it" in the studio is a long tangent of it's own I'll just leave be.

[ruerose]

Addition:

PA speakers are designed to be loud and take abuse, good sound quality is rather subjective and expensive to attain at concert-SPL levels.


Loud-Accurate-Cheap (pick two)

[badman]

Originally posted by bob123
As it is a well know fact that most PA speakers are very poor quality and are just built to withstand punishment why dod people insist on saying this????????????

Let me preface this by saying: I read and will use "PA" as "Professional Audio" here.

A well known fact? Pshaw. Many of the better drivers around are designed for PA use. Why? Because PA is a highly competitive market, with large budgets and production runs, and there's far less voodoo than in hifi. Cheap is cheap, if it's PA or hifi, but once you get away from the low-end stuff, the PA drivers start to become very attractive: High efficiencies, reliability, features that have nothing to do with cosmetics and are all about performance. Check out the Eminence Magnum HO style woofers. They're serious performance driven PA drivers. And they're far from alone- JBL, B&C, even Yamaha have some very impressive drivers.

They're not few and far between, but there is more convergence of the designs due to the criteria of PA use. I'd say that most PA drivers of a price are competitive (or better than) with home audio style drivers of equivalent price in terms of absolute quality. They just represent a different set of compromises.

I use a PA-style midrange in my rig, and love it to death. I'm also going to be boxing up a pair of Eminence Magnum 15HOs (probably 100L sealed or thereabouts) at some point this summer. I've had them in their boxes for over a year already, and kick myself about it weekly. Some people might argue that they roll off far too soon in this application, but consider room gain, and all of a sudden the slow rolloff that starts up high doesn't seem so scary.

And oh yeah, one more thing: Edgarhorns use PA style drivers and they're amazing.

[Tenson]

I think that term really stems from people who listen to classical or un-amplified acoustic music.

At any rate, Badman is right (I hope!). I am going to be building some speakers soon probably using a Magnum 12HO for midrange/bass. Most PA systems you hear are not using such good drivers, only the very top ones do. Also they will be pushing the drivers FAR harder than you or I would. At the domestic SPL levels they will be very very clean. Just look at SERIOUS studio monitors. They use these kind of drivers. Westlake anyone?

Still I will know for sure when I build them and hear them in my own home and system.

[ShinOBIWAN]

I think PA or professional audio as someone else pointed out can also encompass the studio side of equipment.

The very best speakers on the planet aren't pretentious hifi but studio monitors. A few companies tread the line well between both but even then they feel the need to have two seperate product entities, normally denoted by 'domestic' and 'professional'. And this proves a point, however what that point is depends upon your perspective. I know what I think.

[DaveM]

Another case in point for high end PA drivers is PHL. Ask Andre at E-speakers. He got the contract for sound at the Turin Olympics, and did it all with PHL's. They were designed for high SPL, accurate, not cheap sound enforcement. All I can say as I sit here listening to PHL 1240's with a Raven 2, that they are a no comprimise top shelf driver.

DaveM

[ScottG]

Originally posted by ShinOBIWAN
And this proves a point, however what that point is depends upon your perspective.

Uh-Oh.. Looks like someone is D A N G E R O U S L Y close to "having their way" with my signiture line!

[ShinOBIWAN]

Originally posted by ScottG


Uh-Oh.. Looks like someone is D A N G E R O U S L Y close to "having their way" with my signiture line!

Everybody gotta believe in something, right? Even if its wrong