To quote some guy on You Tube, “the only person who needs to like the sound of your system is you”
Now, if you can make a sufficient living talking about mountains of gear the average guy might never be in a position to have manufacturers lend them for an extensive appraisal periods that you can actually afford some of them, well, that sounds like a dream job to me.
Now, if you can make a sufficient living talking about mountains of gear the average guy might never be in a position to have manufacturers lend them for an extensive appraisal periods that you can actually afford some of them, well, that sounds like a dream job to me.
I've always thought of listening to music like looking at artwork. What might sound horrible to one person might sound great to another. I read some people trashing something someone else likes and I have to scratch my head. I know a lot of multiway people will pick full-range single driver speakers to to pieces. Science/physics is good and valid for certain objective issues, but someone's enjoyment of sound is far from objective. In my opinion, if someone enjoys a ten dollar amplified speaker, I'm happy for them. My hearing is not what it used to be, so what sounds good to me is probably going to be different than someone 50 years my junior. No big deal. Music is meant to enjoy by the individual. I like to leave it at that.
Sometimes I feel bad for new people asking for help. They get inundated with ways to make their speakers be "perfect." That's good, but that's overwhelming to the point some folks just give up on DIY and go buy the speaker system rather than building it. I hesitate to ask what might be simple questions. Sometimes I'll just go with my gut and take it from there.
Sometimes I feel bad for new people asking for help. They get inundated with ways to make their speakers be "perfect." That's good, but that's overwhelming to the point some folks just give up on DIY and go buy the speaker system rather than building it. I hesitate to ask what might be simple questions. Sometimes I'll just go with my gut and take it from there.
The original is always the same so what's normal to one is normal to another.
Not necessarily, or at least there should be constraints. Multi-way is full of it's own challenges, met with varying degrees of success.
AllenB,
I'm not sure I'm following you. "The original is always the same so what's normal to one is normal to another." Can you expound on this?
Thanks,
Mike
I'm not sure I'm following you. "The original is always the same so what's normal to one is normal to another." Can you expound on this?
Thanks,
Mike
I certainly notice a difference if I pull out my Oticon digital hearing aids. I’ll be 73 in just over 2 weeks, and have a fair amount HF loss beyond just age related deterioration - but likely not as bad as some. Perhaps that’s why I’ve long preferred the MA metals over their paper coned sibling in most size classes I’ve heard.
I certainly notice a difference if I pull out my Oticon digital hearing aids. I’ll be 73 in just over 2 weeks, and have a fair amount HF loss beyond just age related deterioration - but likely not as bad as some. Perhaps that’s why I’ve long preferred the MA metals over their paper coned sibling in most size classes I’ve heard.
Same here Chris, about the Oticons. I have a pair that offer a little wider frequency band for people who like to listen to music and I've thought the same: does my hearing loss effect my preference in speakers.
Same here Chris, about the Oticons. I have a pair that offer a little wider frequency band for people who like to listen to music and I've thought the same: does my hearing loss effect my preference in speakers.
I also have hearing loss at age mid fifties but two db too much in the highs can drive me nuts on the long run.
Exactly raising too much 20khz on a digi EQ (Behringer DEQ2496) is clearly audible for me as annoying sound, too, and putting it down again.
Exactly raising too much 20khz on a digi EQ (Behringer DEQ2496) is clearly audible for me as annoying sound, too, and putting it down again.
ASR is about objective technical perfection, and most of the members are freaks on that. The question is more do you need that to enjoy music. And the answer is personal and subjective by definition. Some of the members on that site don't get that (i'm an active member on ASR btw).
But it's true that fullrange drivers have deficits in dispertion and distortion and you should know about that. That does not mean you can't enjoy them. I do enjoy mine a lot, even knowing the limits and deficits of those. And it's very true that the goal of speakers is to enjoy music, not perfect graphs and measurements. So whatever floats your boat is good. Just don't claim magic technical perfection when it's not.
But it's true that fullrange drivers have deficits in dispertion and distortion and you should know about that. That does not mean you can't enjoy them. I do enjoy mine a lot, even knowing the limits and deficits of those. And it's very true that the goal of speakers is to enjoy music, not perfect graphs and measurements. So whatever floats your boat is good. Just don't claim magic technical perfection when it's not.
Which is kind of ironic.. since when I first realised that I liked what a fullrange driver had to offer, it was because of the dispersion.. and compared to many speakers they triggered less diffraction at critical frequencies. They can have a smoother DI through the midrange, and a higher DI through the treble than a dome tweeter which can lead to room placement benefits and improvements in clarity.
So funny…is this turning into a “If they hear it…they will come.” thread?
Full/Wide range speakers are the perfect solution for people like me that don’t have the knowledge, inclination or patience to take on the complexity of building a multi-way speaker once they have read about how complicated it is 😉
I’m getting older (58). I worked in shops a good portion of my life (loud and noisy). I have scarring on one of my eardrums from infections when I was a kid. I have tinitus….blah blah blah.
At least I can still sit down and enjoy music…and for some bizarre reason, I seem to enjoy it more in front of full/wide range speakers 🤷♂️
Doesn’t matter if they are on open baffles, in back horns or in front horns…I keep going back to them.
I am stubborn enough though that I keep trying to find something else I like as much or better.
Full/Wide range speakers are the perfect solution for people like me that don’t have the knowledge, inclination or patience to take on the complexity of building a multi-way speaker once they have read about how complicated it is 😉
I’m getting older (58). I worked in shops a good portion of my life (loud and noisy). I have scarring on one of my eardrums from infections when I was a kid. I have tinitus….blah blah blah.
At least I can still sit down and enjoy music…and for some bizarre reason, I seem to enjoy it more in front of full/wide range speakers 🤷♂️
Doesn’t matter if they are on open baffles, in back horns or in front horns…I keep going back to them.
I am stubborn enough though that I keep trying to find something else I like as much or better.
I think this deserves it's own thread. I'm dreading losing my hearing which by all accounts and genetics will happen soon, my wife thinks it happened 30 years ago🤣. I would like to be armed with good information when I go into the audiologist and want damm good hearing aids for listening to music. Maybe by then they will have an intracranial interface and I'll hear better than ever.
Funny, that is precisely the reason I do.
Now TBH, I am tone controlling not EQing, and yes I often have to do it more with FR drivers.
If one were truly happy with what they were using to listen to music, they wouldn't come to a diy audio forum, and they wouldn't display a bit of insecurity by mocking users of another forum.
I could begin by saying that the first task of the electrical crossover is to manage the speaker, even while ignoring the effect of the room.
To answer a little more directly, if the speaker sounded different to reality it might sound out of place. Imagine swapping between childhood and the present at the touch of a button..
However the real answer is that I EQ to what I feel is natural.. whatever that means. I do tend to reduce the treble, but then that's to be expected the closer to constant directivity than constant response that you go. Perhaps Cal and I are not so far from being on the same page..?
I can relate to the speaker sounding out of place. I have a friend who was an artilleryman and consequently is quite deaf in the upper range. He adjusts his loudspeakers so that it sounds good to him. I don't think he can hear anything otherwise. It's just awful to me, nails on a chalkboard, and yes it's very much out of place. Like a house with 500W light bulbs in it.
"Imagine swapping between childhood and the present at the touch of a button" I'm retired now so there really isn't much difference.😁
"Imagine swapping between childhood and the present at the touch of a button" I'm retired now so there really isn't much difference.😁
