[LonerGenius]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bifcake /img/forum/go_quote.gif In no particular order: Revel Salon Ultima JM Lab Utopia JM Lab Grande Utopia Berrylium Top of the line Genesis (forget the model number) Grado prototype Kimber prototype

Top Genesis is the "Genesis 1.1" model and that particular pair is a planned purchase for me when I can "go big".

Also love the B&W lineup.

 

[F107plus5]

It may be the receiver I'm currently using to drive my phones, but my speakers still sound more "real" to me than any of my cans.

I don't get the great 3D imaging in stereo mode that I got with my speakers in my old house with good acoustics(that's why I'm here. My new house sucks!)but even at that; my speakers sound appreciatively better than my phones in the surround mode with all the speakers engaged and the sub turned on.

I hear more details with the phones and they are easier to pinpoint the instruments which is jolly fun since I really like to dissassemble the music, but for realism, the speakers ARE more realistic. Voices are clearer and pianos are pianos in my living room. I'm not a basshead, but having a good sealed musical sub adds a lot of impact(no surprise there)and just adds to the feeling of actually being there. And for the right music, mostly bigger classical or bigger groups, it is a lot like being there.

...yeah, I crank it a lot higher for speakers to get that realistic feeling than I ever would with cans, but the time I have available to use the speakers all to myself is rather limited!

I can get the small group 3D imaging and details back if I move my listening chair to the sweet spot and plop a few pillows in strategic locations around the room and listen near-field in stereo mode with the speakers moved to a better location, but I can't do that on a daily basis.

That's why I'm here.

The source I'm using and the receiver and cables I'm using are the same source and receiver I was using for my speaker system in the old house, so I know the source can deliver. The headphone jack output circuit of the receiver may not be as good as the cans require however. So the jury is still out till I get a new amp.

EDIT:....I have Axiom speakers. With floorstanders for mains and matching bookshelves for center and surrounds, and a 12"sub with 275 watt amp.

 

[TheVinylRipper]

To my ears, room/speaker interaction is more important than the speakers themselves beyond a certain point in quality.

At one time I had a "live end dead end" setup with a large bookshelf as the live end and heavy drapes as the dead end. The imaging and presence improvement was truly remarkable. With spot treatments on the side walls you can reduce early reflections which further improves imaging and soundstage.

LEDE is how just about all high quality modern studios are set up these days and they wouldn't do that if it made no contribution to SQ.

One more point, almost all music recorded today is recorded to be played back over speakers and not headphones.

 

[Eagleboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheVinylRipper /img/forum/go_quote.gif One more point, almost all music recorded today is recorded to be played back over speakers and not headphones.

I'm going to have to beg to differ with you on that one.

Do you see everybody and their crappy iPod earbuds? Audio technicians DO consider crappy earbuds, decent headphones, etc. in the final product. They also consider car audio, crappy bookshelf audio systems, and some nicer stereo systems in addition to their pro setup. I know several pro audio technicians, and they will take their mix to their car, rip it to an iPod with the stock earbuds, etc. to make sure everything's sound in those environments. Mix it to sound good on what people are going to be listening to it on, no?



Anyway, I've been through a couple setups, and right now I'm very happy. I'm running surround with a Denon 7.1 receiver (I forget which model at the moment... not at home), then plugging in Polk LSi7 bookshelfs and Polk LSi7 center channel, and for the rear I'm running Polk RTi4 speakers. I've got some decent Yamaha sub as well, but that really only gets used for movies. I've been very happy with that setup, and listen to music on that about half the time.

 

[ericj]

After 15 years and $diety knows how many pairs of cans, I've got no plans to replace my ADS L810 speakers. Which date back to 1977.

 

[TheVinylRipper]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagleboy /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm going to have to beg to differ with you on that one. Do you see everybody and their crappy iPod earbuds? Audio technicians DO consider crappy earbuds, decent headphones, etc. in the final product. They also consider car audio, crappy bookshelf audio systems, and some nicer stereo systems in addition to their pro setup. I know several pro audio technicians, and they will take their mix to their car, rip it to an iPod with the stock earbuds, etc. to make sure everything's sound in those environments. Mix it to sound good on what people are going to be listening to it on, no?

It simply isn't possible to make a mix that will sound good in all situations on all reproduction systems.

You mentioned the car, a car at rest with the engine off is a far different listening environment than is a car at cruising speed. A mix which sounds great in the car at rest may well have the quiet passages totally inaudible when the car is at cruising speed.

Someone mentioned in the music forum that they were unhappy with Californication due to clipping. I have the CD and took a look at the waveform just out of curiosity. It is incredibly clipped, not just the tops of a few peaks clipped off, I'm talking half the waveform clipped in some cases..

Here is an example and it is not the worst I found by far, just the first obvious one I could find in a couple of minutes of looking.

You can't tell me that the recording engineer on that tune was paying any attention to the way it sounded..

 

[tom hankins]

My Thiel CS7.2s....R10s with bass

 

[FayeForever]

Thiel 2.4, I love the lively and vivid sound, but not my cup of tea, just close.

 

[vilg]

Perfection One by Neeper Acoustics. Beauty combined with phenomenal sound. I wish I had a headphone that sounds as good as these. A crappy picture taken with a video camera of the setup I listen to: Here

 

[James63]

IMO any good speaker set-up will blow headphones out of the water.

I tend to like B&W and Focal JMlab speakers the best.

 

[DobsOnly]

Quote:

Originally Posted by smokey /img/forum/go_quote.gif The one set of speakers that I have owned that really did it for me was the original 15ohm Rogers LS3/5As. I know the frequency response curve wasn't as flat as folks would have liked, but did they ever image. Even if it was artificially done in the studio from multi-mono tracks, you could still tell exactly what the engineer wanted you to hear. You could tell that the drum kit was three steps behind the lead guitarist, the bassist was twelve steps to the left of that, etc, etc. Voices sounded like real voices, and acoustic guitars sounded real. What they didn't do was anything like low bass, but there were always experiments with woofers and sub-woofers for that. Today, if I had the space and money I'd snatch a set of Avantgarde Duos in a hurry. From what I've heard, little else makes music come alive like these can, with the right equipment and recordings. FWIW

Well put!
I love my Rogers LS3/5A's and LB1, when properly driven with a decent source they are incredible. After many years people are still blown away by their imaging, depth, airiness and positioning. Close your eyes and you swear they are setting in the room with you playing. The only issue with them is they are very critical as far as placement and spacing. With all that said, I have on several occasions heard details or nuances in my HD600's that I hadn't notice or were less pronounced in my Rogers. So they both have their strengths and weaknesses

 

[jwilldermood]

I have loved my Paradigm Studio 100s v2 for about five years now. For the money they are amazing. I have heard the Martin Logan Prodigy a couple of times and they are just beautiful. I have to say that I enjoy speakers far better but I use headphones more out of necessity.

 

[Eagleboy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheVinylRipper /img/forum/go_quote.gif It simply isn't possible to make a mix that will sound good in all situations on all reproduction systems. ... You can't tell me that the recording engineer on that tune was paying any attention to the way it sounded..

I thought it was a well known fact that whoever mixed Californication was a bumbling moron?

And also, I said that good technicians will *consider* other systems, locations, etc. and will tweak accordingly. You're right - it is impossible to make something sound good on all systems, but I'm not saying that they do that. If a mix sounds great on their $50k monitor system in the studio but then a critical detail falls behind on the ipod/stock earbud combo, they will likely pull it out a tad as that's what the majority of people listen to music with. Not saying that they'll mix an entire album using the ipod/earbud and then make sure it sounds good on all crappy systems, simply that they will take it into consideration.

 

[digger945]

All I have now are Event TR-8 monitors. These have no color at all but have an awesome soundstage and depth, if you take the time to set them up properly.
I would like to hear some Adams next.

 

[SteveM324]

I'll take my Thiel CS6 over the R10 or any other headphone anyday. I also used to own Vandersteens (mine were the 2Ce) and I agree that they are the Sennheiser of loudspeakers.