Site Meter Home Theaters » Blog Archive » Getting Ready to Choose Speakers

Getting Ready to Choose Speakers

by marc klink

A very long time ago, in this very galaxy, on this very planet, a column of advice on audio equipment was written. It was written by Harry Pearson, then the editor of The Absolute Sound. For those not aware, The Absolute Sound is perhaps the most advanced audio magazine ever made available on the planet.

The reason for this advanced status is that the people involved with the magazine put forth every effort to be honest, fair, and, when biased, tell you what their biases were. They also had the audacity to judge equipment not against other equipment, but against the ABSOLUTE reference - live music.

There is no better advice than what was given in that column for choosing any audio device in your system. When choosing, compare the output to actual musical performance. Listen for the sound balance, listen for timbre of instruments, and listen to things that are not already changed by electronics.

It is impossible to compare one electric guitar to another objectively in regards to sound. There are so many things in the chain to reproduction that it would become impossible to make a valid comparison, or ferret out the differences mentally. So it is with anything amplified.

Listen to live unamplified music. Listen to the weight of the bass, the feel of any drums, the bite of the brass, the gentle trill of a flute or piccolo.

Then listen to the same type of music using several different speakers. Always use the same electronics. There are differences in electronics, but they tend to be much smaller than those in the last part of the chain. Remember that accuracy is what should be the goal, not excitement or exaggeration. Excitement or exaggeration soon produces listening fatigue, which is not something you want after paying for something intended to last for quite some time.

Happy listening. You might find that what you need is actually less money than what you thought you wanted.  


Posted in General on July 28th, 2007

Link to this Entry

Recent Posts

Related Posts

One Response to “Getting Ready to Choose Speakers”

  1. Tommy Says:
    July 30th, 2007 at 7:36 am

    Thanks, that was a very sound advice. ;)

    Never thought about it but it is of course logical… ;)

Leave a Reply


About Home Theaters

With the new and intermediate home theatrician in mind, Talking Home Theaters takes you on a tour of what's hot, what's affordable and what's not. If you've ever been envious of the endless home entertainment options available or are looking to build your first home theater without eliminating your children's education funds, you've come to the right place. We focus on scouring the internet for excellent entry-level ideas, incredible deals for newbies and home theater tips and tricks, so you don't have to.

Home Theaters Author(s)
    » marc-klink

NAVIGATE

LINKS

CATEGORIES

TOP COMMENTERS

RECENT COMMENTS

SUBSCRIBE

ARCHIVES

Technology Channel Posts

  • What Has Happened to Audio?
    Part of the answer to that question is readily apparent to anyone who is reading this column on a regular basis. The population has become enamored of the ‘total experience’ of the home theater. [...]
  • And We’re Back!
    Hi everyone! Phew! We are back in action (as you can see). Did you miss me? I missed you! Group hug! Too much? Okay. I’ll behave. I am very glad to be back in action and posting here on [...]
  • Sometimes Old Is New (to You)
    While looking for something else, I came upon an older article about a copy of a well respected subwoofer by Hsu Research. The project is very straightforward, using sound building techniques, and [...]
  • Technical Difficulties
    Hello everyone. As you likely already know, many of the sites on the 451press network are down and have been down for some time (what seems like forever!). I would like to apologize on behalf [...]
  • ATi Brings Back A Winner
    For the last couple of years, there has been a huge hole in the video card market. It was 2006 when the last ATi All-in-Wonder was produced, and nVidia had discontinued their similar offering before [...]
  • The Search for Truth… (continued)
    On the other side are aligned a much smaller number of scientists, some dedicated amateurs, very little money (the grants get taken away as soon as it’s clear the research is leading away from AGW) [...]
  • Introduction to Forums – A Warning
    While getting on to a forum and posting (especially for the first time) can be a lot of fun and exhilarating, there is a sobering note that comes along with joining forums (and with communicating [...]
  • Home Theater On The Cheap Rides Again
    Now and then, a choice comes up which makes sense right away, yet allows expansion capability and growth potential. It is not often that a Home Theater in a Box will be acceptable to any serious [...]
  • The Search for Truth…
    In Using the Net and Finding the Truth I used the search for information about Anthropogenetic Global Warming (AGW – Human-caused Global Warming) to talk about Internet use. Here is an example [...]
  • From Time Window to Time Portal
    DCM Time Windows were one of the speakers that defined the ‘cheapskate’ high end of the late ‘70s. Looking at the speaker was anything but awe inspiring. It was a small two-way tower, with [...]

 

Hot Off The Press

  • Reaction Post: Doctor Who 4.13 - Journey's End
    The is the for the final episode of series four - . Before I finish this write up, I'll probably have to go watch it again. This may explain why this post was a bit delayed. Before you ask, [...]
  • Bones without Booth?
    Bones without Booth? What kind of show would that be? Well, that's the show we almost got, if it hadn't been for the chemistry between Emily Deschanel and David Boreanaz. Turns out that originally, [...]
  • Give Your Eyes This Do-It-Yourself Spa Treatment
    Your eyes work nonstop for you. They help you admire everything from movie trailers to Monet. Now it’s payback time. Thank your eyes for all they do by following the three peeper-protecting [...]
  • Love Question Ten
    Happy Sunday! Or something like that, right? It’s the end of a long weekend. I hope you all had fun. Here is the other Love Question from Short Sweet Love Poems that I missed while my site was [...]
  • The beginning of the end of Prohibition drink testing
    Today, I got drunk. The rest of the committee got more or less drunk, depending on how many were driving and whether they had to pick up children after the meeting. In fact, only two of us made [...]
  • Comments from the testing table
    Continuing from the last post.... These are not the carefully annotated thoughts on balances of flavour and etc: they're the funny stuff. They would have been even funnier if I had worked [...]
  • Name-calling and drinks menu
    At last, the end is near… We tasted twelve drinks. I have to remind myself of this because it all seems rather fuzzy now. After all, I have been home five hours. All of the drinks [...]
  • Garden Art Fair, more than 40 Midwest artists d...
    More than 40 Midwest artists displaying and selling garden- and nature-inspired art for home and garden, through 4 p.m., live music, food available for purchasefree for all guests 294-2710 [...]
  • Will someone call 911 for Mark Ronson?!
    With a blog like Celebrity Fashion Watch, posts that feature mostly women celebs are something that goes without saying. I guess it’s a given that women are more fashion freaks than men. [...]
  • Kim Kardashian makes a statement
    While her frienemy, Paris Hilton will grab every opportunity to be talked about and seen in public, it seems like Kim Kardashian has gotten herself too much exposure already. Yep, [...]