My mom wanted speakers for her stereo (had to be 40+ years ago) so she went to the local Sears or Montgomery Wards and bought 2 speakers out of the scratch and dent room. One was a Pioneer and the other was a Sansui. They looked alike (somewhat) so they came home. When I saw them (in my early teens) I was like....omg what did she do... but I hooked them up to the floor console stereo so mom could finally once again listen to Perry, Engelbert and Elvis. The sound was shockingly good. Not to mention that they out lasted 3 boy teenagers through the late 70's and early 80's. All I can say is don't judge a book by it's cover.
In my opinion pioneer had best engineers in their speaker division. They had really good concepts. In Poland we had purchased their licence of production in70 ties and if our producer later would not simplify it in horrible way it could be an audio heaven for many . Unfortunately only original japan signed types with many layers were so good Today I am still happy to use original ones in my special system . I made for myself in 90 ties also speakers with Panasonic carbon drivers and they were in some way unbeatable too,.
I know lots of audiophile speakers that are nothing more than a couple of pairs of 30 year old drivers purchased on ebay mounted in a piece of unfinished baltic birch ply. Generally sound amazing and are doubly satisfying because they were sub $1k. Now the baltic birch is likely 1" thick and there is an active crossover and multiple amps and a good sub, but the speakers will rival lots of audiophool brands in sound quality. In my case 1.5" thick Black American Walnut butcher block. That drove up the cost but they look great and have zero cabinet resonance.
@ps audio Paul, thank you so much for answering my question. It's probably the best explanation towards a better understanding that I've heard on the matter. Love the channel, love you man!
I have Wharfdale W60D speakers I bought in 1968 and I haven't heard anything since which sounds any better. They are very efficient needing only 8 watts minimum with a maximum of 30 watts. 20-20K response + or - 2 DB. Back in 1968, they cost over a week's pay ($80 each). They are built into solid walnut cabinets and there is absolutely no resonance whatsoever. They contain a 3" tweeter, a 6" midrange, and a 12" woofer. By the way, they weigh 50 pounds each.
I've been focusing on setup/tweaks and the like for a few years now, and it is quite enlightening how much damage those types of things cause if not handled. One can go very far sound quality wise with very modest gear and great setup/tweaks/vibration absorption/room acoustics. It's like learning to ride a small displacement motorcycle fast, then when you get a big displacement bike you have the skills to get the most out of it, but if you learn on a big displacement bike you tend to substitute skill and knowledge with big motor... ultimately not getting the most out of your ride. Same things with audio.
Mine have before, and my bow. I called the police, they didn't laugh at me getting ripped off, they laughed at me for thinking they would be able to do anything about it. Welcome to Flint.
Good points Paul makes. Yes it has to be built well, and have high quality parts. This thing about the cabinet that has to be totally dead, I don't fully agree with. It is a bit like saying all sugar is bad for you, when the truth is that you actually need a tiny bit of natural sugar, just not in excessive amounts and it has to be at the right time of day and not be mixed with other certain things. (so the truth is more complicated than that) Manufactors like Wilson Audio they make a totally dead cabinet. And it has a certain type of sound that is typically more correct/impressive/clear/analytical in sound. But these totally dead cabinets also have a tendency of suppressing the music a bit, whereas the less dead cabinets generally seem more free and musical/distorted in sound which also is a plus to a certain extent. It is a bit like distortion, you generally want as little as possible of it. But what is more important, is exactly how you get to the finish line aching that; having less distortion or a more dead cabinet. A thing that most people in the business keep on leaving out, which I constantly rave about is: having a shorter signal path. Because most things in HIFI have compensation techniques that are on different levels, and dealing with speaker cabinets is a perfect example of that. So what I am trying to say is that, especially when dealing with high quality gear, you absolutely have to have a short signal path accompanied with high quality parts. And then you of course have to go in a certain direction with cabinet vibration that gives a certain characteristic. I feel personally that Wilson Audio is on the extreme opposite end of B&W in regards to cabinet vibration, where as Wilson Audio is more clinical/dead/grey in sound, and B&W is the total opposite whereas as it is to soft/dampened/forgiving in sound actually adding a tiny bit onto the music that should not be there keeping the sound a bit too safe. I prefer the middleground which is Audio Note and their AN-E speaker design: where you have the hard and honest reaction, but still with style and taste/music being the high priority instead of structure dominating.
Very well explained when the speakers dissappear. I remember hearing this with just 2 hi-end speakers. It's the detail in the musical passage being played. The 70's stereo stores.. what is your budget? Sorry we're in the wrong sound room. Then there was the war of Total Harmonic Distortion numbers. One manufacturer would strive for .0030 per cent and the other was at .0010 percent. Who could really tell you the difference? In conclusion everyone's hearing is different and it's up to the individual's sound preference.
It's gotta be good looking on the inside, and out ! Plus a reasonably high load resistance, purely for the music's sake. Gloss lacquer, and then it becomes furniture as well.
Well actually movement in the cabinet is a benefit if done correctly all cabinets flex to the certain degree it's about dampen the resonance not the flexing and where the energy is stored and what effect it has on the room and the speaker
Question.. I have W/A Sasha DAW's (approx 300lbs each) I and looking for a secure way to slide them to another room for renovations... they are on spikes.. I tried furniture glides and the spikes pierce the slider.. Are there any items for sale that can slide under each speaker so moving them is easy and SAFE? Thank you Joe
Every cabinet resonates. I think what you're implying, Paul, is the act of damping resonances and more importantly where that unwanted energy goes. Because that unwanted energy is going to go somewhere. In fact, energy's primary natural behavior is to travel away from its point source. If that unwanted energy cannot travel, its secondary natural behavior engages by releasing all of its energy somewhere within its trapped space - usually the most easily exciteable components. This is regardless of chosen designs and materials used though obviously some designs and materials are clearly superior to others.
Hey Paul, how do you like that set of PSB Image B25 bookshelf speakers? Besides a vintage set of Cerwin Vega 250s my brother had from his old days of being a DJ, the full set Image series are my only experience with audiophile level speakers.
Disagree , a very important measure that will tell you if a speaker will sound good is its off-axis performance : you want constant directivity i.e. off-axis must match on-axis albeit on a lower db level . That way your indirect sound will have the same timbre as the direct sound . This is by far the number one characteristic of a good sounding speaker
Such measurements are a good way to weed out bad speakers from ones that have potential to sound good but does not necessarily prove that they will sound good.
As far as speakers go .. you simply cannot get a quart out of a pint pot ! Cheap or middle class speakers will always sound just that ! No matter how you arrange the setup ... Cheap speakers can always be modified by improved cabinet damping ( in the woodwork not internal damping ... that's another thing!) and improved crossover design . The best speakers of true audiophile quality all have one thing in common ..... anyone know..? Well, it's cone/diaphragm mass and Qts .... you have a look at the drivers inside a Kef speaker ... ultra low mass and excellent damping ...
The purpose of a speaker enclosure is twofold..... 1) to control or make use of rear sound pressure waves 2) to provide an inertial mounting frame for the woofer
What do you think about the soundcore motion plus bluetooth speaker. I've had mine for about 2 months now. It is supposed to reproduce high quality sound like Master tracks from the studio
An audiophile speaker is simply any speaker that a self-styled audiophile considers as such. Leaving behind the self-defining audiophile term, what is a GOOD speaker? For me, it is one that TRANSDUCES the waveform signal fed to it from electrical to acoustic energy (usually via mechanical energy) with minimal sins of omission and commission in the time, frequency, amplitude, and self-noise domains. Thus a good speaker can propagate acoustic waves from an exceptionally well-captured recording with deeply satisfying sonic, spatial, and tactile (headphones need not apply) realism, no matter what type of program material, if placed in a setting (including upstream devices) that does not diminish its performance capabilities. Have I heard such speakers? Yep, I own some that I built and tweaked myself from well-matched vintage and new professional components of exceptional quality for an astonishingly low cost (excluding my time investment, which I write off as good fun ;-> ). They have profoundly exceeded my expectations and significantly raised my standards for how vital reproduced sound can and should be.
Dog shit speaker cabinets are probably very good in avoiding cabinet resonances. Perhaps they can pass the listening tests but will fail the smell tests.
@Fat Rat Concrete speaker cabinets will get rid of resonances and will definitely convince those that think if it's heavy it must be well made and thus must sound good.
Passionate skilled and experienced audio engineers make audiophile speakers using measurements and critical listening tests. Cost is rarely a good metric and you don’t need expensive materials, but organic compressed dog shit cabinets would probably fill the room with more than great music.
@Fat Rat No there is no such Beomaster product. Beomaster means a receiver product btw. B&O speakers have been called either Beovox (passive) or Beolab (active). My first active speakers were a pair of BeoLab Penta. They were launched in 1986 and in many ways ahead of their time and would still be today: ruclips.net/video/dkRx6qRlGbU/видео.html
Wait a minute! You mention cement/concrete speaker enclosures.....has this ever been done? Barring the whole weight issue, that almost sounds like a good idea.
It would be a good idea...any material that is non-resonant. Weight is the only reason not done. People have made out of marble. Bob Ludwigs speakers weigh 1600 lbs.
The best speakers are the ones left after you get married or plan to... Happy wife, Happy Life 🤣 Maybe that’s why I’m single, because I have big speakers 🤣🤣🤣
Ha, my old ears & damaged hearing means that I don't have "golden" ears that can hear subtle differences in audio whether it is from wires, cables, amps, DACs, speakers, etc, etc. I do look at measurements (what else do I have ...) and reviews and would expect a high price component to have decent measurements. Reviewers ? Maybe trust a couple of them.
My guess is testing. The champaign and silver one that's sitting upside down is a PSB Image 25B. How do I know this? Well because I own a whole set of the Image series from PSB....except mine are black.
Science behind omni tweeters: freq above 300hz should radiate like a light bulb not laser beam. In every point in space you should hear the same balance of all frequencies
Equalizers when the recording was made, All you can do is make them as Flat and broad as you wallet allows. IMO Really tight, boomless 25Hz bass at significant volume is where most $$$ is spent on design, test, and components.
with all due respect, this is very idealistic as most of us know this, musical instruments are also not perfect and have resonance and colorations as well. I believe we can all celebrate the difference between speaker material, construction etcetc.
Another question along these lines is- how much Better are mega expensive speakers like the (roughly) $350,000 The Wilson Audio Chronosonic XVX than a well made/designed 20,000 speaker/Rel sub combo? Ten to 20% better at most? Can you still really enjoy a median cost audiophile speaker even though it may not represent the best? And some really expensive systems can lack the magical ingredient of being musically satisfying.
@Fat Rat Or side-stepped and drove themselves insane. Just listen to the damn music for once, or is that concept lost on many of these rabid speaker cable conniseurs? I guess I'm really interested in real audio engineering and what could be accomplished than pretending a new interconnect will save my sound system. Find something that sounds great, which is amazingly accomplishable within 500-1000, dollars btw, and you're set for life. IF you want more, you better look at what criteria you're really trying to accomplish. There's better, at times - but for what reasons? db, bass extension (which can cost orders of magnitude more for only one octave lower) - studio monitor class linearity? 1 grand, is more than enough for most people. Funny how lost some people get in this hobby though. Not gonna lie, I'd love be all end all Def Tech system someday... maybe. Or Paradigm. But I'm in no rush - at all.
@Fat Rat "Tight, smooth, detailed' - that's what I'm talking about. CABLES don't do that, they can't. What does is amplification stage, to tuning, to voicing and the crossover network within the speakers themselves; then source material, the way the signal source is handled via digital or analogue playback devices or DSP or equalization. The biggest culprit or factor is clean power and quality input, the rest is all amplification where the energy gets generated, that's the actual "sound" due to various amp designs, such as filter caps or how it gets fed throughout the silicon and what filtering gets done along the way. But metal, IE 'strands' can't inherently make a difference, because there's no active performance metric. There's nothing being actively applied to the "sound" the way crossover networks or drivers and materials of said drivers do. There's nothing like the tuning of the amp or classification it is. Oh, and of course, the biggest one of all: Driver material. By far. But that can still vary with the same material among different speakers. Or 'feel' in their sound. It's just WIRE man. Here's what I will say; strip back everything to a sensible 1,000 investment for TOTAL wire budget, because what can make a difference are - - Build quality and *guage* - notice I didn't say "speaker cable", or "HiFi prestige bullsh**" - or any of that nonsense. Guage, longevity and things like pre-termination. - OFC - A nice design. Look we ARE spending some cash on gear, so lets splash a little to make it look nice - this doesn't make a difference other than aesthetics. - *LENGTH* - That's huge. Because that's power fall off, resistance and Ohm variances, however small - IE, Resistance. And then I'm fine with it. But 99% of it? Pure snake-oil, and they can get away withit because people buy into the marketing that these companies know people will trip head over heels for. Take AudioQuest for example; 20,000 CAT5 Ethernet cable. That's HORSE-Shit. $5 ethernet is identical. Digital is digital, 1's and 0's. That's 4,000 Ethernet cables you can buy that perform *IDENTICALLY* to that AudioQuest horseshit. THAT'S?!!! WHat I HATE*. Anyone who's worked with computers 1/1000th as long as I have, or works out at the gym like I do and still knows "nothing" about computers will tell you how unbelievably stupid of a con it is. Or the batteries. Or the liquid cooled cables. Just spend that money on a CAT Scran for your brain instead, to be blunt. Not dogging * *YOU* * you though Rat, nor am I directing any of that harshness at the end there your way, my dude. You seem like you enjoy your stuff and seem pretty level headed actually, and I respect that. With this comes a personal note of people you talk to and just feel their fun with it, so I'm giving you the thumbs up on my end, hahaha, w/e that 'shouldn't mean to you, but hopefully you get the right *tone* in my text. All the best bud. :)
Dear Paul. i just tried your recomendation wrt compressed dogshit loud speakers and now my wife won't let me in the house. and the cat won't speak to me either. any other bright ideas ;-?
Well, you can have the best speakers in the world but they'll STILL sound terrible without at least a decent room and reasonably good positioning. Any decent speaker that doesn't have major problems with distortion and frequency response can sound really good when well positioned in an excellent room.
@@ProjectOverseer a quality Source is king! But yeah, I have a set of audiophile speakers from my bachelor days but now that I'm a family man, my listening room is dominated by a changing table and childrens toys so the sound is only 'audiophile' in one special spot.
I bought a pair of Polk audio RTI A-3 book shelf speakers. Very surprised built like a brick shit house very good sound stage dynamic and they go down to 40 hz no subwoofer needed . Sounds like Zeppelin's in my living room 240 a pair . It's a 15 by 15 room very happy.
"compressed dog shit" is some good shit lol!!! In my opinion an audiophile speaker is very subjective because they all sound different. So the best speakers are the ones you like listening more than any other. Thx for your vids.
I havent find any detailed video of highend an av reciever music quality vs a stereo integrated amp on internet. People just says stereo amp is better. Thats it.
I have an Onkyo TX RZ820 AVR. I also have an RME ADI-2 DAC hooked to the same amp and speakers via source switch . There is a slight difference in sound, not better or worse, just different. The music from the AVR is a bit more colored, but really sounds outstanding. The DAC seams a little cleaner, detailed and neutral. I would recommend Onkyo TX RZ series to anyone who needs an all in one system. I give it high marks for surround and 2 channel.
@@michaelgriffiths2130 I agree, depends of course. I've found stuff made for multi channel is never quite as good for music as a true 2 channel receiver or integrated.
Great video, Paul. I'm a speaker junkie! I can't ever seem to get enough of them. (To my wife's chagrin). I enjoy building speakers, and yes, the materials certainly DO matter. Mine are mostly MDF, which is a very dense material. Works quite well. I haven't tried compressed dog crap just yet. But hey, you never know! The gentleman I used to work with had a pair of speakers that he built that were double walled then sand filled. Talk about solid! He had a pair of JBL 12" coaxial's in them. Quite the speakers!
Hi Paul I look forward to your videos every day. It’s great to hear you share your knowledge so passionately. I’m not sure how you might market those compressed dog shit speakers though. The fact the word compressed is in there is probably more of a turn off to audiophiles than the words dog shit. SALES GUY “ these speakers are make from pedigree dog shit” AUDIOPHILE “Tell me more” SALES GUY “ It’s compressed dog shit” AUDIOPHILE “Nah I’m outta here”
That subjectivity hood doo has to be eradicated. Of course there is such a thing as objectively good sound. Just because some crack head likes the shit out of bass, don't make it music. And I would know. He used to be my neighbor. But a clear majority of us ordinary people prefer some sounds over others. Paul Barton established this scientifically years ago, not up for discussion. What is debatable is why audiophiles prefer really expensive stuff...?
Whats an ,,Audiophile,, Speaker ? Maybe an overpriced speaker where you pay 40% just for the high gloss finish and an a lot of ,,good,, marketing ?!... for me Studio Speaker are ,,audiophile,, because ive heard a lot of typical (passive, expensive) Hifi Market orientated ,,Audiophile,, ?! Setups and 99% of them are more than disappointing.
Alot of speakers are overpriced dogshit. In my opinion which means nothing if you are a music enthusiast and like it to sound good your an audiophile and if it sounds great to you it's an audiophile speaker... Who's to tell you what sounds good to you, not some boutique that makes speakers out of unicorn scrotums, only you can. If a Bluetooth pod is heaven to your ears good enough...!
Guess I don't understand the need for the cussing. Really....you want to be taken seriously or are you just trying to be cool? Unfortunately, you are neither.
My mom wanted speakers for her stereo (had to be 40+ years ago) so she went to the local Sears or Montgomery Wards and bought 2 speakers out of the scratch and dent room. One was a Pioneer and the other was a Sansui. They looked alike (somewhat) so they came home. When I saw them (in my early teens) I was like....omg what did she do... but I hooked them up to the floor console stereo so mom could finally once again listen to Perry, Engelbert and Elvis. The sound was shockingly good. Not to mention that they out lasted 3 boy teenagers through the late 70's and early 80's. All I can say is don't judge a book by it's cover.
In my opinion pioneer had best engineers in their speaker division. They had really good concepts. In Poland we had purchased their licence of production in70 ties and if our producer later would not simplify it in horrible way it could be an audio heaven for many . Unfortunately only original japan signed types with many layers were so good Today I am still happy to use original ones in my special system . I made for myself in 90 ties also speakers with Panasonic carbon drivers and they were in some way unbeatable too,.
I've heard of connecting speakers out-of-phase, but out-of-brand??
She was obviously a true pioneer!
I know lots of audiophile speakers that are nothing more than a couple of pairs of 30 year old drivers purchased on ebay mounted in a piece of unfinished baltic birch ply. Generally sound amazing and are doubly satisfying because they were sub $1k. Now the baltic birch is likely 1" thick and there is an active crossover and multiple amps and a good sub, but the speakers will rival lots of audiophool brands in sound quality. In my case 1.5" thick Black American Walnut butcher block. That drove up the cost but they look great and have zero cabinet resonance.
Zero cabinet resonance? Is that like a perfectly square "square wave?"
Kinda like mine
3:00 - OMG, THANK YOU.. Respect Paul, respect.
Don’t tell that to the guy trying to pay for his expensive measurement machine.🤭🤭🤭
@ps audio Paul, thank you so much for answering my question. It's probably the best explanation towards a better understanding that I've heard on the matter. Love the channel, love you man!
Thanks!
What makes an audiophile speaker? Usually a factory.
*multiple factories and then a fabricating/assembly factory
Unless you get them for Christmas then it's Santa's elves .
@@leekumiega9268
😆
They come from the store..like food does?
@@InsideOfMyOwnMind Well there ARE Apple Stores....
I have Wharfdale W60D speakers I bought in 1968 and I haven't heard anything since which sounds any better. They are very efficient needing only 8 watts minimum with a maximum of 30 watts. 20-20K response + or - 2 DB. Back in 1968, they cost over a week's pay ($80 each). They are built into solid walnut cabinets and there is absolutely no resonance whatsoever. They contain a 3" tweeter, a 6" midrange, and a 12" woofer. By the way, they weigh 50 pounds each.
I've been focusing on setup/tweaks and the like for a few years now, and it is quite enlightening how much damage those types of things cause if not handled. One can go very far sound quality wise with very modest gear and great setup/tweaks/vibration absorption/room acoustics. It's like learning to ride a small displacement motorcycle fast, then when you get a big displacement bike you have the skills to get the most out of it, but if you learn on a big displacement bike you tend to substitute skill and knowledge with big motor... ultimately not getting the most out of your ride. Same things with audio.
bvocal Nice analogy.
As an audiophile and motorcyclist I can concur! Well said.
If my speakers disappear, I'm calling the police.
Mine have before, and my bow. I called the police, they didn't laugh at me getting ripped off, they laughed at me for thinking they would be able to do anything about it. Welcome to Flint.
Lol
Good points Paul makes.
Yes it has to be built well, and have high quality parts.
This thing about the cabinet that has to be totally dead, I don't fully agree with. It is a bit like saying all sugar is bad for you, when the truth is that you actually need a tiny bit of natural sugar, just not in excessive amounts and it has to be at the right time of day and not be mixed with other certain things. (so the truth is more complicated than that)
Manufactors like Wilson Audio they make a totally dead cabinet. And it has a certain type of sound that is typically more correct/impressive/clear/analytical in sound. But these totally dead cabinets also have a tendency of suppressing the music a bit, whereas the less dead cabinets generally seem more free and musical/distorted in sound which also is a plus to a certain extent.
It is a bit like distortion, you generally want as little as possible of it. But what is more important, is exactly how you get to the finish line aching that; having less distortion or a more dead cabinet.
A thing that most people in the business keep on leaving out, which I constantly rave about is: having a shorter signal path. Because most things in HIFI have compensation techniques that are on different levels, and dealing with speaker cabinets is a perfect example of that. So what I am trying to say is that, especially when dealing with high quality gear, you absolutely have to have a short signal path accompanied with high quality parts. And then you of course have to go in a certain direction with cabinet vibration that gives a certain characteristic.
I feel personally that Wilson Audio is on the extreme opposite end of B&W in regards to cabinet vibration, where as Wilson Audio is more clinical/dead/grey in sound, and B&W is the total opposite whereas as it is to soft/dampened/forgiving in sound actually adding a tiny bit onto the music that should not be there keeping the sound a bit too safe. I prefer the middleground which is Audio Note and their AN-E speaker design: where you have the hard and honest reaction, but still with style and taste/music being the high priority instead of structure dominating.
Very well explained when the speakers dissappear. I remember hearing this with just 2 hi-end speakers. It's the detail in the musical passage being played. The 70's stereo stores.. what is your budget? Sorry we're in the wrong sound room. Then there was the war of Total Harmonic Distortion numbers. One manufacturer would strive for .0030 per cent and the other was at .0010 percent. Who could really tell you the difference? In conclusion everyone's hearing is different and it's up to the individual's sound preference.
Au contraire, please see my post
Cincinnati, OH - Wow, that was an interesting place to live at one point, wow. Small world
Haha interesting is a fair description. I have a love hate relationship with my city.
It's gotta be good looking on the inside, and out ! Plus a reasonably high load resistance, purely for the music's sake. Gloss lacquer, and then it becomes furniture as well.
I have a question about corner desks and 2 channel bookshelf placement, with the main PC monitor in the corner. Great channel!
Nice. For what are you using the Samsung Universal Player? I have one HD945 it is nice! i thing in America is HD845.
Well actually movement in the cabinet is a benefit if done correctly all cabinets flex to the certain degree it's about dampen the resonance not the flexing and where the energy is stored and what effect it has on the room and the speaker
Love the baseball analogy . That's a great way to describe it.
Question.. I have W/A Sasha DAW's (approx 300lbs each) I and looking for a secure way to slide them to another room for renovations... they are on spikes.. I tried furniture glides and the spikes pierce the slider..
Are there any items for sale that can slide under each speaker so moving them is easy and SAFE?
Thank you
Joe
Every cabinet resonates. I think what you're implying, Paul, is the act of damping resonances and more importantly where that unwanted energy goes. Because that unwanted energy is going to go somewhere. In fact, energy's primary natural behavior is to travel away from its point source. If that unwanted energy cannot travel, its secondary natural behavior engages by releasing all of its energy somewhere within its trapped space - usually the most easily exciteable components. This is regardless of chosen designs and materials used though obviously some designs and materials are clearly superior to others.
Hey Paul, how do you like that set of PSB Image B25 bookshelf speakers?
Besides a vintage set of Cerwin Vega 250s my brother had from his old days of being a DJ, the full set Image series are my only experience with audiophile level speakers.
OK here it is. All engineering aside. A speaker that makes you feel WOW
Disagree , a very important measure that will tell you if a speaker will sound good is its off-axis performance : you want constant directivity i.e. off-axis must match on-axis albeit on a lower db level . That way your indirect sound will have the same timbre as the direct sound . This is by far the number one characteristic of a good sounding speaker
Such measurements are a good way to weed out bad speakers from ones that have potential to sound good but does not necessarily prove that they will sound good.
Unless you listen in the nearfield which is mostly direct sound. That's all I do because of my small room
As far as speakers go .. you simply cannot get a quart out of a pint pot ! Cheap or middle class speakers will always sound just that ! No matter how you arrange the setup ... Cheap speakers can always be modified by improved cabinet damping ( in the woodwork not internal damping ... that's another thing!) and improved crossover design .
The best speakers of true audiophile quality all have one thing in common ..... anyone know..? Well, it's cone/diaphragm mass and Qts .... you have a look at the drivers inside a Kef speaker ... ultra low mass and excellent damping ...
The purpose of a speaker enclosure is twofold.....
1) to control or make use of rear sound pressure waves
2) to provide an inertial mounting frame for the woofer
What do you think about the soundcore motion plus bluetooth speaker. I've had mine for about 2 months now. It is supposed to reproduce high quality sound like Master tracks from the studio
Try Magico speakers. It's just out of this world! Fantastic!!!
An audiophile speaker is simply any speaker that a self-styled audiophile considers as such. Leaving behind the self-defining audiophile term, what is a GOOD speaker? For me, it is one that TRANSDUCES the waveform signal fed to it from electrical to acoustic energy (usually via mechanical energy) with minimal sins of omission and commission in the time, frequency, amplitude, and self-noise domains. Thus a good speaker can propagate acoustic waves from an exceptionally well-captured recording with deeply satisfying sonic, spatial, and tactile (headphones need not apply) realism, no matter what type of program material, if placed in a setting (including upstream devices) that does not diminish its performance capabilities. Have I heard such speakers? Yep, I own some that I built and tweaked myself from well-matched vintage and new professional components of exceptional quality for an astonishingly low cost (excluding my time investment, which I write off as good fun ;-> ). They have profoundly exceeded my expectations and significantly raised my standards for how vital reproduced sound can and should be.
Run, Paul! It’s a loaded question. Take cover!
I think if there's one person who can navigate a loaded question about audio it's Paul. Not perfect but decent.
@Fat Rat Let me get a giant boulder, carve it out and mount the drivers in it.
Fat Rat
What kinda dog produces the most audiophile sh!t? Stereophile should do an article on the subject.
Dog shit speaker cabinets are probably very good in avoiding cabinet resonances. Perhaps they can pass the listening tests but will fail the smell tests.
@Fat Rat Concrete speaker cabinets will get rid of resonances and will definitely convince those that think if it's heavy it must be well made and thus must sound good.
I like the attitude today Paul!
Passionate skilled and experienced audio engineers make audiophile speakers using measurements and critical listening tests. Cost is rarely a good metric and you don’t need expensive materials, but organic compressed dog shit cabinets would probably fill the room with more than great music.
LOL
@Fat Rat No there is no such Beomaster product. Beomaster means a receiver product btw. B&O speakers have been called either Beovox (passive) or Beolab (active). My first active speakers were a pair of BeoLab Penta. They were launched in 1986 and in many ways ahead of their time and would still be today: ruclips.net/video/dkRx6qRlGbU/видео.html
Wait a minute! You mention cement/concrete speaker enclosures.....has this ever been done? Barring the whole weight issue, that almost sounds like a good idea.
It would be a good idea...any material that is non-resonant. Weight is the only reason not done. People have made out of marble. Bob Ludwigs speakers weigh 1600 lbs.
The best speakers are the ones left after you get married or plan to... Happy wife, Happy Life 🤣 Maybe that’s why I’m single, because I have big speakers 🤣🤣🤣
Lol 😄
Some speakers Do depends on box coloration like the old stuff.. Jbl L100 for instance, not to contradict.. As measurements do mean squads
My question for Paul is: Why are audiophile speakers very often low impedance? Because resistance is futile?
Good morning from Singapore 👍👍👍
Ha, my old ears & damaged hearing means that I don't have "golden" ears that can hear subtle differences in audio whether it is from wires, cables, amps, DACs, speakers, etc, etc. I do look at measurements (what else do I have ...) and reviews and would expect a high price component to have decent measurements. Reviewers ? Maybe trust a couple of them.
Why are there two unmatched speakers above the workbench?
My guess is testing.
The champaign and silver one that's sitting upside down is a PSB Image 25B.
How do I know this? Well because I own a whole set of the Image series from PSB....except mine are black.
ESD nightmare on that work bench! haha
Science behind omni tweeters: freq above 300hz should radiate like a light bulb not laser beam. In every point in space you should hear the same balance of all frequencies
Equalizers when the recording was made, All you can do is make them as Flat and broad as you wallet allows. IMO Really tight, boomless 25Hz bass at significant volume is where most $$$ is spent on design, test, and components.
with all due respect, this is very idealistic as most of us know this, musical instruments are also not perfect and have resonance and colorations as well. I believe we can all celebrate the difference between speaker material, construction etcetc.
I challenge anyone to the “compressed dogshit speaker challenge”!
Whichever sounds good to you. More expensive is not always better.
Having great speakers also requires a proper place to put those speakers. Not having an ideal listening room can make great speakers sound less good.
Another question along these lines is- how much Better are mega expensive speakers like the (roughly) $350,000 The Wilson Audio Chronosonic XVX than a well made/designed 20,000 speaker/Rel sub combo? Ten to 20% better at most? Can you still really enjoy a median cost audiophile speaker even though it may not represent the best? And some really expensive systems can lack the magical ingredient of being musically satisfying.
@Fat Rat Agreed. I have a pair of Revel Salon2s and held on to my Genesis II bass towers and as happy as a clam. :)
@Fat Rat Or side-stepped and drove themselves insane. Just listen to the damn music for once, or is that concept lost on many of these rabid speaker cable conniseurs? I guess I'm really interested in real audio engineering and what could be accomplished than pretending a new interconnect will save my sound system.
Find something that sounds great, which is amazingly accomplishable within 500-1000, dollars btw, and you're set for life. IF you want more, you better look at what criteria you're really trying to accomplish. There's better, at times - but for what reasons? db, bass extension (which can cost orders of magnitude more for only one octave lower) - studio monitor class linearity?
1 grand, is more than enough for most people. Funny how lost some people get in this hobby though. Not gonna lie, I'd love be all end all Def Tech system someday... maybe. Or Paradigm. But I'm in no rush - at all.
@Fat Rat "Tight, smooth, detailed' - that's what I'm talking about. CABLES don't do that, they can't. What does is amplification stage, to tuning, to voicing and the crossover network within the speakers themselves; then source material, the way the signal source is handled via digital or analogue playback devices or DSP or equalization. The biggest culprit or factor is clean power and quality input, the rest is all amplification where the energy gets generated, that's the actual "sound" due to various amp designs, such as filter caps or how it gets fed throughout the silicon and what filtering gets done along the way. But metal, IE 'strands' can't inherently make a difference, because there's no active performance metric. There's nothing being actively applied to the "sound" the way crossover networks or drivers and materials of said drivers do. There's nothing like the tuning of the amp or classification it is. Oh, and of course, the biggest one of all: Driver material. By far. But that can still vary with the same material among different speakers. Or 'feel' in their sound.
It's just WIRE man. Here's what I will say; strip back everything to a sensible 1,000 investment for TOTAL wire budget, because what can make a difference are -
- Build quality and *guage* - notice I didn't say "speaker cable", or "HiFi prestige bullsh**" - or any of that nonsense. Guage, longevity and things like pre-termination.
- OFC
- A nice design. Look we ARE spending some cash on gear, so lets splash a little to make it look nice - this doesn't make a difference other than aesthetics.
- *LENGTH* - That's huge. Because that's power fall off, resistance and Ohm variances, however small - IE, Resistance.
And then I'm fine with it. But 99% of it? Pure snake-oil, and they can get away withit because people buy into the marketing that these companies know people will trip head over heels for.
Take AudioQuest for example; 20,000 CAT5 Ethernet cable. That's HORSE-Shit. $5 ethernet is identical. Digital is digital, 1's and 0's.
That's 4,000 Ethernet cables you can buy that perform *IDENTICALLY* to that AudioQuest horseshit. THAT'S?!!! WHat I HATE*.
Anyone who's worked with computers 1/1000th as long as I have, or works out at the gym like I do and still knows "nothing" about computers will tell you how unbelievably stupid of a con it is.
Or the batteries. Or the liquid cooled cables. Just spend that money on a CAT Scran for your brain instead, to be blunt.
Not dogging * *YOU* * you though Rat, nor am I directing any of that harshness at the end there your way, my dude. You seem like you enjoy your stuff and seem pretty level headed actually, and I respect that. With this comes a personal note of people you talk to and just feel their fun with it, so I'm giving you the thumbs up on my end, hahaha, w/e that 'shouldn't mean to you, but hopefully you get the right *tone* in my text.
All the best bud. :)
I saw the Mythbusters guys "polish a turd". Paul u should do it, make a speaker out of comprssed dog shit.... lol
Dear Paul. i just tried your recomendation wrt compressed dogshit loud speakers and now my wife won't let me in the house. and the cat won't speak to me either.
any other bright ideas ;-?
and no...i am not going to try uncompressed dogshit. yet.
@Fat Rat why i used my wife of course;-)
Well, you can have the best speakers in the world but they'll STILL sound terrible without at least a decent room and reasonably good positioning. Any decent speaker that doesn't have major problems with distortion and frequency response can sound really good when well positioned in an excellent room.
You forgot decent recordings.
@@ProjectOverseer a quality Source is king! But yeah, I have a set of audiophile speakers from my bachelor days but now that I'm a family man, my listening room is dominated by a changing table and childrens toys so the sound is only 'audiophile' in one special spot.
No such thing. An audiophile system has 3-4 or more pairs of speakers that have different characteristics which are rotated in and out.
Pretty much.
I bought a pair of Polk audio RTI A-3 book shelf speakers. Very surprised built like a brick shit house very good sound stage dynamic and they go down to 40 hz no subwoofer needed . Sounds like Zeppelin's in my living room 240 a pair . It's a 15 by 15 room very happy.
"compressed dog shit" is some good shit lol!!! In my opinion an audiophile speaker is very subjective because they all sound different. So the best speakers are the ones you like listening more than any other. Thx for your vids.
Price!
03:11 Paul is my hero 😂
You’re gonna need some good woofers for those compressed dog shit cabinets!
I havent find any detailed video of highend an av reciever music quality vs a stereo integrated amp on internet. People just says stereo amp is better. Thats it.
I have an Onkyo TX RZ820 AVR. I also have an RME ADI-2 DAC hooked to the same amp and speakers via source switch . There is a slight difference in sound, not better or worse, just different. The music from the AVR is a bit more colored, but really sounds outstanding. The DAC seams a little cleaner, detailed and neutral. I would recommend Onkyo TX RZ series to anyone who needs an all in one system. I give it high marks for surround and 2 channel.
Most Av Amps don’t sound as good listening to music as an integrated Amp but there some good ones Arcam Anthem ECT
@@michaelgriffiths2130 I agree, depends of course. I've found stuff made for multi channel is never quite as good for music as a true 2 channel receiver or integrated.
Looks like one speaker in background is upside down.
price of course
Great video, Paul. I'm a speaker junkie! I can't ever seem to get enough of them. (To my wife's chagrin).
I enjoy building speakers, and yes, the materials certainly DO matter. Mine are mostly MDF, which is a very dense material. Works quite well.
I haven't tried compressed dog crap just yet. But hey, you never know!
The gentleman I used to work with had a pair of speakers that he built that were double walled then sand filled. Talk about solid! He had a pair of JBL 12" coaxial's in them. Quite the speakers!
That's my most important question. I have sh__t load of speakers but not really satisfied. Is anyone?
@Fat Rat I think no matter what you have in future it will become (regular). Because you'll just get used to it.
@Fat Rat Why did you sell it if you had what you loved so much?
@Fat Rat I see, Oh well, maybe one day I'll be 100% satisfied too.
@Fat Rat I did too. At the same age .
@Fat Rat Have you ever hooked up two sets of speakers each to a separate amp from one source. To have a fuller sound?
Has there been research into the acoustic properties of compressed dog poop?
I like my speakers to sound like it's produced on artist's computer.
Studio monitors.
@@FeeLtheHertZ... with subs, 😎
I am crying over compressed D.S. 😛
I guess, what could be said, is that, an audio file is always chasing fidelity. That’s it.
I'm getting some compressed dog shit
Hi Paul I look forward to your videos every day. It’s great to hear you share your knowledge so passionately. I’m not sure how you might market those compressed dog shit speakers though. The fact the word compressed is in there is probably more of a turn off to audiophiles than the words dog shit. SALES GUY “ these speakers are make from pedigree dog shit”
AUDIOPHILE “Tell me more”
SALES GUY “ It’s compressed dog shit”
AUDIOPHILE “Nah I’m outta here”
That subjectivity hood doo has to be eradicated. Of course there is such a thing as objectively good sound. Just because some crack head likes the shit out of bass, don't make it music. And I would know. He used to be my neighbor. But a clear majority of us ordinary people prefer some sounds over others. Paul Barton established this scientifically years ago, not up for discussion. What is debatable is why audiophiles prefer really expensive stuff...?
My wife keeps saying she wants my speakers to disapear 🤔
Some compressed dog shit is better than others.
How to get a job in your firm?
Are you any good at making up stuff ( fiction)!!!! If so you should apply.
I have found adding fiberglass to your dogs food will improve the resonance and structure of the speakers made from dog shit
Compressed dog poo poo came before aluminium lol
Revel.😀 Harman, plenty of money to throw at speaker design.
Whats an ,,Audiophile,, Speaker ? Maybe an overpriced speaker where you pay 40% just for the high gloss finish and an a lot of ,,good,, marketing ?!... for me Studio Speaker are ,,audiophile,, because ive heard a lot of typical (passive, expensive) Hifi Market orientated ,,Audiophile,, ?! Setups and 99% of them are more than disappointing.
Yes! lets make a speaker outta compressed dogshit! Jolly good idea!😆
Fukoff Paul
Is there such a thing as a stupid question
Language! 😉
A nice wood outside.
Hmmm...compressed dog shit speaker cabinets...may sound good. But olfactory organ may complain.
Materials, who cares..materials + construction, now you’re talking. Thank you! Compressing some dogshit as we speak 🐕💩
Alot of speakers are overpriced dogshit. In my opinion which means nothing if you are a music enthusiast and like it to sound good your an audiophile and if it sounds great to you it's an audiophile speaker... Who's to tell you what sounds good to you, not some boutique that makes speakers out of unicorn scrotums, only you can. If a Bluetooth pod is heaven to your ears good enough...!
Thumbs up for compressed dog shit.
Bose owns the patent of dog shit speakers.
Omg. Sweary Paul alert!
🙊🙉
What makes an audiophile speaker? 🤔...Duh! A factory or DIY! Their motto is “This product does not contain any snake oil”!!!🤣🤣🤣
Foul and coarse and un necessary. Shame on you.
A swissmanonce once build a subwoofer diaphragm of cowshit
My dog shit speakers have big woofers, get it woofers.
My speakers are not made out of shit......they just sound like shit...
Guess I don't understand the need for the cussing. Really....you want to be taken seriously or are you just trying to be cool? Unfortunately, you are neither.