Speaker Testing

[analog.universe]

Look into Adam audio, from Germany. I'm not too familiar with their home theatre line, but I use their mid-field studio monitors. They're hands down the cleanest most accurate speakers I've ever used. One of the things that amazed me is how they sound pretty much exactly the same no matter how quiet or loud they are. Accuracy isn't always ideal for home use though, since if you have a bad recording these speakers make no effort to hide it's shortcomings, but I imagine their home line is different than their studio line.

Also, if you're investing in nice speakers, you should spend at least as much on acoustic treatments for the room they'll be in. The room and cabinets are an interactive system, and the sound is only as good as the weakest link.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Focal is very good.

Does that mean you've seen them in the US? I'd never heard of them.

 

[baturn]

Eagles have an "unplugged album, or how about Clapton Unplugged?

 

[GooniesNeverSayDie11]

Amazon.com: Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy (Blu-ray + Digital Copy): Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Pete Postlethwaite, Vince Vaughn, William H. Macy, Téa Leoni, Richard Attenborough, Bob Peck, Martin Ferrero, Joseph Mazzello,

Use the original Jurassic Park Blu ray. Some of John Williams best work uncompressed.


http://www.amazon.com/Music-John-Williams-Years-Film/dp/B0000C6K09/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1325086397&sr=8-15]Amazon.com: Jurassic Park: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: John Williams: Music[/URL]
​

Thanks. Will look into it. Any specific scene/chapter?

The ending credits would be good and has a lot of dynamic range. ([video=youtube;OM_kMXoew40]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM_kMXoew40"]Jurassic Park Soundtrack-16 End Credits - YouTube[/URL] ) The theme song (Jurassic Park theme song. - YouTube)Also....if you want something dissonant and loud, try the "Raptor Attack" ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1GRTzQW8u0[/video] )[/LEFT]​

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Look into Adam audio, from Germany. I'm not too familiar with their home theatre line, but I use their mid-field studio monitors. They're hands down the cleanest most accurate speakers I've ever used. One of the things that amazed me is how they sound pretty much exactly the same no matter how quiet or loud they are. Accuracy isn't always ideal for home use though, since if you have a bad recording these speakers make no effort to hide it's shortcomings, but I imagine their home line is different than their studio line.

Also, if you're investing in nice speakers, you should spend at least as much on acoustic treatments for the room they'll be in. The room and cabinets are an interactive system, and the sound is only as good as the weakest link.

Totally agree. I did build a few Home Theaters and, no matter what or how you build, you end up having to do some acoustic treatment. Years ago, I lived in Copenhagen, Denmark, where there was an amazing concert room. Architects and sound engineers from all over the world tried to study it to re-create i,t and it never worked :lmao:

I will look into Adam Audio but, I agree, studio (monitor) speakers don't work at home. I've never quite understood why and when I was in Audio Engineering school and we had a visit from a guy who builds custom monitors for high flying studios, I tried to ask. Unfortunately, I didn't get a word he said

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Eagles have an "unplugged album, or how about Clapton Unplugged?

Unplugged doesn't mean there are no effects applied. It's way easier to stay away from this kind of music. For speaker testing anyway.

 

[GooniesNeverSayDie11]

Just run metal wire at the top of each wall and get some dark heavy curtains. Somethingg made out of thick dense material.. Keep them bunched up slightly so that they are forming a "wave" like shape. This will help cut down on light reflection as well as sound reflection.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Just run metal wire at the top of each wall and get some dark heavy curtains. Somethingg made out of thick dense material.. Keep them bunched up slightly so that they are forming a "wave" like shape. This will help cut down on light reflection as well as sound reflection.

I wish it was that simple but it isn't. At least not to someone like me or my customers back then.

 

[analog.universe]

Just run metal wire at the top of each wall and get some dark heavy curtains. Somethingg made out of thick dense material.. Keep them bunched up slightly so that they are forming a "wave" like shape. This will help cut down on light reflection as well as sound reflection.

Even really heavy curtains will only deal with frequencies above 1kHz or so. What you need is high density rockwool or fiberglass placed across the corners of the room. Any room smaller than about 5,000 cubic feet is going to reproduce different frequencies at different volumes depending on where you stand, it's not all about taming reflections that cause reverb. Most of the benefit of good treatment has to do with evening out bass so that F# isn't louder than D, etc... Some high frequency treatment for reverb time is also beneficial, but easy compared to the other stuff that needs to be done.

 

[mjhoward]

Focal is very good.

Does that mean you've seen them in the US? I'd never heard of them.

Yes, there is an authorized dealer down the road but they have to order most everything due to the high cost and the limited amount of customers for high end audio in this area. Any of thier models with the berylium tweeters are of very high quality and can run you up to $15k USD ea. They also make high end car audio. I've heard of the JM labs but not much. Around here, the higher end Paradigm and B&W speakers are good and a bit more budget friendly.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

Yes, there is an authorized dealer down the road but they have to order most everything due to the high cost and the limited amount of customers for high end audio in this area. Any of thier models with the berylium tweeters are of very high quality and can run you up to $15k USD ea. They also make high end car audio. I've heard of the JM labs but not much. Around here, the higher end Paradigm and B&W speakers are good and a bit more budget friendly.

JM Lab and Focal are one and the same. They started as JM LAb and eventually became Focal but I don't know when. Most people here call them JM Lab Focal unless they have a much older pair like the one I just got.

I haven't looked at their top of the line stuff because I don't want to spend that kind of money but I will. $15,000 seems like an awful lot even with the Euro being fairly high compared to the Dollar. Sounds to me like you could do the same thing peolpe were doing with Mercedes-Benz a few years back: take a trip to Europe, buy the car, use it here to travel, ship it back to the US and still save!

I'll let you know what I find. Any specific model would interest you?

 

[mjhoward]

Check out the Electra 1028 Be's. I think they're around 8,500 USD ea and are very high end. They also use the berylium tweeters and as far as I can tell, the only difference between them and the $12,500 Electra 1038 Be's is one less woofer (2 instead of 3). Just be sure to power them with quality amplifier and high quality pre-amp.

 

[matthewo]

I believe you could build your own speakers with scan speak components that would rivial much more expensive speakers. Or just look for a company that builds speakers with scan speak components. Focal is a bit over priced for their current raw drivers of utopia line. Personanlly i think the scan speak revolator midranges and illuminator tweeters are amazing for the price

 

[GooniesNeverSayDie11]

Just run metal wire at the top of each wall and get some dark heavy curtains. Somethingg made out of thick dense material.. Keep them bunched up slightly so that they are forming a "wave" like shape. This will help cut down on light reflection as well as sound reflection.

I wish it was that simple but it isn't. At least not to someone like me or my customers back then.

Just run metal wire at the top of each wall and get some dark heavy curtains. Somethingg made out of thick dense material.. Keep them bunched up slightly so that they are forming a "wave" like shape. This will help cut down on light reflection as well as sound reflection.

Even really heavy curtains will only deal with frequencies above 1kHz or so. What you need is high density rockwool or fiberglass placed across the corners of the room. Any room smaller than about 5,000 cubic feet is going to reproduce different frequencies at different volumes depending on where you stand, it's not all about taming reflections that cause reverb. Most of the benefit of good treatment has to do with evening out bass so that F# isn't louder than D, etc... Some high frequency treatment for reverb time is also beneficial, but easy compared to the other stuff that needs to be done.

Yes, I am familiar with bass traps, but my recommendation was meant as an on the cheap, personal solution. Obviously this isn't something you would do if you were building a theater for someone else or wanting to have top notch stuff. A rippled curtain of heavy material, not only will diffuse the sound, but it also creates a void behind each ripple. If you are using something heavy like a dense wool fabric or burlap this is a very cheap way to atleast avoid a bare wall room with no acoustic treatment whatsoever. If you want a mid grade option, get some Corning 705 or Rockwool like you said, and wrap it yourself. Throw it in the corners, down the walls and hang a cloud from above.....

 

[mjhoward]

^OP is an Audio engineer looking at Focal speakers and the likes... I very much doubt that he is into cutting those kinds of corners.

BTW cloudwalker, what kind of pre-amps/amplifiers were you looking into? I'm always curious to ask audiophiles about there preferences between transistor style and tube amplifiers.