wjm@lcuxc.UUCP (B. Mitchell) (02/22/85)
I thoroughly agree with Dick Grantges (hound!rfg) and Andy Koenig (rabbit!ark) about the problems with high-end stereo stores who only put one pair of speakers in the room. This is another one of those infamous Linn myths that was thoroughly debunked here on net.audio in 4Q84. The minimal effect that one or more additional sets of speakers have on the sound is far outweighed by the ability to perform A/B comparisons. I was very seriously considering buying a set of KEF 105.4s last year (at $1800/pr) until I A/B'd them with the JSE-1s ($925/pr) at Harvey Sound in NYC last spring. The KEFs sounded good - until I A/B'd them (in the same sound room off the same amp - you must make sure the levels are precisely matched for a valid A/B test - a slightly louder source (even .1 - .2 dB is enough of a difference) will sound better) with the JSEs. I proceeded to buy my JSEs that afternoon and the sound of the JSEs was all the sweeter thinking about the $900 I had saved! Frankly, I think high end KEF speakers are good - but overpriced. During this same speaker hunt, I also auditioned the B&W 801s, and did not like their imaging quality or the bass response - not what I expect from a $2200/pr speaker system. I have not heard the new 808s, just read the "Audio" review of them and noted their $4K/pr price tag. By all means, bring your favorite records or tapes with you. If you have separate components, try to arrange to have your amp used to drive the speakers, since some speakers present unusual load impedances that can upset the protection circuits on some amps. Generally, this isn't as much of a problem in the mid- and budget price ranges, where most speakers work reasonably well with most receivers that can produce enough power to meet the speaker manufacturers minimum power spec. The only thing to watch out for is that most amplifiers (there are some exceptions, however) do not like to see loads of less than 4 ohms, so you must stick to 8 ohm speakers if you want to run 2 sets of speakers off the same amp or receiver. One of the most significant differences between the dealer's setup and yours is the different room. By all means, try to arrange for a home trial. Many dealers will allow you to buy a pair of speakers with the ability to return them for a refund within a week or so, provided all packing, warranty cards, etc are returned as well. I also don't think too much of "Consumer Reports" desire to distill speaker performance into a single score. I think they try to simplify things - which is fine for the casual non-audiophile who wants to get a tolerable sound system - certainly their top-rated speakers will provide decent sound, and better than the department store compact systems, but I think net.audio readers are more interested in hi-fi (even if they have limited budgets) and are better served by magazines specializing in hi-fi, who go into more detail. Regards, Bill Mitchell (ihnp4!lcuxc!wjm) 186,000 miles/sec ... Its not just a good idea ... Its the LAW.
bwm@ccice2.UUCP (Brad Miller) (02/25/85)
In article <263@lcuxc.UUCP> wjm@lcuxc.UUCP (B. Mitchell) writes: >I thoroughly agree with Dick Grantges (hound!rfg) and Andy Koenig (rabbit!ark) >about the problems with high-end stereo stores who only put one pair of >speakers in the room. This is another one of those infamous Linn myths that >was thoroughly debunked here on net.audio in 4Q84. >The minimal effect that one or more additional sets of speakers have on the >sound is far outweighed by the ability to perform A/B comparisons. Um, I may be off base here, but my understanding of A/B comparisons was that the extra impedance that had to be switched in to equalize the loudness of two speakers penalized more efficient speakers. A local high end audio dealer here (Gala Sound) demonstrated this to me once -- he took a reasonable (but not great) set of accoustic suspension speakers, and A/B'd them with a pair of highly efficient (and expensive) ones. The expensive, efficient speakers sounded terrible by comparison. Yet, removing the extra impedance from the circuit and driving it on the same source material, it was readily ascertained the expensive drivers were doing a better job reproducing the sound. While I can certainly appreciate the problems with longer term memory vs. A/B tests, it would appear that one cannot A/B speakers with different impedance or efficiency ratings - which makes A/B somewhat impractical. Better would be to set up two separate amps and correct for loudness (I guess), then, once you have made your decision, reverse the amps so you know you are not listening to coloration from the amps. Brad Miller -- ..[cbrma, ccivax, ccicpg, rayssd, ritcv, rlgvax, rochester]!ccice5!ccice2!bwm
sjc@angband.UUCP (Steve Correll) (02/27/85)
> Um, I may be off base here, but my understanding of A/B comparisons was that > the extra impedance that had to be switched in to equalize the loudness of > two speakers penalized more efficient speakers. A local high end audio dealer > here (Gala Sound) demonstrated this to me once -- he took a reasonable (but > not great) set of accoustic suspension speakers, and A/B'd them with a pair > of highly efficient (and expensive) ones. The expensive, efficient speakers > sounded terrible by comparison. Yet, removing the extra impedance from the > circuit and driving it on the same source material, it was readily > ascertained the expensive drivers were doing a better job reproducing the > sound. If my dealer equalized loudness by putting impedances between the amp and the speakers, I'd find a new dealer. Such impedances would impair the ability of the amp to control the reactive load which the speaker presents to it, and they would be expensive and inherently hard to adjust accurately because they would have to be wirewound potentiometers to handle the power. Fortunately, it's cheap and effective to adjust the loudness by switching among ordinary potentiometers located between the preamp and power amp; these have no more deleterious effect on the sound than do the volume control and selector switch within the preamp itself. If you're skeptical that loudness affects your perception of sound, you might find a dealer with such a setup and try comparing two very similar speakers at various degrees of loudness mismatch. I find I can confuse myself thoroughly with such an experiment. -- --Steve Correll sjc@s1-c.ARPA, ...!decvax!decwrl!mordor!sjc, or ...!ucbvax!dual!mordor!sjc