rminton
New Member
I know the general feeling about Bose. Let's get past that.
I'll also admit up front that I'm no audiophile. But I do love music. My system is neither vintage nor hi fi. Right now, it's a 20,000 song library played through an Apple TV, a decent Yamaha surround sound receiver (switched to 2-channel output) and the 401s.
The 401s replaced a pair of Polk Monitor 11Ts that I liked, but never loved. Great recordings sounded great. Flat recordings sounded flat. Which is fine. I love listening to scratchy old Hank Williams (Sr.) tracks and borderline listenable live recordings right alongside overly clean Dire Straits and James Taylor stuff. But I admit, I was a little disappointed at how flat and uninteresting a lot of my music sounded. Mainly, I chalked it up to bad mixing and mastering of the 80s CDs much of my library came from.
Until I got these 401s. I know they're not the best. I did - at first - think some stuff sounded a little too bassy. Maybe even a little muddled. But the more I listened, the more I liked what I heard. I also know it's a bit of a gimmick - the direct/reflected sound. But what it does is add a touch of analog reverb that wakes up a lot of the music. Now the great stuff still sounds great. But so does everything else. They hide flaws. They add warmth.
That's all I wanted to say. Definitely worth checking out if your enjoyment of music isn't tied to the purity of the recording. And especially if those recordings aren't all that pure in the first place. After all, it's not about accuracy. It's about enjoyment. For me, anyway, it's not science. It's art.
I'll also admit up front that I'm no audiophile. But I do love music. My system is neither vintage nor hi fi. Right now, it's a 20,000 song library played through an Apple TV, a decent Yamaha surround sound receiver (switched to 2-channel output) and the 401s.
The 401s replaced a pair of Polk Monitor 11Ts that I liked, but never loved. Great recordings sounded great. Flat recordings sounded flat. Which is fine. I love listening to scratchy old Hank Williams (Sr.) tracks and borderline listenable live recordings right alongside overly clean Dire Straits and James Taylor stuff. But I admit, I was a little disappointed at how flat and uninteresting a lot of my music sounded. Mainly, I chalked it up to bad mixing and mastering of the 80s CDs much of my library came from.
Until I got these 401s. I know they're not the best. I did - at first - think some stuff sounded a little too bassy. Maybe even a little muddled. But the more I listened, the more I liked what I heard. I also know it's a bit of a gimmick - the direct/reflected sound. But what it does is add a touch of analog reverb that wakes up a lot of the music. Now the great stuff still sounds great. But so does everything else. They hide flaws. They add warmth.
That's all I wanted to say. Definitely worth checking out if your enjoyment of music isn't tied to the purity of the recording. And especially if those recordings aren't all that pure in the first place. After all, it's not about accuracy. It's about enjoyment. For me, anyway, it's not science. It's art.