canuckaudiog
On a quest for high fidelity
Hey AK,
I wanted to share this recent experience with you. It's pretty interesting!
It involves a pair of Wharfedale Airedale speakers I used to own. I sold them because I couldn't make them sound good. This was last summer. Fast forward to this past weekend, and I discovered who now owns them - a good friend of mine. I went over there because I was purchasing a pair of Realistic Minimus 7s from him to use in my motorhome.
Of course, we decided to listen to the Airedales. It turns out he has solved the puzzle as to why they sound the way they do, and how to best listen to them. In his words, "These are not hi-fi speakers, they are concert-goer speakers". What he means is that because they are not directional like your typical speaker, studio recordings don't tend to sound great. What they do very well, however, is create the ambiance of a live recording and give you an uncanny, realistic live experience. He said that in his time listening to speakers, none have ever come close to reproducing the live sound correctly. The Airedales do, though!
We sat down and listened to a few tracks of his choice. I could not tell you what we listened to. But, I can tell you that he is correct - it really does sound live. You could distinctly pick out the musicians and even sense the stage as well as the venue. It truly sounded like the band was playing live! An incredible thing for something of this age - but does explain what Briggs was after all those years ago. On top of that, even though the drivers are facing up, there was no sense of loss in treble extension or other funny things. It blew my mind. I've *never* heard a pair of speakers sound like this. What's more interesting is he was using a pair of KEF 107s previously, and he prefers the Airedales.
Really cool stuff. And this guy has a great pair of ears - he reviews concerts of the local orchestra here for a local newspaper regularly and listens to live performances regularly. I'd say he has a good idea of what a live recording should sound like.
So there you have it. If you own a pair of Airedales and you cannot understand what their sound is all about, throw something live on them. You'll know right away what they are designed for. Also, he said that they sound their best in corners, not out into the room (although the Airedale was designed to be free standing, corners seem to work best anyway).
I wanted to share this recent experience with you. It's pretty interesting!
It involves a pair of Wharfedale Airedale speakers I used to own. I sold them because I couldn't make them sound good. This was last summer. Fast forward to this past weekend, and I discovered who now owns them - a good friend of mine. I went over there because I was purchasing a pair of Realistic Minimus 7s from him to use in my motorhome.
Of course, we decided to listen to the Airedales. It turns out he has solved the puzzle as to why they sound the way they do, and how to best listen to them. In his words, "These are not hi-fi speakers, they are concert-goer speakers". What he means is that because they are not directional like your typical speaker, studio recordings don't tend to sound great. What they do very well, however, is create the ambiance of a live recording and give you an uncanny, realistic live experience. He said that in his time listening to speakers, none have ever come close to reproducing the live sound correctly. The Airedales do, though!
We sat down and listened to a few tracks of his choice. I could not tell you what we listened to. But, I can tell you that he is correct - it really does sound live. You could distinctly pick out the musicians and even sense the stage as well as the venue. It truly sounded like the band was playing live! An incredible thing for something of this age - but does explain what Briggs was after all those years ago. On top of that, even though the drivers are facing up, there was no sense of loss in treble extension or other funny things. It blew my mind. I've *never* heard a pair of speakers sound like this. What's more interesting is he was using a pair of KEF 107s previously, and he prefers the Airedales.
Really cool stuff. And this guy has a great pair of ears - he reviews concerts of the local orchestra here for a local newspaper regularly and listens to live performances regularly. I'd say he has a good idea of what a live recording should sound like.
So there you have it. If you own a pair of Airedales and you cannot understand what their sound is all about, throw something live on them. You'll know right away what they are designed for. Also, he said that they sound their best in corners, not out into the room (although the Airedale was designed to be free standing, corners seem to work best anyway).
