Accuracy in Loudspeakers---Define
- Thread starter Tom Brennan
- Start date
Is either dispersion pattern more or less accurate than the other, other factors being equal? Not inherently, no.
With respect to how they will behave in a system, that's an application issue, and it's certainly possible to either enhance or diminish overall system accuracy depending upon how well the total integration is accomplished, even with accurate speakers.
In many of it's professional product lines, JBL offers a selection of available patterns to assist in system optimization.
Next question: what is "live music"?
Are you talking about a string quartet in a small sitting room? Ok, that's live music.
Are you talking about Eric Clapton in concert? In that case you're hearing his Strat played through a guitar amp with a microphone in front of it and then that signal being passed through a mixing board being run by a person, then going through some crossovers, amps, and finally speakers. THEN it gets to your ears. Is that really "live music"?
Are we trying to match the actual performance or are we trying to match the sound guys interpretation of what Clapton should sound like as played through speakers which, we've established in this thread, are not accurate?
Ray
Exactly what I was thinking..
Well actually Ray, since those speakers are the source of the music rather than reproducers of it I'd argue that they're inherantly accurate (spinning finger next to head).
But I know what you mean.
Hello Tom
In this day in age it would be the horn that matches the directivity of the midrange or woofer at the crossover frequency. The 80's saw the constant/controlled directivity revolution in S/R. There are few commercial speakers that are CD I can think of Revels and Geede's Suma as examples. To have an accurate speaker you need uniform and controlled power response.
Rob:yes:
Looking for one of these: :screwy: ??
I guess we're back to the definition of accurate. In this instance you're defining accurate as what comes out of the speaker viewed as the source and I can see the sense in that. However I still maintain that accuracy means the output is true to the input so the concert speakers may or may not be accurate. I suppose it depends somewhat on where you draw the line between producing and reproducing sound.
Definitely an interesting exercise. Good one, Tom. I hope you've fulfilled your goal of stirring some #$^&.
Ray
So, since the Clapton concert recording was presumably made from the same mic in front of his amp (or another similarly located,) to accurately reproduce the "live" experience, we should all be listening to SR (Sound Reinforcement) speakers at ear-splitting levels as Similost advocates?
Well, no. The recording was itself mixed, massaged, EQ'd, panned, and otherwise manipulated by the recording engineer according to HIS (and the recording producer's) perception of what Clapton in concert should sound like, on studio monitors, generally the most accurate speakers the industry produces, in a highly controlled environment. That's our program source, for better or worse, i.e., not the live performance....
Well, no. The recording was itself mixed, massaged, EQ'd, panned, and otherwise manipulated by the recording engineer according to HIS (and the recording producer's) perception of what Clapton in concert should sound like, on studio monitors, generally the most accurate speakers the industry produces, in a highly controlled environment. That's our program source, for better or worse, i.e., not the live performance....
Agreed. But while that identifies and corrects an inaccuracy, inconsistent pattern, it doesn't establish accuracy except in the negative sense and fails to establish the positive: what is the proper dispersion pattern for an accurate speaker?
I don't think there's an answer to that.
I worked on that second sentence for about 10 minutes.
Regards
I worked on that second sentence for about 10 minutes.
And a fine sentence it is! :thmbsp:
Ray
Saint Johnny
Bon Ton Roule
Exactly what I was trying to say, pages before. And per chance if either of those live performances happened to be recorded, then you introduce a whole other level of someones interpretations of what something is supposed to sound like. And again who's to say what accurate is?
grateful
Super Member
An accurate speaker is linear, (has equal loudness at all frequencies) has good power response (radiates all frequencies equally throughout the room) has extended response from the deepest bass to the highest treble and has low distortion at all frequencies and has good transient response. (starts and stops quickly without overhang) What else is there? It has nothing to do with anyone’s interpretation it is purely a machine that converts electrical energy into sound without editorializing. A perfectly accurate speaker cannot be made but some are closer than others to this ideal. Sound reinforcement speakers have different design goals and are made for a different purpose. A very accurate speaker often sounds a little dull and unlively to the inexperienced listener. Over time, the lack of fatigue and rightness of the sound convinces the owner that he or she made the right choice. Real instruments recorded in live space tend to sound very convincing on such speakers and the speakers tend to disapear leaving only the music.
Justen
Send Lawyers,Guns & Money
I do love a good pickle. Not one of those gol dang mushy over salted poor excuse for a pickle things they throw on a cheap hamburger...no I'm talking about a nice linear pickle you can measure the crispness of. 'Course there's always butter pickles, which I like as well, but they're tough to measure.
Well, ME, of course. I have two party systems like that, plus the monster sub.
[Not that I party all that much anymore, tho....
: ]
Nor I neither. :banghead:
bowtie427ss
Lunatic Member
See?????
It's a personal preference thing, i like mustard pickles, and we measure em in pf (pucker factor).
