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Are soundbars and Bluetooth speakers killing hifi ?

Bodyblue said:
Neil Young is just a bitter old hippie with serious anger issues. Nothing good comes from being around that kind of toxic personality.....or even reading about him.
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I guess he didn't really mean it when he said it's better to burn out than fade away....go figure.
 
GChief said:
No proof and just MO, which is probably wrong... I think the only reason new TV's even have speakers is because old people expect a TV to have them :dunno:

I am sitting here trying to think of anyone I know using the internal speakers and I can't :idea:
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We bought a new TV for the living/great room last summer. Wife insists no external speakers, nothing larger than 55 inches, and can not be dissuaded from those parameters. OK - I'm not enthusiastic about this, but... Challenge Accepted! Went to a huge furniture/electronics dealer in the city, found an OLDer salesman in the TV area and told him the deal. I needed to actually listen to the speakers in some of the better TV's. By the time we were done, we had a crowd around us listening along. Most of the TV's had pretty horrible sound. Some were OK. A few were not all that bad. I ended up selecting a 55 inch Sony Bravia 4K unit, based solely on the dual criteria that it had a sharp picture and decent stereo sound. It works great, sounds just fine. Not as dynamic an audio presentation as I would like, but "OK".

Of course, we're old - in our mid 60's, and I have my home theater set-up in an upstairs bedroom for when I want to immerse myself in sound.
 
fill35u said:
The main design headache is that "bar" implies a fairly short height limitation. Too short for a decent diameter (efficient) mid-range with a tweeter over it. Mounting the tweeter to the side causes horizontal lobing issues.
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What might be interesting would be to apply a vertical approach with a pair of bars mounted to either side. Really don't need mid/tweeter when small diameter drivers are used. Just create a small full range line array to project some notion of image size with a reasonably large collective cone area.

I use a somewhat larger scale version of that idea...
 
E-Stat said:
What might be interesting would be to apply a vertical approach with a pair of bars mounted to either side. Really don't need mid/tweeter when small diameter drivers are used. Just create a small full range line array to project some notion of image size with a reasonably large collective cone area.

I use a somewhat larger scale version of that idea...
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Magnepan has a pair of speakers specifically designed for that circumstance and purpose.

MMG-W
MC1_02.jpg


Magnepan suggests they are for the center channel. There's no reason why a pair with a subwoofer wouldn't work for the front speakers.
 
JoeESP9 said:
Magnepan has a pair of speakers specifically designed for that circumstance and purpose.
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Indeed. The slightly taller MC-1s I use for the surround channels could likewise be used as well. But not everyone would be willing to spend $1000 + amplifier.

IMG_2029.JPG
 
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JoeESP9 said:
Magnepan has a pair of speakers specifically designed for that circumstance and purpose.

MMG-W
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Wow, Joe, those are cool! It seemed that Magneplanar didn't offer them through stores? A shame, I bet they would've sold a lot more. Very affordably priced.

JoeESP9 said:
Magnepan suggests they are for the center channel.
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Do they still offer the MMG-C curved center channel? If not, seems like a MMG-W could be mounted horizontally, too.
 
Tom Brennan said:
I live in a motorhome and listen to this Klipsch bluetooth speaker. The sound is mono but high fidelity---low distortion at my listening levels, a good tonal balance and clarity that allows me to hear deep into the music.

Next month I'm moving into an apartment up in downtown Kent Washington and will be able to go with a conventional hi-fi again, what I'll do is much on my mind.
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My opinion: Not killing, but enhancing, by contribution...

During this pandemic, I meet socially with one person, my best friend, once per week, on Saturday afternoons and evenings. We sit in one of the outdoor gazebos that my bride has put together in the back yard. We sit at a 10 ft. distance from each other, so we wear no masks. This is so we can smoke pipes and cigars, while enjoying single malt Scotches, absinthe, and a variety of other spirits. This we do while enjoying good music and conversation.

Up to now, we have received the music from my main PC in my lab, through a bluetooth transmitter to a blue tooth receiver outside, into a vintage JVC boom box. This has served us well, but I am left wanting more, in the way of sound quality, as the boom box is lacking on the bottom.

Based upon my own research, I went out today and purchased Klipsch's "The One II Phono." I considered the original "The One," but it appeared to me to be powered by a rechargeable, but non-replaceable, battery which was reported to discharge fairly quickly even when power was switched off. As an engineer, I know that batteries have limited lifespans. I did not want to wind up with a pretty paper weight when the batteries gave up the ghost, and, seeing that The One II was powered by line AC, I heartily settled on that.

OK. The sales packaging was clear and unpretentious, and sufficiently informative, while being adequately protective as well. The product itself is fairly small, but larger than its competition. It appears to be solid, substantial, of significant weight, with an appearance that is indeed reminiscent of vintage high-end Klipsch products. It actually looks kind of like a miniature version of the top section of a Klipschorn. The overall visual effect is quite nice.

I have yet to take it outside to see how it performs out there. But, I have it placed on top of the center rack of my main rig, and tipped it slightly (so I am on axis with the drivers), and I am listening to Steely Dan's "Can't Buy a Thrill" (via YouTube), as I type this. I must say that I am quite impressed. It reaches low, while not sounding as though it does it with lots of augmentation. In other words, it puts out more sound, with much better fidelity than a device of this size has a right to. The sound is full and clear across the full audio spectrum. It is very listenable, indeed. It gets nice and loud, and certainly wakes up when more volume is asked of it. I have yet to get it to sound like it is clipping, as it gets plenty loud before it gets there.

During "near-field" listening, this unit actually presents a surprising amount of soundstage and imaging. Outside of the near field, it still presents a noticeable amount of soundstage, but greatly reduced, and still manifests "some" stereo imaging. No complaints here. If you lived in a mobile home or RV, this would be perfect. If something like this had existed back when I was doing alot of TDY (temporary duty) at various bases, in the Air Force, this would have been perfect for that too. This is because my audio rig in my main barracks room was not much smaller than it is now (massive). We did not have bluetooth back then, but we certainly did have line level sources and turntables, both of which this unit is designed to accommodate.

Again, it is hard to believe that what I am hearing is coming out of this little package. Very impressive.

Anyway, this is my take on this product. I paid $148 for it, at Walmart. I am very happy that I splurged, as my weekly smoke-drink-listen sessions will certainly be enhanced. This kind of performance, at this price point, shows alot of good thinking and execution. Kudos to the conception, marketing, design and production teams. I highly recommend this little piece of audio kit.

Enjoy,
Rich P
 
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hjames said:
And listen to music the old hippies play! ')
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Yeah, read a lotta "angry oldster" -- ex-hippies and/or other -- aroud here and elsewhere, and listen to some of the same music but listen to more -- much more -- Thrash, Doom, NWOBHM and post-Thrash / post-Doom / post-NWOBHM (I eschew the term "NU" and so refrain from applying it) METAL than I do "old hippie" tunes.
 
As for my "Bluetooth Speaker" solution for (mostly) streaming radio from Russia, I use the Klipsch The One II. Sounds good as heck for streaming FM radio via the Interthing. When I listen to lossless digital music I aim my PC player > DAC > big speakers.

nb: I will occasionally slum it and listen to s.t. @ yewtoob > The One for a quick fix, to check on s.t., etc.
 
GChief said:
In the big scheme of things proably low-fi and mid-fi (whatever those are). But many sound great "for what they are". its about having realistic expectations given their physical limitations.
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This ^^ and more. There's a "place" and "time" for bluetooth speakers, guys 'n gals.
 
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