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East vs. West Coast sound, what's up, really???

gkimeng said:
"East coast" sound was the original default for musical reproduction, modeled on the acoustics of concert halls. "West coast" sound got its start from people in the Hollywood movie industry using components from theater sound systems in their homes. Movie theater sound systems were originally designed with enhanced high frequencies to compensate for the placement of speakers behind fabric cinema screens. The use of the same systems without the movie screens for live amplified performances added support for the use of their sound for home music systems. Since neither can really produce an accurate reproduction of an original live performance, neither is inherently "better" and it's all a matter of preference. Both have been largely superceded by today's preference for "flat" response.
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Whoa, that's a bit generalized don't you think? Concert halls? Theaters sprang up all over the U.S., with the East Coast hit first since it had the largest "paying" audience to work with. Then you have Broadway and so many other venues. And horns? What do you consider Klipsh? I for one don't consider that prominent company as "West Coast".

I'm still leaning with the adverts, makes a lot more sense when I look back on the ads in a variety of magazines, as pointed out "Jazz", "Blues" even "Folk" music had some exposure.

What I do agree with, though, is the idea of not being able to accurately reproduce a live performance. You can get the DB's, you can get the clarity, you can get many things, but not all and not like being "at" the performance. On the other hand, of course, it helps not to be around less desireable people and situations. From the stories I've heard and read, not sure I would have liked being "at" woodstock.
 
On a serious non-combative note...I had often heard as East Coast sound or speakers being described as "You are there"..Whereas West Coast sound being described as (performer wise) "They are here"...:dunno:
 
DaveElton said:
On a serious non-combative note...I had often heard as East Coast sound or speakers being described as "You are there"..Whereas West Coast sound being described as (performer wise) "They are here"...:dunno:
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Ah, so where then do Japan, England, Germany, Switzerland, etc. fall? Are they an east cost or west coast sound? I don't think the east coast- west coast sound applies as much to gear as it does to the music from those areas, just as you have texas blues vs. chicago blues styles. Does anyone on here really think they could diffrentiate in a side by side comparison of east coast electronics vs. west coast electronics? I call bs.
 
amason3 said:
Ah, so where then do Japan, England, Germany, Switzerland, etc. fall? Are they an east cost or west coast sound? I don't think the east coast- west coast sound applies as much to gear as it does to the music from those areas, just as you have texas blues vs. chicago blues styles. Does anyone on here really think they could diffrentiate in a side by side comparison of east coast electronics vs. west coast electronics? I call bs.
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Very good point, where do all of the above fall??? I know the Brits are known for a "polite" sound in there speakers:scratch2: To me, as far as electronics, I doubt one could tell "east from west", I think the OP was referring more to speakers, which at least with vintage speakers is pretty easy to do IMHO.
 
ecandle said:
My set up delivers NorthWest sound....
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:D lol, mine is midwest, it takes the best of the east coast and west coast and blends them together. Seriously though, I think it stems from people attempting to differentiate themselves in some manner, no different from looks (e.g., oh that look is so 80's, 90's, etc.). Ultimately, it is b.s., there wasn't a certain group of engineers on the east coast, and another that migrated to the west coast to develop a crossover or amp with different sound characteristics than the competing coast. Every audio company that started up attempted to develop electronics that could mimic (as closely as possible) live sound. There was no concious effort (nor unconcious consequence) that led to a different sound between east coast and west coast audio.
 
I'm a fan of the British or Canadian sound myself.

Actually I'm a fan of ANAPS (As neutral as possible sound). Revealing/transparent/resolving can be substituted for neutral.
 
Wait.....wait.....what about the "Eastern Bloc Sound???""":banana:
"In Soviet Russia speaker tests You! "

Sorry, had to go there,,,,little sleep today! Seriously, good stuff and opinions in this thread :thmbsp:
 
jlovda said:
Listen to an AR or KLH and then listen to a JBL. I've never done a direct comparison like that but I guess those are the classics from the two coasts. :music:
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Depends on the JBL, actually- there aren't all that many that are voiced to be "west coast".

je
 
gkimeng said:
Movie theater sound systems were originally designed with enhanced high frequencies to compensate for the placement of speakers behind fabric cinema screens.
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The problem with this theory is that old movie systems don't have enchanced highs and generally optical systems were rolled off at 6500hz and magnetic systems sought flat response out to 10,000hz. Electronic EQ systems were used to compensate for acoustics but the speakers themselves were not designed to accentuate the highs or the bass.

From the information available to me it seems the worse high frequency rolloff caused by the screens in general use was 4db at 10,000hz.

In any event a flat response in the theater was the goal.
 
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I think East Coast West Coast delinations belong in the same dustbin as the Monster Cables and expensive power cords....boy I hope I have not stirred a hornet's nest
 
At one time AR had 33% of the speaker market in the country. Excellent speakers and great advertising. Remember the listening room on the west balcony of Grand Central Terminal? There's a bunch of people my age who started out with the 4 or 4x for an entry level speaker then moved up to 3a.
 
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Copa1934 said:
Whoa, that's a bit generalized don't you think? Concert halls? Theaters sprang up all over the U.S., with the East Coast hit first since it had the largest "paying" audience to work with. Then you have Broadway and so many other venues.
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Yeah, I'm sure it is, but look at the sources of "glamor" that inspired people with the money to spend on things like expensive sound for their homes during the years they first became available. Live performances on stages and major radio broadcasts. mostly originating in the east and spreading west, "talking pictures" originating in the west and spreading east.

Fred Sanford said:
Depends on the JBL, actually- there aren't all that many that are voiced to be "west coast".
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JBLs like the Hartsfields were somewhat brighter than the typical AR-like speakers of the period, but nowhere near as bright as the later models from the 70's.

Tom Brennan said:
The problem with this theory is that old movie systems don't have enchanced highs and generally optical systems were rolled off at 6500hz and magnetic systems sought flat response out to 10,000hz. Electronic EQ systems were used to compensate for acoustics but the speakers themselves were not designed to accentuate the highs or the bass.
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"Highs" are a relative term in this case. Even a system that rolls off at 6500 Hz can be made to sound brighter. Whether the brighter sound was the result of brighter speakers or (I think more likely) the result of people accustomed to listening to theater sound systems without the screen in the way deciding they wanted the same sound at home, the result would be the same.
 
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I grew up in the middle of Canada, so honestly I'd never heard the terms until I came here. So when I was a kid listening to my dad's AR-XA through a cheap Holiday amp, I wasn't thinking the AR was east coast, I was just thinking about the wallop I would get if I touched it.
I am a fan of Canadian speakers. I've never thought of them having "Canadian" sound, though. They just turn up here more than most others. I guess the NRC "subsidies" they get might make some sound similar.
My daughter was born in the far north. When she gets mad and yells can I call it "north coast sound"?
 
Just for the record - the midrange bump exhibited by the Altec Voice of the Theatre family was put there very deliberately by their designers... those loudspeakers had to speak through a motion picture screen. They needed to produce clear and intelligible dialog under those circumstances. Their designers succeeded in spades. To my ears and tastes, there are very few loudspeakers as capable of producing real (as opposed to realistic) sounding human voice as are the VOTs and their kin.
 
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