• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

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

gkimeng said:
"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.
Click to expand...


Since the rolloff caused by the screen was compensated for by a circuit that was part of the projector one would've been unlikely to hear an EQed theater system were a screen not in place. And if one wanted the same sound without a screen as with one then one would leave the EQ circuit off.

The technical eveidence (which is scanty so far in this thread) would seem to rule against your theory. As for anecdotal evidence, well Norma Desmond ran silent pictures at home. ;)

Myself, I'm wondering if so called 'West Coast" sound wasn't born more of studio playback monitors than motion picture systems; perhaps the JBL monitors that started becoming popular in the 1960s and had extended bass and highs compared to the earlier Altec 604. Just a'wonderin' ya understand.

Kind Regards
 
Last edited:
I'm near Nashville TN, so my speakers sound "twangy".:banana:
I'd agree with the East-West distinction; Hope Arkansas (Klipsch) is west of me, and Thiel (Kentucky) is east. Klipsch is bright and forward, Thiel is balanced and "polite".
 
Doc Rock said:
Thiel is balanced and "polite".
Click to expand...


Ya think so Doc? Last time I heard Thiels (a couple of years ago) it was serious "earwire": like sticking a wire in my ear and twisting it. That was in a hi-fi shop up here when I was shopping for new speakers.
 
Tom Brennan said:
Since the rolloff caused by the screen was compensated for by a circuit that was part of the projector one would've been unlikely to hear an EQed theater system were a screen not in place. And if one wanted the same sound without a screen as with one then one would leave the EQ circuit off.

The technical eveidence (which is scanty so far in this thread) would seem to rule against your theory. As for anecdotal evidence, well Norma Desmond ran silent pictures at home. ;)

Myself, I'm wondering if so called 'West Coast" sound wasn't born more of studio playback monitors than motion picture systems; perhaps the JBL monitors that started becoming popular in the 1960s and had extended bass and highs compared to the earlier Altec 604. Just a'wonderin' ya understand.
Click to expand...
It's not my theory, btw. I think I first saw it in an article about early JBL/Altec speakers.

And yes, I expect that pop and rock concerts and recordings of the 60's and later were the origin of the screamingly bright "west coast" sound of that era. As I mentioned earlier, JBLs I heard in the 50's seemed brighter and more forward than ARs of the period, but not by a huge amount. 1970's "west coasters" would make them seem quite "eastern" by comparison.
 
Tom Brennan said:
Since the rolloff caused by the screen was compensated for by a circuit that was part of the projector one would've been unlikely to hear an EQed theater system were a screen not in place. And if one wanted the same sound without a screen as with one then one would leave the EQ circuit off.

The technical eveidence (which is scanty so far in this thread) would seem to rule against your theory. As for anecdotal evidence, well Norma Desmond ran silent pictures at home. ;)

Myself, I'm wondering if so called 'West Coast" sound wasn't born more of studio playback monitors than motion picture systems; perhaps the JBL monitors that started becoming popular in the 1960s and had extended bass and highs compared to the earlier Altec 604. Just a'wonderin' ya understand.

Kind Regards
Click to expand...
This is some pretty cool trivia on Altec, which is credited with theaters and such not JBL.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altec_Lansing

I will agree that people with disposable income wanted similar capabilities, but you have to realize that they were litterally building their own home theaters, with projectors, curtains and everything. These people of means were specifically (not all anyway) trying to one up each other and not much more. Let's face it, mono ruled, mono hifi was king and this new fangled stereo "fad" was just around the corner.

Some of what has been stated holds true in certain aspects, etc. but I don't really believe this led to East/West coast sound. Funnier still, if you google variations on east coast vs. west coast most of what you will find are references to hip-hop music.

What is the earliest "published" usage of this? That, more than anything, will likely help lead to some idea of how/where this all originated. me thinks.
 
Canadian speakers are OK once you get used to the "eh" at the end of each song.

Even Beethoven.

\:^)

Doug
 
And now for a new twist...

I started to think about the "movie" references and then started to think about "music" rather than the systems or speakers in this case.

I can't be positive, but I'd swear that there was some sort of East/West coast reference in an old B&W movie, but it was strictly in reference to styles of music. Somehow, somewhere this gravitated to "speakers", but more as a geographical reference than anything else.

When you start adding up the comments, references to music, movies, advertising, etc. more and more it points to what we play and not what we play it on.

I think the original reference comes from music. If only I could remember the movie, maybe it was with Danny Kaye, don't know.

Anyway, maybe one of my fellow dinosaur friends can remember.
 
I'm a noob, so take the following observation with a grain of salt:

I have no clue how it all might have started, but it reminds me of how guitar amps are sometimes described - some have a 'British sound' and others an 'American sound'. That all kinda developed because two popular amp manufacturers in the 60's and 70's - Vox and Marshall - had distinctly different sounds.

For some reason, each sound became identified with the country those two amps were made (Vox in Britain and Marshall in the U.S.) even though not every amp made in those countries had that specific sound.

Nowadays, any amp that has that trebly, thin Vox amp/Eminence speaker character is called 'British sound', and anything that has a thick, gutsy Marshall amp/Jensen speaker quality is "American sound"

I'd imagine the east coast-west coast thing started in a similar fashion - a popular speaker came from a manufacturer in that area with a distinctive sound, others copied it, and it became identifiable as being from an 'area' as opposed to a company, regardless of who made the speaker or where they made it (Polk is a good example of this - they are based in B'more, but they have always sounded more JBL-like than anything traditionally 'east coast' to me).

It may have started as a marketing ploy, but it is really more of a descriptive thing than an us-versus-them...I find it all very interesting. Good thread.
 
Last edited:
ssmith3046 said:
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.
Click to expand...

That was me except I graduated from the 4x's to KLH 6's. But...I then moved to JBL L100's. I guess I needed to be on both coasts. I think it was actually the orange foam grilles that got me. :yes:
 
bootzilla said:
I'm a noob, so take the following observation with a grain of salt:

I have no clue how it all might have started, but it reminds me of how guitar amps are sometimes described - some have a 'British sound' and others an 'American sound'. That all kinda developed because two popular amp manufacturers in the 60's and 70's - Vox and Marshall - had distinctly different sounds.

For some reason, each sound became identified with the country those two amps were made (Vox in Britain and Marshall in the U.S.) even though not every amp made in those countries had that specific sound.

Nowadays, any amp that has that trebly, thin Vox amp/Eminence speaker character is called 'British sound', and anything that has a thick, gutsy Marshall amp/Jensen speaker quality is "American sound"

I'd imagine the east coast-west coast thing started in a similar fashion - a popular speaker came from a manufacturer in that area with a distinctive sound, others copied it, and it became identifiable as being from an 'area' as opposed to a company, regardless of who made the speaker or where they made it (Polk is a good example of this - they are based in B'more, but they have always sounded more JBL-like than anything traditionally 'east coast' to me).

It may have started as a marketing ploy, but it is really more of a descriptive thing than an us-versus-them...I find it all very interesting. Good thread.
Click to expand...

I absolutely-get what you're saying, but don't you mean Marshall (British-made as well as Vox) and Fender (California, US)? Marshalls were generally-paired with Celestion speakers while Fender (back in the '60's) was known for using Jensens. In the early '60's, the treble-booster (excuse the expression) was introduced as a way to make the darker-sounding British guitar amps sound more-"American" (i.e. brighter - What they didn't realize at the time was how it could be used to overdrive the amp, that is, until Clapton used the Les Paul/Marshall/treble-booster combination during his stint with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers).
 
Last edited:
IIRC, movie theaters are, in fact, voiced "bright." I have the specs somewhere in my office - I can see if I can find them tomorrow (I wanna say in the digital projection whitepaper, but I could be wrong). When this all started, however, I have no idea.

And midwest speakers tend to not be boomy or bright - they have more of a moo-ish quality.
 
AlexLTDLX said:
IIRC, movie theaters are, in fact, voiced "bright." I have the specs somewhere in my office - I can see if I can find them tomorrow (I wanna say in the digital projection whitepaper, but I could be wrong). When this all started, however, I have no idea.

And midwest speakers tend to not be boomy or bright - they have more of a moo-ish quality.
Click to expand...

:lmao: That's cause we use Pure ground corn cob fiber for damping material:thmbsp: "Nothin" quite like it :D
 
Yes. There was "east coast" and "west coast" jazz. Chet Baker, for example, was "west coast." Dave Brubek was "east coast." AFAIK, rival jazz posses never killed each other, though. :yes:

Copa1934 said:
I started to think about the "movie" references and then started to think about "music" rather than the systems or speakers in this case.

I can't be positive, but I'd swear that there was some sort of East/West coast reference in an old B&W movie, but it was strictly in reference to styles of music. Somehow, somewhere this gravitated to "speakers", but more as a geographical reference than anything else.

When you start adding up the comments, references to music, movies, advertising, etc. more and more it points to what we play and not what we play it on.

I think the original reference comes from music. If only I could remember the movie, maybe it was with Danny Kaye, don't know.

Anyway, maybe one of my fellow dinosaur friends can remember.
Click to expand...
 
Going back to the OP, there's more then speaker voicing at issue. West Coast speakers stressed efficiency, punch, slam - even when not voiced with sizzling highs and booming lows. East Coast speakers stressed wide bandwidth, in reasonably - sized enclosures.

But, the best sound is "Science." +1 for the multiple posters who sited Canada's NRC, as well as the BBC.
 
Can I start a fight by mentioning "Japanese" sound?

I've been around since the original AR. The one that needed the Radio Shack electrostatic tweeter.

The rolled off high end thing is interesting. My wife is one of those who used to complain about the noise from the TV flyback transformer, and the screech from stores in the mall that had motion sensors.

When we went window shopping for speakers, she asserted that people who preferred the exaggerated highs probably had hearing damage from rock music.

Magazines like High Fidelity and Stereo Review started talking about some mysterious characteristics of Japanese speakers, something that didn't show up on measurements, but seemed to be a cultural preference. I don't know what it was, but the magazines kept the Japanese out of the American high end market for a long time.

I always referred to East coast sound as the Boston sound, since so many of the big companies were headquartered there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom