Just curious are some genres of music better on different speakers?

[Wigwam Jones]

I agree with Cubdog. Accurate speakers should sound not be partial to the type of music being reproduced by them.

Why not? And while I'm at it, what's the relationship between 'good' and 'accurate'?

If I like a set of speakers, they're good. Accurate? I have no idea. My ears are not accurate, so whatever I like, I like. If it's not accurate, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

I do understand that there are people who fret if their speakers don't conform to some objective standard of 'accuracy', but I would at least hope those speakers sound better to them than others that are perhaps less accurate. As for me, I could not possibly care less. Good is what my ears like. Bad is what they don't.

 

[Gang-Twanger]

I agree with Cubdog. Accurate speakers should sound not be partial to the type of music being reproduced by them.

I agree, however, how many speakers in the truly-affordable range can actually do that (while still remaining musical and engaging and reproducing the emotion along with the flat response)? In most cases, there's gonna' be compromise. Just sayin'. I'll be glad when I get to the truly-content stage though.

 

[Vulture]

I'm trying to imagine this scene...

"I'm selling my speakers, Bob."

"Really? Why? I thought you liked them"

"Oh, I do but they don't sound as good with Rap as they go with Folk."

"But you don't like Rap."

"Doesn't matter. If they don't sound equally good with all genres, they're not good speakers. So they gotta go."

Hmmm. Interesting logic.

My truck is not a good sports car. But I guess a GOOD truck should be a good sports car too, or it's just not a good truck.

I treat my truck like a sports car, it corners and brakes pretty well for a truck. Is it a good truck? No. It can't plow through mud, go up steep slopes at 40mph, then corner carve the Tail of the Dragon like a Porsche. Good luck finding one that could.

I think a speaker that is perfect for all genres is unattainable except on paper. Each type of music emphasizes on certain frequencies and sounds best with certain unique mixing. Trying to design a speaker that is really good at it all is kind of like a Leatherman or Swiss Army Knife: Jack of all trades, master of none. The saw on my Leatherman fits in the handle for convenient carry, but is too small for anything but small dowels. The screwdrivers are available on my hip at all times, but they aren't hollow-ground to avoid buggering screw heads. The knife is very sharp, but a pain to ready for use compared to the one clipped to my pocket. A tool designed for one use in mind will 99.99% of the time be better suited than a tool designed for multiple uses.

This is not to say that a multi-tool or "generalized" speaker is not useful. I generally use my Leatherman 5-6 times within the first hour of my shift. I can't carry around a pouch full of tools. The same reason I can accept a speaker that does every genre acceptable (to MY ears) justice: I don't have the room to house a pair of speakers specially suited for every genre I listen to. I would have no room for my couch! Are my Advents acceptable for most genres? That's debatable, they sound like crap with blues and bluegrass, but pretty good for newer rock and pop; to MY ears. Everything in the audio world is dependent on the biggest immeasurable variable of them all: the listener. One person may love their $12,000 speakers, while another would think they sound horrible, and prefer his $200 JBLs instead.

Have I confused you satisfactorily yet?

 

[Wigwam Jones]

I agree, however, how many speakers in the truly-affordable range can actually do that (while still remaining musical and engaging and reproducing the emotion along with the flat response)? In most cases, there's gonna' be compromise.

I wonder how many people adjust the color of their television sets to match some objective standard of accuracy, and how many adjust the color to their own liking?

My point is that I have no clue why I would want speakers that were technically 'accurate' but not pleasing to me. If they are pleasing to me and accurate, great. If they are pleasing to me and not accurate, why would I care? Why should I care? What's the difference?

 

[Wigwam Jones]

Have I confused you satisfactorily yet?

No, I get it. But I also remember that old saw, "Jack of all trades, master of none." A good compromise is a compromise. If one has to compromise due to cost, space, or even a desire to live simply with fewer possessions, I totally get that. We all compromise in many ways anyway. But if I have two sets of speakers instead of one that between the two cover the range of music I listen to, what's the problem?

 

[dumptruck]

But if I have two sets of speakers instead of one that between the two cover the range of music I listen to, what's the problem?

No problem, of course, but for the value of those two sets, might there be one that sounds better than either, no matter what the source? I think there usually might, yes. (this may not work out with a $20 budget, but at $200-2000/pair, or more...)

 

[luddite]

I've noticed that. If the amp is left flat, certain speakers are better than others for certain recordings. But I've had to put it down to the engineering of the source, rather than to the type of music. I generally switch over to my severely-dampened-high-end pair of AR6's when the source is just badly over tinny to the ears.

 

[JimPA]

I agree, however, how many speakers in the truly-affordable range can actually do that (while still remaining musical and engaging and reproducing the emotion along with the flat response)? In most cases, there's gonna' be compromise. Just sayin'. I'll be glad when I get to the truly-content stage though.

One reason why I purchased kits and became a DIY. I backward engineered the design to deduce all the design parameters to learn how to design and test my own.

 

[Gang-Twanger]

I wonder how many people adjust the color of their television sets to match some objective standard of accuracy, and how many adjust the color to their own liking?

My point is that I have no clue why I would want speakers that were technically 'accurate' but not pleasing to me. If they are pleasing to me and accurate, great. If they are pleasing to me and not accurate, why would I care? Why should I care? What's the difference?

I actually do adjust my television.... but I only do it to undo any lame factory presets (like that "vivid" look that you see on all the TV's when you walk into Wal-Mart).

I don't have a lot of money to play around with, so I look for a speaker that's pleasing AND has a flat response (I'll take a slight compromise on the response end, but they better bring the enjoyment... That comes first).

 

[Vulture]

No, I get it. But I also remember that old saw, "Jack of all trades, master of none." A good compromise is a compromise. If one has to compromise due to cost, space, or even a desire to live simply with fewer possessions, I totally get that. We all compromise in many ways anyway. But if I have two sets of speakers instead of one that between the two cover the range of music I listen to, what's the problem?

None at all. If those two sets are complimentary; i.e. each handle certain sets of genres better than the other set, while covering most genres, that would be ideal for me. That's why I have three more sets in the closet waiting to be operated on, to find that magical mix that tickles my fancy.

 

[Hyperion]

A couple of observations.

I have heard it said that speakers with a recessed midrange do not sound 'good' with rock music, it likely follows that speakers with a forward midrange will sound good with rock music. When I say 'speakers' I suppose I mean speakers, amp and pre-amp - there often being a noticable synergy here.

At a guess I would say a smooth (as in not edgy?), but not forward, response in the upper ranges would favour classical music.

So, I think what I am working towards here is that all types of music will sound good on accurate speakers - but various genres will pick up on response anomalies for a given system - which will always be there, and sound more pleasing to some because of this...

Sound reasonable? (no pun intended)

 

[Wigwam Jones]

Seems like everyone's responses are fairly flexible and not rigid and I'm glad to see that. It seems like often the responses are more stick-in-the-mud "No! It must conform to established specifications or it is no good!" But what if it does meet those specs and you don't like how it sounds? "That's beside the point! I'll listen to garbage if it meets the specs!'

Glad no one here is into that. Seems so ... painful ... and for no good reason I can see.

 

[dumptruck]

I have heard it said that speakers with a recessed midrange do not sound 'good' with rock music, it likely follows that speakers with a forward midrange will sound good with rock music.

I have heard that said too, and it depends on what you mean by "midrange". The heart of the midrange is 200Hz-1kHz, and a little hump in there can sound nice with rock, or lots of music really. A lot of times we talk about 1kHz-3kHz or 4kHz as "midrange", and having a peak or hump there will sound "detailed" to "bright" to "harsh" to "ear piercing".

 

[Vulture]

Seems like everyone's responses are fairly flexible and not rigid and I'm glad to see that. It seems like often the responses are more stick-in-the-mud "No! It must conform to established specifications or it is no good!" But what if it does meet those specs and you don't like how it sounds? "That's beside the point! I'll listen to garbage if it meets the specs!'

Glad no one here is into that. Seems so ... painful ... and for no good reason I can see.

Specifications schmefications! I defy normality, for there is no such thing!

Specs are guidelines to give you a rough idea whether using that particular item is practical and sane in your application. I wouldn't throw road-course race brake pads on a street daily driver vehicle. You would have to ride the brakes for a mile to heat them up enough to work. Same reason I wouldn't try to play dubstep on speakers that only go down to 50hz, you wouldn't get the full effect.

 

[juniorJBL]

I would like to think that all the speakers I am speaking of are all pretty decent, better than the average thrift store find. That being defined, some of my speakers seem to really sound good with vocals, strings, even large orchestra recordings, but I don't like the way they sound with rock music, while others seem to sound great with the rock music but don't have the intimacy of the others on the smaller details of solo vocals or strings, not that they don't sound good, they just don't give you that "wow" that sounded so moving. But then you can play another type and that same speaker that didn't seem to have the detail or intimacy sounds just awesome, Its just hard to describe, but I know from my experince from listening just what types of music will sound better on one pair of my speakers while another type will be better for the others.

Way back deep inside of your brain............

This is your excuse for more gear!!

 

[Wigwam Jones]

Specifications schmefications! I defy normality, for there is no such thing!

Specs are guidelines to give you a rough idea whether using that particular item is practical and sane in your application. I wouldn't throw road-course race brake pads on a street daily driver vehicle. You would have to ride the brakes for a mile to heat them up enough to work. Same reason I wouldn't try to play dubstep on speakers that only go down to 50hz, you wouldn't get the full effect.

Yes, I get that. Specs are a good place to start.

But we also have preferences. I was discussing this with my wife tonight while we were watching TV on the couch, and although she isn't into audio the way I am, she made a clever observation. "If specs were any indicator of preference, there would ultimately be only one set of speakers made that everyone would prefer," she said. "Or, all speakers would sound exactly alike."

Speakers don't sound all alike. Perhaps that is because rooms are different, music is different, playback equipment is different, our ears are different, and we all have different preferences on top of everything else.

So perhaps specs are a great place to start, but as a guide to what's 'good' and what's 'not good'? Not so much.

I truly do not understand the obsession with numbers with regard to audio. No one comes over and measures my picture tube and says I'm watching with the magenta a tad too high, or that my plasma screen is not 'accurate' so it can't be good. I watch it and if I feel like fiddling with it, I do, without regard to what anyone else thinks is proper.

But make it music instead, and oh **** oh dear everyone has a stick up their butts and they point to lines and graphs and ooh and ahh over things that my messed up ears can't hear anyway; but I'm supposed to conform to someone else's idea of what MUST sound good, because this squiggly line right here says so. Present company excepted, you guys are all being very reasonable, I believe.

To the OP's question - do different speakers sound different with different source material? Yes, many of them do.

To the general thought that even if they do, they shouldn't? Yeah, no.

 

[Ken Boyd]

I sure didn't pick any speakers for what type of music that sounds good on as I was unable to listen to any of the speakers I own prior to purchasing them. I have not had a chance to listen to many other good audio systems, and from the ones I have had an opportunity, I thought mine sounded much better than most any that I have had the chance to hear.

A friend of mine just got into the hobby and purchased a pair of Martin Logans, and recently purchased a pair of big tube mono blocks for the hi panels and I did think his sounded quite good. The only issue I found with them was I didn't care for the bass as much as the pairs I have, as my pairs seem to have a bit better bass, the Martin Logans he purchased has 10" bass drivers, which to my ears just didn't go down into the lower frequency's that well but they really did sound nice on the mids and hi's.

 

[Vulture]

Speakers don't sound all alike. Perhaps that is because rooms are different, music is different, playback equipment is different, our ears are different, and we all have different preferences on top of everything else.

Bingo.

I truly do not understand the obsession with numbers with regard to audio. No one comes over and measures my picture tube and says I'm watching with the magenta a tad too high, or that my plasma screen is not 'accurate' so it can't be good. I watch it and if I feel like fiddling with it, I do, without regard to what anyone else thinks is proper.

But make it music instead, and oh **** oh dear everyone has a stick up their butts and they point to lines and graphs and ooh and ahh over things that my messed up ears can't hear anyway; but I'm supposed to conform to someone else's idea of what MUST sound good, because this squiggly line right here says so. Present company excepted, you guys are all being very reasonable, I believe.

I think a lot of it might have to do with the fact that those squiggly little lines are the only way we have to quantify our personal experiences with our audio systems. In our quest to try to make people understand our elation in our personal audio experience, we might unintentionally go overboard with our specs and charts and whatnot.

I understand the part about things mucked-up ears can't hear, but the chart shows. There are dark days I wonder why I even listen in stereo, I'm 40% deaf in my right ear. Sometimes I have to bias my balance a bit to the right to keep the left speaker from seeming louder. :sigh:

 

[Gang-Twanger]

Are my Advents acceptable for most genres? That's debatable, they sound like crap with blues and bluegrass, but pretty good for newer rock and pop; to MY ears. Everything in the audio world is dependent on the biggest immeasurable variable of them all: the listener. One person may love their $12,000 speakers, while another would think they sound horrible, and prefer his $200 JBLs instead.

I listen to a lot of blues and old school R&B as well as classic AND contemporary rock and pop, so that would be an issue. My W60E's handle blues as well as acoustic stuff like bluegrass (I rarely-listen to bluegrass though... once in a blue moon... But more than the music itself, I appreciate the musicians playing that stuff). My speakers don't have to do it all perfectly, but they better do the majority of it really, really-well.

A good test for a do-it-all speaker is Al Di Meola's "Kiss My Axe". That recording spans the entire frequency spectrum and hits all points in between, so eventually it will expose some faults. Lots of depth and extension on that album, plus it's filled with natural sounds AND processed sounds both peacefully-coexisting on the same recording...

 

[kurtgo]

Short answer - yes. But I also think certain speaker drivers influence these thoughts too. A saxaphone on an EMIM driver sounds pretty damn awesome no matter what genre of music!