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

[Ken Boyd]

I also have never purchased any speakers that I just happen to come across because it was inexpensive. I determined what pair of speakers I wanted and then started a search until I found one that was in good condition and then purchased it and had it shipped. That is with the expection of one pair although I did know what basic design I wanted, as I wanted an efficent pair with a horn lens for the mid high ranges. I was really thinking more in lines of a pair of Altecs or JBL's but ended up with a pair of Sansui's. But they are the cheapest and smallest pair of speakers I really own, but they are almost 100 lbs's apiece, so they are not some little bookshelve model by any means.

Maybe its different types of drivers and materials that might have an influence on the way it sounds if that is something that is common for a speaker. Where the QLS have a soft dome mid range while my RS-1's have EMIM's for midrange, while the Sansui's have a horn, and the Phase Linears have a combination of pulp, and paper, so maybe some are better to my ears on some types of music than others.

If we went by specs alone, the speakers they are all pretty close other than the Sansui's.

 

[Ken Boyd]

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!

Exactly, saxaphones on my RS-1b's and my RSIIb's sound awesome, and on a classic rock album "Supertramp Breakfast in America" sounds really good on the RS-1b's, but on the QLS the Saxaphone details have less of a brass sound. But turn around and put a good Violin or Cello recording on the QLS you can hear the wood, every resonance of the strings and bow and wood, while on the EMIM's they just don't sound as luxurious like the slight nuances of the wood, same with flutes, the RS-1's and all the EMIM's just don't give the sound of a wood flute the same.

But put some music with some killer Tuba's and the EMIM's will trump just about anything, the Tuba with its brass, and all the bass dyanmics that the RS-1b's can handle, you feel like your sitting right in the throat of that tuba! And yet the QLS's will play low frequency lower than the RS-1b's at least according to the manufactors spec's. The QLS go down to 18hz +/- 2db, where the RS-1's are 23 +/- 2db but the RS-1's sound more convincing of a real tuba than the QLS.

 

[Copa1934]

Finally we're getting closer to the real issue...

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?

It's so funny how people are stuck on genre of music, or whatever. You mention adjusting your TV, a perfectly natural thing for all of us. Maybe you like more treble, less bass, higher brightness and less contrast. But that is you, and not the SOURCE.

You see, if we all owned JBL L100 speakers, and every studio across the country had the same speakers BUT none used the same mastering equipment, they all used different studio configurations, and OMG their hearing is different from mine...how the devil could you possibly be hearing the same thing they do? You can't. So you don't even really know what it's actually SUPPOSED to sound like.

So, with that in mind I'm with Wigwam. Now, that's a rather blanket statement. One of my CD's has always troubled me, Edgar Winter Group "They only come out at night". It seemed like no matter what combination of system I used the vocals and some of the instrumental seemed flat. Why? Because the system I first owned sounded the best. Particularly so with my headphones. Then recently I got my HPM-100 speakers. I checked them out, to see what stated they were in. Didn't sound quite right, but oddly there was hope. I recapped, cleaned the pots, replaced a bad tweeter and started playing some CD's. Some things really impressed me, some things were too bright. Then I thought "it's time". Loaded up Edgar and wow. For the first time in many many many years I was enjoying it the way I remember.

Arguably my ears aren't what they used to be, that will play a role. But that hasn't impacted me to the point where nothing sounds bright, which with some stuff it is. So I know my hearing isn't gone.

Accurate? Again I point to the fact we don't know first hand what that performance really sounded like, unless we should be so lucky to have been there. And forget live performances, I happen to be at one that made it to LP. Mostly I relive the experience, the recording will never capture the full power and dynamics of the live performance.

I think one of the best words I've seen used to describe reproduction of sound is "faithful". I like this because it takes into consideration miking, mixing, final studio edits, the equipment it was recorded on, the ears of the person or people involved in engineering the final product.

50% of people will love the sound of a L100, the other 50% will be a mix of hater, detractors, "so what?", big deal, etc. That's not the speakers fault, not entirely anyway. Equipment, room acoustics, type of music and of course ears.

I enjoy my HPM-100 speakers, but I also enjoy my AR3a, VA Haydn, Mach One, etc. etc. etc. They all have a place. But my RS 7b speakers I listen to no less than 8hrs a day, 5 days a week, and I never think about replacing them. Without them my work would be infinitely more trying.

 

[JimPA]

Hello KenBoyd which speaker does Crime of the Century sound the most accurate on? It is one of my favorites.

 

[Copa1934]

Exactly, saxaphones on my RS-1b's and my RSIIb's sound awesome, and on a classic rock album "Supertramp Breakfast in America" sounds really good on the RS-1b's, but on the QLS the Saxaphone details have less of a brass sound. But turn around and put a good Violin or Cello recording on the QLS you can hear the wood, every resonance of the strings and bow and wood, while on the EMIM's they just don't sound as luxurious like the slight nuances of the wood, same with flutes, the RS-1's and all the EMIM's just don't give the sound of a wood flute the same.

But put some music with some killer Tuba's and the EMIM's will trump just about anything, the Tuba with its brass, and all the bass dyanmics that the RS-1b's can handle, you feel like your sitting right in the throat of that tuba! And yet the QLS's will play low frequency lower than the RS-1b's at least according to the manufactors spec's. The QLS go down to 18hz +/- 2db, where the RS-1's are 23 +/- 2db but the RS-1's sound more convincing of a real tuba than the QLS.

What I refer to as "faithful" reproduction.

Ever watch a program where experts attempt to identify a Stradivarius from copy or from a modern violin? The pick the one that sounds the best. That's the same thing for speakers in a nutshell, and speakers weren't even in the equation with this experiment.

 

[JohnVF]

I have been keeping a bunch of speakers that are good for different genres. ESLs, a full-range single driver set. A pair of more efficient vintage speakers. The masters of soundstage the Sony SS-m7s. They each do something well.

Then I found a pair that does it all. I didn't think it could happen but the Harbeth sHL-5 is pretty much the tits. There's nothing here that beats them, in any genre. Not even the might Quad ESL-63, which is the closest to taking them on.

So..I think they exist. They'd probably even do metal if I had any.

 

[nickrobotron]

Strings sounded good on my Fortes. A swingin' brass band did not.

Most speakers have some sort of disadvantage (at least the ones I can afford) and some genres are going to clash with that. Seems simple enough.

 

[Ken Boyd]

Hello KenBoyd which speaker does Crime of the Century sound the most accurate on? It is one of my favorites.

You know I couldn't tell you as I don't have that record. I only have Breakfast in America, and Famous Last Words. I am surprised that I don't have the record, as I thought most all of Supertramps albums were very good, and almost all the songs were ones I liked, and well engineered. Also Queens ablums seemed to be very well mixed and recorded.

 

[nickrobotron]

I think the SS-M7 can sound kind of cluttered during complicated passages of music, but the tone of the speaker never disappoints. I imagine metal or big orchestral pieces would suffer on these compared to other speakers but it's a trade-off that I don't mind. It could also be my cartridge though... There are too many variables for me to really tell. Plus I'm still burning in my cables.

 

[brianabingto]

I find that most music sounds amazing on my tempest speakers, except for modern metalcore. Most of these albums have a horrible mix and are mastered so loud that they make my tweeters sound really harsh at high volumes.

On the other hand, modern loud mastered pop music sounds fantastic and really gets the woofers bumping.

 

[Copa1934]

I have been keeping a bunch of speakers that are good for different genres. ESLs, a full-range single driver set. A pair of more efficient vintage speakers. The masters of soundstage the Sony SS-m7s. They each do something well.

Then I found a pair that does it all. I didn't think it could happen but the Harbeth sHL-5 is pretty much the tits. There's nothing here that beats them, in any genre. Not even the might Quad ESL-63, which is the closest to taking them on.

So..I think they exist. They'd probably even do metal if I had any.

I hadn't listened to the Quads and looking them up came across this rather creative surround configuration http://www.integracoustics.com/MUG/MUG/tweaks/quad/hey_you/7-57blank.jpg interesting I'd say.

 

[Gang-Twanger]

I have been keeping a bunch of speakers that are good for different genres. ESLs, a full-range single driver set. A pair of more efficient vintage speakers. The masters of soundstage the Sony SS-m7s. They each do something well.

Then I found a pair that does it all. I didn't think it could happen but the Harbeth sHL-5 is pretty much the tits. There's nothing here that beats them, in any genre. Not even the might Quad ESL-63, which is the closest to taking them on.

So..I think they exist. They'd probably even do metal if I had any.

Yeah, ever since your initial first-impression remarks, I've been trying to figure out what would be a good "poor man's SHL-5".... I've read some reviews on those things, and so far the consensus seems to be exactly the way you described. I wonder if the SHL-5 is like a 40.1 for smaller rooms...

By the way, I'm starting to come around on the HPM-100's. Maybe I've changed (as opposed to the speaker).

 

[JimPA]

You know I couldn't tell you as I don't have that record. I only have Breakfast in America, and Famous Last Words. I am surprised that I don't have the record, as I thought most all of Supertramps albums were very good, and almost all the songs were ones I liked, and well engineered. Also Queens ablums seemed to be very well mixed and recorded.

Crime of the Century is their equivalent to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.
I have not heard a pair of those Infinity's since they were fairly new to the market.

 

[tubed]

A well recorded recording, regardless of genre, should sound fine on most any nicely designed speaker system capable of representing a wide frequency band.
Preference and psychoacoustics not withstanding, IMHO

 

[JohnVF]

I think the SS-M7 can sound kind of cluttered during complicated passages of music, but the tone of the speaker never disappoints. I imagine metal or big orchestral pieces would suffer on these compared to other speakers but it's a trade-off that I don't mind. It could also be my cartridge though... There are too many variables for me to really tell. Plus I'm still burning in my cables.

Hmm....I've not heard that with them. I've heard them sound "cluttered", which is a good description of what I was hearing, but that was from an amp/preamp that I had them on. Next to the Harbeths they're the most versatile thing here, but it could be the associated gear, too..it's hard to tell sometimes.

 

[JohnVF]

I hadn't listened to the Quads and looking them up came across this rather creative surround configuration http://www.integracoustics.com/MUG/MUG/tweaks/quad/hey_you/7-57blank.jpg interesting I'd say.

That's....something. Not sure what else to say about it!

I've heard stacked ESL-57s. Those are really nice.

The ESL-63 will do justice to most types of music but you have to feed them some power for them to do so, and the earlier ones will not like that.

 

[Gang-Twanger]

I find that most music sounds amazing on my tempest speakers, except for modern metalcore. Most of these albums have a horrible mix and are mastered so loud that they make my tweeters sound really harsh at high volumes.

On the other hand, modern loud mastered pop music sounds fantastic and really gets the woofers bumping.

To me, that's as big of an issue as the speakers/amps/source-gear people choose. On most modern stuff, the CD versions are incredibly-distorted from all that mastering compression, so a revealing speaker is usually going to magnify that distortion. But thankfully, a lot of the vinyl versions of these modern albums are mastered without all that crap. Not that I'm a fan, but listen to the vinyl version of Lady Gaga's "The Fame" and "The Fame Monster". They sound great.

I feel bad for modern metal fans because that genre has just gotten clobbered over the years by the loudness wars. A lot of those albums would actually sound quite-good if they'd only master them uncompressed.

 

[JohnVF]

Yeah, ever since your initial first-impression remarks, I've been trying to figure out what would be a good "poor man's SHL-5".... I've read some reviews on those things, and so far the consensus seems to be exactly the way you described. I wonder if the SHL-5 is like a 40.1 for smaller rooms...

By the way, I'm starting to come around on the HPM-100's. Maybe I've changed (as opposed to the speaker).

I've read that some like the SHL-5 in smaller rooms better than the 40.1. I haven't heard the 40.1, so don't have an opinion really. The tweeter on the 40.1 is supposed to be better. The same tweeter is in the Monitor 30.1, but it doesn't have the size/scale of the sHL-5. So why don't they make an SHL-5 sized speaker, with the monitor tweeter???

The HPM-100s I had only worked out on my little Eico 2036 tube amp. Anything else and my girlfriend told me to shut them off or leave (and it was my place!).

 

[Gang-Twanger]

You know I couldn't tell you as I don't have that record. I only have Breakfast in America, and Famous Last Words. I am surprised that I don't have the record, as I thought most all of Supertramps albums were very good, and almost all the songs were ones I liked, and well engineered. Also Queens ablums seemed to be very well mixed and recorded.

For vinyl, go with the original UK 1st-pressing. Otherwise, go with a vinyl-rip of said UK pressing or get the old Mofi CD from the '80's. Those are my preferences for "Crime". Same goes for "Breakfast" as well.

 

[Gang-Twanger]

I've read that some like the SHL-5 in smaller rooms better than the 40.1. I haven't heard the 40.1, so don't have an opinion really. The tweeter on the 40.1 is supposed to be better. The same tweeter is in the Monitor 30.1, but it doesn't have the size/scale of the sHL-5. So why don't they make an SHL-5 sized speaker, with the monitor tweeter???

The HPM-100s I had only worked out on my little Eico 2036 tube amp. Anything else and my girlfriend told me to shut them off or leave (and it was my place!).

With my budget, my best bet for something of that level would have to be an old Spendor, a Celestion Ditton 44 or 66, or at least something in the medium-sized Bozak line (the bigger Bozaks are just TOO-big for my place). but that's gonna' take some saving, so I'm going to see how far I can take my W60E's before they become the weak-link in my system (and also do some room-treating and other inexpensive, but effective tweaks).