• 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

Why the hell won’t they give us meters?

I was somewhere in my mid 20's. Simply do not recall which model I was looking at, but pretty sure it was not the Yamaha MX-1000. Lights and Meters were the thing back in the mid 70's. I recall how really cool they looked, I also recall I couldn't afford it back then. As the years went by, I finally got a pair of MX-1000. The memory's they bring back to me today gives me joy beyond words. No, I don't live in the past, but then I don't forget it either.

I've really enjoyed this thread fellas. I can and do appreciate reading your thoughts and appreciate the reasons why some like them, some don't regardless if they are useful or even accurate. But then, I also appreciate each of us having choices too. Fact is, I do use mine as a guide. That 1 watt line lets me know that regardless of the real volume or spl, it's loud enough. (for me). I had to kind of figure it out with todays receivers with no meters, that the Yamaha RX-A3070, -20 to -16 is about as loud as I need to go. It's just a reference is all.

Garry~
 
Boy do we have a lot of people who take things literally.

"Everyone likes meters."
"That's a lie."

:rolleyes:

Did you REALLY thing he meant LITERALLY everyone?!

My literal answer is that the manufacturers did cost/benefit studies and found that MOST people would prefer either a lower price or some other feature for the same money.

My viewpoint is that while the main event is the sound, it doesn't hurt to provide some eye candy to show what's going on inside the system. (especially if that device is switchable)

What I think I'd like more than analog VU meters is a thin LED frequency spectrum meter, showing what the sound is doing in real time all across the frequency range we can hear. What are these called?
 
similost said:
I don't know.. I'll put my 2 way 15's up against any 6" any day... They are in a 3' box.. so not a huge box, but not a bookshelf either... I wish I could remember where it really drops off, but it's DEEP.. well under 30hz... If you get them on an amp that's got some really good damping, they are some the of tightest drivers I've heard.. Then again, these aren't your every day 15's either... which just goes to say, every speaker is different, and a blanket statement of smaller is better is kinda weak..
Click to expand...
I'm going to guess that your woofers are designed for performance, not sensitivity. Completely different motor structures. I made a statement about large high sensitivity speakers specifically and made that quite clear.
 
ducati_EL34 said:
There is nothing wrong with larger cabinets.
Click to expand...
There doesn't have to be. A large enclosure is going to need to have proper reinforcement and bracing. You missed the entire point of my post. Summarized, "your big Cerwins (and other highly sensitive speakers) will play loudly but won't make much bass, nor will they have a lot of control because the voice coils spend too much time outside of the area of the strongest magnetic field. It's the tradeoff.
 
Smaug said:
What I think I'd like more than analog VU meters is a thin LED frequency spectrum meter, showing what the sound is doing in real time all across the frequency range we can hear. What are these called?
Click to expand...

That type display is called a "Real Time Audio Spectrum Display".
Real Time Analyzers (RTA) provide this type of display.
 
Disregarding the sideline discourse, I happen to like meters altho I rarely actually look at them.
Still, I think they're cool. If I were shopping & had to decide between 2 essentially equal choices, I'd get the meters.

Even so, I do not look down condescendingly at folks who do not like meters altho, you have to wonder............ :)
 
I built this in 1972 when I was in high school.
They require a bit of juice to run off of speaker outputs on an amp, so at the time I took a pair of small audio output transformers and reversed them to get good movement on the meters.
It still works and I use it occasionally.

Back in the day, it was fun to sit in the dark and watch the meters move to Santana.

DSC_0060.JPG
 
hopeless said:
There doesn't have to be. A large enclosure is going to need to have proper reinforcement and bracing. You missed the entire point of my post. Summarized, "your big Cerwins (and other highly sensitive speakers) will play loudly but won't make much bass, nor will they have a lot of control because the voice coils spend too much time outside of the area of the strongest magnetic field. It's the tradeoff.
Click to expand...

Proper reinforcement and bracing? I would expect nothing less from a quality speaker manufacturer.

You keep bringing up Cerwin Vega speakers. There are other large horn speakers that produce good bass. Like another member said, you need to get out more.
 
While Cerwin Vega apparently does still exist, the founder died in 2010,
it's hardly the firm it was in the heydays of the 70s with the Sensurround speakers
used in movie theatres for the Earthquake film.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerwin-Vega

Wikipedia says: Originally a stand-alone company, Cerwin-Vega was acquired by the Stanton Group after declaring bankruptcy in 2003. Then, in 2007 Stanton sold off the mobile products division to CVM Acquisition Services (a sister company to Diamond Audio Technologies) LLC.

So - time to think of iMax and THX and more contemporary gear that does the job today.

Then again, none of this has anything really to do with big meters on power amps ...
 
Last edited:
Recently added a Denon POA 1500, it has large meters - rather mesmerizing. Useful? well, kinda...lets me know the SPL for remote speakers and the balance issue. I think the real marketing reason they were included was to impress your friends when they visit. Regardless, I like em - that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom