If you've considered DIY speakers check out Parts Express:
http://www.parts-express.com/cat/speaker-kits/286

 

We all hear what we think we hear.

Another peral of wisdom! Thanks!
Please share more of your infinite knowledge!

 

If you've considered DIY speakers check out Parts Express:
http://www.parts-express.com/cat/speaker-kits/286

Very interesting link, thanks!

 

Another peral of wisdom! Thanks!
Please share more of your infinite knowledge!

I'm glad your experiment worked out.

Now, while I am a believer in the adage that good sound is in the ear of the beholder, there are a few facts that extreme audiophiles seem to ignore. Before I get to them I just want to say that many of the respondents to this thread have had actual professional careers in the the sound business. Including me. They really do know what they are talking about and you should not dismiss what they are saying.

So, here are those facts. The recordings you are playing back on your expensive system were recorded and mixed on equipment that does not boast the specifications/cost/magic you are claiming for your equipment. Not even close. Professional studios do not use $175,000 or even $12,000 speaker systems. They use systems that will last a long time and have reasonable performance. Even then, the speakers are only used for auditions. The actual mixing/production is generally done with headphones The noise/distortion of the pre-amps, equalizers and amplifiers is not in the same league as the ridiculous specs boasted by audiophile equipment. Now add to that the need for microphones which, though better than speakers, color the sound far more than the electronics.

So tell me, what is the use of buying a system that offers end-to-end specifications that are an order of magnitude better than the systems the sound was recorded with?

This just makes no sense at all. It is like buying a 1080p television to watch 480i videos, and then comparing the virtues of different video cables on the results.

I'm sorry, but I just have to give my head a smack when I see stuff like this.

However, it is your money, your time and your choice. Everyone needs a hobby and as long as it satisfies you, then all is good. Just don't be surprised when you ask a question like the one that opened the thread and professional level experts advise against it's benefits.

As a reference, the speakers in my stereo system are JBL L300s. They are about 35 years old right now and still in decent condition. If you want to hear full, warm , 'articulate' sound with bass delivery that your little speakers could only dream about, see if you can arrange an audition of a set of L300s. I don't listen to them much anymore as I am now deaf in one ear and the other ear ain't so hot.

In my home theater, where I spend more time, I have a pair of Altec-Lancing 640Es (45 years old!!!) in cabinets of my own design using electronic crossovers and bi-amplification. The electronics is my own creation and boasts studio level noise and distortion. Each of the 4 amplifiers are only 15 watts as the 604Es are fantastically efficient speakers. I should probably have the cones replaced, but they rarely get driven with more than about 1 watt, so are probably not too badly fatigued since they were designed to last for years under professional use (12+ hours a day, 6 days a week).

You might scoff at these regal old relics, but they suit my ears.

 

... I played a trombone in my high school band.

Hey, me too.

 

Hey, me too.

Hi Bill O,
WOOoooeeeeoooOOO!
Did you ever play The Saints Come Marching In?
Do you blast it outside on New Years Eve like me?

A trombone must be drained. Is it spit, condensation or both?

 

Hi Bill O,
WOOoooeeeeoooOOO!
Did you ever play The Saints Come Marching In?

Oh, many a time. A few years back when I first moved to Muskoka I played with the district concert band and semi-professionally with the Muskoka Big Band. Both bands had "The Saints" in their repertoire, but very much different arrangements.

Do you blast it outside on New Years Eve like me?

Alas, not since my high-school days. Back then some of the students would get together and form brass quintets and such and go play in some of the shopping malls out in Mississauga around the year end holidays. The malls didn't pay us, but we were allowed to leave an instrument case open.

A trombone must be drained. Is it spit, condensation or both?

Mostly condensation. If your getting a lot of spit in there, something's not right. Sometimes, while playing in the Big Band during a few tacit bars, I would spit quickly on the slide stockings as spit makes a farily decent short-term lubricant and you can hide behind the music stand so no one really sees it. Improves the action if it begins to get sticky during a set.

 

This just makes no sense at all. It is like buying a 1080p television to watch 480i videos, and then comparing the virtues of different video cables on the results.

That's the best analogy about audiophools I've ever read.

 

Audiophools always selected the most expensive items.
I selected much cheaper ones that sounded exactly the same.

When I was young and poor, my rich friend gave me his hand-me-down audio equipment that was still new and still had a warranty that I never needed.