Old Big Speakers or New Small Speakers?

[BajaGringo]

I have listened to both types of systems for surround sound / home theatre. Personally I prefer the older, big and heavy speakers. Nothing can immitate the way they fill a room in my book.

Here is My System... (http://www.bajagringo.com/BajaGringoManCave.htm)

:cool:

[Kurt-Holz]

Hey we live in America

big is always better

:-)

[BajaGringo]

Actually, I live in Mexico...

:smoking:

[Kurt-Holz]

well, isn't America part of Mexico

:-)

[BajaGringo]

You mean Mexico part of America? I tried to make that point in a couple of different forums but so got my Gringo butt run out of town I advised Mexico to abandon any and all claims...

:smoking:

[Kurt-Holz]

hahaha

That's funny, you don't think mexico wants a piece of our multi trillion dollar debt that keeps racking up

not to mention next years probable national healthcare system ,(that will fail as bad as all governmant programs do)

[BajaGringo]

Yeah, truth be told I don't think that things are looking too rosy for the economical future for the USA right about now. I have been saying for a long time, going to a global economy will eventually bring a global standard of living. Or do you know of some way that could be avoided?

For the life of me, I don't...

:scratch:

[Kurt-Holz]

Hmmm, "politics" much less american politics has got to be the #1 killer of forum memberships

:-)

my humble opinion, America is to strong from a military stand point, if our economy gets worse we will do what we have always done, every major recession in US history is followed by war

early 90's it was Iraq, now there are many likely candidates

nothing is a greater stimulus to an economy than a large and expensive war, it improves every sector

my opinion only, but i think history shows this to be true

Kurt

[BajaGringo]

You're right and I would prefer to keep this on audio as well. We do share similar points of view my friend...

:smoking:

[Marco]

LOL. Wow, guys, this is a bit of a heavy convo for the AV room!

Marco.

[Chris Frost]

I have listened to both types of systems for surround sound / home theatre. Personally I prefer the older, big and heavy speakers. Nothing can immitate the way they fill a room in my book. Definitely big full-range speakers all round if you have the space and the power to drive them properly - and an understanding wife ;)


It's a bit OT for this section of the forum but the point is well made about global economies and global living standards.

Global economics = Dot.com bubble, sub-prime bubble, and now a Commodities bubble :doh:

The supply/demand fundamentals don't support oil at $130+ per barrel or corn at $6 a bushel, yet the speculators can drive prices this high because of a centralised trading system. It's madness. People in poor countries are starving because they can't afford bread just so some fat cats add a couple of extra million profit to their portfolio. :mental:

[Filterlab]

not to mention next years probable national healthcare system ,(that will fail as bad as all governmant programs do)

Crikey, not the US now surely?! The NHS in the UK is a complete travesty and it fails and falls at every hurdle.

[Filterlab]

Anyway, back on subject;

I love big speakers for home cinema, they have a looseness and weight that is ideal for the task in hand. When I move to a larger place I'll have five (or seven) floorstanders for the cinema side of things, plenty of gravitas.

[BajaGringo]

I just spent some time at a friends house several hours drive north and sat in his living room as he proudly played his "new" surround sound gear. The speakers were all small, he spent a small fortune and although it sounds good, it pales in comparison IMHO. What caught my attention was that he has a very large living room area - probably about 500ft² (50M²) and plenty of room to accommodate any size gear and speakers/arrangement. As a single man there is no WAF so I had to bite my tongue.

What he spent on that setup from a local mainstream electronics retailer could have bought some very nice (albeit second hand) Hi-Fi gear and some great "old school" speakers that would have provided a much different experience.

When leaving last night he told me that he would be down next month to see my place here in Mexico and hear my setup. We have friends in common and the word gets around.

I almost don't have the heart...

:doh:

[Nick]

Of course you could always have big new speakers :eyebrows:

[combwork]

Of course you could always have big new speakers :eyebrows:

This is true, but there's something about `old school' speakers. Maybe the build quality, maybe that they've had a few years to settle in. If your amp sounds harsh, older speakers can also help by taking the edge of a bit. The price you pay is not so precise a sound but for home cinema, maybe a good mix would be well matured front and rear (Pioneer CS99A, or any of those big walnut veneered jobs from the 1970's) with a dedicated modern front center for clarity with dialog.:newbie:

[Mike Reed]

Having indulged myself in the deep end of quadraphonics in the late seventies, I've never been persuaded by surround sound for visual use, as it were.

What I can't understand is the compromise one must surely make when trying to marry pure audio and audio-visual. Even if one could equal the amplification aspect from 2-channel to 5-channel in qualititive terms, surely, having five speakers in a 360 degree arrangement must bugger up the subtle nuances of music recorded in stereo.

It's different if you have two entirely disrete systems in different rooms, of course. Guess you'd need to be both idle and rich to fully indulge those!

The same obviously applies as well to quadraphonic sound, whic WAS only for music, but as most people know, and I learnt the hard way, that was a short-lived and expensive disaster.

My freeview box (and before that, an Arcam Delta 150 tv tuner) is simply plugged into the Preamp. and I can't fault the sound. Surround it ain't, though. Maybe if I watched films (only rarely), it would be a different matter, but for most mainstream quality tv programmes, surround would surely be overkill.

Or have I missed something.........?

[BajaGringo]

I understand what you are saying Mike which was my original frustration with surround. Plus, I wanted to have something that I could use for just some good old fashioned stereo at times. I ended up with the following setup which gave me a good balance of the two...

BajaGringo Audio Setup (http://www.bajagringo.com/BajaGringoManCave.htm)

[Mike Reed]

Strewth! Not such much surround sound; more enveloping sound!

So that's what life is like in Lower California; not bad!

[BajaGringo]

I make do...

;)

[Kurt-Holz]

Hey all

I think you have to have the big sound of larger speakers, upgradis bit me until i got to the 802D level, also amplification was a must have,

i did get the chance to use 803N's as surrounds for a while, after my 805S's settled in, i very much prefer there sound over the larger 803's

for me, once i got used to surround, there was no going back, i actually use 2 rear back's for moving, u get an excellent mix with 7.1

no political statements, pretty good for me

:-)

[Donald Hanson]

every major recession in US history is followed by war

early 90's it was Iraq, now there are many likely candidates

nothing is a greater stimulus to an economy than a large and expensive war, it improves every sector

my opinion only, but i think history shows this to be true

Kurt


well, we got our war early. Do we get extra credit for that? I think this economic Faux-pas should be followed by an impeachment and imprisonment. Whoops!!! Did I say that outside a BAP forum? OK, 48 hail Marys and I'll try to behave now.

So well anyway... I too prefer the older larger speakers for a suround system. Prior to my selling my house and moving aboard the boat, I used Klipsch Forte lls for fronts and Sansui SP-2500Xs for rear. Lots of sound from that setup.

:steam: :eyebrows:

[Donald Hanson]

LOL. Wow, guys, this is a bit of a heavy convo for the AV room!

Marco.

Yes, you are right and I for one appologise.

[Filterlab]

...It's different if you have two entirely disrete systems in different rooms, of course. Guess you'd need to be both idle and rich to fully indulge those!...

Well I have two discrete systems in the same room (due to a limited number of rooms) which allows me to experiment quite a bit. Eventually the surround system will sit in the lounge (of a future property) and I'll convert a bedroom into a listening room. I can then have 5 or 7 floorstanders for the movies and keep my proper set-up for the real listening. :)

[Donald Hanson]

Speaking of surround. I have a pair of Senheiser HD-600 headphones that came with an accessory that supposedly emulates surround. Have any of you tried that? I can't tell the difference myself, but I am not a true lover of surround anyway. I hoped the concept would prove to be an advantage in the limited confines of the boat, but naaaah!

[johnrtd]

Lots of "Quadraphonic" recordings, made in the seventies by Philips, are converted to SACD by Pentatone. These were and still are 4 channel recordings, there's no center channel! Those Pentatone guys, formerly Philips guys, now also do deliver a lot of new SACD recordings with 5+1 channels.
In order to have the "full" experience one will need equal amplification for all channels and equal full range loudspeakers. And with current recordings, including films (DTS), the upper octaves are a necessity. A trumpet, soprano or a high hat on drums will hardly be recognized when using "old fashioned" loudspeakers.
If these demands are fullfilled even theater (film) is a lot more impressive.
There are ways around it with smaller (bookshelf) loudspeakers. I know a set-up with an extra active subwoofer in the rear, connected to the rear loudspeaker outputs, which was quite impressive.
That guy in California should try it!

John

[ulfsn]

I really like this one.Feed with enough power,(more than the spec says),it is still hard to beat.A sub can never replace a good full range speaker,thoug I know "they" claim the oposite.
This Tandberg Studio Monitor was made from ap.75-81,give or take a few years.

http://cybermax.tmfweb.nl/tandberg/studiomonitor.htm

Regards. Rune