The following is intended as a guideline for newbies. There may be agreement on many points, but not all I'm sure.
1. Most electronics are indistinguishable based on sound. The primary differences are based on power and ergonomics.
2. Cables, interconnects, speakers as supplied by the maker are adequate for the purpose. An exception can be made for speaker wire. 16 gauge (of which lamp cord is an example) is the minimum for typical lengths of speaker wire. Larger gauge may be useful for longer runs (say >10 ft). I've broken this rule on occasion with no audible consequences although not checked with blind tests or measurements.
3. Compact disc, DVD, Bluray players all sound the same. Features and ergonomics are the important differences.
4. Similarly, analog to digital conversion and its opposite digital to analog conversion technologies are mature enough that most systems will not audibly change signals. The exceptions are usually intentional.
5. Speakers with good dispersion are preferred by most people. This finding was confirmed by Floyd Toole's research at NRC and Harman. The question is then how to get the best dispersion?
a. Waveguides to optimize horizontal dispersion.
b. Coaxial speakers with the tweeter inside the bass/midrange so that the speaker essentially become a point source. Along those lines non coaxial speakers should place drivers as close as possible to approach a point source.
c. Three way or four way to reduce beaming (narrowing dispersion as the driver reaches its upper limit).
6. There are very few speakers that won't benefit from subwoofer(s). Benefits include lower distortion on the main speakers and in the case of multiple subs, better room response, i.e. fewer dead spots and less boominess due to reinforcement. A single sub may be adequate for a single listener. The general recommendation is 2 subs. Research by Todd Welti of Harman using computer simulations and in room measurements showed 4 subs either at the wall midpoints or in the 4 corners to give the most even response. This is often not practical and to some degree, theoretical since no room will exactly match their experimental room. His alternative is 2 subs at the midpoint between the speakers and the same location on the back wall. Again this might not be practical.
7. The room arguably is the most important component in your playback system and the hardest to alter. The easiest thing to change is speaker placement. In general the best location for speakers is placing the tweeters around eye level which often requires the use of stands. Tilting the speaker can also work well especially for floor standers. Treble can be increased or decreased by the horizonal angle of the speaker. Angling speakers to face the listener will increase the high treble and alternatively angling speakers forward or away from the listener decreases treble.
Placing speakers nearer to the back wall increases bass although it can be uneven. This is particularly true if the speaker is rear ported.
8. A good room eq system (Dirac, Audyssey XT32, Room Eq, etc.) is probably the most effective way to improve sound, but is most effective if the off axis sound of the speakers is a reasonable match for its on axis response. Otherwise it's a bit like whack-a-mole. Fixing the on axis frequency response messes up the off axis response (i.e. reflections) and vice versa.
Room dependent frequencies occur below about 500 hz. Below this frequency standing waves occur causing cancellations and reinforcements of these frequencies particularly in the bass. Not much can be done about the cancellations, but the reinforcements (boominess) can be reduced or eliminated with a good room eq system. The good news is that the cancellations are less obnoxious than the reinforcements.
There is controversy concerning whether to Eq above those frequencies. I lean toward Eq for all frequencies especially for passive speakers. IMO there's nothing wrong with correcting existing flaws in a speaker system. At this point, passive crossovers are still a witches brew of inductors, capacitors, resistors, etc. You wouldn't be happy with electronics that were less than flat so why shouldn't your speakers have a uniform frequency response? In this case, flat means anechoically (i.e.. a special room free from echoes and reverberations. In a regular listening room there will be a gradual drop off in the treble (about 1db/octave as I recall) although the exact shape of the curve is controversial.
Thanks for reading this and thank you for your previous comments.
1. Most electronics are indistinguishable based on sound. The primary differences are based on power and ergonomics.
2. Cables, interconnects, speakers as supplied by the maker are adequate for the purpose. An exception can be made for speaker wire. 16 gauge (of which lamp cord is an example) is the minimum for typical lengths of speaker wire. Larger gauge may be useful for longer runs (say >10 ft). I've broken this rule on occasion with no audible consequences although not checked with blind tests or measurements.
3. Compact disc, DVD, Bluray players all sound the same. Features and ergonomics are the important differences.
4. Similarly, analog to digital conversion and its opposite digital to analog conversion technologies are mature enough that most systems will not audibly change signals. The exceptions are usually intentional.
5. Speakers with good dispersion are preferred by most people. This finding was confirmed by Floyd Toole's research at NRC and Harman. The question is then how to get the best dispersion?
a. Waveguides to optimize horizontal dispersion.
b. Coaxial speakers with the tweeter inside the bass/midrange so that the speaker essentially become a point source. Along those lines non coaxial speakers should place drivers as close as possible to approach a point source.
c. Three way or four way to reduce beaming (narrowing dispersion as the driver reaches its upper limit).
6. There are very few speakers that won't benefit from subwoofer(s). Benefits include lower distortion on the main speakers and in the case of multiple subs, better room response, i.e. fewer dead spots and less boominess due to reinforcement. A single sub may be adequate for a single listener. The general recommendation is 2 subs. Research by Todd Welti of Harman using computer simulations and in room measurements showed 4 subs either at the wall midpoints or in the 4 corners to give the most even response. This is often not practical and to some degree, theoretical since no room will exactly match their experimental room. His alternative is 2 subs at the midpoint between the speakers and the same location on the back wall. Again this might not be practical.
7. The room arguably is the most important component in your playback system and the hardest to alter. The easiest thing to change is speaker placement. In general the best location for speakers is placing the tweeters around eye level which often requires the use of stands. Tilting the speaker can also work well especially for floor standers. Treble can be increased or decreased by the horizonal angle of the speaker. Angling speakers to face the listener will increase the high treble and alternatively angling speakers forward or away from the listener decreases treble.
Placing speakers nearer to the back wall increases bass although it can be uneven. This is particularly true if the speaker is rear ported.
8. A good room eq system (Dirac, Audyssey XT32, Room Eq, etc.) is probably the most effective way to improve sound, but is most effective if the off axis sound of the speakers is a reasonable match for its on axis response. Otherwise it's a bit like whack-a-mole. Fixing the on axis frequency response messes up the off axis response (i.e. reflections) and vice versa.
Room dependent frequencies occur below about 500 hz. Below this frequency standing waves occur causing cancellations and reinforcements of these frequencies particularly in the bass. Not much can be done about the cancellations, but the reinforcements (boominess) can be reduced or eliminated with a good room eq system. The good news is that the cancellations are less obnoxious than the reinforcements.
There is controversy concerning whether to Eq above those frequencies. I lean toward Eq for all frequencies especially for passive speakers. IMO there's nothing wrong with correcting existing flaws in a speaker system. At this point, passive crossovers are still a witches brew of inductors, capacitors, resistors, etc. You wouldn't be happy with electronics that were less than flat so why shouldn't your speakers have a uniform frequency response? In this case, flat means anechoically (i.e.. a special room free from echoes and reverberations. In a regular listening room there will be a gradual drop off in the treble (about 1db/octave as I recall) although the exact shape of the curve is controversial.
Thanks for reading this and thank you for your previous comments.
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