Meyer Sound Amie: First Impressions

[GXAlan]

What I don’t get is that at low volumes, testing in mono right now, the 708P sounds detailed but unusually sharp or accented with a track like Hotel California (Hell Freezes Over) where the guitars are really “forward” as are the vocals. That is, you hear the primary guitar and the singer. The Amie initially sounds duller without bite, but you hear a nicer balance between the multiple guitars, the multiple drums, and the singer where it doesn’t seem like any one instrument is being exaggerated even though you would say that the vocals and guitars are not as crisp.

Either the 708P is exaggerating or the Amie is not reproducing. With a mono speaker, I imagine my depth cues are purely SPL but again, even though the 708p sounds cleaner, you hear the vocal as if it is way closer than the other instruments.

Again, my impression is softer sounding, less sharp treble on Amie, where my initial impression is actually a negative one and the 708p has an impression of lots of detail. But as the track goes on, it’s like you only hear one part of the music in detail on the 708p whereas you may be sacrificing detail in one area of the mix with the Amie for consistency everywhere.

But if you look at the measurements, both seem pretty similar on-axis where you would not expect there to be as big of a difference in mono.

Could the harmonics of the guitar be exaggerated on one? Or is the HF rolloff different?

 

[Ifrit]

I’ve been using Amies since they came out 7-8(?) years ago. Really liked them at first, but half way into the season noticed that my ears (brain) get tired too quickly compared even to their HD-1. Don’t know the reason, but use them no more than about 2 percent of time I spend in front of the speakers.
Amie Sub, on the other hand, is an excellent addition to the system. And still like HD-1s a lot, although not hearing them that often anymore.

 

[GXAlan]

I’ve been using Amies since they came out 7-8(?) years ago. Really liked them at first, but half way into the season noticed that my ears (brain) get tired too quickly compared even to their HD-1. Don’t know the reason, but use them no more than about 2 percent of time I spend in front of the speakers.

Do you mix music or movies? The high end seems much less sharp than a 708p, and I found another review which mentions that it was “too smooth on the high-end for his tastes in regard to mastering”

https://recordingmag.com/meyer-sound-amie/

Was it harder to listen and make decisions on the Amie? Or was the fatigue something else?

The Neumann KH150 was also described by Amir as having a warm signature subjectively despite the flat measurements which makes me wonder if there is something else that offers the “warm” signature beyond FR.

 

[Ifrit]

Mostly music. I can’t say that they are smooth, quite the opposite, to me they sound somewhat harsh, like there are distortion products in higher range or something.
Fatigue is the result of that, I would have to guess.

 

[voodooless]

The Neumann KH150 was also described by Amir as having a warm signature subjectively despite the flat measurements which makes me wonder if there is something else that offers the “warm” signature beyond FR.

Pattern control is about 500 Hz lower vs. the KH150. Also, the directivity seems to be a bit flatter (constant directivity horn). Possibly these factors in with this subjective evaluation.

Edit: this is the KH150 vs. Meyer Sound

 

[thewas]

The Neumann KH150 was also described by Amir as having a warm signature subjectively despite the flat measurements which makes me wonder if there is something else that offers the “warm” signature beyond FR.

Mainly due to the higher upper directivity;

Source: https://www.spinorama.org/compare.h...misc-napilopez&origin1=Misc&speaker1=JBL+708P

 

[GXAlan]

Mostly music. I can’t say that they are smooth, quite the opposite, to me they sound somewhat harsh, like there are distortion products in higher range or something.
Fatigue is the result of that, I would have to guess.

+1

It will be interesting to see the measurements that Amir takes. I felt the distortion in the high end was quite good, and the bass probably has more distortion than that in the JBL 4319.

That gives a good idea of the Amie properties: flat enough, narrow directivity to minimise reflections on console & co, high output.
Expensive and good.

It’ll also be nice to see the data with Amir’s standardized tests and his subjective opinion too.

 

[Mr. Widget]

Sound quality may not be a reason for the change, mind. I think you've noted in the past that JBL has not maintained a constant supply of 7-series. Also, it's possible Meyer simply makes a more consistent product.

Hard to say how these decisions are made in a large corporation. Probably a number of people must sign off on a such a purchase.

As I've posted before, we may all respect the brilliant work done by the research and engineering staff at Harman, but as a manufacturer they have become a significant disappointment. I would be hesitant to recommend any Harman products and I would never recommend buying a self powered Harman speaker. Their failure rate is disappointingly high and talking to folks at their service centers, getting replacement modules is impossible once the model has been replaced.

Having firsthand experience with Meyer Sound's customer support, that alone would make the initial purchase price seem reasonable especially in a commercial application.

Amir's objective and subjective findings will be interesting indeed.

 

[GXAlan]

As I've posted before, we may all respect the brilliant work done by the research and engineering staff at Harman, but as a manufacturer they have become a significant disappointment. I would be hesitant to recommend any Harman products and I would never recommend buying a self powered Harman speaker. Their failure rate is disappointingly high and talking to folks at their service centers, getting replacement modules is impossible once the model has been replaced.

+1

JBL Making Big Sounds With Speaker Technology : Audio: Industry sales have remained flat in recent years, but the Northridge-based firm has seen annual sales growth of about 20% during the period.

In the halls of Harman International Industries Inc. in Northridge, executives speak with awe of "Project K2."

www.latimes.com

This is a great article about the Harman of Sidney Harman who spearheaded the research endeavors of the company, hiring Floyd Toole. Note how important manufacturing was to him…

Dr. Toole brought Sean Olive to the team, but now that he has retired, who is leading the fundamental science at Harman? Is there still science on the speaker side, or has the attention moved to headphones? What of Samsung’s anechoic testing chambers in southern CA?

Having firsthand experience with Meyer Sound's customer support, that alone would make the initial purchase price seem reasonable especially in a commercial application.

Amir's objective and subjective findings will be interesting indeed.

+100. You used to be able to buy recone kits for any generation of JBL driver going back decades upon decades. Not anymore.

With Meyer, they still service the HD-1 which is now 25 years old.

 

[Flexecutioner]

Amir's measurements have been posted

Meyer Sound Amie Monitor Review

This is a review, listening test and detailed measurements of the Meyer Sound Amie Studio (active) monitor speaker. It is on kind loan from a member and costs US $4,080 each (sold in pairs?). The deep, horn like waveguide sets the speaker apart from its competitors. The large throat of the...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[GXAlan]

Mods, can we lock this thread to redirect everyone to the main review? I wanted my subjective impressions locked in place before we had measurements and we can consolidate discussion on the main thread.