So I've been dingling around with speakers for around 15 years now. I've built and my own and played around with many configurations of drivers.
One of the best things I did was get a DEQX and try out many different configurations on an active setup, this taught me ALOT about the differences
between how drivers and boxes sound. While I cant propose to give any empirical findings, I thought I'd share my anecdotal experience about what I've discovered so far
on what makes the biggest difference on 'perceived sound qualty'.
#1 Electronics. This made actually the least difference. I have used very expensive amps, cheap amps, dacs, etc. Now there is a huge caviat here:
any hiss or buzz will degrade the sound majorly. So as long as the signal is clean and you can get high resolution my conclusion is go middle of the road
to lower cost and save some money. Also cables made very little to no difference unless they were poorly shielded. So bottom line is that the equipment
simply needs to meet minimum design thresholds, not have expensive boutique parts.
#2 Room Acoustics this actually makes a huge difference. You could take a very inexpensive system and put it in a great room and it will simply outperform
by a large margin due to superior information transfer of the program material to your ear drums.
#3 Speakers. This IMO makes the biggest difference. Even the quality of the transducers however is less important that the implementation. Things like
smooth directivity and psycho-acoustics are the final frontier in audio IMO. The way that the box/drivers interface with the room and the response curves
of the drivers are THE MOST important factor IMO. Even having expensive drivers doesnt make a huge difference. I've used very cheap drivers and achieved
excellent results just because the curves worked well in the design. Ive used expensive drivers that make very little to no difference. So design trumps big bucks parts IMO.
Thankfully I learned these lessons from sites like this and my own examinations before spending stupid amounts of money on megabuck speakers. But at the
end of the day I've had lots of enjoyment from the hobby so to each their own. Would like to know if others experience matches up in any way,
Eli
One of the best things I did was get a DEQX and try out many different configurations on an active setup, this taught me ALOT about the differences
between how drivers and boxes sound. While I cant propose to give any empirical findings, I thought I'd share my anecdotal experience about what I've discovered so far
on what makes the biggest difference on 'perceived sound qualty'.
#1 Electronics. This made actually the least difference. I have used very expensive amps, cheap amps, dacs, etc. Now there is a huge caviat here:
any hiss or buzz will degrade the sound majorly. So as long as the signal is clean and you can get high resolution my conclusion is go middle of the road
to lower cost and save some money. Also cables made very little to no difference unless they were poorly shielded. So bottom line is that the equipment
simply needs to meet minimum design thresholds, not have expensive boutique parts.
#2 Room Acoustics this actually makes a huge difference. You could take a very inexpensive system and put it in a great room and it will simply outperform
by a large margin due to superior information transfer of the program material to your ear drums.
#3 Speakers. This IMO makes the biggest difference. Even the quality of the transducers however is less important that the implementation. Things like
smooth directivity and psycho-acoustics are the final frontier in audio IMO. The way that the box/drivers interface with the room and the response curves
of the drivers are THE MOST important factor IMO. Even having expensive drivers doesnt make a huge difference. I've used very cheap drivers and achieved
excellent results just because the curves worked well in the design. Ive used expensive drivers that make very little to no difference. So design trumps big bucks parts IMO.
Thankfully I learned these lessons from sites like this and my own examinations before spending stupid amounts of money on megabuck speakers. But at the
end of the day I've had lots of enjoyment from the hobby so to each their own. Would like to know if others experience matches up in any way,
Eli