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Worst measuring loudspeaker?
- Thread starter Purité Audio
- Start date
I can't imagine making a speaker with that form factor and not getting either bass extension or better than 83dB efficiency.
And still have a ugly FR.
I clicked a random speaker on the bottom of that page:
https://www.hifinews.com/content/scansonic-mb6-b-loudspeaker-lab-report
https://www.hifinews.com/content/scansonic-mb6-b-loudspeaker-lab-report
What the hell is going on at PMC?
Raidho, Scansonic, and certain other models of speaker that share the same design lineage are all atrocious. None of us should be surprised that the audiophile press swooned over Raidho speakers despite their conspicuous brokenness.I clicked a random speaker on the bottom of that page:
https://www.hifinews.com/content/scansonic-mb6-b-loudspeaker-lab-report
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lordy, I love real (i.e., British) English! "rather below average"
Amurricans might've writ "sucks out loud"
Robin L
Master Contributor
Another potential offering for worst measuring speaker:
Klipsch Forte IV loudspeaker | Stereophile.com
I can guess this has bad measurements from my sighted bias [it's from Klipsch], but there's no measurements here. No question, Stereophile is slinking away from measurements as it does not serve its bottom line. That explains a number of recent posts from Stereophile that essentially say: "measurements, shmeasurements'". Seeing as these are horns in big boxes with a passive radiator in the back, one can assume that finding a spot in a normal sized room for these speakers is going to be a challenge:
Klipsch Forte IV loudspeaker | Stereophile.com
I can guess this has bad measurements from my sighted bias [it's from Klipsch], but there's no measurements here. No question, Stereophile is slinking away from measurements as it does not serve its bottom line. That explains a number of recent posts from Stereophile that essentially say: "measurements, shmeasurements'". Seeing as these are horns in big boxes with a passive radiator in the back, one can assume that finding a spot in a normal sized room for these speakers is going to be a challenge:
The good old days of reviewing when the review was full of useful info and the subjective SQ part limited to one para mercifully free of any amateur poetry efforts.
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Naah -- some of Klipsch's other offerings would run rings around those, horrible-ness-wise.
Tom C
Major Contributor
The very worst sounding speakers I ever owned were the B&W 685. Not the S2, the original version. Absolute garbage I was never happy with. I wish I could find a spin and distortion measurements, so as to have a point of reference for what trash sounds like. The measurements should be poor.
The lumpiness in the mids is because they're so attached to transmission lines, which is patently dumb. Beyond that, of course, it's deliberate tuning to make things sound exciting... so far as I can tell, anyway.
MBL Radialstrahler 101 E MkII Loudspeaker Lab Report | Hi-Fi News (hifinews.com)
I've read that these actually sound great in-room.
I've read that these actually sound great in-room.
nerdoldnerdith
Senior Member
That frequency response isn't bad if you ignore everything above 12kHz, which you basically can.
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It’s like the old saying goes…. You can have it loud. You can have it small. You can have it bassy. You can have it with good FR. Okay, now pick zero.
MattHooper
Master Contributor
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I find overall the British audiophile press to be the worst reviews. Often the most abstract in subjective description, though Hi Fi News usually is more constrained. But I find the description of the MBLs in that review utterly fail to get at the character of the speaker, what makes the listening experience so unique. As desparaged as the audiophile press is around here, I at least found Jonathan Valin of TAS gave a far better review of some of the MBL speakers in terms of the "what and why" and the experience of listening to the speaker.
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The sound stage is pretty spectacular, but it definitely has a zippy top end. I've heard them on several occasions, albeit at audio shows.
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Isnt that poor for that amount of money? I mean its some kinde of engineering miracle. But in the wrong direction.
DSJR
Major Contributor
I LIKED the Fenestrias when I've heard them (two or three times now) for their huge hearted presentation, but accept they need a barn conversion with high vaulted ceilings to fill and distribute the sound - mind you, the still 'forward/explicit' nature of the Naim Statement amps used may have helped here. A much publicised domestic install by a dealer showed how the mid bass can sound-off badly if they're put into a compromised domestic environment and PMC's Pete Thomas suggested to me that DSP would be the order of the day here - something still alien to audio people outside of this forum...
Mind you, a ten grand price increase in three years? What's that all about then? carriage charge hikes or just plain brexit (*Everything* negative is being blamed on effin' Brexit these days, but not sure if it's not an easy scapegoat to be honest - runs for cover...)
DSJR
Major Contributor
I can't remember earlier posts, but having the UK speaker brands being knocked yet again, what about the Bose 901's? These things were a cult in the 70's over this way, but the sound was effin' awful to me (I can't get on with omni's or semi-omni's and Lord knows I've tried in the past )
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