Looking for Bright Sounding Speakers?

[4Ron]

I played in a Rock band when I was younger and it has taken its toll on my hearing. I still love music but I have some high pitch hearing loss and I am looking for suggestions for a bright sounding speaker. Which brands or model do you suggest. Looking to spend up to $2,000 a pair.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Speakers that have frequency response peaks of 6dB-10dB from 8kHz-20kHz.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Jtr would be as closed one gets to pro audio at home.
Option b) forgot the model number, but it's top-of-the-range cerwin vega

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I'm reticent on recommending specific speakers because some people might consider this an insult.

Saying that such-and-such speakers are "bright" will ruffle some feathers for sure.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I got no such problems
I also heard that Linkwitz Orion could play bright (with proper active crossover settings), and someone here on forums is trying to sell them.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I got no such problems
I also heard that Linkwitz Orion could play bright (with proper active crossover settings), and someone here on forums is trying to sell them.

That's a good point about active speakers. With active tweeters, you could simply increase the tweeter gain levels (by turning the gain knob clockwise) to boost the treble and make the speakers sound "bright" (as opposed to being neutral).

People could also increase the treble on the tone control/EQ in their preamp/amp, but I think that usually adversely affects the overall frequency response/SQ.

And yeah, maybe one day after 10 years someone might want to buy my Orion.

 

[zieglj01]

Look at some Klipsch Reference horn speakers [not the lower model ones at Best Buy],
and then boost the treble +3 db, and see how it works for you.

 

[Cos]

I played in a Rock band when I was younger and it has taken its toll on my hearing. I still love music but I have some high pitch hearing loss and I am looking for suggestions for a bright sounding speaker. Which brands or model do you suggest. Looking to spend up to $2,000 a pair.

There are a lot of options in this range. If you go ADTG by definition, the Trition Series have a bump in the treble range in that area, though I would be the last person to call them bright, haven't had one reviewer call them bright yet.

If you are looking in the 2K range they are releasing the Trition 5 in March which is a bigger version of the Triton 7 that incorporates upgraded crossovers and a lot of the technology from the One series. This will be at the 2k Price point.

I have heard a lot of people also describe Paradigm as Bright, even if the measurements don't support it, so my suggestion for your first step is to go demo everything you can in you area, and find out what sounds good to you.

Given the fact you were in a rock band early on, I doubt very highly you could even hear above 15kHz

 

[KEW]

I am certain your hearing loss is below 15kHz. If at 15kHz, you probably would not notice unless you were really looking for it.

Here is a neat chart of frequency vs instrument. You may try to identify the instruments/frequencies that you aree having trouble with. As you can see, aside from the pipe organ, which tops out around 8kHz, the piccolo has 4kHz as it's highest note (the fundamental pitch-in red). The harmonics/overtones (yellow) go higher and are critical to the quality of the sound you hear, but even they top out at 16 or 17kHz!

Note - The above is just the image. If you access the link below, move your mouse around - this chart is interactive - have fun!
http://www.independentrecording.net/irn/resources/freqchart/main_display.htm

Have you had your hearing checked? Do you know where your hearing losses are?
It may be more prudent to invest $200 in an equalizer. That way you can tailor the sound to your ears instead of hunting for the rare speaker manufacturer that makes a quality speaker with an optimally poor frequency response.

http://www.amazon.com/ART-Dual-Channel-31-Band-Equalizer/dp/B0002E53WY/ref=sr_1_15?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1423190024&sr=1-15&keywords=graphic+equalizer+home+audio

Edit: I am not sure many modern receivers have the required connections to add an equalizer. If you only need the EQ for one source, you can simply add the EQ between the source and the receiver. Lastly, I don't know that this will work if you use digital audio inputs. What receiver/amp do you have?

 

[highfigh]

I'm reticent on recommending specific speakers because some people might consider this an insult.

Saying that such-and-such speakers are "bright" will ruffle some feathers for sure.

Too bad if they're ruffled- if the speakers are subjectively bright to a lot of people or have a rise in the upper range, they're bright. Monitor Silver SP8 are bright and have scooped mid-range, almost like a Black Face Fender amp.

 

[highfigh]

I played in a Rock band when I was younger and it has taken its toll on my hearing. I still love music but I have some high pitch hearing loss and I am looking for suggestions for a bright sounding speaker. Which brands or model do you suggest. Looking to spend up to $2,000 a pair.

This can become a vicious cycle- you killed your high frequencies and now, you need stronger high frequency level in order to hear it, but the mechanism for how we hear highs is tiny hairs called cilia, which are connected to auditory nerves. Once the cilia and/or the nerves are damaged, they don't recover fully, if at all. Increasing the level of the highs speeds up the process of the nerve deafness and if you listen to music at high SPL, I would give your ears a rest for a few months, to see if they might at least recover from the hearing threshold shift that's inevitable.

You may also try re-training your ears to hear highs better than you do now. Listen for the highs, not to the highs. Consciously listening this way reveals sounds that weren't apparent before. I usually ask for audiologists to repeat the high frequency tones when I go for a hearing test, to make sure I know what I can and can't hear. Once I hear the tones, I know what to listen for and it makes a difference afterward, too.

All of this aside, I would recommend going in for a hearing test, preferably full-range. Then, you can find a good pair of speakers that have tweeters that are more directional, so the sound doesn't spread as much. This works best if you have a small area where you normally listen. If you move around, dispersion is required. Once you find the speakers you like, under the present conditions, maybe a good equalizer would be a good idea- find the best response for the room, then add what your ears need to hear the upper range the way you like it. Ringing in the ears makes this more challenging because that becomes your new noise floor.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Too bad if they're ruffled- if the speakers are subjectively bright to a lot of people or have a rise in the upper range, they're bright. Monitor Silver SP8 are bright and have scooped mid-range, almost like a Black Face Fender amp.

What constitutes "a lot of people" and "rise in the upper range"?

20 people on the forums vs 200 people not on the forums?

+3dB @ 8kHz vs 16kHz?

+6dB @ 8kHz vs 16kHz?

+9dB?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

All of this aside, I would recommend going in for a hearing test, preferably full-range. Then, you can find a good pair of speakers that have tweeters that are more directional, so the sound doesn't spread as much. This works best if you have a small area where you normally listen. If you move around, dispersion is required. Once you find the speakers you like, under the present conditions, maybe a good equalizer would be a good idea- find the best response for the room, then add what your ears need to hear the upper range the way you like it. Ringing in the ears makes this more challenging because that becomes your new noise floor.

How about just auditioning various speakers without any kind of EQ and buying what sounds best to him?

 

[highfigh]

How about just auditioning various speakers without any kind of EQ and buying what sounds best to him?

He can do that but I think it'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack. If he EQs them, he can tailor the response to his specific hearing loss, similar to the way they EQ hearing aids.

People buy shoes to fit their feet- why not tailor the response to fit their ears?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

He can do that but I think it'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack. If he EQs them, he can tailor the response to his specific hearing loss, similar to the way they EQ hearing aids.

People buy shoes to fit their feet- why not tailor the response to fit their ears?

1st, I've haven't heard a parametric EQ system that didn't adversely do something to the overall sound quality. If there were a great PEQ, I'd imagine it would be very costly and not exactly user friendly.

There is a very good reason most people do NOT like to EQ or adjust the tones of any sound.

2nd, "needle in a haystack" suggests that he has unlimited number of speaker brands to listen to. In reality, he probably has less than 10 different brands that he could actually audition.

With such a specific need, I would not recommend him buying anything unless you could audition.

 

[highfigh]

1st, I've haven't heard a parametric EQ system that didn't adversely do something to the overall sound quality. If there were a great PEQ, I'd imagine it would be very costly and not exactly user friendly.

There is a very good reason most people do NOT like to EQ or adjust the tones of any sound.

2nd, "needle in a haystack" suggests that he has unlimited number of speaker brands to listen to. In reality, he probably has less than 10 different brands that he could actually audition.

With such a specific need, I would not recommend him buying anything unless you could audition.

From my experience, the reason a lot of people don't like EQ is because they don't know how to use one and even fewer know how to use a parametric. Good parametric EQs aren't cheap, but they do leave the sound less molested than the cheap ones.

I'm not completely in the NO EQ, EVER! camp, but I do like to keep it simple. However, used properly, it's not a bad thing. How much of what we listen to has absolutely no equalization? Almost none of it.

I'm a small dealer and I have access to far more than 10 brands- it's not that unusual to be able to audition a large number, if for no other reason than to find out what's out there.

It is definitely a conundrum.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

From my experience, the reason a lot of people don't like EQ is because they don't know how to use one and even fewer know how to use a parametric. Good parametric EQs aren't cheap, but they do leave the sound less molested than the cheap ones.

I'm not completely in the NO EQ, EVER! camp, but I do like to keep it simple. However, used properly, it's not a bad thing. How much of what we listen to has absolutely no equalization? Almost none of it.

I'm a small dealer and I have access to far more than 10 brands- it's not that unusual to be able to audition a large number, if for no other reason than to find out what's out there.

It is definitely a conundrum.

How many speakers do you have on display for people to audition?

Great EQs are both very expensive and difficult to use effectively. There is no guarantee that the person will make the sound better than a great pair of speakers that don't require the EQ.

 

[PENG]

He can do that but I think it'll be like looking for a needle in a haystack. If he EQs them, he can tailor the response to his specific hearing loss, similar to the way they EQ hearing aids.

That's another reason why I pick live unamplified concert as my reference. If speaker A sounds closer to what I heard in live concerts (unamplified, preferably classical) than speaker B then I go with speaker A regardless of any hearing loss of my own.

 

[highfigh]

How many speakers do you have on display for people to audition?

Great EQs are both very expensive and difficult to use effectively. There is no guarantee that the person will make the sound better than a great pair of speakers that don't require the EQ.

Would you guarantee that someone will like the sound of a speaker without knowing how well they can hear the sound it produces?

I don't have a store but the B&M stores all have many brands and models but I do mostly custom installs and often, that involves using equipment that's already there. Above the line with your equipment, it shows "Authorized RBH dealer"- I might ask the same question.

Your comments about equalizers is very appropriate for this discussion. Too many people buy them to "fix" problems that can't be fixed by using an equalizer and most have no clue about how to use one correctly. This leads them on a never-ending quest for better sound and at some point, they might come to a forum like this for answers. I think more discussion about how they should be used might clear up a lot of confusion, but when people disagree about something, it would be an uphill climb. It's the same reason there's no universal agreement about speakers, or any other piece of equipment.

If they're so difficult to use, why have s many people bought them? Partly, because they have been mis-informed, IMO. Some buy them because they have heard a system with one, some because they came to the conclusion over time and in some cases, because the system was properly designed by someone who actually knows how they should be used. Without knowing how an equalizer should be adjusted, people would be far better off leaving them alone. There is no guarantee that they'll get what they need but it's a lot less expensive than a great speaker. However, it's not always the speaker that needs the equalizer and that's where I have a problem with the way these are sold/bought. People think it will cure all of the sonic problems with their system, when they're really made to address specific problems, not general issues. Used correctly, they can help with problems that would cost far too much to correct through other means. A speaker crossover is an equalizer just as much as one that's in an equipment rack. Whether it's adjustable depends on how willing the manufacturer is to letting people screw up the sound of what they designed.

In order to solve a problem, it must be identified and, while we know that the OP has hearing damage, it's impossible to offer an accurate solution because we don't know the extent of the damage or what frequencies are affected. If he finds speakers or an EQ setting that happens to match his needs, it may turn out that nobody else will want to be there when he used them because they can't stand the sound.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Would you guarantee that someone will like the sound of a speaker without knowing how well they can hear the sound it produces?

Regardless of his hearing acuity, I would never guarantee that he would like the sound of the speaker UNLESS he could actually listen to the speakers for himself.

He could have the best hearing acuity in the world, and I still would never guarantee unless he could listen to the speakers for himself.

I don't have a store but the B&M stores all have many brands and models but I do mostly custom installs and often, that involves using equipment that's already there. Above the line with your equipment, it shows "Authorized RBH dealer"- I might ask the same question.

I'm in a similar situation as you are in regards to dealership. I have 5 RBH SX-T2/R for people to audition. I would like to add more speakers later when I have more room. I imagine most dealers are this way now, and this is precisely my point. When I called my KEF dealer, he didn't even have a single pair of speakers for me to audition! My Revel dealer had exactly one pair of M22 bookshelf speakers. PSB had 1 pair, Paradigm had 1 pair. Monitor Audio didn't have any. Practically most dealers around me only have 1 pair to show, if they even have any. The only exception was my B&W dealer, but we'll see how long they last in this day and age.

So depending on where he lives, he may not even be able to audition more than 7 different brands of speakers, hardly a "needle in a haystack" scenario.

Your comments about equalizers is very appropriate for this discussion. Too many people buy them to "fix" problems that can't be fixed by using an equalizer and most have no clue about how to use one correctly. This leads them on a never-ending quest for better sound and at some point, they might come to a forum like this for answers. I think more discussion about how they should be used might clear up a lot of confusion, but when people disagree about something, it would be an uphill climb. It's the same reason there's no universal agreement about speakers, or any other piece of equipment.

If they're so difficult to use, why have s many people bought them? Partly, because they have been mis-informed, IMO. Some buy them because they have heard a system with one, some because they came to the conclusion over time and in some cases, because the system was properly designed by someone who actually knows how they should be used. Without knowing how an equalizer should be adjusted, people would be far better off leaving them alone. There is no guarantee that they'll get what they need but it's a lot less expensive than a great speaker. However, it's not always the speaker that needs the equalizer and that's where I have a problem with the way these are sold/bought. People think it will cure all of the sonic problems with their system, when they're really made to address specific problems, not general issues. Used correctly, they can help with problems that would cost far too much to correct through other means. A speaker crossover is an equalizer just as much as one that's in an equipment rack. Whether it's adjustable depends on how willing the manufacturer is to letting people screw up the sound of what they designed.

In order to solve a problem, it must be identified and, while we know that the OP has hearing damage, it's impossible to offer an accurate solution because we don't know the extent of the damage or what frequencies are affected. If he finds speakers or an EQ setting that happens to match his needs, it may turn out that nobody else will want to be there when he used them because they can't stand the sound.

I consider myself an audio enthusiast and I have failed a few times trying to play with fancy EQs. So there is no way most people without the equipment and experience could effectively use a worthy high-end EQ. And this is also my point. The OP probably doesn't have the equipment, cash, or experience to buy a great EQ system.

So the best thing for the OP to do, especially with his more limited hearing acuity, is to see how many different brands of speakers he could actually be able to audition and then just start from there. He may only have access to 7 different brands.