Top 5 or fewer sounds you listen for when evaluating speakers - be specific.

[KEW]

I was really intrigued when Dennis Murphy listened to a portion of a single orchestral piece to evaluate a pair of speakers. This started me wondering what sounds different members would use to gauge speakers.

I'll start:

If I want to evaluate a pair of speakers, I like to listen to many different things over a period of time, but my favorite sounds for evaluating speakers are:
1) Trombone being played with a "brassy" sound (I always end up sitting in front of trombones so know the sound very well, and they have one of the fullest complements of harmonics among instruments)
2) Chimes (to check the high frequency harmonics for shine/shimmer/air)
3) A well recorded rim-tap (I listen for the "immediacy" or how much I am "startled" by the impact)

Usually if a pair of speakers is going to do something I like or don't like, I will pick it up from these three sounds.


Other comments:
After this, I like to evaluate a woman's voice which has good texture (Roseann Cash - "I've got a Cure" is one choice though I cannot claim to know her, or any singer's, real voice).
I also like to play some very busy articulate music to see if the speakers get overwhelmed or congested. (I guess this would catch overhang and resonance).

 

[Alex2507]

I remember you talking about 'that edge' on the trombone. Do you recall which pieces you used to isolate that?

Bass guitar and drums help me define what a speaker does down low and loud, right where I think it's costliest and most difficult to make sound.

An acoustic guitar being played back against a back drop of other instruments but still sounding hollow, echoey and resonant.

It may be more of a recording technique but back up vocalists standing out as separate, distinguishable voices generally sounds good to me and makes me think well of a speaker.

 

[afterlife2]

Clarity of drum cymbals, Voice, Trumpets, Guitar, Piano, Violins and Bass for me. I don't really know how describe it eloquently like you guys do, but It has to be crystal clear with a PUNCH. I think Jazz Music help me alot when it comes to picking out speakers. If I can audition them, which Isn't often.

 

[fuzz092888]

I just ordered Linkwitz's demo CD. I think he offers pretty interesting evaluation material. In addition to the accuracy of instruments he also incorporates everyday stuff like walking down a hallway (Do the steps sound like they're getting further away?), Noting exactly where the recording is coming from, and a ton of other sounds. He's trying to see if the speakers paint an accurate mental picture through sound.

Sound Picture CD

 

[zieglj01]

It takes more than 5 - In whatever area they are in, it has to sound good.
Male and female voices > saxaphone, trumpet, piano, violin and guitars > plus bass, cymbals and drums.

 

[Pat D]

Full orchestral climax with massed strings
Male vocals
Female vocals
Mixed Chorus
Piano -- usually classical piano is better recorded

I won't give you the particular recordings I use because you probably could not find the classical ones and might not like them if you could.

This method means finding recordings that sound different with different speakers and tell you what you want to know relatively quickly. I have found this a good method for screening out candidates. I can use all sorts of other recordings for those that pass the initial five with flying colors.

 

[KEW]

I remember you talking about 'that edge' on the trombone. Do you recall which pieces you used to isolate that?

I used track #3 from the below linked album. It does double duty, because chimes are being played at the same time.
Amazon.com: Eddy Loves Frank: Ed Palermo Big Band: Music

Here is a pretty neat clip showing the frequency spectrum for a single note. Harmonics extend all of the way up to 10kHz at the initial attack. A trombone playing a song is going to cover a lot of ground. I suspect this is the same as Dennis listening to the full orchestra, except I am not that familiar with the sound of strings.
Trombone Spectrum - YouTube
PS - don't use this clip as an example of the sound of a trombone. The SQ sucks!

For clarification, the "edge" comes at the max amplitude of each vibration. Anyone familiar with pedal tones on a brass instrument has heard this effect. It seems almost like a "slap" of the metal and I guess the harmonics are pretty complex because this is where a great speaker can really distinguish itself from a very good speaker, IME.

 

[PENG]

It takes more than 5 - In whatever area they are in, it has to sound good.
Male and female voices > saxaphone, trumpet, piano, violin and guitars > plus bass, cymbals and drums.

That sums it up for me too but I would only listen to those in the form of high quality albums of Jazz, operas, concertos and symphonies, preferably live recordings. Regarding female voices, I have yet to hear Adele's voice not distorted every time she ramps up (at the end/peak of the ramp), from any of my 5 pairs of speakers so that one will be an exception to my rules and will always be my reference CD despite its poor quality, only for my curious mind.

 

[Calvin Hobbes]

Rimsky-Korsakov Scheharazade by Reiner with the Chicago SO
Holst The Planets by Dutoit with Montreal SO
Sibelius Violin Concerto by Heifetz
Jennifer Warnes Famous Blue Raincoat
Patricia Barber Modern Cool

 

[Refuge]

I run a demonstration test CD.
I run frequency sweeps with my own selections from various internet sources.
I do critical listening of musical pieces recorded on any TELARC disks.
I listen to male voices talking.
I listen to female voices singing.
I listen to violin
I listen to close miked acoustic guitars
I listen to Oboe and Clarinet voicing in symphonic pieces.

 

[KEW]

It takes more than 5 - In whatever area they are in, it has to sound good.
Male and female voices > saxaphone, trumpet, piano, violin and guitars > plus bass, cymbals and drums.

To be clear, I think 5 sounds is inadequate for a competent evaluation.
I would never buy a pair speakers solely on the basis of the list I made!
However, my objective of the thread was to see what particulars others find useful.
There are plenty of discussions of good CD's for evaluation, but it is more pertinent (for me) to know what specific spots or sounds those CD's offer to make them good for evaluation.
Any of us can say we listen to several CD's to evaluate speakers, and that is a fair statement; however, are there specific spots of special interest within those CD's?

 

[PENG]

To be clear, I think 5 sounds is inadequate for a competent evaluation.
I would never buy a pair speakers solely on the basis of the list I made!
However, my objective of the thread was to see what particulars others find useful.
There are plenty of discussions of good CD's for evaluation, but it is more pertinent (for me) to know what specific spots or sounds those CD's offer to make them good for evaluation.
Any of us can say we listen to several CD's to evaluate speakers, and that is a fair statement; however, are there specific spots of special interest within those CD's?

Obviously there are many choices, but for violin solo and strings I always use:

Grammophon's 00289 474 8742 Concerto for Violin in D major, op 35. With good speakers, such as my Focals and R900, or the 804D that I almost bought, the violin will sound smooth, sweet and you can feel the emotion. I did not find that with some other speakers I listened to, including the Digm's S8.

For bass drum, tipani, cymbals, I use:

Telarc CD-80078 Track 1 Fanfare for the Common Man, and:

Telarc CD-80056 Carmina Burana

For brass, and pretty much everything else orchestral, my favorite one is:

Reference Recording RR-11CD Symphonie Fantastique

Entry level speakers such as the P362, would make a mess trying to play any of the above. For me, speakers must play the violin right, and it seems that if they do good with the violin, they would do well with anything else, that's just my experience. Having said that, you have to be picky with the source, more often than people think, it is not always the speakers fault, but the quality of the recordings.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I could humbly only list a couple:
a) Pink Floyd Wish you were here (album and song) right in beginning - Cracking radio and there should be TWO very distinctive "accidental" touches of guitar strings. These both quiet but on good speakers very detailed.
b) don't remember the name, and a bit harder to describe, but whenever big band plays and Clash cymbals played - something about this sound makes me catch my breath for a sec (on good speakers) something like very good presence... Like I said It's hard to describe, but relatively easy to identify.

 

[Mahlerian]

I first start with some Mahler and Berlioz. Two of the greatest orchestrators that we have known. These two composers were very good at givings us color and putting different instrumental textures against one another. Berlioz loved to use the flute against the violin. With good speakers your should clearly be able to hear the different colors of the two instruments. Mahler loved to mix and match all of this instruments too, but more importantly he gives us great extreme of dynamics, often back to back. I also tend to listen to how the system recreates all the different way the bow can strike the string or the many ways a trumpet player can articulate the notes. Basically, lot's of little things.

 

[j_garcia]

For me it is vocals first. I am looking for natural, smooth but clear sound on the tracks I like, and I choose different tracks - some that have just clean vocals and others that are tougher to get "right" that can reveal weaknesses or strengths.

Then subtle details like triangles, high hats, guitar plucks, hands or sticks on percussion. Not so much that they are "in space" but that they sound true. I tend to do this with quiet passages that feature something specific.

Next is depth and width of staging. On the tracks I choose, do I get a nice centered image sitting between them and do they give me the sense of space. I have a couple of discs that feature a small venue or studio and a large outdoor venue - the environment should be there when I close my eyes.

The track that I use more often than not is Nardis on Patricia Barber's Cafe Blue (preferably SACD). It has kind of the gamut - vocals, heavy and light percussion, and transitions considerably from quiet to heavy and back. Not to mention it is well recorded (MoFi).

A speaker doesn't have to get everything I listen for perfect, it just needs to make me enjoy what I hear.

 

[ifsixwasnin9]

1. Vocals - realness, dispersion
2. Cymbals - clarity, realness, dispersion
3. Bass - definition, loudness at lowest Hz
4. Strength, clarity and realness of midrange
5. Overall balance of speaker
6. Dynamic performance of speaker - how well speakers respond (and sound) to quick, loud spikes in the signal during single instrument segments and ensemble segments. If this doesn't sound realistic (or "live") enough to me then this isn't a speaker I want to invest in. I want it to sound like I'm almost sitting in a live jazz club. Powerful (or strong) quick loud and realistic dynamic response is what I want to hear.

 

[croseiv]

I pick music representing my usual listening preferences, of course, recordings I am very familiar with. I mostly listen to Jazz, Classical, Rock, Metal, Bass-Heavy Techno danceish stuff. One thing I've learned about auditioning speakers at place X is that they always sound different at my place. I look for cymbal accuracy, vocal accuracy, assorted instrument accuracy, depth of sound field, and bass extension. Honestly, the last one seems to be the most difficult requirement to satisfy me. I'm very happy with where I am at sonically.

 

[jcunwired]

Brass instruments, both from classical recordings and swing. Swing music I think is the better test, as the transitions tend to be more immediate and drastic. The more the better.
Acoustic guitar, the accuracy and imaging produced of fingers sliding on strings.
African percussion. Often several instruments of different tonal quality, great tests of both bass and lower midrange. Modern music of this genre also typically includes both primitive and modern, acoustic and electronic instruments. The variations within an individual track can contain several important reference points for audition.
Strings, violin is my favorite, Scheherazade is my go-to disk for this.
Clarinet, not so much because it is a significant test of any particular speaker characteristic, but good clarinet accurately reproduced is a beautiful thing.

For whatever reason, I don't typically include vocals, because I know this to be true.

 

[KEW]

For whatever reason, I don't typically include vocals, because I know this to be true.

That link is dead, try this one:
Sound Engineer's Hard Work [HD] - YouTube

 

[jcunwired]

Thanks! Weird, my youtube link was dead last night when I posted, removed due to some sort of infringement, so I found that which I posted (and works for me).

Funny stuff nonetheless, and while a bit extreme it's not far off.

Interesting thread sir, thank you for starting it.