Worst speaker you have owned?

[rastacat]

This is a really entertaining thread!

 

[FirstReflection]

The first speakers I ever bought for myself were part of an RCA HTiB. The tone would shift VERY noticeably whenever sounds panned across the front soundstage, but honestly, it was pretty much only the center speaker that was to blame. The so-called subwoofer (a passive 6.5" job) was also a one-note, hollow piece of junk

I went through two Polk 10" subwoofers. They honked and thudded and both eventually crapped out and died after a relatively short amount of time.

I think the WORST though - in terms of just pissing me off at how bad they were for the price they were asking - were the Monster Beats by Dr. Dre headphones! Yup, I gave those an audition. I wanted some deep bass for movies and thought that the hype of the Beats headphones might actually hold SOME truth.

All I can say is, if that is really the sort of sound quality that Dr. Dre hears in the studio when he is mixing his records (which is the marketing claim), then Dr. Dre is either deaf, or he doesn't give an S about sound quality (probably both).

First, they hiss. They have a battery-powered, built-in amp as well as "noise cancellation". So they produce an audible hiss at ALL times - whether plugged into a source or not, whether music is playing or not.

Second, they have the worst sort of "smiley face" frequency response curve. The treble is ridiculously harsh and grating and the bass is an overblown mess. Where's the midrange? Who knows, every few seconds, some treble or bass note comes in and completely distracts you from being able to pay attention to anything else.

Awful. Awful garbage. And to think - I see so many people walking around with these pieces of gaudy trash proudly displayed on their heads. I also can't understand how anyone wears them for any length of time. They are an uncomfortable on-the-ear design with cheap pleather earpads that get hot and itchy. I guess that's why I see so many people with a hoody on and the Beats worn OVER the hoody material - lol ! Maybe the muffled sound actually makes them sound BETTER

 

[DD66000]

I can't say I've ever bought a bad pair of speakers. Some are better than others, obviously. The first JBLs I ever bought in '73 are still in use, a pair of L55s. I sold them in Nov '09 to a friend of mine, as I was about to move to SA. Along with a matching center I bought, years later. He thinks they are the best speakers he's ever heard. What made that 3 piece system so good for movies is the center had the coax LE14C, instead of the LE14A and LE20-1 tweeter, that was near perfect for dialogue. And with three 14" woofers across the front soundstage, quite impressive.

 

[Gustavo]

B & w cc6

The B & W CC6 I owned sounded so muffled I had to have subtitles in order to understand the dialogues of all the movies I watched.

Reminded me of the speakers that came with the Aiwa cassette player of my sister bought in the early 80s.

 

[Docks]

Besides the cheapy 10$ computer speakers that used to be standard in the 90's. Im gonna have to go with the Bose 901's. They sounded soooooooo dry.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I've heard many Paradigm speaker models.

I thought the Studio 60's and Studio 100's were much better than those crappy Monitor 9 v3.

But not my preference.

Also spent some time with the Paradigm Signature S8. That's the best speaker I have ever heard from Paradigm. But not enough to inspire me to buy them.

That is why I would ask the question, do we buy speakers that sound great to us personally, or do we buy speakers that have a relatively FLAT frequency response and may sound FLAT & neutral and NOT exciting?

The S8 (& other speakers) may have a pretty flat FR, but because it has relatively little bass, it may not sound very exciting. I bet if you mate the S8 with a big subwoofer, they may sound much better.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The B & W CC6 I owned sounded so muffled I had to have subtitles in order to understand the dialogues of all the movies I watched.

Well, that's because you weren't driving them with the 1,000 watts Bryston monoblock, silly!

 

[Docks]

I would choose accuracy over bass. One can always add a sub. Most floorstanders cant approach 20hz at reasonable volumes anyways.
Does it really count as a good speaker if a floorstander can do 20hz but with tonnes of cabinet resonance? I think not.
Even the praised (also by me) salon 2 is down a few db at 20 hz. This strain could be reduced with a proper sub setup.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Most floorstanders cant approach 20hz at reasonable volumes anyways.

Most floorstanders will never approach 20Hz even at 100dB without the addition of a subwoofer.

For example, the S8 will never reach 40Hz at 90dB (even at -6dB):

The –3-dB point is at 51 Hz, and the –6-dB point is at 42 Hz.

http://www.hometheater.com/content/paradigm-reference-signature-s8-speaker-system-ht-labs-measures

 

[Docks]

Exactly my point. Don't fear a sub with a proper speaker.

Most floorstanders will never approach 20Hz even at 100dB without the addition of a subwoofer.

For example, the S8 will never reach 40Hz at 90dB (even at -6dB):

The –3-dB point is at 51 Hz, and the –6-dB point is at 42 Hz.

http://www.hometheater.com/content/paradigm-reference-signature-s8-speaker-system-ht-labs-measures

 

[woofersus]

Exactly my point. Don't fear a sub with a proper speaker.

I don't fear subs, even in 2-channel, but I will say those numbers are a little underwhelming for a speaker the size and price of the S8. There a a lot of other competing options that will get you down in to the mid 30's or so at -3db and that makes a big difference. Even with a sub, it allows you to cross over lower, which often helps placement and integration.

That being said, I quite like the sound of the S8's. I don't really think Paradigm belongs in this thread although most of their cheaper speakers are just "ok" to me.

 

[KEW]

That is why I would ask the question, do we buy speakers that sound great to us personally, or do we buy speakers that have a relatively FLAT frequency response and may sound FLAT & neutral and NOT exciting?

I hope this is not too OT for the OP, but I'll give my answer to this question.
I think most people would buy what sounds best to them and believe, with experience, will gravitate towards flat and neutral to fulfill that objective.
I have to reject your premise that flat and neutral is NOT exciting. The muscians/recording engineers have carte blanche to put emphasis wherever they deem appropriate to make and keep the music exciting. I definitely do not want my speakers to do this for me.
The problem is that any way a speaker might change the sound to successfully add excitement under some circumstance is going to cause problems under a different set of circumstances.
For example, a speaker might place empahasis and strong dynamics on the 60Hz to 400Hz range. This speaker just kicks it when you have a good strong bass guitar riff or a trombone solo! However, when you put Chris Botti on, his trumpet's lower register has that same nice strong punch, but when he goes to the upper register it goes weak and dull because the balance is not maintained. Therein lies the problem, any embellishments to make the speaker "more exciting" will ultimately present themselves as "bad" if the wrong (revealing) content is played on them.
This is why it is so important to listen to many different types of music when auditioning speakers.
I sincerely believe a motivated sales person could come up with a demo disc to make speaker A sound great and speaker B sound horrible and another disc that would do just the opposite!
People who have been around acoustic instruments know what they sound like and are going to be quick to detect inconsistencies.
Someone who only listens to electronic music would have a more difficult time with this. When I listen to electric guitar, I know which I like better, but I can't begin to tell you which is more accurate. I'm not around it enough to distinguish between Les Paul, Gibson, etc; and forget it when you add special effects, feedback, etc. So, this does beg the question of whether there are people who do not listen to classical or acoustic jazz that might indeed have little or no reference for accuracy and is it possible that they may prefer a less accurate speaker, and will never know the difference (NTTAWWT!).

 

[Docks]

I don't fear subs, even in 2-channel, but I will say those numbers are a little underwhelming for a speaker the size and price of the S8. There a a lot of other competing options that will get you down in to the mid 30's or so at -3db and that makes a big difference. Even with a sub, it allows you to cross over lower, which often helps placement and integration.

That being said, I quite like the sound of the S8's. I don't really think Paradigm belongs in this thread although most of their cheaper speakers are just "ok" to me.

1.92/–1.44 dB from 200 Hz to 10 kHz doesn't sound underwhelming.
http://www.hometheatermag.com/floorloudspeakers/1004paradigm/index2.html

 

[woofersus]

1.92/–1.44 dB from 200 Hz to 10 kHz doesn't sound underwhelming.
http://www.hometheatermag.com/floorloudspeakers/1004paradigm/index2.html

No that sounds good, although I'd prefer to see the actual off-axis response graphs than a 5 point average of +/-15 degrees both horizontal and vertical. That's beside the point though. Like I said, I think they sound pretty good. My comments were referring specifically to bass response. There are a lot of quality options in that price range that do more. I still don't think Paradigm belongs in this thread. Preferences notwithstanding, they generally build well designed speakers.

 

[InTheIndustry]

Absolute worst speakers I have ever heard? Hmmmmmm, I have heard lots and owned lots. I will say in no particular order (although, the more expensive the more disappointing I guess).....

Triad Bronze Omni In-Wall = Garbage. Total disappointment. Very boring.
Triad Gold/6 MiniMonitor in-Wall = Nasty and boring without any punch or dynamics.

Paradigm Signature Series S8 system w/ 2 of their matching Paradigm subs (I forget the model) in a full theater dedicated room = Nails on a chalkboard, strained into the most boring sound completely void of any imaging or presentation. This was in a friend of mine's showroom in a market far North of me. It was all being run through an Anthem Amp/Preamp and I had to ask him to turn it down. It was disgusting.

Triad In Room Platinum DSP SUB. An 18" MONSTER mated into a $6Figure theater at a dealer near me (but out of my market). The Platinum Triad speakers used as LCR were very good, but the 18" sub was gross on the upper end. To be fair, I think the shop had made a mess of calibrating everything (unacceptable for the cost of the room). When the captain spoke in the beginning of the new Star Trek movie you could feel the sub coming up into his voice reverberating into my ears. It totally drew attention to itself and made the dialogue nearly unintelligible. I was thinking of how annoying that was instead of watching the movie. I have to wonder, though, that even with the LARGE Triad Platinum LCRs, did they feel the need to bring the sub up that high to compensate for maybe a lack of low end? The room was fairly large - probably 19' W x 25' D w/ 10' ceilings.

Bose 601 Series IV = I really had high hopes for these. 2001 was around when I first started really getting into audio and experimenting with different speaker brands. These were a major disappointment for me. The Bose rep talked them up and the "science" made sense to the 21 year old version of me all the way up until I turned them on..... Yuck!

I'm sure I can come up with a bunch more, but that's my top 5 off the top of my head.

 

[zieglj01]

That would be Cerwin Vegas, Technics, Bose and Radioshack speakers.
I even laid this one down, and crushed it with my foot.
http://support.radioshack.com/support_audio/doc63/63329.pdf

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I have to reject your premise that flat and neutral is NOT exciting.

Well, I think the Revel Salon 2 and the Linkwitz Orion are both very accurate, very neutral, very flat, and VERY, VERY EXCITING.

Therefore, I don't understand why some "neutral/flat" speakers sound more "exciting" than others when playing the same exact CD.

I just think that even though our ears may hear the same thing, our brains may INTERPRET things differently.

InTheIndustry wrote:

Paradigm Signature Series S8 system w/ 2 of their matching Paradigm subs (I forget the model) in a full theater dedicated room = Nails on a chalkboard, strained into the most boring sound completely void of any imaging or presentation. This was in a friend of mine's showroom in a market far North of me. It was all being run through an Anthem Amp/Preamp and I had to ask him to turn it down. It was disgusting.

Yet, hundreds of other people love the sound of the Paradigm S8 & Studio 100 towers.

When I listened to the Studio 100 towers and B&W 800D, 802D, 803D, the first thought that came into my mind was, "What? That's it? That's all you got?"

Other people, including TLS Guy, PENG, 3dB, Docks, and many, many other nice people may love the sound of the 800D & 802D; although TLS Guy did not approve the Paradigm towers at all; which surprised me since I thought the sound of Paradigm was very similar to the sound the B&Ws.

So I guess it would be more appropriate to ask, do we buy speakers that sound best to us, or buy speakers that have a flatter MEASUREMENT on PAPER?

 

[mattsk8]

For me it was a pair of MA Pro speakers that I got from my dad. Made back in 82 I think? They had the tweeter you could turn for imaging? Sounded horrible! No bass and if anything you wanted to turn the tweets away from your head! Those and pretty much any klipsh that best buy sells. Way too screamy!

I didn't own these, but my uncle had a whole B&W setup in his house and just raved about it. I think he had about $14k into the speakers alone and I never told him this but I thought they sounded terrible!! Just didn't see the $14k difference if you know what I mean?!

Someone earlier said Cerwin Vegas?! I had the old one's that had 12" woofers and they took everything I threw at em. Punished those things and they loved it. Sure there's more sound quality out there but if your looking for something really loud that'll take some abuse, those are it! Those or the old MTX home audio speakers. Those took some poundings as well!

 

[GranteedEV]

My mom bought these Logitechs one day for the computer after the DIN connector on the the klipsch sub we used to have went and broke (seriously, what a bad move by klipsch).

To say they were bad would be selling them short. They essentially had full range 1.5 inch or so paper cones straining to have any semblance of natural presentation. The amp driving it has an internal ground loop which is audible at all times...even if nothing else is even connected!

And the noise floor is like... BAD!

But that's not even the bad part. The "subwoofer" is a 3 or 4 inch downfiring driver in a bass reflex alignment. Did I mention it also has the same internal ground hum? When my mom first bought it, she just turned the subwoofer gain to max and started watching something.

You can be in a room at the other end of the home and hear the "bass".

I can't even begin to describe this subwoofer's noise. I am a person that loves bass. I don't even need it to be critically damped.

But this was just... unbelievable. I honestly still have nightmares about that logitech sub. I don't know if it was harmonic distortion, port noise, group delay, amp clipping, bad frequency response, breakup modes, a weak motor, poor damping factor, box ringing, room resonance, poor port tuning, etc. Likely a combination of all of the above. Nightmarish. And this was with the sound of drum... I can only imagine other bass instruments and vocals.

 

[Seth=L]

Personally, I buy speakers that sound best to me. I don't disregard measured response all together. However, if I don't like what I hear from excellent measured speakers, I'm not going to buy them.