Which brand makes the best quality loudspeakers?

[GranteedEV]

You have a quieter room than I've ever measured. Awesome.

His observations are dbA. Remember, most road noise and HVAC noise tends to be from around 15hz to 200hz or so. An A-weighted curve will simply miss those sounds.

 

[Irvrobinson]

His observations are dbA. Remember, most road noise and HVAC noise tends to be from around 15hz to 200hz or so. An A-weighted curve will simply miss those sounds.

Good point. I look at the full spectrum and, you're correct, the HVAC noise is always well below 100Hz.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Obviously Bose car speakers are the best. Duh!

 

[Irvrobinson]

Obviously Bose car speakers are the best. Duh!

I think you're sampling some of your own pharmaceuticals.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I think you're sampling some of your own pharmaceuticals.

I spray my office with 70% Isopropyl alcohol every morning. Might have overdosed this morning.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

His observations are dbA. Remember, most road noise and HVAC noise tends to be from around 15hz to 200hz or so. An A-weighted curve will simply miss those sounds.

The study I linked which looked at the 30 quietest cars used dBA. So that is what I am comparing to.

According to the study, the quietest car was 58dBA @ 60 MPH with no A/C on.

In my room, it is 35dBA with no A/C on. That is a huge difference in noise floor comparing dBA vs dBA.

 

[GranteedEV]

It might make for a more apples-to-apples comparision, but it makes the absolute value pretty useless. 35dBA might be 60 or 85 dB-unweighted. DbA is best for measuring speech volumes rather than noise.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

It might make for a more apples-to-apples comparision, but it makes the absolute value pretty useless. 35dBA might be 60 or 85 dB-unweighted. DbA is best for measuring speech volumes rather than noise.

Yeah. I'll get some un-weighted SPL in my car and compare it to my room. Right now at work, using my SPL app on my Note3, the un-weighted min SPL in my office at the hospital is 52dB (48dBA, 54dBC). Will compare to my car and at home and see.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Keuwlsoft SPL Meter Android App
Samsung Note 3
Un-weighted SPL

Jeep Commander
65MPH no cars next to, HVAC off 110dB
45MPH no cars next to, HVAC off 104dB
Engine off inside garage 45dB
Engine on inside garage 70dB
Engine on inside garage, HVAC on 74dB

LX570
Parked engine off garage closed 45dB
Parked engine off garage opened 45dB
Engine on 5 min, HVAC off garage close 66dB
Engine on garage open 66dB
Engine on HVAC on level 1/7 (low) 67dB
HVAC level 2/7 67dB
HVAC level 3/7 68dB
HVAC lev 4/7 (medium) 72dB

Room Listening Position
All electronics off, HVAC off 44dB
All electronics off, HVAC on 51dB
HTPC 1 on, HVAC on 53dB
HTPC 1 on, HVAC off 47dB
HTPC 2 on, HVAC off 47dB
HTPC 1 & 2 on, HVAC off 48dB
Projector, HTPC 1 & 2, Denon AVP on 51dB
All electronics on, HVAC on 55dB

Cheesecake Factory 104dB

So the un-weighted SPL is about the same in my room & Lexus LX570 when everything is OFF.

But with the LX570 engine on in Park and HVAC on LOW, it is already 67dB.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Keuwlsoft SPL Meter Android App
Samsung Note 3
Un-weighted SPL

Room Listening Position
All electronics off, HVAC off 44dB
All electronics off, HVAC on 51dB
HTPC 1 on, HVAC on 53dB
HTPC 1 on, HVAC off 47dB
HTPC 2 on, HVAC off 47dB
HTPC 1 & 2 on, HVAC off 48dB
Projector, HTPC 1 & 2, Denon AVP on 51dB
All electronics on, HVAC on 55dB

So the un-weighted SPL is about the same in my room & Lexus LX570 when everything is OFF.

This is more in line with what I have measured in my room and several others in suburban locations with OmniMic unweighted. Far from dead silent.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

This is more in line with what I have measured in my room and several others in suburban locations with OmniMic unweighted. Far from dead silent.

I guess "dead silent" = 44dB-45dB Unweighted.
What is confusing is that everyone uses different weightings.

OSAHA uses dBA, AVR/pre-pro/Cinema and most audio use dBC.

 

[Irvrobinson]

I guess "dead silent" = 44dB-45dB Unweighted.
What is confusing is that everyone uses different weightings.

OSAHA uses dBA, AVR/pre-pro/Cinema and most audio use dBC.

That's because OSHA isn't worried about sound quality, they're worried about the potential for hearing damage. C-weighting covers all ten octaves, but it still rolls off by 3db at the ends of the audible spectrum.

I've never had my equipment available for really quiet rooms, meaning in a rural area away from highways and flight paths, late on a windless night. When the room is really quiet, which I would estimate to be in the low-mid 30s db range, it sounds different. Eerie, IMO.

 

[JohnL]

Once again one of the absolute best in the business don't even get a mention as they are not U.S. made.

ATC..........Look them up!!!

Already heard ATC actives DESTROY B&W 800 Diamonds and Canton Reference Ones..........

just for starters!!!

 

[Irvrobinson]

Once again one of the absolute best in the business don't even get a mention as they are not U.S. made.

ATC..........Look them up!!!

Already heard ATC actives DESTROY B&W 800 Diamonds and Canton Reference Ones..........

just for starters!!!

What a dumb post. B&W is from Britain, not the US. I've heard the $22K/pair ATCs and the 800D and while I didn't care to buy either one, I can't say I had a strong preference for one over the other either. As for "looking them up", why don't you take a look around here for a while first before you let out a moronic blast like this and make a fool out of yourself.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I owned the ATC SCM7 for about a year. I don't think it sounds any better than the $100 NHT SuperZero.

Everyone is different.

 

[JohnL]

What a dumb post. B&W is from Britain, not the US. I've heard the $22K/pair ATCs and the 800D and while I didn't care to buy either one, I can't say I had a strong preference for one over the other either. As for "looking them up", why don't you take a look around here for a while first before you let out a moronic blast like this and make a fool out of yourself.

Thank you for your kind words.

I am aware that B&W are British, as are ATC, whilst Canton are German.
You mention hearing "the 22K pair ATC's" which, unfortunately, is irrelevant.
You mention hearing the "800D" which, unfortunately, is also irrelevant.
You mention "not caring" and not having a "strong preference" for either one.....also irrelevant.

Firstly I used B&W and Canton to illustrate my opinion of the proficiency of ACTIVE ATC's
If YOU actually took the time to look around you may discover just how well regarded they are in both the PRO and Domestic markets.

As the thread asks "Which brand makes the best quality loudspeakers" and I discover that the list doesn't even include ATC surely I have a right to comment.

The 22K ATC you heard is in the upper range but well short of the best.
I was referring to the SCM 300ASL which resides at the 45K price point..... but of course you just jumped straight in with your unwarranted vitriol.

B &W 800D's were never mentioned......B&W 800 "Diamonds" were.
Maybe you need to look them up too?

Not having a strong preference for either one seems a little unusual as one costs about 8K more than the other and they both offer EXTREMELY different sonic presentations.

I found that the B&W's, driven by Bryston 28BSST2 mono's, had a very deep resonant bass and warm midrange whilst the active ATC's were very different due to the low distortion, superlative midrange clarity and combined benefits of being fully active.

Maybe you listened to poorly driven PASSIVE ATC's.
They actually make BOTH........something else you may need to look up.
Or maybe you have hearing issues as I cannot fathom how ANYONE could not be polarized one way or the other.

No I think you just wanted to yank my chain by saying you don't care for either one.

SOMEONE definitely made a fool of themselves but I won't let YOU stop me expressing my, quite knowledgeable opinion, whenever I see the need.

Of course that's WITHOUT resorting to childish verbal abuse.

Good luck with the anger management.

 

[Irvrobinson]

Thank you for your kind words.

I am aware that B&W are British, as are ATC, whilst Canton are German.
You mention hearing "the 22K pair ATC's" which, unfortunately, is irrelevant.
You mention hearing the "800D" which, unfortunately, is also irrelevant.
You mention "not caring" and not having a "strong preference" for either one.....also irrelevant.

Firstly I used B&W and Canton to illustrate my opinion of the proficiency of ACTIVE ATC's
If YOU actually took the time to look around you may discover just how well regarded they are in both the PRO and Domestic markets.

As the thread asks "Which brand makes the best quality loudspeakers" and I discover that the list doesn't even include ATC surely I have a right to comment.

The 22K ATC you heard is in the upper range but well short of the best.
I was referring to the SCM 300ASL which resides at the 45K price point..... but of course you just jumped straight in with your unwarranted vitriol.

B &W 800D's were never mentioned......B&W 800 "Diamonds" were.
Maybe you need to look them up too?

Not having a strong preference for either one seems a little unusual as one costs about 8K more than the other and they both offer EXTREMELY different sonic presentations.

I found that the B&W's, driven by Bryston 28BSST2 mono's, had a very deep resonant bass and warm midrange whilst the active ATC's were very different due to the low distortion, superlative midrange clarity and combined benefits of being fully active.

Maybe you listened to poorly driven PASSIVE ATC's.
They actually make BOTH........something else you may need to look up.
Or maybe you have hearing issues as I cannot fathom how ANYONE could not be polarized one way or the other.

No I think you just wanted to yank my chain by saying you don't care for either one.

SOMEONE definitely made a fool of themselves but I won't let YOU stop me expressing my, quite knowledgeable opinion, whenever I see the need.

Of course that's WITHOUT resorting to childish verbal abuse.

Good luck with the anger management.

In the US the 800D is the 800 Diamond. I heard active ATCs. I'm not polarized because neither one is my taste. You do have a right to comment, but you entered the foolish domain with that "destroy" adjective. Perhaps you could choose more appropriate words.

I'll work on my tone, but telling me how knowledgeable you are isn't speeding my improvement process.

 

[JohnL]

In the US the 800D is the 800 Diamond. I heard active ATCs. I'm not polarized because neither one is my taste. You do have a right to comment, but you entered the foolish domain with that "destroy" adjective. Perhaps you could choose more appropriate words.

I'll work on my tone, but telling me how knowledgeable you are isn't speeding my improvement process.

Hi,

Thank you for the civility.

Fair point on the Model No discrepancies!!

I don't really understand why you are so upset about my use of the word "destroyed" as it was just the most appropriate word to describe my personal experience.

Are you SURE you didn't hate one even a little bit more than the other?? LOL

I had no intention of bagging B&W at all as I respect their 800 series and rate them highly.

Just sticking up for myself!!!....I'm not going to AGREE with you regarding my perceived "moronicness"!!!LOL

You just came off a bit hostile and nasty and, as I have only been here I little while, it threw me a bit.

I am glad you responded decently and am more than happy to put this one to bed and move on.

Cheers,
John

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

We all love our systems. We all think we know what's best for us. There's no exception. So naturally we will disagree.

A lot of brands could have certainly made this list.

Again, everyone has an idea of what makes a speaker "special".

Some people think that just because a speaker is "active" it will automatically sound better.

I agree that active bass (which probably requires 90% of the total power) can be very significant. But active midrange and tweeter (which probably require only 10% of total power) aren't significant at all.

Anyway, some people think active ATC destroys a few speakers while some people think a few speakers destroy even the flagship active ATC because it's only a matter of their opinions/preferences.

Have you heard EVERY speaker in the world? Probably not.

Have you heard enough speakers (both passive and active) to form a fair opinion? Probably yes.

 

[Grassy]

Chris Moon from Moon Audio makes some real expensive speakers. One pair of his sold for 2 million dollars. I think it was the Signature Titans 001. I think only 3 were ever made. They probably would have to be up there with many others of that price range or quality.Its always interesting to browes the expensive speakers to try and find out what makes them so expensive to begin with.