10 Loudspeakers Trends That Should End

[Kleinst]

Great article. Love reading things like this

Harmon is the worst on their packaging especially their Infinity speakers. They are messed up a LOT. Their JBL 590s are a little better as they come freight on a pallet

I end up biting the bulled and putting the SVS feed on all my subs. I know many think it's a waste but if it's a sub we will use for years it's not too big a deal

On FEDEX/UPS, my nightmare on that was related to a Outlaw AMP I bought used from someone. It's a heavy AMP. I looked out the window and saw the UPS driver literally rolling the box to the door. It did some damage but still worked. I really like when companies send heavy stuff via freight on a pallet but I know that adds cost.

 

[lovinthehd]

Too bad the courier/parcel express companies raised the weight limits significantly over the years, not fair to the driver or the package....

 

[Hetfield]

Great article. Love reading things like this

Harmon is the worst on their packaging especially their Infinity speakers. They are messed up a LOT. Their JBL 590s are a little better as they come freight on a pallet

I end up biting the bulled and putting the SVS feed on all my subs. I know many think it's a waste but if it's a sub we will use for years it's not too big a deal

On FEDEX/UPS, my nightmare on that was related to a Outlaw AMP I bought used from someone. It's a heavy AMP. I looked out the window and saw the UPS driver literally rolling the box to the door. It did some damage but still worked. I really like when companies send heavy stuff via freight on a pallet but I know that adds cost.

I have the 570s and they were packed fine and not to much of a pain to unbox but why they give you that huge! Freaking HUGE booklet with each speaker is a mystery. I got one with the 520C and 530 pair also. It's got to be a 5 pounds booklet.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

 

[RGuasto]

Hi James
I believe SVS just wants to sell you their SoundPath Subwoofer Isolation System. Much bigger feet that will allow you to get your fingers underneath the sub without crushing them. I never understood why they don't just sell them already installed and price accordingly.

-Rob G

 

[highfigh]

We could write a whole article about the shipping issues, alone!

I do like international companies (Buchardt, Arendal) that include shipping and all customs/brokerage in their pricing. But then you have domestic companies (SVS in particular) that includes shipping (+all of the cost of their customer bill of rights) in the pricing of each of their Speakers.
For SVS, while convenient, it skews wildly the perception of value, I think. How many posts have we had where potential owners are comparing Hsu Subs to SVS, then hem and haw over the shipping charges from Hsu? Or the reverse about the cost of a Sub from SVS?
To be fair, the international shipping is much more of a pain to the uninitiated than dealing with anything domestic. That, and the fact that it is way more difficult to return gear internationally is why I think that it is better applied to those companies rather than domestic service.

Rythmik used to offer a UPS Freight service for their larger Subs that gave you the option of picking them up at the Freight Depot for a discounted shipping cost. I'd bribe a friend any day with a good six pack and a pizza to hop in their truck and go get my gear with me! Hell, even a cheap U-Haul plus the cost of bribing a friend would be worthwhile.

That said, fright delivery is definitely the way to go. I know from a previous conversation with Jim Salk that shipping FedEx just got too expensive due to damages, and (at least for a while) he sent everything large, on pallet, through Roadrunner.
I mentioned above getting my Phil3s delivered. It was super easy and even with the transfer to a local freight company for the final delivery, everything was smooth. The biggest thing for me was just making certain that the freight company making final delivery knew that they couldn't send a full size truck. The guy pulled in and I helped him offload through the side door, and much like my earlier description of receiving my Subs, the driver helped me get the boxes just inside my front door.

Lastly, I know that everybody loves a sale, but my favorite aspect of my previous purchases with Outlaw was that they paid the freight on my 2018 holiday season purchases! I think more companies should look at Free Shipping sales rather than discounting the product. In all honesty, my gear from Outlaw was both discounted and shipped free.
But how can companies move forward in light of the completely borked system right now? Prices are up for everything from the smallest component the manufacturer buys to the cost of shipping the already more expensive final product to the end user.

We might all hope to just get our product delivered in a timely manner, and without damage, now. Sh!t, now that I look at that, we might just be glad to be able to get something, Anything!, even if its delivered broken considering the supply chain issues.

You could rent a pickup or van from UHaul , Home Depot, Menard's or some other place for freight pickups and if it's only a few hours, the cost isn't very high.

FedEx will leave packages at Kinko's/FedEx stores and there's no extra charge. It also lets their people see any obvious damage and they should know what to do in the event that something was damaged in transit. I would recommend opening any packages with large dents or any kind of hole, so a concealed damage claim can be filed immediately. Best thing to do if the package has been hammered (don't open it) is to refuse it/them. You can have packages delivered to a UPS distribution center at no extra cost but if they end up at a UPS store, they do charge on a per box basis.

 

[highfigh]

Thank god I do not have to upgrade my 12 year olds.

12 year old speakers, or kids?

Just asking.

 

[SithZedi]

12 year old speakers, or kids?

Just asking.

That's a great question. I'll get back to you after a period of reflective thought : )

 

[ryanosaur]

That's a great question. I'll get back to you after a period of reflective thought : )

Sell both. Get new Speak’s.

 

[Pedro Alvarado]

why do i picture him writing this with a bottle of belvedere next to his keyboard

YOUR KNOW WHAT...I'LL TELL YA WHAT........

 

[davidscott]

#11--Rating speakers with dips down into 4ohms or less as 8 ohm speakers--coughcough infinity primus P363.

I own a pair of Infinity P363S. Luckily, I drive them with an Hk3490 which is stable into 4 ohms. I agree though that Infinity should have been straighter with the actual measurements. But they do sound fantastic.

 

[gene]

Congrats to James. This article got over 30k views in 2 days!

 

[killdozzer]

I really liked this article. It was a fun but informative read.

I totally felt the effort that was put behind certain sentences to avoid misinterpretations. Since I often write for a living, I highly appreciate such efforts.

One such example is found here "the tweeter is mounted a significant distance from the adjacent driver in frequency bandwidth" where I could almost feel the author searching for that shortest version of sentence that covers it all and doesn't prompt unnecessary questions.

My small addition to the list would be binding posts being too close on some amps, where I really irritate my fingers while unscrewing them and screwing them in. I don't think leaving some space would be a huge dent in the budget.

 

[killdozzer]

Hi James
I believe SVS just wants to sell you their SoundPath Subwoofer Isolation System. Much bigger feet that will allow you to get your fingers underneath the sub without crushing them. I never understood why they don't just sell them already installed and price accordingly.

-Rob G

I honestly don't feel this describes SVS realistically (and you didn't put an emoticon). Thinking SVS is trying to raise profit on rubber feet...? I don't know, are they short of change for slot machines?

 

[Hetfield]

I honestly don't feel this describes SVS realistically (and you didn't put an emoticon). Thinking SVS is trying to raise profit on rubber feet...? I don't know, are they short of change for slot machines?

I agree SVS is getting beat up just a little too much here and too much in general. They have just about the best customer service in the industry and that costs money.
Monoprice who I absolutely LOVE has some of the worst customer service in earth. It is what it is.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Hetfield]

I really liked this article. It was a fun but informative read.

I totally felt the effort that was put behind certain sentences to avoid misinterpretations. Since I often write for a living, I highly appreciate such efforts.

One such example is found here "the tweeter is mounted a significant distance from the adjacent driver in frequency bandwidth" where I could almost feel the author searching for that shortest version of sentence that covers it all and doesn't prompt unnecessary questions.

My small addition to the list would be binding posts being too close on some amps, where I really irritate my fingers while unscrewing them and screwing them in. I don't think leaving some space would be a huge dent in the budget.

Ooh I have one on binding posts! I forgot ah about this as this new speaker setup I have now is the first to have this. I just recently switched my HT to JBL Studio series speakers and they put this little tab or little piece in the binding post so you can't use banana plugs! You have to take them out first and it's a pain. I gave up trying but it's so annoying! Why do speaker manufacturer's do this?!

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

 

[3db]

Variable tuned isn't the same as sealing the sub completely. But I do think variable-tuned subs is where all this madness started.

Thanks for clearing that up. Another good write up. The only one I question is the finish with the same reasons highfig pointed out. There are no standards to compare the finishes too.

On another note, I wish all AVR, pre-amp, and amp manufactures would design and adhere their gain structures to one standard . The audio industry is one huge steaming pile of excrement when it comes to setting up and following standards. It desperately needs fixing.

 

[lovinthehd]

Ooh I have one on binding posts! I forgot ah about this as this new speaker setup I have now is the first to have this. I just recently switched my HT to JBL Studio series speakers and they put this little tab or little piece in the binding post so you can't use banana plugs! You have to take them out first and it's a pain. I gave up trying but it's so annoying! Why do speaker manufacturer's do this?!

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

It's in the article as a side note....EU regs as it looks like a power plug connector to some. Had to pull those out of some speakers and amps as well....but a good little seal pick works great.

 

[davidscott]

Great

Congrats to James. This article got over 30k views in 2 days!

Yeah congrats James, keep the articles coming.

 

[Verdinut]

Yeah I've owned them before, I just find it funny that they sell their subs with feet that suck so badly that one would want to buy the premium feet. Like buying a burger and having to pay extra for the bun.

I prefer the Penn Elcom 9106 (or its many knockoffs) because the price is great... just need to buy your own washers and screws.

Amazon.com: Penn-Elcom 9106 Rubber Cabinet Foot 2.5" Dia. x 1" H 4 Pack : Electronics

Penn-Elcom have decent prices and they also have a warehouse in Ontario. Several years ago, I ordered rack mount stuff from them.

 

[bladerunner6]

There were a lot of good points in the article but I was surprised that there wasn’t a point made about designing center channels as three-way instead of MTM.