What is the "new england sound"

[griffinconst]

I've heard talk of this and that it applies to a/d/s speakers. Can someone explain it to me? What other brands of speakers were made in the northeast and would have "that" sound?
Where can I find specs for 1090"s?

 

[jamie2112]

I have never heard of the "New England sound" before. Does it sound like Mass or conneticut or Maine? I don't know honestly. I know what the British sound is like but I can't help you on this onw. Maybe someone else has heard of it. http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=7616

 

[john72953]

I have never heard of that either. Like Jamie said, I too am familiar with the British sound, but not New England.

That begs the question.....is there a Canadian Sound? Some of the best speakers are made in Canada (although maybe now owned by multi-nationals). Energy, Mirage and Totem to name but 3. They all sound different to me, but is there a "sound" they have specific to them being Canadian?

John

(To the OP......I'm not trying to hi-jack your thread, but I thought it was an interesting question to ask).

 

[markw]

Cheeze 'n crackers, y'all sure know how to make a guy feel old!

Back in the day of the great two-channel receiver dinosaurs, before the great FTC power specifications wars, and before the coming of sdigtal sound, the speakers of the day could generally be classified in either of two ways.

One, the "east coast sound" was characterised by a bump in the upper mid bass, a subdued mid-range and fairly reticint highs. This suited classical and light acoustic musicsince it closely approximatedthe soundone wouldfine in a"classical" venues such asa big, well-padded hall. Several speakers of that day that pioneered and offered this type of sound were Acoustic Researcs (AR) with their AR 3 and it's siblings, KLH with it's Models 5, 6 and others. Coincidentally, these were started in and around Boston. Ergo, it became called the "east coast" (or "new england") sound.

Now, on the other coast, companies like JBL and Altec were selling speakers that offered a punched up mid-range and high end. Since their roots were in movie theatre sound, this was a natural evolution. These were used extensively in the recording studios of the day and odds are that virtually any classic rock recordings you own were made using JBL monitors. As time went on, these became popular for home use and when JBL got wise to this, they released the JBL L-100, which became the poster boy for the "west coast" sound.

If you want an instant education in this, simply connect a pair of AR speakers of that era to your "A" speaker terminals and a pair of JBL speakers of the same era to your "B" speaker terminals and A/B to your hearts content.

Now, where's my ensure?

 

[jostenmeat]

That begs the question.....is there a Canadian Sound? Some of the best speakers are made in Canada (although maybe now owned by multi-nationals). Energy, Mirage and Totem to name but 3. They all sound different to me, but is there a "sound" they have specific to them being Canadian?

The one thing that ties several Canadian brands together is their free access to NRC testing, replete with DBT compared to real world measurements. This means that their products are most likely value-rich, as these companies did not have to each build their own high-tech research facility in designing these speakers. I suspect these savings are most likely passed on to us, the consumers.

They include Paradigm, PSB, and Axiom, as far those not listed in your post. OTOH, while Totem uses drivers from the very well regarded Dynaudio, I believe some say they voice their speakers more so than their national competition.

 

[Rickster71]

Cheeze 'n crackers, y'all sure know how to make a guy feel old!


Now, where's my ensure?

Thanks Mark, you 'old guys' sure come in handy.
j/k my friend.

 

[john72953]

The one thing that ties several Canadian brands together is their free access to NRC testing, replete with DBT compared to real world measurements. This means that their products are most likely value-rich, as these companies did not have to each build their own high-tech research facility in designing these speakers. I suspect these savings are most likely passed on to us, the consumers.

They include Paradigm, PSB, and Axiom, as far those not listed in your post. OTOH, while Totem uses drivers from the very well regarded Dynaudio, I believe some say they voice their speakers more so than their national competition.

Yes and thank God for the NRC, which is one of the most-reknowned facilities in the world. (Nice to see our tax dollars being used for real-world situations and adding substance to an industry). I like your statement about Canadian speakers being "value-rich". Never quite thought of it that way, but it does make perfect sense in light of the access the NRC gives to our manufacturers.

Good post Sir.....

 

[pzaur]

And I thought it meant that speakers from their added a random "r" to words like "wa-r-sh"!

-pat

 

[Alex2507]

And I thought it meant that speakers from their added a random "r" to words like "wa-r-sh"!

It's actually a highly sophisticated algorithm that also
removes the 'r' sound from other specific words like 'c-ahhhh'.

 

[pzaur]

It's actually a highly sophisticated algorithm that also
removes the 'r' sound from other specific words like 'c-ahhhh'.

Ohhhhh, is that similar to the technology Bose uses to close frequency gaps?

-pat

 

[goodman]

In addition to AR and KLH, other New England sound purveyors were Advent and Boston Acoustics.

 

[markw]

Aw heck, why not show it off if ya got it.

In addition to AR and KLH, other New England sound purveyors were Advent and Boston Acoustics.

Advent was started by Henry Kloss, who was the "K" in "KLH" and which he co-founded* when he left the employ of Edgar Villchur, with whom he co-founded AR to work with on the original AR acoustic suspension speakers back in the 50's.

No sense being old if ya can't show off wacha picked up over the years (before ya forget it all).

* along with Malcolm Low and (somebody) Hofmann, two of the original investors in Acoustic Research.