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JohnA

JohnA

Audioholic Chief
I don't agree with this. I don't think "Treat your room before you buy new speakers" is good advice. It might be in a specific case, but this "article" is much too general to recommend room treatments to everyone. :D

Room treatments are a more case-by-case suggestion. :D
But that is not always the case :p

A live, hard room will greatly benefit from acoustical treatments, and that can be a rug, furniture, bookcases, etc, it doesn't mean that it has to be acoustical panels on a wall.
 
gene

gene

Audioholics Master Chief
Administrator
Give your speakers plenty of space to breathe around and in front. Things like TVs, Shelves, Other Speakers, Coffee Tables and Walls create secondary sound sources that smear the presentation through early reflection and diffraction. Let the speaker be the only thing sending early cues to your ears.

That said, side walls can have definite presentation benefits - especially if you can give the secondary sound roughly about 15 milliseconds to travel - or a rough distance of 5 meters from speaker-to-reflecting-wall-to-ear.

On second thought, this grew on me. Congrats your soon to be internet famous :)
 
monkish54

monkish54

Audioholic General
Well, it may be a bit "wordy", but the tip is spot on IMO!
That's good for 'em. They'll look up new phrases.

*At work*

"Maaan, I was listening to my Denny's HTIB yesterday, and I noticed my wife put a coffee table next to my speaker. I was like '***** please! Don't be creating secondary sound sources and screwing up my imaging cues.'

Needless to say, now I'm sleeping on the couch and there are two coffee tables next to my speakers. Now I gotta go to ebay get some of those acoustic bowls. That should fix everything, man."
 
Steve81

Steve81

Audioholics Five-0
Mixing And Matching

As a general rule, mixing different brands of speakers is not recommended. Even mixing of different lines within a particular brand can present problems. In order to maintain a reasonably consistent sonic signature as sound effects pan from speaker to speaker, it's a good idea to have a matched system. A notable exception to the above is the subwoofer which fills in the low end; there are several companies specializing in subwoofers whose products can be successfully used with a variety of speakers including (but certainly not limited to) SVS, Hsu Research, Velodyne, and Rythmik.

 
gene

gene

Audioholics Master Chief
Administrator
Mixing And Matching

As a general rule, mixing different brands of speakers is not recommended. Even mixing of different lines within a particular brand can present problems. In order to maintain a reasonably consistent sonic signature as sound effects pan from speaker to speaker, it's a good idea to have a matched system. A notable exception to the above is the subwoofer which fills in the low end; there are several companies specializing in subwoofers whose products can be successfully used with a variety of speakers including (but certainly not limited to) SVS, Hsu Research, Velodyne, and Rythmik.

I agree for the front 3 speakers but this isn't such a hardened rule for the surrounds since their positional differences with the front 3 speakers would cause a bigger difference in tonality than simply choosing an alternate surround with similar output and bandwidth capabilities as the front channels. Certainly, in most cases don't need to match the brand of the subs with the speakers.
 
Steve81

Steve81

Audioholics Five-0
I agree for the front 3 speakers but this isn't such a hardened rule for the surrounds
No arguments from me; the thought has crossed my mind as I wrote the blurb, but I figured in the interest of brevity and simplicity to skip it. Besides, while perfectly matching surrounds may not have a huge sonic impact, it most definitely impacts my OCD :D
 
Adam

Adam

Audioholic Jedi
Power Off Equipment When Making Connections

When making connections to receivers and amplifiers (especially when working with speaker wires), make sure that the equipment is turned off first. It's not required, but it's a lot safer for you and the equipment in the event that you accidentally touch two speaker wires together. A couple of seconds to hit the power button can save hours of shopping for new equipment.

 
mike c

mike c

Audioholic Warlord
Always consider the source

when someone on the web says "this subwoofer is the best i've ever heard!"
follow up with the question "what were your other subs?"
 
Adam

Adam

Audioholic Jedi
Always consider the source

when someone on the web says "this subwoofer is the best i've ever heard!"
follow up with the question "what were your other subs?"
This tip is the best I've ever read!
 
Steve81

Steve81

Audioholics Five-0
As a more philosophical tip:

Don't take things too seriously. In the end, we're all doing this to enjoy the music and/or movies. If you find yourself sitting and analyzing speakers every time you sit down in front of your system, you're missing the whole point of it all. Some of the best sound I've ever heard involved me having a good buzz from a couple beers and just enjoying what was playing.

 
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Steve81

Steve81

Audioholics Five-0
Always consider the source

when someone on the web says "this subwoofer is the best i've ever heard!"
follow up with the question "what were your other subs?"
I've recently found its worthwhile to ask how they're using the subs as well. Someone whose idea of good bass involves running their subs 8+dB hot with a house curve tossed in for good measure might not share the exact same preferences that I do.
 
Steve81

Steve81

Audioholics Five-0
Couple more thoughts that crossed my mind:

Money Versus Engineering And Science

While this tip is hardly confined to the realm of audio, it is always worthwhile to keep it in mind: spending more money doesn't always guarantee better results. Building a good quality speaker or amplifier does of course take some investment in materials and engineering hours, which will cost more than a cheeseburger at your favorite fast food restaurant. On the other hand, its easy enough to buy garbage at any price. Buyer beware!



Don't Blow It

Every so often some variation of the question gets asked: will I blow my speakers if I use amplifer X with speaker Y. A good general answer is that so long as reasonable care is taken, odds are good your equipment will last for years to come. That is to say, if you detect strain or distortion, simply turn the volume down to the point where those problems go away. Bluntly, no you won't destroy your new speakers simply by the act of hooking them up to a receiver that can deliver something other than the exact amount of power they happen to be rated for, so go enjoy some tunes.




And off to bed...I hope. The dark side of caffeine addiction...
 
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monkish54

monkish54

Audioholic General
This probably is not the best place to post it..but

Ummmm....

I feel like electricity doesn't have bass or high frequencies.

Monster Ultra 600 THX Certified Speaker Cable

Ordinary speaker cables can compromise your home theater system's audio performance, potentially depriving you of at least half of what makes home theater come alive, the audio. Monster Ultra 600 THX Certified Speaker Cable incorporates features like advanced Time Correct windings for precise imaging and higher copper content provides wider dynamic range. With ordinary cables, you may be able to hear your movie dialogue, music and sound effects, but with Monster Ultra 600 THX Certified Speaker Cable, you experience it.

Monster Ultra THX Certified: Ultra High Performance connections for serious home theater.

A high-performance home theater can deliver all the fun and excitement of a night at the movies. But achieving the ultimate picture and sound at home requires using the ultimate cables. So Monster teamed with THX, the industry leader in audio and video quality certification for movie theaters, home theater components and DVDs to create the most advanced cables for true reference home theater performance.

Monster Ultra THX Certified features patented Monster technologies, and meets stringent THX certification requirements to deliver the best possible performance from your home theater.

What is Time Correct technology?
Monster’s way of compensating for something called "Velocity Propagation" or better known as the skin effect. An analog audio signal passing through a copper cable succumbs to this law of physics in which bass frequencies tend to gravitate towards the center of the cable; higher frequencies are forced to the outer portion of the cable. The higher mass bass frequencies create a magnetic field in the center of the cable while traveling through the conductor, which impedes those lower frequencies. This impedance forces those lower frequencies to arrive at their destiny (the speaker or amp) delayed, which causes a mild distortion in the waveform.

Monster utilizes multiple gauge windings to help compensate for this distortion. Large, solid-core copper strands in the center for bass frequencies (containing higher mass) and smaller gauges wrapped around the solid core conductor to delay the mid’s and high’s ensuring that the entire bandwidth of frequencies arrive in uniform.

What is magnetic flux tube?
This is a specially-designed dielectric tube that runs down the middle of a group of different gauge windings. This helps break up the magnetic field generated from the current flowing through the cable’s conductors. We wrap the larger solid-core conductors (the culprit of this magnetic field) around this dialectric for maximum affect.
Any help here Gene? :D

Maybe a link to an article you guys already wrote? :D
 
Steve81

Steve81

Audioholics Five-0
Monster Cable

Take any "technical article" written by Monster Cable with a healthy dose of skepticism.



Of course, they're far from being the only offender. I could do a tip a day for a long time to come listing BS artists one by one...
 
fuzz092888

fuzz092888

Audioholic Warlord
Measurements

Measurements are something that come up often, in audioholics articles and in many discussions. They can give insights into your equipment and room that you never thought possible, while also allowing you to really get into room correction and DIY. If you're just curious or a hardcore audioholic, odds are you can appreciate raw, objective data. However, to broach the topic can be a daunting task. You need hundreds of dollars worth of equipment in order to have something truly plug and play, or learn how to use complicated software.

However, thanks to miniDSP learning how to take measurements has never been easier. With the UMIK-1 and REW, you finally have a plug and play unit with easy to use software that will allow you to jump into measurements and objective data without breaking the bank. The best part is, with the simplicity of the unit and the fact that all you need is a laptop, test tone CD, and the mic you can bring it with you to your next in store or GTG to take a measurement or two in less than 5 minutes.

REW = Free
UMIK-1 = $75 + shipping (usually $20) Compatible with Mac/Windows/Linux with no software or drivers.

 

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