Some notes about what kind of music we’re talking about here might help, too. (Some examples of what I’ve been listening to lately follow, and more about the bass troubles at the end.)
It's been a long time since I naively claimed that “I listen to everything," as I have found a good deal of "music" that I don't care for... However, my appreciation encompasses much of the gamut. In my experience so far, I have really enjoyed these speakers for all sorts of modern tunes featuring instrumentals and electronic effects like a lot of pop and hip hop (music intended to be bass heavy, I guess). For example:
Jamie Cullum- Music is Through
Passion Pit- Little Secrets
Talib Kweli- Around My Way
...or pretty much any of Michael Jackson’s top 100 tunes.
These also sound great on ripping guitar tracks--anything from Rodrigo & Gabriela; or acoustic albums--An Evening with John Petrucci and Jordan Rudess, Friday Night in San Fransisco (Paco de Lucia, John Mclaughlin, Al Dimeola) (two incredible albums if you've never heard them!!)
Eliane Elias’s recording of “Blue In Green”; or the stacked vocal harmonies in Denise Donatelli’s version of “Big Lie, Small World” are sounding amazing--especially depending on how well the imaging is coming out with the way the speakers are positioned at the moment.
I am a musician (or was) and classical music fan as well, and these speakers excel (certainly compared to anything I’ve ever owned) at reproducing things like Rachmaninoff piano preludes, Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, or 3rd Piano Concerto. Ok--so it turns out I'm a big Rach' fan).
Or chamber music--Vivaldi’s Winter from the 4 seasons or Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos performed by Academy of St Martin in the Fields--excellent for showing off their clarity throughout different timbres of instrumental solos and harmonies.
Saint Saens No 3--a fantastic test for any full-range system--sounds awesome and made me downright giddy on hearing the pedal tones for the first time. No complaints!
Chamber Brass has also been a thrilling test of the speakers' worth--sparkling altissimo trumpet solos, rich midrange harmonies from horns and trombones, and world-class tuba players right in the living room. “Nina” from Canadian Brass, “Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor” from Chicago Symphony Orchestra Brass…
Ok enough examples, but there are 100 more in my head (or in my spotify playlists, to be more exact)… the best compliment I can give is that these speakers make me downright excited about listening to good music again! It has been far too long that I merely “enjoyed it,” but didn’t really care.
But here is where I started to notice trouble with the bass: after listening to “Crown Imperial” from C.S.O.B. on headphones at work, I couldn't wait to get home and crank it up in the system to enjoy its prolific display of all the aforementioned qualities. When it came through the ER18s, though--there were bass drum hits--which were quite balanced if not subtle in headphones--which boomed or resonated throughout the room, and really seemed overpowering. So much so, in fact, that I felt compelled to turn down the bass on the receiver or skip the track. That’s disappointing, and strange that it seems balanced or at least pleasant for most other tracks. (Since then, I have found a couple other tunes where I would say the bass sounds unpleasantly and unnaturally amplified.)
I wondered if it might have been in the album production, and the bass was unnaturally amplified in the mix in anticipation of lower output speakers? Or, is it an artifact of the room (like that weird 45 deg shelf in the corner) or speaker placement… or simply a characteristic of the “mass loaded transmission line” speakers? Maybe time and experimentation will tell; meanwhile, I welcome more thoughts, ideas, or bits of advice.
Thanks again to the Audioholics community--I have found a lot of inspiration here.
