Cd quality???

[newtoitall]

I'm not sure if this the place to ask this but here goes.

I've been doing a lot of reading about how speakers should sound and how you should demo speakers with a cd or two of your own you are familiar with. This makes sense to a point, you want your speakers to sound good to you with the music you like to listen to, but that boils down to personal taste and not necessarily accurate speakers.

Accurate speakers should be able to replicate music that sounds as close to the original source as possible. The original source being the artists and their instruments, the problem is that there is a cd between the original source and your equipment, and these cds are all different. I have 7 or 8 cds of a duo called Acoustic Alchemy ( great guitarists I might add ) and no two recordings are the same, some have more high end than others, some more bass, the point is thay are all different. It's not possible for me to judge weather a speaker is accurate or not if I don't know what one of the 7 or 8 cds that I have is accurate, or any other cd I have for that matter.
Sorry I know I've rambled too much

Anyway, could anyone tell me if there are any recordings out there that are considered extremly accurate and I could use to judge the quality of any speaker I might choose to demo?????

thanks,
Frank

 

[MDS]

Frank, you've perfectly explained why it is extremely difficult to audition speakers and why 'listen to them above all else' is really not helpful, no matter how many times people repeat it.

Speakers will sound different in the store than in your home. They'll potentially sound different with different equipment and of course the biggest variable is as you've mentioned - the quality of the recording. Listening to speakers with a CD you know/like is a good step to find out if they reproduce the sound in a manner pleasing to your ears. Whether or not it is 'accurate' cannot be determined by listening to your favorite CD because it may not be accurate as well.

The only way to determine if a speaker is accurate is to use test tones and measure the response of the speaker, but even that is not fool-proof as we now have to define 'accurate'. Would you say 3dB down at 15 kHz is accurate? Technically not, but then the ideal of perfect frequency response with 0 deviation in amplitude at all frequencies has never and will never be achieved by any speaker and that 3dB down speaker may sound great to someone. So, listening for a sound you find pleasing is still the only real way to evaluate speakers. Specs help you to eliminate those that aren't even worth an audition, but that's about it.

 

[mfabien]

I wish people would keep things simple...

You have a CD which provides a listening experience at (familiar) location "A". You take the same CD and listen to it at (new) location "B". Which location is best?

The accuracy of the recording on CD is not very relevant.

If the listening at location "B" is more pleasant, than why is that? Speakers and sub are different? Accustic of the room?

What are the chances to reproduce the same listening experience with the new equipment in listening room "A"? 80%, 60%, 40%?

Is it possible to try the new equipment in room "A" with the understanding that if not satisfied, the equipment may be returned?

 

[Nick250]

I would recomend the DVD Hell Freezes over by the Eagles. To my ears the best audio reproduction I have ever heard. This is not to take anything away from the other posts because they make good points, but HFO is the test disc I would use. Second choices would be either of the two live concert DVDs by James Taylor, Live at The Beacon Theater and Pull Over. Great reproduction there too. Infact now that I think about it, I probably would take both HFO and Pull Over on my auditions for new speakers. Enjoy the hunt for new speakers.

 

[mfabien]

I would recomend the DVD Hell Freezes over by the Eagles. To my ears the best audio reproduction I have ever heard. This is not to take anything away from the other posts because they make good points, but HFO is the test disc I would use. Second choices would be either of the two live concert DVDs by James Taylor, Live at The Beacon Theater and Pull Over. Great reproduction there too. Infact now that I think about it, I probably would take both HFO and Pull Over on my auditions for new speakers. Enjoy the hunt for new speakers.

Agree that "Hell Frezzes Over" is good, in fact it is my favorite DTS Music disc.

However, it's use implies that the store's DVD was properly configured for DTS bitstream and that the a/v at the store has setting "Auto" to accept DTS and not PCM via analog cables. May I suggest that a CD would be more appropriate.

 

[wilmeland]

the point is - what sounds good to you?

While accuracy in a speaker is definitely the goal, it really comes down to what sounds best to you. I prefer just a hint of warmth and good imaging in my sound system, which may not always be 100% accurate, but suits my taste & makes me happy.
I know CDs that sound good to me. The way I choose speakers is to take cds I think sound good to me to a store that has acoustics that will be more like my listening environment than unlike it. Then listen for a while on more than one visit. Then be sure they have a return policy that allows you to return if not satisfied in your home.
Here's something to remember. Things that sound spectacular at first, may grate on your nerves after extended listening. But basically buy something that sounds good to you.

 

[JoeE SP9]

Classical music recordings generally have less studio "tweaking" and eq'ing than popular or jazz. For midrange accuracy a well recorded string quartet can be very illuminating. For overall sound a well recorded symphony may do the trick. For low frequency response a pipe organ recording of Toccata and Fugue in D minor can show how well the low end really is reproduced. If you don't care for classical music Holly Cole and Patricia Barber are two artists whose recordings seem to have less tweaking. I've also found Tony Bennett Unplugged and Frank Sinatra live at the sands to be good indicators. Most popular music is so overproduced it is difficult to know what is real and what isn't.

 

[warnerwh]

Personally I find the sound of acoustic instruments and voices to be the best gauge. Of course your memory of what they actually sound like is obviously prone to some misinterpretation. Good speakers will sound better than cheap speakers, although there are good speakers that can be had for as little as 200 a pair. The difference between three different 3k a pair speakers will be obvious even though overall quality is the same. You have to listen to them. Once they're in your room this will have a huge affect also but you can get an idea just listening to them in most places except of course places like Circuit City or Best Buy.