garage listening sessions

[BC Dave]

I just wanted to make an observation. I'm not really sure what my point is, except to say that sometimes the room can make the cheapest system sing and at other times the room can break a costly system. My brother and I were sharing a few beers in his second home (the garage). We were listening to a burned CD with Gino Vannelli singing Wild Horses on his old, cobbled together stereo (Sanyo chip-driven receiver, Mitsubishi speakers with non-matching woofers and Realistic cheapo speakers behind us. He turns to me and says: "This sounds better than my home theater system (Yamaha receiver, five Klipsch Quintet IIs and D-Box David 300 powered sub) playing a concert DVD in Dolby Digital 5.1." You know what? It did. The garage system sounded like it had a ballsy powered sub providing the bass and the sound swirled all around us. Maybe it was the room, but we both agreed that for music, this system, which wouldn't sell for $50 total at a garage sale, was superior for music, in spite of the chip-driven receiver and mismatched woofers. Hell, maybe it was the beer, but it was an eye opener. Has anyone here had a similar experience?

 

[zumbo]

I think most anything sounds better than Klipsch Quintet. Heck, most Klipsch.

 

[Swerd]

Hell, maybe it was the beer, but it was an eye opener.

Was the beer in bottles or cans ?

 

[BC Dave]

should have added something

Okay. Fair enough comment on the Quintets, although they sound pretty good (not overly bright) in his system with the D-Box sub. I should have added that I went home and listened to my Dolby Digital System (Denon receiver and Paradigm Titans, CC-170 and Paradigm PS-1000 sub (all V4) and his garage system sounded as good, if not better. What blew me away the most about it was the amount of bass that those 10-inch mismatched woofers were producing. I would have bet $50 that he had a powerful sub hidden in the corner. As I said, maybe it was the configuration of the garage room (lots of furniture, no car blocking the sound from the speakers).

 

[zumbo]

Should I comment on the PS-1000?




JK

 

[johsti]

I hear what you're saying Dave. You don't have to spend a ton of money to get great sound and enjoy music. It's all about the room acoustics, proper setup and good beer.

I bet there are quite a few cheap/budget setups that can sound as good or better than certain name brand setups. For some, brand names offer peace of mind. Others rely on their ears.

 

[mikemorrow]

Don't even think about taking that setup into a house. There's not enough beer in the world that could make it sound good

 

[BC Dave]

Ps-1000

So you don't like the PS-1000? Have you heard the V4? If you have and are still dissing it, you have the right to your opinion, but if you are basing your opinion on earlier versions, you might be "off bass!" My V4 is very tight with music, thank you. The amp and driver have been improved from earlier versions (eg: twice the power, not a hybrid amp anymore). I once owned a V2 PS-1000 and musically it sucked. A real boomer. Not so with the V4, in my opinion.

Cheers.

 

[zumbo]

So you don't like the PS-1000? Have you heard the V4? If you have and are still dissing it, you have the right to your opinion, but if you are basing your opinion on earlier versions, you might be "off bass!" My V4 is very tight with music, thank you. The amp and driver have been improved from earlier versions (eg: twice the power, not a hybrid amp anymore). I once owned a V2 PS-1000 and musically it sucked. A real boomer. Not so with the V4, in my opinion.

Cheers.

JK is short for just kidding. Gosh, have a beer.!

Should I comment on the PS-1000?




JK

 

[jmanlp]

so good sound is only a couple adult beverages away? I've been spending all this money on gear, I should have just put in a bar.

 

[johsti]

It's amazing how detailed my laptop speakers can sound after a 12 pack. The imaging is phenomonal! The bass is lacking, but very accurate

 

[BC Dave]

beer goggle gaga over system not

Just to make it clear, we weren't three sheets to the wind when we made our joint observation. Oops, wrong choice of words. No joints were consumed either! I remember way back in 1986 taking a pair of AR18 speakers over to a co-worker's house because I wanted to sell them. They sounded nothing special with my Kenwood KA-6100 amp. She had a Harman Kardon receiver. I wanted to get rid of the ARs because they had no bass in my system. When she hooked them up to her receiver my jaw dropped. These piddling speakers had bass galore. My next move was to replace my Kenwood amp! If you took her whole system to your house it might have sounded like crap, but it was magic in her house (and I'm not saying that just because she's a former Miss Teen Toronto!) In that garage, last night, my brother's crapola system shone.

 

[Sheep]

Couple things to note. Better is Relative.

Also, was the klipsch system setup properly? Were the rooms even CLOSE in size? Also, D-BOX subs are junk. IMO.

Regarding the PS-1000,

Numbers don't lie.

http://www.avtalk.co.uk/forum/index.php?t=msg&th=13931&start=0&rid=0&SQ=0

SheepStar

 

[BC Dave]

sheep leads the pack-kidding!

Getting chastised by a fellow British Columbian. Oh, the shame!

In my opinion, the D-boX sub is not crappy. Turn it up too much and it becomes boomy. Turn it down and dial it in and it sounds very respectable. As for the Quintets, I believe they are properly set up. In fact, they sound very good to my ear. I had a set of Quintet 2s that I returned to London Drugs after Christmas because they sounded super-bright to me in my room. In my brother's room, with its nine-foot open beam ceilings, they sound very smooth, not tinny at all. Are they set up with a Radio Shack sound level meter and test disk? No. Should they be, maybe... As for the PS-1000, I know what I hear. It's not at all bad -- very smooth with jazz and blues, very capable with movies. Is it the best thing since sliced bread? WTF knows? I just know what a crappy sub sounds like and this Paradigm is not a POS. Your opinion obviously differs. That's what makes this hobby fun. I respect you and your opinions, Sheep. I am not trying to bust your chops. Peace.

 

[jmanlp]

Just to make it clear, we weren't three sheets to the wind when we made our joint observation. Oops, wrong choice of words. No joints were consumed either! I remember way back in 1986 taking a pair of AR18 speakers over to a co-worker's house because I wanted to sell them. They sounded nothing special with my Kenwood KA-6100 amp. She had a Harman Kardon receiver. I wanted to get rid of the ARs because they had no bass in my system. When she hooked them up to her receiver my jaw dropped. These piddling speakers had bass galore. My next move was to replace my Kenwood amp! If you took her whole system to your house it might have sounded like crap, but it was magic in her house (and I'm not saying that just because she's a former Miss Teen Toronto!) In that garage, last night, my brother's crapola system shone.

Now imagine how it would sound if you were tanked, and there was a hot chick! I'm sorry, I only find this funny cause me and my buddies used to have parties, and our speakers were no name piece-o-$h!t speakers with the bass driver dust caps kicked in, and I think there was some water damage cause one of the drivers was warped. However, they had 12" drivers and really layed on the bass. They were driven by a sanyo amp from the 80s that was made to run on whatever Japanese outlets were, so we had that hooked to one of those power converts (take that monster power) to turn it ot the American standard. My point is, after the pary started going and everyone started drinking we were in audio heaven. Everyone was dancing and singing along, I don't think music has ever sounded that good. I think a lot of how we percieve sound and music has to do with our mindset and attitude. ok gotta grab a beer...