No Stupid Questions… Part 2: Speakers

[admin]

As a reviewer (much less the host of AV Rant), I am asked on a regular basis for my opinion. Everyone from the checkout guy at the supermarket to random people at parties want me to tell them which is the best display or speakers or HTiB. Audioholics has put together a number of documents to help people help themselves. This will probably not really be one of them. Someone once said that there are no stupid questions. That person was stupid. This installment will deal with questions about speakers.


Discuss "No Stupid Questions… Part 2: Speakers" here. Read the article.

 

[MapleSyrup]

Since I'm forced to attend birthday parties with my kids, I can't tell you how many homes I've walked in to just to walk out a few hours later deciding that my son shouldn't be friends with anyone that thinks that is good sound.

LOL, I personally can't stand to go into a rich home only to find a crappy sound system. I did pass a phase in my life where I honestly wondered if being rich required thinking audio crap. After all, it seemed to me the people I wanted to financially become pretty much, with few execptions, had garbage for a home theater. I remember one house in particular where the host was, in a very proudful manner, playing his on-the-wall system with his IPod connected. I desparetely wanted the horror to stop. The sound coming from that set up was an atrocity.

I don't have "the best" system out there. I kept to a tight budget setting up my home theater system (bills and feeding the family come first. I can literally live fine without any home theater system if needs be). But one of these days I'm gonna buy "the best". Which reminds me Tom, where can I buy a sweet STHU speaker system?

 

[DD66000]

I've never understood people who will spend big bucks on a large video display and either no sound system or the cheapest htib they can find. Or some other equally as bad system.

But I guess its no different than 30 years ago. Back then I bought what was JBL's top of the line stereo system, that listed for $2000. In today's $ that would be more like $8000.
But of all the people I knew back then, that had stereo systems, none had spent more than $300~400 on speakers. And I'm including people who made at least 3 times what I was making.
One of my friends had a pair of Radio Shack Realistic towers. There was nothing realistic about that boomy, totally distorted bass, and the rest of the audio range wasn't much better either. But they were cheap.

 

[Soundman]

I've never understood people who will spend big bucks on a large video display and either no sound system or the cheapest htib they can find. Or some other equally as bad system.

I never have understood them either. Don' think I ever will. Oh well, I guess if they're content with experiencing half of the movie experience then ok. Meanwhile, I'll be at home getting the full presentation.

 

[Tom Andry]

Agreed all. I was in Pinehurst recently at a coffee shop. Get this - they had the Bose Acoustimas module but none of the satellites. I just stared at it in confusion for a while and then shrugged. I mean, how much worse can Bose sound?

 

[no. 5]

I was in Pinehurst recently at a coffee shop. Get this - they had the Bose Acoustimas module but none of the satellites. I just stared at it in confusion for a while and then shrugged.

Well, why not? I mean, the Acoustimas module is practically full range already...

 

[Joe Schmoe]

What astonishes me is the number of professional musicians I have met with really crappy audio systems!

 

[Audioholics]

I am (at this moment) vacationing with my family in a furnished million-dollar-plus beach house. There is a Bose Wave Radio in the living room alongside a Polaroid LCD TV. The son of the owner and I had a nice laugh about this earlier this week.

 

[roshi]

What astonishes me is the number of professional musicians I have met with really crappy audio systems!

Being a "musician" doesn't mean they know anything about sound. I was running a show one night and one of the guys tried to tell me that he could hear a 10khz "hiss" that I was supposed to take out of his mic. He then continued by making strange hiss sounds into the mic to see if it would stand out. I just smiled and told him I'd take care of it.

Seriously, the worst people when it comes to audio are often musicians. The problem is that they are not completely ignorant (like most other people) but believe they know what they are talking about and then of course try to tell you how to do your job.

I guess the only group that's worse would be BestBuy salesmen.

 

[pzaur]

I am (at this moment) vacationing with my family in a furnished million-dollar-plus beach house. There is a Bose Wave Radio in the living room alongside a Polaroid LCD TV. The son of the owner and I had a nice laugh about this earlier this week.

You should leave a business card an offer to help out the owner for a modest fee!

Roshi-
I bet the only 10khz hiss that person heard was the audience hissing after they booed...

-pat

 

[DD66000]

I am (at this moment) vacationing with my family in a furnished million-dollar-plus beach house. There is a Bose Wave Radio in the living room alongside a Polaroid LCD TV. The son of the owner and I had a nice laugh about this earlier this week.

There is no accounting for taste, or lack of it. But that's not the first time I've seen or heard of, people, with all kind of bucks, buying some electronic garbage I wouldn't put in a kid's playhouse.