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Posts: 416
Joined: April 19, 2016
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NOTHING thumps as fast as planar woofers! i don't care if they roll off. nothing sounds as fast and undistorted, especially on drums.
after that, i like smaller, generally faster drivers with nice acoustic suspension air springs. i'd heard many speakers in the 4 audio shops that used to occupy the boulevard in the 80s, but nothing impressed me like the demo my buddy gave of his $100 infinity 4 1/2" reference series minis with their foam surround poly woofers and 3/4" inch foam tweeters.
i couldn't believe just how TIGHT and UNCOLORED the bass was compared to larger ported bloat boxes. at no more than 4 feet apart too, they ran circles around everything i'd heard before in imaging. i had to read a few audio magazine articles to learn WHY i preferred the sound of acoustic suspension minis (which also made me come to the conclusion that anything else was an overpriced ripoff once you go sub/sat)
i just can't stand the bloated, sluggish, DISTORTED, boomy, phase & overhang challenged, often one note (as i like to call it... marshmallow bass) sound of ported speakers which DESPITE what their fans want to hear, and no matter how much EVIDENCE you present, even from SPEAKER MANUFACTURERS, are nothing more than distortion boxes that add resonances that DON'T EXIST in an original recording. my ears hate that. i will tolerate rolloff long before resonant bloat.
i just don't understand how ports are more popular other than the fact they sound bigger, but NOT better.
it sucks that so few manufacturers make sealed speakers anymore. speakers like NHT superzeros (they really need to make an air motion tweeter version with better woofers) punch way above their price point. a fact that speaker manufacturers probably don't want consumers to figure out, thus infinity and boston have sold out where they used to dominate as far as i'm concerned.
i was REALLY disappointed in my overpriced purchase of energy RC10 speakers i bought because of favorable reviews. they have EXCELLENT drivers, unlike NHT zeros, but also have larger LOUSY 5/8" MDF cabinets that induce UNBEARABLE box resonances once you plug the ports leaving owners the choice over what manner of distortion is more objectionable.
i think it's a conspiracy. it would be VERY EASY to manufacture a $500 pair of sealed minis that destroy speakers many times their price if someone used both high quality drivers AND cabinets.
i auditioned NHT $1000 classic 6 1/2" 3 ways which had tons of speed, detail and imaged like champs, but suffered from unbearable (low level, but noticeable enough for their price) aluminum signature driver distortions. UGH! they would have been giant killers with quality doped paper woofers, soft dome (even titanium) mids and air motion tweeters.
still, the SECOND audio revelation i had, was listening to a pair of maggie MG12s in a shop. i never liked planars because LARGER maggies sound like crap. the first pair i heard biased me against planars because they had an annoying distinct aluminum foil ping signature, but the smaller MG12s had no such issues and had an excellent totally resonance free open sound that especially impressed me with their bass speed that run circles around even 4 1/2" woofers for total mastertape sound.
since then, i've heard larger maggies twice, and again, hated THEIR shrill sound. i had to quit listening to my HQ japanese import dark side of the moon CD on them as i just couldn't take their brittle sound. it's possible that one of the reasons the MG12s sounded so much more liquid and relaxed was because they were driven by a really good CD player and a tube integrated for EXCELLENT system integration.
planars make the best subs. lightning fast... ZERO resonance and/or overhang and absolutely no box resonances. EVERY TIME, i'll take lack of distortion over extension. EVERY TIME... well... except for the 15" (but SEALED!!!) sub i'll be using for a bicycle trailer system where i have to move some air if i want to move some booties too.
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