Contrary to popular belief...

Posted by Presto (A) on May 3, 2012 at 09:39:15

In Reply to: Hi end speakers tonal balance posted by chlim on May 3, 2012 at 03:49:17:

"High end detail", "Inner detail", etc., are NOT exclusively limited to very high frequencies 15 or 18 or 20khz and up. In fact, a designer can get the inital impression of more detail with a pronounced 8-12K range.

Also, JM Labs and Wilson commonly use variants of Focal inverted titanium dome tweeters. These seem to attract some listeners because they are intially "very detailed", but after a while I ended up considering them to be "extremely fussy" about equipment used. I'd rather build a design around a vintange Vifa D25ag-35-06 (with the phase plugey thing removed) than Focal 1" tweeters.

You need to remember that original usage of the Focal inverted Ti dome tweets in Wilson designs like the "Watt/Puppy" did not measure very flat at all, yet got rave reviews by audiophiles and many people in the studio environment. They were even used during recording as monitors as far as I know.

Lesson here? Beware of speakers that jump out as having better detail in quick a/b comparisons in showrooms. Don't kid yourself - designers who are smart know how to voice speakers so they sell. After a while, your "ooooh ahhh" detail could result in listening fatigue and a less than great tonal balance.

The older Ti dome Focal tweets had this interesting dichotomy. They would sound wonderful with guitar (especially the plucked string), cymbals, triangles and bells. But on anything but the most prestine recordings, I found them to 'shred' certain wind instruments, especially the flute. The Vifa D25ag-35-06 aluminum dome tweet and most dome tweeters with low enough distortion do not do this.

I think sometimes "detail" is a double edged sword, and not an indication of better rendering, but something ADDED to the music rather then something extracted from the innermost nuances of the recording.

Just my $.02

Cheers,
Presto

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - Hi end speakers tonal balance - chlim 03:49:17 05/03/12 (20)

RE: Hi end speakers tonal balance - RGA 00:20:34 05/12/12 (0)

RE: Hi end speakers tonal balance - 3db 04:14:56 05/10/12 (0)

RE: Hi end speakers tonal balance - tmsorosk 05:04:48 05/07/12 (0)

Anechoically flat.... - morricab 06:54:34 05/04/12 (4)

RE: Anechoically flat.... - das@soundstage.com 15:46:26 05/04/12 (3)

RE: Anechoically flat.... - morricab 02:41:43 05/07/12 (2)

RE: Anechoically flat.... - das@soundstage.com 04:16:53 05/08/12 (1)

RE: Anechoically flat.... - RGA 23:20:12 05/11/12 (0)

Read Robert E. Greene's essay in TAS April 2012 issue, p. 14 - hesson11 16:37:17 05/03/12 (2)

Another factor.... - Salectric 12:34:51 05/06/12 (0)

RE: Excellent essay in TAS April 2012 issue, p. 14 - layman 08:33:41 05/04/12 (0)

RE: Hi end speakers tonal balance - Justlisten2 16:19:58 05/03/12 (1)

RE: Hi end speakers tonal balance - Presto 10:34:48 05/04/12 (0)

no cochlea for old men - DrChaos 15:42:39 05/03/12 (1)

Bravo.....I can relate to that. * - mr grits 16:32:24 05/03/12 (0)

High end trend - Larry I 13:30:13 05/03/12 (1)

RE: High end trend - 3db 04:53:33 05/09/12 (0)

I think it depends... - mkuller 11:34:13 05/03/12 (0)

Contrary to popular belief... - Presto 09:39:15 05/03/12 (0)

RE: Hi end speakers tonal balance - tomservo 06:02:09 05/03/12 (0)

Follow Ups

Contrary to popular belief... - Presto 09:39:15 05/03/12 (0)

Contrary to popular belief...

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