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General speaker questions for audio and home theater.

RE: Marten Speakers

There is too much here to rehash for the 5th time on the third forum. Where did I attack ATC?

Some speaker makers target the pro studio and some speaker makers target the home user. So the argument of what is used in Recording studios doesn't persuade me when people for the last 30 years have WHINED on audio forums about how BAD recordings sound. So it's not a plus when someone says to me Bryston or ATC or PMC is used in recording studios - so what?

Here's the problem - you said Steve Hoffman is a nobody - I simply corrected you on that. Then you go all over the map. What point are you actually trying to make. You want to say Speaker X is better and then point to Harman that use Revel (not ATC or Amphion or Harbeth). The thing is you can find 10 famous recording (and or mastering) engineers and you will fine 10 DIFFERENT loudspeaker makers. If there was a single best one then ALL Of them all over the world would only use Amphion right? If they're the ONLY good and BEST speakers then EVERYONE would own one.


Recording studios have to use SOMETHING don't they? And what they are going to choose is what is available and what is being marketed to them (not to mention what they can afford). Bob Hodus worked for Abbey Road and Abbey Road uses B&W and Bob doesn't like B&W at all. He now works with the Tape project and uses and loves Focal (far more than B&W).

I asked him what he thought of Audio Note speakers and he said he has never heard of them. AN is NOT designed for near field listening (the vast majority of all pro speakers are designed for near-field listening). It's a completely different market. Sure Gearbox Records uses Audio Note (far field mastering listening) which is nice, but studios are not their target market. Mastering is analogous to editing - it is at this stage where you judge the actual sound quality. So I would not be downplaying the role of mastering - consider that so many lousy recordings have been FIXED via a remastered edition. Mastering is about FIXING the recording as editors are about FIXING first drafts and making a saleable copy. The recent movie about Thomas Wolfe is a good example of editing/mastering.

And you are perfectly within your rights to NOT like Audio Note speakers. Morricab and I agree with on most things audio - but he has not liked the sound of them - that's fine - I have heard many speakers he likes better and I don't think they're nearly as good. And because he knows that we agree on most things audio (like 95%+) he is probably frustrated that I love a speaker that he keeps scratching his head over.

But in an audio world where two people can agree on most stuff - that is pretty awesome.

And that applied here with you - you are trying to suggest that I don't like ATC which is false - I really like them - and Harbeth but I prefer the AN E. That said - I get what people like about the ATC in particular - it has a certain slam ability that eludes the AN's. I get why people would gravitate to the more pinpoint sounding ATCs. That's fine - I like that presentation too. But the fact remains when I listen to my inner circle discs - the ones I like the best - it goes to an emotional response (heart over head) and the AN E moves me emotionally - the ATC speakers just don't. A graph isn't going to help anyone on this. It either does it for you or it don't. And since I'm the one putting my money out on it - I want the one that does it for me.

And it's been selling for 40 years and has done it for a lot of people over that time too. Factor in that I owned the AN J/Spe since 2004 and sold them for nearly 20% more than I originally paid - I factor in the value for dollar (as in free). I factor in that the speaker only needs 7 watts has bass to below 30hz and can also handle 150 watts. So I get way more amplifier choices than can successfully drive a Harbeth or ATC and in general the AN's cost significantly less money and to me sound at least as good if not better.

And guess what - plenty of other posters would much prefer to burn up all these boxed speakers in a big ole bonfire and buy some Electrostats. And I understand why those people like those speakers better - they have their strengths that boxes generally don't capture - it's about the compromises you can live with.

One book: N. W. McLaughlin's Loudspeakers, McGraw-Hill 1934

Look in the reference section of most any book on loudspeakers - you should see the name Leo Beranek in almost if not all of them. Then read his books on corner placement. He's the one who came up with the Type E cabinet design - Peter Snell invented the wavelaunch and AN simply uses much better parts and changed the port design to operate in a corner. If you want other reading materials you need to ask the likes of Andy Whittle at Audio Note or Peter Qvortrup via e-mail.

Since I am not in the business of designing loudspeaker or care to these are not the reading materials I buy. When I buy a toaster - I don't read fifty books on toaster design nor when I buy a car.

I buy a stereo to listen to music - not to spend all day and all night every night every week every month and every year pissing around with the gear. I have this crazy notion that one should be able to sit back and listen to music on it without constantly under stress that something is not quite right so I have to bring home 6 other cables amplifiers and footers.

Once you are in that mode of constant "it's not right" well you are exactly doing what Peter Qvortrup and Leonard Norwitz wrote about many years ago - you are on the road to audio hell. I have had AN speakers and been happy with them since 2003. Been in the same retread spirals - but the measurements say this, free standing is better, speakers should be curved, blah blah blah. Then go buy those and be happy. It's a free country - until Jan 20th. Then I'm not so sure.


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