The Hobby of finding the ideal sound system.

luisv113

What does it take to exactly bring the original sound in to your ears without been there?

Usually, original live recordings are made in special places, been recording studios or open air.

Can that be reproduced at home with today's traditional speaker systems? The answer is a big NEVER.

How can one get closer to the original sound and feel happy about it?

The easier and most affordable way is to use in ear canal Buds, they stop all kind of reverberations, don't need expensive electronics, are portable and don't bother anyone else.

The next choice would be headphones, they are similar but to match a $20 set of Buds, you will need a >$200 set of Headphones. Here, you will find out that they are mainly used at home and require some decent electronics to drive them.

And then come the proverbial speaker systems, large, expensive, need decent room to get the most out of them and require really good electronics, now we are talking from >$2000 up to the sky is the limit.

Furthermore, just 2 channel Stereo or 5.1 or 7.1, or change to double subwoofers with special listening rooms?

Remember how nice the sound is in the store compared to your place?

So, what is one to do?

For most people now days, a smartphone and a affordable set of ear buds is the preferred solution.

Headphones? They are been displaced by earphones at an accelerated pace, just try to make teenagers use them and the they will look at you like they will at a T-Rex.

Video room Speakers? Thanks Good for video rooms, they keep speaker manufacturers alive and well.

Esoteric nuts Speakers? Takes one to know one.

Here common sense is thrown overboard and replaced, like in my case, by an expensive hobby, that requires some >basic knowledge and is quite addictive and time/money consuming.

Marriages had been know to be destroyed by this addiction.

How can people be happy using measles Dolby speakers and receiver systems with a state of the art 65" LED TV and just one measly, cheap imitation, 8" Sub that a 2 year old can carry around the room?

Giving up "been there" stage, live sound level and visceral shaking bass feeling is not for me, for me those things represent the ideal sound reproduction.

And then, what can replace the feeling of finding and holding in your hands some mysterious, cast iron, huge magnets, build to last forever set of speakers, with a mysterious crossover made by a mysterious manufacturer in a bygone time, that you found in that box made of a solid hardwood from a tree that came from a forest that doesn't exist any more?

They just don't make them like that anymore and that's for me a perfect rewarding hobby.

steveinaz

Never cared much for headphone listening...don't really know why, I just prefer speaker listening. Speaker selection is key, and where most people mess up; and I'm speaking from personal experience. After selling my (then) 14yr old Bose 901 VI's in 2001, I struggled for the next 10yrs to find "peace" with my system, compliments of a pair of Fritz Carbon 7 speakers. They were later relunctantly sold for a pair of Harbeth's. Best 2 audio decisons I made in a long time.

SCompRacer

luisv113 wrote: »

What does it take to exactly bring the original sound in to your ears without been there?

You get your ears on as much gear as you can in your budget range, keep what you like and apply acoustic treatments to the room. Once you get a wide and deep soundstage with a flat as possible frequency response in the room, you're golden. One not need spend a fortune to get great sound. Basically, you get what you accept.

cnh

Wow, Dude! You either need a copy of Kate Turabian. Or you're a casualty of the Don't Post while Pissed, Drunk or Stoned, thread? lol

All over the place. Disjointed attempts at irony and who knows what else!

D_M

Luisv113,

The first thing to accept, is that even the original recording may have been a compromise. The initial decision of what type of microphones to use, along with where they should be placed, influences the recording. With that said, find components that don't cause too much strife at home. The rest is all noise. Let your bank account determine how far down the rabbit hole you are willing go, not so called "faithful reproduction". Find your nirvana, regardless of how much the experts may coo over a certain piece of kit.


https://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1997_articles/feb97/stereomiking.html

nooshinjohn

There is a whole lot of fine steer manure in the OP's post...

tonyb

cnh wrote: »

Wow, Dude! You either need a copy of Kate Turabian. Or you're a casualty of the Don't Post while Pissed, Drunk or Stoned, thread? lol

All over the place. Disjointed attempts at irony and who knows what else!

+1000.....LMAO !!

tonyb

Picked a fine day to stop sniffing crumbled up double stuffed Oreo's.

marvda1

SCompRacer wrote: »

luisv113 wrote: »

What does it take to exactly bring the original sound in to your ears without been there?

You get your ears on as much gear as you can in your budget range, keep what you like and apply acoustic treatments to the room. Once you get a wide and deep soundstage with a flat as possible frequency response in the room, you're golden. One not need spend a fortune to get great sound. Basically, you get what you accept.

i started a little different, i listened to as much equipment that i could not afford then when listening to systems in my price range i picked the ones that came as close to the sound of the big boys.

SCompRacer

marvda1 wrote: »

i started a little different, i listened to as much equipment that i could not afford then when listening to systems in my price range i picked the ones that came as close to the sound of the big boys.

I'll be doing that again April 24th, listening to stuff I can't afford.

mantis

I've been at this hobby for a very long time. I so agree with many of the points made here.
I also work in the field if anyone didn't already know that. I've been doing it for over 16 years professionally and all my life as I grew up in a musical family for generations.
The point about marriage killing this hobby? Yeah I so agree with that as in my life I have a wife and 2 children , house cars etc etc etc. Those things take priority over my hobby of audio and video. I do what I can and find the best solutions for my room and make it work for me.
Enjoying music on headphones I absolutely hate. I feel all closed up and always feel like someone is trying to talk to me. I hate headphone of all kinds. I even have 2 very good high quality pairs of Klipsch ear buds and I don't see them being anywhere near the asking price, not even close. I actually think they suck ****.

I will always enjoy in room speakers to try and live the moments and enjoy the music I love listening to. It's an experience I do on my own most of the time and it's something that can't be replaced with any headphones. I just don't enjoy them and I have had some seriously high end head phones here and found no reason to buy them.