Leslie Speakers
Anybody out there familiar with these speakers? I first read about them in MAKE magazine vol. 5 page 24 and this person built one out of a can and old turntable! Really ugly to look at but the sound is supposed to be "organic, spacious and beautiful" !
I'm sure that there are orginal Leslie or Leslie type speaker out there but I have not heard anything until just a few days ago when i read the article.
I've had a bit of luck searching the web getting some info but I was hoping that perhaps some of you knowledgable and experienced folks could pass on some thoughts and opinions.
Thanks in advance!
I'm sure that there are orginal Leslie or Leslie type speaker out there but I have not heard anything until just a few days ago when i read the article.
I've had a bit of luck searching the web getting some info but I was hoping that perhaps some of you knowledgable and experienced folks could pass on some thoughts and opinions.
Thanks in advance!
2 Channel Rig
Source 1 - Apple TV
Source 2 - Parasound D3 Universal Player
Source 3 - Parasound Tuner T3
Pre-amp - Parasound HALO P3
Amplifier - Parasound HALO A21
Speakers - Martin Logan Vista
Power Conditioning - Panamax M5100-EX
Source 1 - Apple TV
Source 2 - Parasound D3 Universal Player
Source 3 - Parasound Tuner T3
Pre-amp - Parasound HALO P3
Amplifier - Parasound HALO A21
Speakers - Martin Logan Vista
Power Conditioning - Panamax M5100-EX
Post edited by Beekyman on
Comments
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eh... not for home audio. Keyboard/organ it sounds sweet. Guitar, kinda works. Home audio, pure crap.
Anyhow, you can get a pretty similiar sound with digital effects, but if you wanna talk about pure analog, nothing beats the leslie.Gallo Ref 3.1 : Bryston 4b SST : Musical fidelity CD Pre : VPI HW-19
Gallo Ref AV, Frankengallo Ref 3, LC60i : Bryston 9b SST : Meridian 565
Jordan JX92s : MF X-T100 : Xray v8
Backburner:Krell KAV-300i -
The only Leslie speaker I know about are their guitar amps sold in the early 60's. Jimmy Page used one a lot in the studio. It's most famous for the middle section in Whole Lotta Love where the guitar sounds really spacey and is swirling in all directions. Sounds cool on SDA's, IIRC.
An original Leslie amp goes for big bucks today. It was one hella cool novelty back then. Still today Jimmy Page has fond memories of using one. Certainly the effects could be gotten today digitally, but much of the coolness factor is lost.
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul! -
I'm pretty certain that Whole lotta Love does not use a Leslie... That's a theremin.
They did use one on Good Times, Bad Times, though.
The beastie boys used one all over Check Your Head- I think you can see it in action on the video for gratitude... I'll try to find a link.
Oh, and they're not as expensive as you might think- I've seen the fixed bass/ rotating horn version in the $500-$600 range around here.Gallo Ref 3.1 : Bryston 4b SST : Musical fidelity CD Pre : VPI HW-19
Gallo Ref AV, Frankengallo Ref 3, LC60i : Bryston 9b SST : Meridian 565
Jordan JX92s : MF X-T100 : Xray v8
Backburner:Krell KAV-300i -
Here we go- it's the Leslie with both the rotating Horn and baffle:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-31697184018725991&q=gratitude
Leslie organ solo kicks in around the 2:00 minute mark. I was actually in New Zealand when they filmed this... just missed catching them.Gallo Ref 3.1 : Bryston 4b SST : Musical fidelity CD Pre : VPI HW-19
Gallo Ref AV, Frankengallo Ref 3, LC60i : Bryston 9b SST : Meridian 565
Jordan JX92s : MF X-T100 : Xray v8
Backburner:Krell KAV-300i -
Now thats cool !! I appreciate the info guys! I noticed on the video that the RPM seems to be variable on the Leslie. Is this so you can get different effects or do they run at a fixed RPM?2 Channel Rig
Source 1 - Apple TV
Source 2 - Parasound D3 Universal Player
Source 3 - Parasound Tuner T3
Pre-amp - Parasound HALO P3
Amplifier - Parasound HALO A21
Speakers - Martin Logan Vista
Power Conditioning - Panamax M5100-EX -
There's a pedal... on the cheaper ones it just switches between two speeds, but a lot of people mod them so that the further you depress the pedal, the faster it goes. Either Leslie picked up this mod, or maybe it was on the more expensive ones & people copied it.Gallo Ref 3.1 : Bryston 4b SST : Musical fidelity CD Pre : VPI HW-19
Gallo Ref AV, Frankengallo Ref 3, LC60i : Bryston 9b SST : Meridian 565
Jordan JX92s : MF X-T100 : Xray v8
Backburner:Krell KAV-300i -
I know all about the theramin. I'm pretty sure the Leslie was used at some point in WLL.
Hendrix used a Leslie cabinet with backwards echo in Little Wing and Angel Page used the same technique for the studio version of the Wanton Song. I also believe a Leslie cabinet was used for the opening intro to Immigrant Song.
This was used by Page as far back as his work with The Yardbirds and faced serious opposition from technicions when he tried it on the earliest Zeppelin recordings.
Clapton used a Leslie speaker with Cream as well."Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul! -
Really? I'm just not hearing it. I'm with you on the Hendrix stuff and Wanton song... not too sure about immigrant song, though. No real vibrato, but I'm going from memory. Anyhow, a very cool effect that's just not the same with digital pedals.
Digital effects have taken a lot of the creativity out of recording. Page used to do wild **** like taping mics to his chest, putting them in toilets, putting them three rooms over and mixing it back in. Now people just twist knobs- not the same.Gallo Ref 3.1 : Bryston 4b SST : Musical fidelity CD Pre : VPI HW-19
Gallo Ref AV, Frankengallo Ref 3, LC60i : Bryston 9b SST : Meridian 565
Jordan JX92s : MF X-T100 : Xray v8
Backburner:Krell KAV-300i -
Jimmy Page was a great producer. I believe it's one (of many) reasons Led Zep still sounds so relevent today. He was wizard in the studio along with being a perfectionist. Electronics have taken all the creativity out of being in the recording studio. Sometimes (most times) I really miss those days
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I'm going on memory as well. I have tons of Zep references here, whe I get time I'll see what I can come up with. Not really all that important. Main thing is Page used a Leslie a lot in the early days.
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
