Speakers for movies vs. music

Bubinga99

I often see certain speakers characterized as good for movies but not for music. What exactly does this mean?

Since a flat/neutral response is the ideal for music, I'm guessing this is just a shorthand way of saying the speaker doesn't have a flat response.

Anyone care to try and explain what makes a speaker good for movies? Is it an unnatural lower bass emphasis, and maybe the upper midrange too? Something else?

sTiLlLeArNiNg

From what i have gathered it seem's like HT speaker's are geared more for "top end" sound as opposed to a more "full" sound in a musical type

MANSKITO

Well the argument has come from the fact that some people think that it is easy to reproduce gun fire and air planes sounds vs a piano, trumpet, human voice etc..

More likely the case is a lot ,if not most movie sounds have no basis in reality outside of the movie and most people do not have a real life counter part to compare them too.

But generally if a speaker can do music well it can do HT well how ever that is that is not to say a HT speaker can do music well.

Ht speakers generally need to able to move a lot more air then say a music speaker because most bands don't have a T-Rex (or some other Hollywood inspired beast) as lead vocals. This fact leads most HT speaker companies to design speakers with more shock and awe in mind then sonic accuracy.

But if you ask me however there is no such thing as speaker that is good for one and not the other, there are good speakers and poor speakers.

While my demands are easer to meet with HT because I honestly can't say I've heard 99% of the sounds that come my way in a star wars movie, that dose not mean I can afford my speakers to be sonically compromised because i happen to enjoy both HT and music so i picked a "music speaker" because if it sounded realistic when playing music I can rest easy knowing the movie/games sounds will be good as well.

My point is that I do not believe in HT vs Music speakers so much as better speakers vs lesser speakers because IMO HT needs for most people are easier to meet which leads some speakers able to do HT but NOT music, but I have yet to find a speaker that could do music and could not do HT.

IMO you should not by a speaker with the question "is this good for HT in mind" but rather is this good enough for music because a good music speaker will be a better HT speaker then a good HT speaker even if you are only looking for a HT speaker.

BeefJerky

MANSKITO wrote: »

because most bands don't have a T-Rex (or some other Hollywood inspired beast) as lead vocals.

I'm pretty sure that's called death metal...

mantis

Speaker companies design speakers for certain applications.

Should all speakers be able to do both? Yes is that real world? no

So examples of music first speakers

Dynaudio , Revel , Vanterstien , Magnpan , Theil , are all examples of music first speakers. Totem is a music first company as well.

Examples of theater first speakers.

Triad , Atlantic Technology ,Definitive Technology are examples of theater first designed speakers.

All companies can be used for both but they excel at there first.

Polk audio started out as a music speaker company then moved into theater and other applications.

In ceiling speakers where originally designed for distributed audio but now they are used for theater as well. How many people use in ceiling speakers for 2 channel ?
Outdoor speakers are designed to be outdoors for music coverage but can be used indoors like a garage , basement , or anything you want. You can use them as theater speakers if you wish , how many people use outdoor speakers for theater?

So if you can get my point here is that every speaker designed has a job to do , it's all about the application you wish to use them for and how they are going to perform there.

digitalvideo

mantis wrote: »

Speaker companies design speakers for certain applications.

Should all speakers be able to do both? Yes is that real world? no

So examples of music first speakers

Dynaudio , Revel , Vanterstien , Magnpan , Theil , are all examples of music first speakers. Totem is a music first company as well.

Examples of theater first speakers.

Triad , Atlantic Technology ,Definitive Technology are examples of theater first designed speakers.

All companies can be used for both but they excel at there first.

Polk audio started out as a music speaker company then moved into theater and other applications.

In ceiling speakers where originally designed for distributed audio but now they are used for theater as well. How many people use in ceiling speakers for 2 channel ?
Outdoor speakers are designed to be outdoors for music coverage but can be used indoors like a garage , basement , or anything you want. You can use them as theater speakers if you wish , how many people use outdoor speakers for theater?

So if you can get my point here is that every speaker designed has a job to do , it's all about the application you wish to use them for and how they are going to perform there.

I keep seeing great reviews for the Def Tec and Atl Tech speakers for HT but the Def Tech Mythos series seems very good for music too, a good overall speaker for the money. Any big differences between the two companies in terms of sound for HT?

Zitro

In my experience, HT speakers are definitely heavy in the high end and low end, but generally lack midrange. Most of the captivating theater sounds are created with high highs and low lows. Klipsch is a good example. My first pair of speakers were Klipsch SF-1's. But they are very bright and heavy in bass, with little midrange. Most HT speakers seem to be this way. Kinda useless for music, where the midband is crucial to sound musical. Then again, musical speakers don't emphasize high and lows as well as HT speakers, so may be less suitable for HT.

Comparing my Klipsch speakers to my Polk LSi7's really shows the difference

zingo

In my HT experience, good 2 channel speakers can usually do well with HT, but not the other way around. Zitro makes good points that I agree with, but if you are looking for some to be good at both, error on the side of musicality.

danz1906

zingo wrote: »

In my HT experience, good 2 channel speakers can usually do well with HT, but not the other way around. Zitro makes good points that I agree with, but if you are looking for some to be good at both, error on the side of musicality.

Agreed!

nooshinjohn

zingo wrote: »

In my HT experience, good 2 channel speakers can usually do well with HT, but not the other way around. Zitro makes good points that I agree with, but if you are looking for some to be good at both, error on the side of musicality.

+1...

Music is a top priority for me. Great music speakers work well in a surround setup, but surround speakers, particularily small front satellite types, suck at music.

cnh

I agree in general....HT speakers are more forward and have a more pronounced low end. Klipsch is a good example because a least 50% of most movie theaters are using their horn speakers in arrays...if you look at many newer AVRs many have a CINEMA mode....which is designed to tone DOWN the HIGHS that you would need in a theater but are far too pronounced for one's smaller less room treated space.

I, personally, find musical speakers like Polk LSIs more laid back and softer, warmer on top..not less detailed....but less 'bright' and 'forward'.

Finally very FEW speakers are truly 'uncolored' and those that are fairly FLAT often sound like ****!! They call those studio monitors and they usually 'suck' for home use?

No speaker can 'accurately' reproduce the original sound...some are better than others...but everything is an imitation/representation of reality.

cnh