Speakers....detail vs emotion or can we have both?

I feel the term Neutral in audio component performance is that the component does not add bright, dark, warm or cold emphasis to the original recording. To skew the discription somewhat - neutral does not change the colours or definition of the original picture.

That being said the original recording was itself mixed with reference to a specific monitor…

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Absolutely right IB. I bought the Spendors 2nd hand at something of a bargain price but although I keep a close eye on the usual 2nd hand sites, really good standmounts rarely come up for sale (they’re good, why would you want to sell them?) & those that do are often “collection only” & a long, long way from Exeter. I’ll keep looking though.

The specific brand, type of monitors being used also how the sound engineer wants the recording to sound. Could also Dolby atmos have been used :thinking:

I am also looking for speakers for my NAIM NAC32.5 NAP140 serviced few months back. I have 2 in mind.
Used KEF R300 for Rs.75000 and
New KEF Q150 for Rs.97000.
Will concentric drivers of KEF makes a difference to my current KEF C80 (1988)
I listen mainly Western classical music.
Any suggestions.

Then we have something cool to read in February :slight_smile: So what are the strenght so far of the Sehrings?

I was thinking more of recordings made somewhat before atmos’ introduction.

Perhaps it’s my age but most of my recordings are from the 60s up to present. I tried to like atmos adaptions for a month or two and the turned it off for all streaming and downloads.
The bbc spent a small fortune on developing their studio monitors (subsequently licensed for manufacture by kef and others) and I’m pretty sure most of their recordings from mid 70s onwards would have used them for mixing.

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My first impressions have remained, and like I wrote further up: It’s feels so neutral in a good way, free of distortion and coloration, and so natural, but nevertheless emotional and engaging. Most obvious with voices.

Somewhat interestingly it became doubly obvious with movies. I used a soundbar for the TV before, because when I tried the TV into the stereo with the Monitor Audios, the speech intelligibility wasn’t great and speech came across with some slight distortion that I found annoying. Last weekend I figured I’d try again with the Sehrings, and that’s all gone.

Plus the bass is just perfect, physical, deep (-3dB at 22 Hz in the specs), controlled and fast. I never knew I had such a love for double bass :slight_smile: Drums and similarly attack-y instruments have so much punch and energy, imaging and sound stage is great. There’s actually nothing I don’t find great or worthy of criticism :slight_smile:

I mentioned previously that I would invite my regular dealer to do a home demo of their Sonus Faber Olympica Nova III or V vs. the Sehrings, because the SF had been the only real contender in my auditions, and my dealer has always been so good to me that I wanted to give them the chance. I did tell them that chances were slim that I’d switch, but that I would if the SF turned out to be better. That didn’t happen because the dealer was very busy around Christmas and they figured it’s probably not worth their hassle.

So, I couldn’t do the direct comparison in my room, but having lived with the Sehrings for two months I am happy that I didn’t go with the slightly warmer SF (as nice as they were), because the Sehrings are just right for me, by being so neutral-in-a-good-way without being harsh or annoying. I love them with any music I tried, be it a single voice with acoustic guitar, small jazz or classical ensembles, or full-on rocking. It all just works. I don’t really listen to large classical orchestral works, so can’t comment on that. If you ever happen to be in Berlin, drop me a note and you’ll be very welcome :slight_smile:

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There is no such thing as a perfect speaker, but several criteria lead me to qualify a speaker as being state of the art.

First, its capacity to reproduce voices accurately, as in giving the illusion of the real thing.

Second, its capacity to handle the piano’s dynamic range, attacks and decays.

And, finally, being able to reproduce a symphonic orchestra with precision and coherence.

Based on those criteria, the best speaker is, in my experience, the Magico M6. Amazing speaker and, unfortunately, amazingly costly too.

Less capable in terms of impact but equally capable for the rest is the Magico M2.

My benchmark album for voices:

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While the topic here is speakers…detail versus emotion,reading this thread I think that it may apply to my upgrade to the NAP500 from the 300. More detail overall but possibly less engagement/emotion. Could it be less coloration which I was accustomed to and liked to some extent with the 300? It’s been well over a year now so it isn’t a burn in issue. Otherwise the system is the same. I have adjusted speaker positioning with some improvement in bass accuracy. I do think that the overall improvements outweigh any negatives and so we are not considering going back to the 300. A speaker upgrade may be in the offing. May also consider a sub after reading” Rel 25 has landed” thread.

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Very interesting discussion, I experienced similar finding as discussed above. In my system, speaker position is a key to get the balance of both musical and enough details. It depends on room acoustics, electronic, speakers.

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I think I understand what you mean but I think there is a psychoacoustic nostalgia effect; as far as I’m concerned, many of my higly emotionnal experiences related to music took place when I was younger, so when my sound system was a vintage system from the 70s. I searched for this sound for a long time after my first steps in the “MidFi” because I sometimes found my (constantly evolving) system a little too clinical, even exhausting too listen to for extended period of time.

As I get older, the emotional charge conveyed by music is lessened and I sometimes admit to listening to my sound system a little more than the music it plays. That being said, all of my recent music-related moments of grace have taken place after upgrades, particularly phono cartridges, which have revealed nuances and timbres that I have never found so real, vivid and dramatic. I find myself being moved by the beauty of the experience more than by naive refrains or well-crafted lyrics.

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Not just speakers but for all equipment there is a risk that detail can come at the expense of emotion if items are not partnered correctly. I like detail, I want to hear what the artist recorded and not just the key themes but not at the expense of emotion. My sources are all chosen to resolve as much as possible within my price range and with my previous speakers, focals, they could sound a bit analytical. With my current speakers, Gold Note A6, the balance isuch better, the detail is there but it hangs together as music and gives me goose bumps regularly. It’s all about synergy in my view

Personally, I am more on the side of Naim speakers - the greatest speaker maker that ever walked the Earth.

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Yes, I agree with this. (Although not every change to the signal/noise that a component makes is audible.)

“While at the same time, we don’t know how a recording sounded after mixing in studio in the first place. At that time, the processed recording is usually already miles away from the actual performance.”

Well, even ‘the actual performance’ isn’t a unitary auditory event. Because how a performance sounds depends on where you are reletive to the musicians, how your hearing system works, what kind of mood you’re in, whether you were paying attention, and what aspects of the soundscape you were focussed on.

(And what types of mics were used and how they were connected to what recording equipment.)

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I hope you are joking Jim :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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Nope. 1000% serious.

Naim a better one. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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I heard a pair of Wilson Yvettes driven by Soulution 710 DAC and amps yesterday.

Smooth. Very smooth.

More detail than my system.

But less emotional response.

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There’s no such thing as best in the world. But you know that.
Enjoy :innocent:

Phew! Think how much money you have saved!

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Yup - even though they were on ‘special offer’ (because of scratches to the cabs).