Help me explain the birds & the bees to my sons!

OK, it was a desperate ploy to get you to look, but I need some help/suggestions from the great body of knowledge on this board.

My oldest son (13) in particular has been getting more and more into music. Makes a dad proud! He's got a nice little stereo system with a pair of M2s and my old NAD integrated amp, etc. This Christmas I gave him my dad's old turntable since he has been very interested in vinyl as of late.

Now he's been reading about equipment (and has watched me buy and sell tons of it over the years), and has started asking me questions. So I need some assistance.

The plan for this weekend was taking him through some test tones so we can both become more familiar with what 200Hz sounds like vs. 1Khz sounds like vs 2.4Khz, etc. (We're pretty familiar with what sub 60 Hz sounds like already!

)

I've been trying to help him understand imaging and soundstage. In addition to Axioms in the house (M22 and M3 as well as the M2) I also have Maggies and Dynaudios. So we'll also play around with how imaging and soundstage differ with speakers & placement as well.

I'm looking for suggestions of recordings that will help demonstrate both imaging and soundstage. Between albums and CDs I've got about a 1,000 titles, but I can't come up with any great ideas to use for the demonstration. My tastes are pretty eclectic, and the titles have a wide range, but are almost completely devoid of any classical music -- which I'm assuming would provide some of the best examples.

I'm happy to go out and buy something (of any style/genre) specifically for this lesson. If you good folks could suggest recordings (2 channel please!) that would help demonstrate these concepts. I'm also assuming that someone will suggest something that may already be in the collection.

Any notes or comments on what the recordings demonstrate ("you can hear Eric Clapton's guitar move from the right rear stage, cross in front of BB King at center stage, and then move to the left of Al Kooper on stage left just as Al hits the triangle on...") would be most appreciated.

Edit Addition: I'm guessing some of the demo tracks people like to use when auditioning speakers would also be a good source since folks are often evaluating imaging & soundstage.

I'm really looking forward to spending the weekend doing this with my boys, so thanks in advance for all of your assistance!

Take care,
Rich

May not be the greatest piece of music, but Sabbath's Paranoid puts Ozzy far in the back middle and the lead guitar far out front. Ozzy falling into the back was less dramatic on my M60s than on my MAs, but you might give that one a listen.
Good luck.

Rich, your "almost completely devoid of classical music" status must be corrected; you owe it to your son! There's a whole world of great music waiting for you out there, all it takes is to give a listen. Yes, the breadth and depth of sound created by full orchestras can give audio equipment a good workout in regard to imaging and dynamics. For a start I'll again suggest the terrific Mehta Planets and Swan Lake . Add some Falla Ballets, Ma Vlast, and Carmina Burana .

I truly believe all the classical music has helped my son's auditory memory and language acquisition. He's awfully sharp - despite my wife's genetic contribution.

Albums mixed with Qsound might be an idea. I'm not sure you'll actually like the so-called 3D effect it's suppose to produce, but I think these recordings might be useful in your demonstration. You can check out some demos on the website.

JohnK--

Thanks for the assistance! Yep, I searched the topic, and from of your earlier recommendations got the Planets and the Rimsky-Korsakov recordings. Already owned Beethoven's 9th. I will definitely check into some of the others you suggested.

The boys thoroughly enjoyed listening to these. OK, I'll confess I enjoyed them as well. But I did follow it up with Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon as well!

We had a lot of fun closing our eyes, listening, and then discussing where the different sections of the orchestra were. My older son plays the trombone in band, and the younger one plays the bass in orchestra, so they had some context for all of this.

I really appreciated the input, so thanks again.

Bigwill2 & sonicfox -- thanks for the ideas as well. I couldn't find my copy of Paranoid (hmm, makes we wonder if somebody wandered off with it some time back -- as well as my early Genesis albums). I checked into that link for Qsound. Looked interesting, but the need to have the codec ruled it out. Kind of reminded me of the old "stereo demonstration" records my dad had in the early "hifi" days of the early '60s.

Take care,
Rich

In reply to:
He's awfully sharp - despite my wife's genetic contribution.

Man, you better hope she doesn't see that!!

Case in point: she married him, didn't she?

kidding, Mark. kidding.

I didn't marry her for her wit. Here's a shot from this morning:

http://forums.geekissues.org/carnival/58578_nice%20ass.jpg

That pic might help with the birds and the bees thing, too.

Warning! That link is not....for the faint of heart.

Bigwill, yeah right!

I thought it was pretty tasteful. And tasty.

I'm not complaining one bit.

I'm just worried about those "old guys" on the forum.

Their hearts might not be able to take it. hehe

Here ,this should make it easier for everyone.

Frankly, I'm appalled. That's the worst shot of a table I've ever seen.

In reply to:
Frankly, I'm appalled. That's the worst shot of a table I've ever seen.

Since you said that, I had no choice but to take another peek of that table again.

It's certainly big enough to hold a couple of drinks and a bowl of chips...

Her butt floss allows us to see that she isn't a fan of anal bleaching which seems to be all the rage these days.

Did I actually just post that? See the beer thread for an explanation.

In reply to:
Did I actually just post that? See the beer thread for an explanation.

From the beer thread:
"I'm off to read more posts. Posting while intoxicated? Yes i am."

Will be keeping an eye out for some F-bombs tonight.

Looks like BW has been hanging out at the local roller rink.

&

again.

i dunno, seems like it would hurt...and not in a good way!

doesn't matter, she still looked yummy.

You guys are killing me! *That* part of the birds & the bees has been pretty easy to explain. It's all this audiophile stuff that is a lot harder to explain! Picture this:

Well boys, remember the discussion we had about fetishes? OK, daddy really loves his stereo. In fact, it brings him great pleasure, and ummmmm ...

Rich

In reply to:
I checked into that link for Qsound. Looked interesting, but the need to have the codec ruled it out.

Just to clarify, I'm quite certain there is no codec required to hear the benefits of a recording mastered in QSound. My CDP is nothing special (NAD C542) and the QSound effects on Roger Waters's "Amused to Death" are quite apparent (and awesome!). Holophonics is a similar process, of which Pink Floyd's "The Final Cut" is an enjoyable example. These albums can make a room disappear.

About the codec, my guess is it has to do with taking a recording and making it sound 3D, similar to when Pro Logic approximates a stereo signal into surround sound.

Got it. Thanks for the clarification. When I looked at the link (and not very carefully, I guess!) I guess I misunderstood the list of HW by CE Manufacturers. So when I saw the list of recordings done in QSound, I assumed it required a specific player.

I will definitely have to check it out again!

Rich

How do you Dynaudios compare to your axiom’s? I know there in 2 different leagues.. I have dyn’s in my car, and they sound wonderful.. always wondered how their home speakers sounded.. I have epic 60/600 system..

Sorry for the WAY off topic question, but was just wondering and had to ask.

Hey dakkon--

How do they compare? Well, to start with, in the Axiom family I own m2tis (son's bedroom), m3tis (wife's office), and m22tis (& VP150 and QS8s) for the home theater set-up. Obviously by the large number of Axiom speakers I own, I'm pretty damn happy with them!

The Dynaudios are for my stereo listening (where I also have a pair of Maggies). I've only done direct compares btw the Dyns and the Axiom m22tis. Without a sub, the most obvious difference is performance below 60Hz. The Dyns have better extension and presence. But it's really the Dynaudio tweeter that sings.

I don't quite have the words for it. I just love the way they sound. Lush? Engaging? It may not have the linearity of Axioms, and maybe I'm being "deceived" by some audio engineer's chicanery, but ignorance is bliss. Further, in this particular room, there is a larger soundstage and remarkable depth that I couldn't quite coax out of the Axioms. But the Axioms performed really, really well.

My fascination with Dynaudios began about 20 years ago when I had heard them but couldn't afford them. Perhaps it's like your first love, and you still find yourself attracted to similar looking people many years later?! I purchased this pair used after auditioning them.

Hope that helps. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions.

Regards,
Rich