Ever get sick of the sound of a speaker?

Have you ever considered purchasing a new set of speakers just so you could listen to different sounding speakers, mostly because you are always listening to music on the same speakers, day in day out?

No, Ravi, I change the music, not the speakers.

I used to constantly lust for new speakers but no more since I got the Maggies.

I used to till I got my M3s. Now I keep trying out all sorts of music to see if anything would prove them incompetent.

I'm not going to buy any, but one day when I have more time, I'm going to find someone near me with Rockets. I understand they have an entirely different sound, but I want to hear it once.

In reply to:
one day when I have more time, I'm going to find someone near me with Rockets. I understand they have an entirely different sound, but I want to hear it once.

That's what I did.

I get sick of the looks of a speaker, but not really the sound...

I always alternate between using the grilles and not using them when they are not in use. Of course, during use, the grilles come off

.

Okay, I'm going to sound like a total idiot but is removing the grille supposed to help? I wouldn't have known that....

Sometimes I wonder if there's any point in me purchasing all this equipment when I figure out I don't know the most obvious things!

-Nick

Heh, can't you tell the difference in the sound?

Speakers tend to sound muffled when they have their grille's on. There are some exceptions to this, however, as some are made to sound better with grilles on (as is the case with Paradigm Studio 40v2 speakers).

The dispersion patterns are also messed up, so those super-nice curves of on and off axis response you see in the SoundStage! reviews get warped (mainly only in the high frequencies, though).

I've always had garbage at home..I'm not sure covers would have made much difference one way or the other! When I finally pull the trigger this will be the first quality equipment I've had.

-Nick

Ahh, yea. Understandable that you can't really tell a difference when the equipment isn't that high end to begin with. If you don't mind my asking, what is it that you are looking to purchase?

Nick,

The grill cloth is supposed to be sonicly transparent. Most audiophiles will tell you that there shouldn't be anything but air between you and the speaker drivers but you just about have to be a "golden ear"

to hear any difference. You can experiment when you get your speakers.

mwc: You can't tell a difference? With certain grilles I cannot, but with at least the ones on my Axioms, I can tell a difference. Have a test with your eyes closed and lights off and have a friend put them on and take them off without you knowing, and determine which sounds better.

Heh-heh... Look at the picture below during a blind listening test in the standardized listening room at the NRC Canada. The room is equipped with an "optically opaque but acoustically transparent" screen.

I believe that the formal, blind listening tests have been conducted comparing the speaker sound with and without the grill attached (although I've never seen the actual results of such tests). In particular, I strongly suspect that Ian does such tests when he designs the Axiom speakers and their grills. I really want to hear the "official" word from Axiom on this subject.

What do you have to say, Alan???

In reply to:
In particular, I strongly suspect that Ian does such tests when he designs the Axiom speakers and their grills. I really want to hear the "official" word from Axiom on this subject.

I'm betting there was not a discernible(by mind or senses) difference if in fact such tests were conducted by Ian, et al.

DJ
There are many that woud argue hearing differences between cheap (not inexpensive, i said CHEAP) electronics is alot easier than hearing differences between well built components.

Unless a speaker company specifically designs their speakers to work with a heavy grille material that changes the sound to a preferred point, then grilles should be transparent.
I would imagine most speaker companies do this kind of testing for affects in sound from grilles. Most decent companies that is.

It makes me wonder what the Maggies would sound like without the "sock".

I don't mind you asking..my list has grown and changed considerably as I've gone along.

At this point, this is what I'd do if I could start writing checks NOW

:

Pioneer 55TXi (Receiver)
Denon DVD-5900 (DVD)
Denon DCM-380 (5 disc changer..my poor wife's one request!)
Axiom M22i(2), QS8(2), VP150(1)
HSU VTF-2(1)
BenQ PE8700 (Front Projector)
Screen of some sort (For whatever reason this has been the hardest for me to research and understand...but I do recognize it's IMPORTANCE)
Sony HD-300 (Directv HDTV Receiver)
Tivo (still figuring out model etc)
DVI Switcher (to accomodate the HDTV receiver and the 5900. If I'm spending that kind of $$..what's a couple hundred bucks to make sure they can both take full advantage of their technology?)
Cables galore, stands of some sort for at least the front speakers, AV cabinet to hold all of this..

About the only thing that would carry over from my old setup would be my PS2

I shouldn't have said all my stuff is garbage, I bought a 32 inch Sony WEGA a couple of years ago that I have tweaked through the service menu and gets as good a picture as it's source will allow. I bought this tv with the idea that it would be a nice family room TV for a lot of years and would be replaced with something bigger. But for someone that loves music like I do, I've shortchanged myself in that area.

I'm not locked into any of this, but a lot of good people on various forums have provided a lot of advice, and in all honesty they've been more effective at selling than most of the salespeople I've tried to work with!

-Nick