[sdiy] semi ot: loud speaker for synths

[David Cornutt]

On Wednesday, November 26, 2003, at 06:18  AM, Czech Martin wrote:

  [replying to Don Tillman, if I've got the attributions right]
>> The wavelength of the low E on a bass guitar (42 Hz) is 26 feet.
>> Your ears are about 6 inches apart.
>>
>> Direction doesn't really mean much at that scale.
>
> I know. But I can still hear, if the speaker is on the left or right
> side. You tend to move you rhead all the time.
>

I think a lot of the complaints about subwoofer systems come from
people's experiences with hi-fi systems.  IHMO, with just a few
exceptions, consumer-oriented stereo gear today is designed almost
exclusively from the standpoint of price, and of how small and
"cute" or unobtrusive it can be made, and what it sounds like
has very little to do with it,  Hence, they tend to use itty bitty
mid-high drivers (2.5" tweeters and the like) and cross over the
subwoofer in the 80-100 Hz range.  That makes bass sound
smeared (you can't locate it in the stereo field), and it leaves a
huge hole in the upper bass / lower mid range.

And, to add insult to injury, they tune the sub very sharply to
resonate on a "thump" at 15-25 Hz.  That makes the beat in
current pop music really jump out, but it's lousy for actual
notes in the bass range.  (Car stereo designers have taken
to doing this too.)  And if you try to run a synth bass, or organ
pedals, through that at any volume, you are likely to find the
drivers embedded in the wall on the opposite side of the room.

That's one reason a bunch of us old farts are still holding onto
conventional speaker pairs that we acquired around 1990 or
earlier.  At least they have reasonably even response over the
entire range, even if we're giving up a bit at the edges.  The
only alternative, if you are serious about listening, seems to
be to shell out more bucks for a studio mid-field system that
is designed properly.  So much of what I see at the consumer
audio dealers these days (and the high-end ones are actually
the worst) is smoke and mirrors.  It makes me miss the '70s
when there was some respect for scientific analysis and
people weren't going around waving magic wands over
everything to try to convince the gullible.

Sorry, rant over.  We now return you to your regular program...