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ARSCLIST  February 2014

ARSCLIST February 2014

Subject:

Re: Computer desktop power speakers recommendation

From:

Tom Fine <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Thu, 20 Feb 2014 06:46:27 -0500

Content-Type:

text/plain

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (88 lines)

I agree that describing sounds is an inexact thing. Say what you will about audiophile writers like 
J. Gordon Holt, Harry Pearson and some of the current bunch at Stereophile mag, they have come up 
with a language (mainly invented by Holt and enhanced/evolved by Pearson) that describes sounds 
heard and the behavior of audio equipment in transmitting sound.

Regarding bass, "boomy" is a very common term, and what it seems to mean is "too much upper bass 
(around the 150-200hz region) for the liking of the person calling it boomy." Bose seems to get this 
reaction from a lot of people, both those not used to much bass with their music (due to 
tiny-speaker computer listening, or just consuming music via a laptop or tablet, or being accustomed 
to TV speakers) and those who want deep bass but hear too much higher bass with the Bose speakers.

David, what do you think of the bass drum on the Fennell Telarc recording of the Holst Suites? 
That's usually a strong "acid test". Also, do you have that album made in Washington DC in the 80s 
by, I think, the US Air Force Band? It's famous among audiophiles, in fact I just had it played for 
me by one of the better-known LP advocates on a system that costs more than my house and cars 
combined. I thought, lots of bass drum but I'm not sure the music calls for that much bass drum. So 
is it musical or is it a woofer reality test by design? If I recall correctly, the record was cut by 
Stan Ricker, who knows his bass.

One thing I do hear with modern recordings, especially those using no-transformer recording chains, 
is that deep bass is sharper, more precise and more focused if it's recorded well. I assume the 
reason is no phase shifts from transformers. Some people really don't like that because it 
definitely sounds different. LP fans often lodge a complaint about digital bass that I think points 
to a similar situation -- all LP cutters have to sum some portion of strong bass energy to the 
center in order to make records trackable. A system with strong bass response and really 
quick-reacting speakers in a decent room won't be "bass is non-directional" to careful listeners. So 
someone who grew up with an LP and was accustomed to its sound may not have had the double basses as 
clearly deliniated to the right, or the electric bass in a Beatles recording actually panned 
off-center like it often was in the later years (and in fact if they grew up on the Capitol USA 
records, they didn't hear the bass as it sounded on the approved UK masters). In some rooms, bass 
that is centered and slightly high-passed, as is the case with many LPs, may work better because it 
creates fewer frequency bumps around the sides of the speakers. Something precisely placed and of 
the frequencies and balances of the master tape may create a boom around or behind a speaker, or 
might sit wrong in the room, or in some other way not sound "right", and the LP fan tends to blame 
this on "digital" without looking at the differences in the media and the playback systems.

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "DAVID BURNHAM" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2014 3:52 AM
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Computer desktop power speakers recommendation


> There is often a problem communicating with listeners who try to describe what they're hearing in 
> non-audio subjective terms - warm, cold, dry, wet, tight, wooly, wooden, etc. and terms which are 
> more appropriate like boomy, resonant, sizzly, thin, etc.
>
>
> When I use the term "boomy", it usually means a strong bass of a specific frequency - like the 
> sound you hear when a car pulls up beside you with strong sub-woofers. Perhaps when the Bose Wave 
> was introduced they still had some work to do to perfect the concept. After listening to the demo 
> CD which is included with the Bose Wave, and which includes the double bass solo I mentioned 
> previously which sounded convincingly like there was a double bass in the room, we listened to the 
> entire "Nutcracker Ballet" by Tchaikovsky. If you know the music of Tchaikovsky, you know that he 
> makes a lot of use of descending scales; the Pathétique Symphony is full of them and the tune of 
> one of the waltzes towards the end of Nutcracker is nothing but a descending scale. I listened 
> particularly to these passages to see if the bass range was even and it was very much so.
>
> A number of years ago, I purchased a CD on the Reference label of military band music and was 
> really disturbed by the bass drum. This instrument should have no definite pitch at all but on 
> this recording there was a very strong specific pitch and it made it sound like you had your head 
> in the bass drum. I wrote a letter to the company pointing this out and comparing it to some of 
> the fine Mercury recordings, (no pun intended), where the bass drum sounds as it should. I got a 
> letter back from the company telling me that I could not communicate directly with the recording 
> producer/engineer but that she had passed my message on to him, (a Doctor something or another, 
> I've forgotten his name), who explained that I obviously am an inexperienced listener with 
> inferior equipment. There was no point in pursuing the conversation any further.
>
> db
>
>
>
> On Tuesday, February 18, 2014 10:58:16 PM, Paul Stamler <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Back when the Bose was introduced, my late mother bought one. After two
>>days she sent it back; she said the bass sounded too boomy.
>>
>>Peace,
>>
>>Paul
>>
>>
>>
>
> 

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