Are older speakers more pleasant to hear than modern speakers (Beolab)?

[matador]

geoffmartin wrote:

We don’t watch Star Wars and expect to think that Luke and Leia are in your living room…

Well… Actually, when I watch Miss Sloane on TV I would like Jessica Chastain to pop up in my living room… But that must not be what you’re talking about…

…to hear the sound of a foot tapping, coupled through a stage floor, mechanically shaking a vocal mic and resulting in a rhythmic rumble that probably wasn’t supposed to be there…

Isn’t this part of the “full Unpluged Experience”? Like if you where there sitting on the carpet? I was reading about acoustic guitar mic placement and use and was surprised to learn that sometimes “parasite” noises like fingers sweeps on wound strings or hands tapping the guitar body are wanted because they enhance the acoustic warm feel.

[geoffmartin]

matador wrote:

Isn’t this part of the “full Unpluged Experience”? Like if you where there sitting on the carpet?

It’s not an acoustical sound, it’s a mechanical vibration. So, in order to hear it the same way it’s captured on the recording would be to lie on the stage floor with one ear mashed into the carpet.

Certainly an experience – but probably not desirable.

However, other noises like finger squeaks are definitely used in the mix occasionally. I once did a CD recording where (for one of the tracks) I put two Neumann mics near the neck of the guitar to get a reasonable amount of control not only of how much the left-hand squeaks got into the mix, but where they were placed in the stereo imaging. Listen carefully to that track in the “sweet spot” and you’ll hear the right hand plucking the strings to the left of the left-hand finger movements. (In case you’re wondering, the disc is called “Mona Lisa” recorded by Dennis Pinnock and Bill Coon. Good luck finding a copy… )

Cheers
-geoff

[geoffmartin]

Took me a while to find it, but here’s the article by Glenn Gould that I was thinking about earlier. I haven’t read it in at least 25 years…

The raw text version: The Prospects of Recording

A PDF copy of the original magazine article (starting on page 46)

It’s a long read, but notice that it’s from High Fidelity Magazine, vol. 16, no. 4, April 1966 – back in a time when such magazines contained more than just advertisements and reviews…

One fun quote (among the many in there) is the following:

I can’t believe that people really prefer to go to the concert hall under intellectually trying, socially trying, physically trying conditions, unable to repeat something they have missed, when they can sit home under the most comfortable and stimulating circumstances and hear it as they want to hear it. I can’t imagine what would happen to literature today if one were obliged to congregate in an unpleasant hall and read novels projected on a screen.

– BABBITT

[Beo911]

The origin of Glenn Gould’s article you are referring to was a radio documentary show he did in 1965 about that topic …

 

[geoffmartin]

Cool! Thanks!

[ajames]

I think it very much depends on the price point and what’s driving the speakers.

For me, and it is subjective as everyone’s different my Beovox M100-2 are the best speakers I’ve owned. I have had BL8000, 6000 and 4000 – none of them sounded as good. In fact the turning point was when I bought some S60’s and they just sounded so good. Penta’s I loved too but I prefer the M100’s as I have a choice of amplifier. I used mine with a KT88 valve amp pushing out 30 Watts – this is more than enough. Driven by solid-state amps, something is missing they sound weaker. I have a Linn LP12 and the pickup (Rega Exact) goes through a valve phono preamp – when compared to my BG4002 and IfI Zen combo the sound again is much fuller and somehow vocals are more realistic, plus the Rega transmits less surface noise than the MMC20EN. I’ve driven them with QUAD 33/303 combo and that was good but not as good as the valve amp. I’ve tried B&O Receivers with them and my favourite was the BM6000 – that sounded and looked great but packed up. For streaming, i use a playmaker which to me sounds much better than anything else I’ve used. I also use Beovox S45-2, P45 (I think) and MCX speakers in other rooms and different setups. I was really disappointed with Beolab 3500 which i did use in my kitchen for a while hooked up to a BS3000 but was replaced with a B&O passive speaker amp and the MCXs.

However, I’m pretty sure that the newer more expensive active B&O speakers will outperform my M100-2s – which is why I haven’t been to listen to them!

So in summary from my own experience, it depends on price point and the quality of the rest of the system.

[Author]

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