Big speakers, are they really the best way to get great sound?

@mihorn:

I will compare to any audio system in the world. Please you show me any audio system’s live recording video sounds better than mine. Alex/Wavetouch audio

OK, I've heard your videos and I’ll play. I cobbled these together with used professional JBL PA parts (2241H, 2251J) and Heil AMTs that I modified. The crossovers are of my design and use Audyn Q4 caps, heavy air core chokes, and Dale 1% resistors. Total cost was under $1,500. I’ve done some work on them since the video was made.

Source is an Oppo95 through a Yamaha RX-Z9 Receiver in "Pure Direct" mode. Recoding was performed with a Nikon D750 SLR placed in the sweet spot. There is no eq or room correction, either electronic or physical being used.

Unfortunately, you can’t hear the soundstage and imaging which is stellar outshining anything I or others have ever heard.

If you like Steely Dan, select something with a bit more variety of instrumentation and we’ll do a new video.

So who decides and what do I win?

mihorn,

If you are posting a pic of the CD cover, I'm not so convinced that you are actually placing the mic in the sweet spot.  How do we know that we are hearing the room? I know plenty of people who set up mics  so many feet from each speaker just for this sort of thing.

And as I said, I've made changes and would really need to do a new video.

Not if done right.  I've heard videos done this way where the separation is retained and the room acoustics are greatly reduced.  

Knock yourself out.  Especially listen to videos made by Mr. Boochie on his JBL L300s (e.g., Page 331).  And while L300s are certainly not the pinnicle in speakers, you can hear how he has eliminated room acoustics and retained separation in the videos.

mihorn,

To me played back on my monitor your recordings sound "cupped" with a "deadness" in the midrange and less open and airy.

I don’t agree. I think that mine sounds more like the original BUT with the acoustics of the room added to it. I use no room treatment and the room is very large (~5,000 cu ft) open at the rear left to both the entry hall and dining room. Just try to fill that to concert/symphony levels with small speakers!  Also, I’ve spent years voicing these speakers to my taste. I did develop them in the room for the room.

They had more air than I cared for so I took some out (as in the video) but have since put a bit back also adding a bit to the upper midrange.  I have special modifications for the Heil AMTs that add a whole world of detail and imaging.

I have neither of those selections, nor do I stream. I prefer classic rock, especially in SACD format.  I use an Oppo95 through a 22 year old Yamaha RX-Z9 RECEIVER with over 30,000 hours on it.

BTW, I hope that you are aware that the version of Hey 19 I recorded is from the SACD and not the red book CD so may sound a bit different just by virtue of that fact. Also, it is not just your Hey 19 recording that sounds "cupped" to me. I think most/all do to some extent. I don’t think I could live with it.

mihorn,

I don’t use horns on the Mermans because I believe in time alignment and think that this is a prerequisite to a better soundstage and imaging.

I do have horns on my JBL L200/300s, and one-off, custom tri-amped, Altec Big Red Supers, but neither hold a candle to the imaging I get from the Mermans which is totally unlike anything I’ve heard at any price.

The History of the Mermans

I was dis-satisfied with the way the L300s rendered female voices (especially Joni Mitchell) and was determined to produce a speaker that could do females justice. But the caveat was that they had to play LOUD! Ethel Merman was well known for having a very powerful voice, but being Too Loud "Too loud they said," she says in one of her movies.

Ethel Merman (born Ethel Agnes Zimmermann, January 16, 1908 – February 15, 1984) was an American actress, artist, and singer. Known primarily for her distinctive, powerful voice and leading roles in musical theatre, she has been called "the undisputed First Lady of the musical comedy stage".

Among the many standards introduced by Merman in Broadway musicals are "I Got Rhythm" (from Girl Crazy); "Everything’s Coming Up Roses", "Some People", and "Rose’s Turn" (from Gypsy—Merman starred as Rose in the original 1959 Broadway production); and the Cole Porter songs "It’s De-Lovely" (from Red, Hot and Blue), "Friendship" (from DuBarry Was a Lady), and "I Get a Kick Out of You", "You’re the Top", and "Anything Goes" (from Anything Goes). The Irving Berlin song "There’s No Business Like Show Business", written for the musical Annie Get Your Gun, became Merman’s signature song.

Performance style
Merman was known for her powerful, belting mezzo-soprano voice and precise enunciation and pitch. Because stage singers performed without microphones when Merman began singing professionally, she had a great advantage, despite never taking singing lessons. Broadway lore holds that George Gershwin advised her never to take a singing lesson after she opened in his Girl Crazy.

Profanity
Merman was notorious for her brash demeanour and for telling vulgar stories at public parties. For instance, she once shouted a dirty joke across the room at José Ferrer during a formal reception.

While rehearsing a guest appearance on The Loretta Young Show, Merman exclaimed "Where the hell does this go?" Young, who was a devout Catholic, advanced towards her waving an empty coffee can, saying "Come on Ethel. You know my rules. That’ll cost you a dollar." To which Merman replied "Ah, honey, how much will it cost me to tell you to go f-ck yourself?"

Especially for mihorn who requested it.

SACD played on an Oppo95 through a Yamaha RX-Z9 RECEIVER in Pure Direct mode with no eq or room correction, electronic or physical, through the Mermans recorded on a Nikon D750 DSLR in the sweet spot. Room is ~5,000 cubic feet.

This will wake you up!

You killed all the ambience of the room. Sounds "dead" even compared to the original with no room ambience.  Your clocks don't sound "natural."

Let’s compare apples to apples. Make your recordings in a 5,000 cubic foot room.

No, you purposely choose a speaker that sounds bad at its extremes and clean those up a bit, greatly reducing the volume in the process, and also killing it's liveliness. My system does not sound like that!

It's called "setting up a straw man"

I never said it was a "trick" Do you not know what a straw man is?

My room and system are set up to minimize reflections at the listener. Speakers are ~7.5 feet apart on the 26 foot wall and about 10.5 feet from the listener. The ceiling above the speakers is ~14 feet high.

The rear wave is removed from the Heils and the 2251J crosses over at ~3kHz to minimize early reflections.

Tell you what, you bring your "technology" over here and we’ll listen together. I’m in Orange County, CA and I see you advertise on C/L in LA.