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If you listen to anything other than Classic Jazz, don't read this.

:)  I'm a Jazz only intermediate audiophile looking to improve my system. i ONLY listen to jazz, and i think that matters. If you are of the opinion that great speakers make all music sound good then move on to the next post, because the premise here is that speakers for Acoustic Jazz ( Big Band to Post Bop) have different requirements. My jazz audiophile buddies and i hav A/B'd lots of different speaker/amp/turntable/cartridge combinations as a fun hobby for the last 3 years. i've gone through at least 3 whole systems to get where i am now:
All Rega System - Rega Exex-R, Rega P3, with upgrades, Rega MC Phono Pre,  Rega Apheta 2 Cartridge, Rega RX5 Speakers. 

It sounds really great, but want to get to amazing if possible, and have recently done some speaker comparisons with some Paradigms and Harbeths that show the RX5's could have a tighter, deeper bass and bit more high frequency... 

The challenge is threefold -
1 )information out there is hard to come by, often confusing and  i haven't found much information specifically on what speakers jazz heads prefer.
2) I want to be able to put them up against my current system in my room, which seems a difficult task
3) They have to look good. Aesthetics matter to me. Tektons and Magnapans are cool But Ugly AF, and not going to work for me.

i want someone to tell me this is the best my system is going to get and just enjoy it (which i do 82.5% of the time), or recommend a few things to try, hopefully with recommendation for speakers to try, but i'm open to other suggestions.

I look forward to your comments :)

sincerely,
Eric the Jazz Snob
128x128ericmbass

Showing 3 responses by atmasphere

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,640 posts
 
I will simply say that I have not yet found the "perfect" speaker or one that is absolutely best with all types of music. I wish I could, it would save me a lot of time, money and aggravation.
Sound Labs are great with everything I've thrown at them. So are the Classic Audio Loudspeakers. Those two speakers have very different amplifier requirements! I have a set of KLH model Nineteens in my bedroom and they seem to handle all genres as well as long as I don't play them too loud :) But the amp I play them with only makes about 5 watts (although the sub amp can make 1400...) so no worries.

So in those cases that's cocktail lounge jazz, rock, downtempo 80s pop, shoegaze, ambient, disco, classical, ethnic folk, bluegrass, spoken word, punk, death metal, speed metal, medieval, polyphony, new age, gothic metal, techno, gothic punk, 70s prog rock, big band, electro, electronic music, freeform jazz, fusion, acid folk and really, I can go on and on.

These very different speakers can do all that no worries. If you have a speaker that doesn't, I'd like to know what it is! I bought those KLH Model Nineteens on ebay for about $60.00.... although the Golden Ear Subx cost a bit more...


atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,640 posts
 
While I respect and admire both of these industry stalwarts, I disagree with their assertions. I do agree with atmasphere that no rational mind would purposely design a speaker to play only one type of music. But that does not mean that all speakers are equally good for all types of music.
@br3098 If you have a means of designing a speaker to favor a certain genre of music, its likely that you also have derived a new branch of physics. At the very least you stand to make millions if you can figure out a way to do this. No-one has ever been able to do it before and so currently there are no loudspeaker examples.

On that account the simpler explanation, using Occam's Razor, is that the idea is simply a myth.

The absolute **classic** example of this is the JBL L-100 loudspeaker that has been the rock goto for 40 years. The only problem is, while it is a classic speaker, its not any better at rock than anything else. I find it colored (at least the earlier versions- the new one might be different) and the better the recording, the more the flaws of the speaker are revealed.

Some people say that Cerwin Vegas are what you need for rock as they play loud, but orchestras play loud too and need the same bass response. That bass response is needed for jazz if you're going to get the bass drums right; quite simply what makes a speaker great for one genre of music makes it great for all genres.

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,640 posts
 
If you are of the opinion that great speakers make all music sound good then move on to the next post, because the premise here is that speakers for Acoustic Jazz ( Big Band to Post Bop) have different requirements. My jazz audiophile buddies and i hav A/B'd lots of different speaker/amp/turntable/cartridge combinations as a fun hobby for the last 3 years. i've gone through at least 3 whole systems to get where i am now:

I guess I don't have to move on- not yet anyway. I'm not of the opinion.

I happen to know rather than believe. You simply can't, and I mean **can't**, design a speaker or amplifier or preamp or whatever, to favor a particular genre of music. This is arguably the biggest myth about loudspeakers in particular- that they favor certain genres, the classic being JBL L100s are best at rock.

The simple fact is that all musicians make music in the same set of frequencies, and speakers have to get this right. The speakers themselves don't have taste, neither do amplifiers, so they don't know or care what you play through them. What makes a speaker good for jazz also makes it good for classical or death metal. The better you get it to play one genre, the better you get it to play **all** genres.


It really is that simple- and isn't a matter of debate (even though somehow it is, despite this being the 'information' age...). FWIW I'm telling you this as a degreed engineer and designer of audio equipment (we get nice reviews in the high end press); there isn't a class or even a day in engineering school where they reveal how to make anything electronic work particularly well with one genre as opposed to another.
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