Let's be a little meta: What topics are most hotly debated?
Fuses? Power conditioners? Analog vs. Digital? Class D amplification?
Nope.
The most hotly debated subject is bass. What to do if you don't have enough, how to make it better, subwoofers, crossovers, EQs, room treatment. Nothing launches more audiophiles out of there listening chairs faster. Of course I'm guilty of this too, I've just realized that this is a subject with no end in sight.
Your answer of bass and the reasoning suggests to me that it might be the most common which is distinctly different to hotly debated.
I would have to say Fuses gets my vote for hotly debated, you only have to look at how many went off the rails and that Aunty Fuser succeeded in getting removed.
I have plenty of clear bass from my 2 way speakers 7 inches driver.that i listen to with my stomach......
It was not so, only few months ago....
The secret : is not passive treatment of the room with inert materials ONLY and MAINLY....
My secret is active devices controls of the room with a balance between, absorption, reflections, and diffusions, and using device (different diffusors of my creation and active resonators connected to a grid of low cost Schumann generators) to take the positive side of reverberations for example....
But i will not speak about that because of dogmatism by some and sheep thinking, and i dont want to be ridiculed...I look already nuts enough for my taste.... :)
I am in listenings experiments for the last 2 years and i totally transform my system less with ideas from a book, than from experiments....
You are right this subject is too hot and complex to touch it, especially if someone is unorthodox and try anything that will work for his ears....You will go otherwise against patented specialist and crowds ....
Anyway any acoustical treatment and controls are TOTALLY individualized by the content and geometry and topology of the room....They are standardized only for make easy the job of selling materials....
What we can do with a small room is not the same we can do with a big hall or even with a big room....
Going on only with equations in some computer will not have make my room what it is now at peanuts costs.... Then trust yourselves, and your ears, be creative, dont give any money and listen .... It is fun and miraculous....
Some will say that our ears are biased, but it is ridiculous argument anyway, who lives in my room ? My biased ears live here.... Not a deaf computerized sellers....
By the way we need to treat a room not for bass, but for all frequencies to work giving natural timbre first.....
And the effect of a good acoustical controls of the room will be spectacular in nearfield listening AT THE SAME LEVEL, in a different way for sure, but at the same level of improvement that in regular position contrary to what some are saying.....
LOL, Erik! It would be interesting to see what was most "hotly debated" not by counting up the posts in each category, but to see how many times a thread about "A" is diverted to a discussion about "Hotly Debated Topic B."
It’s like those threads where someone is discussing, say, preamplifier impedance requirements and then all of a sudden it’s time to warn against "the romex in your wall" or "room nodes" and then the thread (and the poor OP) is never referenced again.
In other words, we take a look at the weird right-angle turns taken in threads to find out what is hottest.
I forget to say that ACOUSTIC control is generally more rewarding than ANY upgrade, and even most of the times upgrade of speakers; the only exception being if you own very bad or cheap speakers to begins with...
:)
«Why do you smile so much listening your speakers Groucho? No, it is my room that amaze my ears ... » -Groucho Marx
unfortunately, your cynicism is well placed and on target
for every almarg there are twenty turds and clowns
too bad, really
still, it is our collective responsibility to strive for higher standards like al had set for so long in his contributions
especially true at present, since the pandemic has many of us spending more time here than ever -- pollution only diminishes when we make an effort to not pollute
Gotta always be ready to stop hitting the post button and delete instead. Typically, I write things in a separate text program and read it over twice before posting it. If it contains something which could be considered mean, I either find a way to rephrase it or I just don't post it. (Most of the time. I'm sure I've slipped up.)
As we said in the 70's, "Give a hoot -- don't pollute!"
While I wish my cynicism was in reality just a good joke it is depressingly true of late.
Yes I agree we all need to strive to do better, myself included, but as we all know it is SO easy to be the big bad keyboard warrior!
I would also agree with hilde that I have posted in haste and then spent the next 20 minutes online editing it until it is maybe not quite so blunt and offensive. But still a spade is a spade.
This is slightly off-topic, although about bass. I was recently standing next to a young fellow who was talking to a woman, appearantly a friend of his Mother's. He was telling her of his new 1000 watt sub-amp installed in his Honda. So I commented to him how my stereo system has a 1 watt amp for each side in my living room. He looked at me bewildered not knowing if it were some sort of joke ...
Cables. Standmounts v. Floorstanders Connections Integrated v separates Tube v ss v d Room correction To sub or not to sub To sub a lot or just a bit Headphones Speaker design Isolation Wood v metal stands Surge, power condioners Tweeter design Marketing approach To test or not Test but how To tweak or not Tweak but how Digital sound Media preference
Not in any order, but I agree that cables generate the most heat, or do they?
I am not surprised a bit that bass is often discussed. According to dr Floyd Toole, getting the bass right is 30% of your system success. With the works of dr Earl Geddes, this 30% became totally attainable by the common audiophiles. With the effort of Duke and the Swarm, it’s even relatively cheap. But, it still requires some work. Just dropping four subs in your listing room will get you about 60% there. So that’s 60% of 30% or about 18% success. A little DSP, a dash of acoustic and some elbow grease should push through the finish line.
Hot Topics? Hot Topics? I love Hot Pockets! Oh, uh...uh, oh, never mind.
Anyhoo, isn't it about time someone chimed in on this thread and extolled, at excruciatingly excessive length, about the virtues of multiple subs? As you cats are well aware, I can do this in your choice of formats: backwards, forwards, metaphysically or in my sleep. Please let me know when you get the overwhelming urge for another dose.
Sorry Erik and all, I didn’t think my last post would stop this fine thread in its tracks. My intent was purely to inject a bit of humor, but apparently, this bit was considerably smaller than I thought. C'mon guys, I was even making fun of myself. Please carry on, Tim
Sorry to discredit your power to stop a thread dead in its tracks Tim ( which I am not doubting for an instant...lol) but this time it was Agon itself not you taking a huge dive.
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