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The two most common mistakes are bass and treble

OK, so I know many of you will have a knee jerk reaction to that with something like "well you've just covered most of the spectrum!" but I mean to say more than what I can fit in a headline.

When first purchasing speakers the biggest regrets, or sometimes bad choices without regret, is looking for a speaker that is too detailed. In the store over 10 minutes it mesmerizes you with the resolution of frequencies you thought you would never hear again.  You take the speakers home and after a month you realize they are ear drills.  High pitched, shrill sounding harpies you can't believe you listened to long enough to make a choice.

The other mistake, which audiophiles life with far too long is buying too big a speaker for the room.  The specmanship of getting 8 more Hertz in the -3dB cutoff is a huge factor in speaker purchases.

What do you think the biggest mistakes are when buying speakers?
erik_squires
55 responses Add your response
oldhvymec
5,101 posts
 
I don't think 4 ohm speakers are BAD. There are some great 4 - 6 ohm speakers. It depends on the drivers. I use planars. Because of the light load @ 4 - 6 ohms they sound quite good. ADD BASS duty to the mix it's a whole different story.. I wire at 8-12 ohms for mids and sometimes 12-16+ for highs. 

If I'm using a valve amp, I only tap 4 ohms if there is NO bass duty.
If  there is bass in the mix, 8 ohms or better for the tap.. 

High E speakers are fine NOW it wasn't always that way.  Gear use to be a LOT noisier. 95% speakers were a no no.. Floor noise was HIGH on a lot of gear 30 years ago.

Quiet as a mouse with 93/91% I use now... and valves to boot..

Regards
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
Atmasphere has a good point. I would not go near a speaker under 8 Ohms. After that you really have to know what you want to hear. Many people buy what they think is exciting. Beware of the speaker that stands out. This is usually the one with the problem. A good balance speaker will not stand out. You have to listen to other aspects of reproduction besides tonality. It takes me at least an hour of listening before I can decide if I like a speaker or not. 
@atmasphere , Hey Ralph, I finally got the speakers. Roger has labeled them 645-8's. I put a picture of them on my system page. I have a new Cosmos coming from Sota and a Schroder CB to put on it following which it will be time to think about amplifiers:-)
erik_squires OP
16,056 posts
 
Hey @atmasphere 

Not saying you are incorrect, but give me an idea of a couple of common inefficient speakers, and a couple you think do a great job.

What is your cut-off for efficiency and impedance, more or less?  What is good, and what is bad?

Best,
Erik
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,794 posts
 
Inefficient and low impedance speakers are IMO/IME a mistake.


All amps make more distortion playing into lower impedance. If you want the amp to sound smoother and more detailed, set it up to drive a higher impedance.


Inefficient speakers need really powerful amps to play properly, and they suffer thermal compression. Really powerful amps that actually sound like real music are not that common and likely pretty expensive, when the whole thing could have been solved without any loss of bandwidth or resolution by simple getting a speaker that's easier to drive.


Speaker cables get far more critical on low impedance speakers too. You can easily spend $$$$s on speaker cables, but if you have a higher impedance speaker the cables simply won't bring as much to the table.
mastering92
870 posts
 
that's all true.
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