Perhaps “accuracy” wasn’t the most appropriate word. What I mean is “totality of information” from the source to the speakers. The way this is relayed by the speakers of course will differ, but what has been lost in the chain, has been lost, therefore the speakers are not the most important item of equipment in this regard.

Sorry if that was unclear

Of course, it’s also better to have your cables pointing in the right direction, separated from the floor by small pylons made from irradiated zirconium each on it’s own hydrated yak-hair base and screened from the environment by a tube of genuine papyrus sourced from the reed beds along the Nile delta…

Not forgetting the photograph of a black labrador on the coffee table.

speakers are not the most important item of equipment in this regard

I completely disagree with this.

Amplifiers, DACs, cables, all of that stuff is science, it is measurable, it is possible to do side by side comparisons and evaluate far beyond the range of human hearing what the performance will be like from the numbers alone.

Speakers on the other hand are the direct interface to the ears and as such, are completely subjective. As long as all of your other kit is beyond a certain standard, speakers have the potential to make a far larger difference to the quality of a Hifi.

That’s kind of strange. Apart from saying you don’t agree with me, you seem to be agreeing with me.

This must be the dark side of the moon. 😯

The amount of distortion in a speaker is far more than in any other component in the chain.

The speakers, the room, and positioning/interaction of the speakers in the room represent the most important aspect of the system, which you could also combine with the positioning/interaction of the listener with the room as well.

That’s why you often have near field monitoring in a studio, to reduce the room factor.

A hi fidelity system, pretty much by definition, just reproduces the signal it has been fed with hi fidelity.

If the signal in was well miked etc, then the the speaker system should be able to reproduce an ‘image’, if it wasn’t but the speakers manage to synthesis one up anyway, then that is not hi-fidelity, although it might be pleasing to the ear.

Studio monitors are often built for studio conditions and so are not necessarily suited for home use, for example Harbeth balance their M40s for their normal use which will be high up on a stand. In a home room they will be much closer to the floor and so they will interact with the floor differently and sound bass heavy.

All the marketing/review spiel about imaging, musicality etc can be broken down to measurable things such a polar response, transient response, distortion spectra and so on. There is nothing magical about speakers, they’re just harder to measure than purely electronic components. The subjectivity comes from the fact that most speakers are more flawed in one of the four dominant aspects of sound reproduction than the other three, and it’s that aspect which dominates the colouration. Get all of those aspects equally good and it’s no longer subjective.

Those Barefoot monitors are not “little speakers” in the sense of their ability. They each have dual side-mounted force cancelling woofers with high volume displacement which allows comparable performance to the 15″ ATCs.

My Hi-Fi is better than yours. FACT.

But mine goes to eleven…

All of the above technical geekery is all well and good but the salient point is : Will Mr Real Hoops let my daughter bring Wheatus to his studio and and will he do is knob turning and button sliding black magic to make their attempted comeback single sound even half decent for not much (if any) money?

Those Barefoot monitors are not “little speakers” in the sense of their ability. They each have dual side-mounted force cancelling woofers with high volume displacement which allows comparable performance to the 15″ ATCs

.

So, kinda like these:

Did we ever find out if they were any good then?

Point of order:

“Frequency Response:
30Hz – 45kHz (±3dB),
40Hz – 40kHz (±1dB”

MicroMain27

“Amplitude Linearity (±2dB): 50Hz-12kH
Cut-off Frequencies (-6dB):
25Hz, 20kHz (free standing)
20Hz, 20kHz (soffit mounted”

SCM300ASL Pro

Mad – how can my 2xlittle KEF B139B drivers in my coffin sub go lower than those ATCs? Must be all down to the mounting/positioning.

The most important piece of equipment is whatever translates the signal in the first place to pass it on down the chain – CD player, turntable cartridge/arm/turntable or DAC.

There is certainly a degree of “art” (or snake oil) to turntables. As far as digital goes, these days getting an accurate signal off the medium is trivial as is amplifying it. The real skill lies in converting the electrical signal into an audible waveform.

therealhoops, does yours have magical ‘aligned’ copper supply cables from the mains?

BTW, liking the desk. Though reminded of the excitement John Vanderslice expressed about the desk at Tiny Telephone Oakland

Mad – how can my 2xlittle KEF B139B drivers in my coffin sub go lower than those ATCs? Must be all down to the mounting/positioning.

Would that be a low note or a low thump of some indeterminate frequency?

It’s pretty tuneful, ta.

It is all down to room positioning, as the ATC’s specs say – how you mount it make a difference and it’s coupled to the room in two places 🙂

And it’s huge.

Away from the middle of the room, the response is down to 33Hz very nearly linear. Drops off a cliff after that, though.

Anyway, I’m sure it’s not a patch on the the distortion figures those big ATC speakers get, but I do find it interesting. Bass is just a big weird, TBH.

As Turner guy pointed out there’s a lot of distortion from speakers, and at the bass end weird stuff happens.

Anyway I really like it, it was an ebay bargain [no-one knows what to bid when they see an auction for a 5’7″ seat/subwoofer with cushions and tiles included].

Rock on 🙂

eerk – edit/time trap – you can figure-out how i was going to restructure that post.

Meanwhile – what about these puppies:

[video]What about these? [video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8MrNKmBBEo[/video]

or even:
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=N7WJNzeldig[/video]
The attention to detail that’s gone into rebuilding them is astonishing! I hope it’s worth it!

Oh wow – these are the massive brother of the little Technics I had for a while 🙂
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=T9CL_UMUOyA[/video]

CGG – what about these massive old Japanese speakers with their crazy arrays? Is it all talk and no trousers, or are they really able to justify the size?

Mr Woppit. 🙂

Your adherence to, or, if I may, faith in Flat Earth is endearing.
It’s a brilliant theory – it works worderfully on paper.
And, like Scientology, the more you spend, the closer you get to the ‘truth’.

But, as with all belief systems which rely on faith, it doesn’t work when applied to real people.
They have an awful habit of beliving their own ears.

You can stick the purest signal you like through a pair of Kans and it’lll still sound awful.
Some prefer the presentation over the content – no right or wrong, just different.

One was good at musicality but had no stereo presentation to speak of, another was clinically accurate with instrument placement but completely un-musica

PARKLIFE!

Don’t come the raw prawn Flashy, I reckon you’re no stranger to a perfectly set vta.

I had low level splashback once.
It was so embarrassing.

No.
Your recording studio is better than mine.
Because i haven’t fuuuukingggg got one.
FACTWAT

You can stick the purest signal you like through a pair of Kans and it’lll still sound awful.

So

1: it’s possible to achieve a “purer” ( by which I assume you mean “more complete and detailed of content”) signal.

and

2: This will be relayed more fully by better quality speakers.

I agree. That’s what I’ve been saying. So you’re disagreeing with your own premise?

Odd.

Did we ever find out if they were any good then?

Impressive for their size but ultimately that is it, not something that you would want to listen to for hours on end for their own sake.

I’m not a hifi expert like some on here, but can you just talk me through this point by point Mr. W?

A HiFi system is built with the intention of delivering to your ears, a fully accurate as possible representation of the entirety of the source content (contained in/on CD/download file/vinyl disc) as possible, preferably in a musical way and with the added bonus of three-d presentation in the listening space.

In other words, with “high fidelity” to the source content.

therealhoops’s mixing desk and little speakers will not do that.

Simples.