Good and bad ways to listen to music

[51m0n]

[quote name='Leonard Smalls' timestamp='1369293191' post='2087304']
Arguably!
There's a number of ways of producing bass extension, and even bass response - all of them are a compromise of some sort. IIRC, a fully executed Transmission Line needs to have a line of at least 1/4length of the lowest wavelength desired. So if you want 17Hz you'll need a TL of 5m, which of course is quite difficult to get into a cabinet that will fit in your living room. Clever engineering can get round this to an extent, but then it also can in both ported, sealed box and isobaric designs.
My Dittons rely on a 12" bass unit, large volume and a 12" passive radiator to get to a -6dB figure of 18Hz.
My Leema Xaviers use a very long throw 6.5" driver and a low bass crossover point plus large volume to get 28Hz at -3dB.
My dream speaker (Eggleston Ivy) uses 6 12" drivers in an isobaric (i.e. pressure driven) configuration to get 13Hz at -4dB.
PMCs BB5, an excellent speaker and none more black, uses a transmission line to get a "usable frequency" of 17Hz...
[/quote]

All true. I like my little(ish) TLs though, they sound goooood. Same with anything I suppose, the best executed of any solution to the problem will sound fantastic, and the reason they are the best is because they work around the design issues in the best way.

And the PMC XBD are my wet dream speaker if I'm honest, love them, so much that I'm going to have to go and have a little sit down now until my legs stop trembling (not that I could ever afford them or get them in the house, or past the good lady, but thats irrelevant)

[Jellyfish]

Hippo VBs. They're pretty fantastic for what I need them for.

[ead]

Decent Westone 2 IEMs or Audio Technica 'phones with the source through a decent headphone amplifier.

[Leonard Smalls]

[quote name='51m0n' timestamp='1369305597' post='2087474']
And the PMC XBD are my wet dream speaker if I'm honest, love them, so much that I'm going to have to go and have a little sit down now until my legs stop trembling (not that I could ever afford them or get them in the house, or past the good lady, but thats irrelevant)[/quote]
If you're going to have a wet dream speaker, it might as well be a proper one at significantly greater cost than the piddly BB5XBD at £58k including amps. The Eggleston Ivy Wetdream is an eminently reasonable $100k without amps, as used by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering:

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='Leonard Smalls' timestamp='1369310027' post='2087559']
If you're going to have a wet dream speaker, it might as well be a proper one at significantly greater cost than the piddly BB5XBD at £58k including amps. The Eggleston Ivy Wetdream is an eminently reasonable $100k without amps, as used by Bob Ludwig at Gateway Mastering:
[/quote]

But how much does it colour the sound?

[Leonard Smalls]

[quote name='MiltyG565' timestamp='1369310252' post='2087566']
But how much does it colour the sound?
[/quote]
That depends on the finish you go for - you can get them in white as well
It's designed to be a reference speaker, and if Bob Ludwig of Gateway is using them (with 4kW of amps!) it's a good bet that they're pretty uncoloured.
All speakers are, in the end, a compromise, so it's all about doing the best you can, which Eggleston do!
Whether they're better than a large TAD monitor system, or a Genesis 1.1 or the Transmission Audio Ultimate ($2m), or the Kharma Grand Enigma ($1m) would probably be very difficult to find out...

[51m0n]

Do they have to look so poo though

[Valhalalf]

Working as an audio engineer at a video games company I have a lovely 5.1 mastering suite to listen to stuff through. I especially enjoy putting on Metallicas 5.1 mixed Black album in there.

If using headphones I have a pair of Beyerdynamic 880pros at both work and at home. Mostly headphones at home though as I only have a meager home studio (for now).

And with an hour commute to work each day I listen to a lot of music in the car. I can't stand listening to MP3's in the car, the compression artefacts are too noticeable. However it doesn't bother me that much using an ipod and ear buds on the move.

Good way to listen to music - I guess I can be a bit of an audiophile so will always prefer listening to music with the best possible equipment/room/scenario I can.

Bad way to listen to music - Tiny laptop speakers submerged in bowls of custard and sprinkled with hundreds and thousands whilst putting cream cheese in your ears and sticking your head in a fridge?

[leroydiamond]

During my time away from bass playing I probably enjoyed listening to music more than I do know. Nowadays the "Muso" dominates when I listen and I fall into the trap of analysing music in terms of bass guitar tone, musician competency, quality of mastering etc. In the past as a punter,I just listened for pure enjoyment and was probably more in touch with the essence of the music. Anyway I primarily listen to music on my Hi Fi, preferring vinyl as a medium using a Linn Sondek turntable and steer away from headphones.

Edited May 23, 2013 by leroydiamond