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| Question about subwoofer isolation. |
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| Howard_Casto:
Well I mean I'm no audiophile but it sounds really good. it actually sounds better now that my speakers are spread out a bit and the subwoofer doesn't have a metric ton of stuff in front of it. Normally pc speakers are kind of crap but I just stumbled into this one and about 20 years after the fact I still have no complaint. I seem to remember that they were from sam's and had a fairly high price tag but I got them on clearance. I guess I just lucked into a good set. |
| bobbyb13:
If you like how they sound then just run 'em til they blow up! |
| RandyT:
--- Quote from: bobbyb13 on August 10, 2021, 02:55:34 am ---If you like how they sound then just run 'em til they blow up! --- End quote --- I agree. I ran a similar PC set for close to 20 years because the newer stuff went down in quality. They probably still work and sound fine. The only reason they got replaced was when I got hooked on FPS games, I started wanting some of that fancy new (at the time) surround sound. :) Just about anything decent is all that's needed for a PC, unless the PC is a central part of your main entertainment system or you use it for media production. |
| Xiaou2:
Altec was known for making some decent pc speakers. Good clean highs. Not super stellar.. but good overall sound for what they were. --- Quote from: RandyT on August 10, 2021, 08:33:15 am --- --- Quote from: bobbyb13 on August 10, 2021, 02:55:34 am ---If you like how they sound then just run 'em til they blow up! --- End quote --- I agree. I ran a similar PC set for close to 20 years because the newer stuff went down in quality. They probably still work and sound fine. The only reason they got replaced was when I got hooked on FPS games, I started wanting some of that fancy new (at the time) surround sound. :) Just about anything decent is all that's needed for a PC, unless the PC is a central part of your main entertainment system or you use it for media production. --- End quote --- I started out by hooking a small stereo boom box to my Sega Genesis. The only PC I had was my grandfathers hand-me-down C64... until I was much older. At 17, I had bought that Pioneer Receiver, and lucked out in finding some amazing old 12" 3way speakers that a guy refoamed. I wish I remembered the company/model. I had also bought an Amiga 500, and I hooked that, and my Genesis up to it. Terminator 2, was my first Laserdisc purchase. I piped the video into the Amiga's monitor. The picture was much clearer than a typical TVs composite input. Hearing the opening Terminator war, blasting laser-guns fire everywhere in surround sound... was epic. Especially at that time... where VHS low-fi was the standard for many years to follow. I didnt actually get a windows based PC, until I found out about Emulation from a friend at work. My first PC was an AMD 233mhz. Of course, it was also hooked up to my Pioneer amp. I never understood why anyone would want inferior tiny PC speakers, that I saw being sold. I never needed them, because I had my amp + full house speakers... which sounded far superior. I listen to all of my music, movies, and games, on my PCs output to the amp. The PC is where I spend the most time... so why would I want inferior sound on it? And when I saw people paying +$300 for a dedicated PC surround system, with those tiny inferior eco speakers? I chuckled. It makes no sense. You can get a superior used +150 watt Amp at a thrift shop for under $30. You can find used bookshelf or house speakers, that are far more powerful, and far more accurate / detailed.. for under $100, on craigslist. Such a setup will be 1000x more enjoyable to your everyday experiences on the PC. It will blow the pants off of those tiny low-quality PC speakers. And, it will likely last you several decades without ANY issues at all. (unless you get a more modern amps, that uses non-lead based soldier... which have a very high failure rate. Those rarely make it to the used market anyways, because they end up failing long before that point) I will say this... That as good as my surround sound system was initially... once I bought a pair of Sennheiser HD 500 headphones... I was blown away. I put them on at like 2am in the morning, and popped a DVD into my PC. When the film started to play... it was very loud... and I realized that I must have left my floor speakers on. I dove for the speaker toggle, while ripping off my headphones... only to realize, that none of my 4 Techniques 3way speakers were "ON" !! These headphones were so clear and dynamic, and created such an incredible 3d Soundstage... that it completely fooled me into thinking my entire surround system was still on! Thats no small task.. as my hearing sensitivity is extremely high. For example, I could hear when the CRT TV was on downstairs, even if I was a good 25 ft away from it. Id hear the high pitched whine it created. It was only then, that I became an actual "Audiophile", and started to go crazy about finding better floor speakers. Also, as good at the HD500 headphones were... I ended up getting a higher end model Sennheiser headphone used... that that was about 2x as clear as the original set. Totally mind blowing. (only problem, is that it revealed every flaw of a bad quality MP3, or low-quality recording. As such, Id sometimes switch between them, depending on what I was listening to) The only reason I ever bought the higher priced Senns... is because I used to destroy headphones in less than a few months time. Often, the cable broke internally. The Audiophile level Senns, have removable replaceable cables. They also offered other replaceable parts, such as a new set of foam pads, for a mere $15. That sold me on them, over a well known brand name that was about 20$ cheaper. My original Senns lasted about 13 yrs, before I managed to snap the headband at a critical joint. That seriously impressive, considering I used to wear them Everywhere.. and for like 8 to 12hrs a day. They also made excellent ear muffs, as they are over-the-ear, and extremely comfortable. In fact, they are so light, and so comfortable... you often forget that you have them on. Unlike many other headphones.. that cause pressure pinching and long term discomfort. Note, that Senns are not Bass-Head headphones. They have bass, but the bass is extremely accurate, rather than being artificially boosted / distorted. These shine best for 3d soundstage, such as for watching films, and playing games that are critical in you hearing an ops relative position.. in 3d space. Of course, they are the best for music as well.. as there is so little distortion, that you hear things that you never used to hear before... in the music that you have listened to for decades. The HD 500 were bassier than the 590 I later got. At first I was displeased with the 590s, due to that lack of bass. Eventually, I piped some very high quality DVD audio, HD youtube vids, and Flac level recordings... and they produced amazing low bass levels that 500 could not touch. So, the issue was the actual bad recordings.. not the headset. I can tell you one thing... that once you hear Audiophile quality sound output... you can Never go back. Its also one of the best purchases to improve the quality of your life. Being an Audiophile, does not mean you have to spend huge amounts of money. You can find a lot of high quality audio gear used, for fairly cheap prices. You just have to do a little research into the gear, and its internals. You can often tell if a speaker is going to be decent.. by how heavy it is. My EPIs may be small... but they weigh about 2x as much at the much larger Techniques (which I ended up leaving behind, as they were total garbage in comparison). The weight was not just from using thicker walled wood.. but also, from heavier speaker magnets / drivers. Also, I advise against Ported speakers, unless it at least has a Passive radiator. The rare exception Ive ran into, are wide open ports, rather than Tube based ports. The wider rectangle ports did not seem to have that farty sound effect. Make sure all drivers are the Originals. (Same size/angle Cone and Cone-Caps. Same colors) Check the surrounds for Foam Rot / cracks. If so, you would need to get them re-foamed, which can be done for less than $100 per driver. Often re-sellers already refoam them before sale. Capacitors in the Crossovers. Caps go bad after decades of time... changing in values. Its often a good idea to replace them. They are fairly cheap, and easy to replace. Always test the speakers, to make sure all drivers are working properly. Check the speaker box edges. I bought a pair that ended up having some spitting at the corners, due to moisture / water damages. It wasnt that bad.. but just something to be aware of. I might have to them, to make sure there is no air-leakage. Not all speakers are what they seem. While certain older 70s speakers are on a whole other level... there were also a lot of cheap crud, that may look decent externally.. but have really poor quality output, due to inferior internal parts. The 80s was about the time when most speaker quality started to drop off drastically. They often added more drivers to seemingly attract people... but overall, they are all low quality drivers, and do not sound that good overall. They also often have woofers that blow way too easily.. so you have to be very careful how hard you push them. Im also not a huge fan of "Horn" speakers. They work well for a night club... but the horn shape seems to drastically distort the audios 3d spatial image. Talk through a cone, and you see that the sound of your voice changes. Its similar to what happens with coned tweeters. Domed midranges. From my experience in hearing many speakers... The most luscious midranges Ive heard so far, came from a Dome shaped midrange. Most were between 2 to 3" in diameter (externally viewed). From what Ive heard described... Ribbon tweeters can produce some incredible sound accuracy.. but, It seems to be very directional. IE: You have to sit Exactly in one particular spot, to get the best effect. They do not seem to spread the sound out as wide, as other tweeter types. Woofter size: From my experience, 8" woofers are typically the smallest woofers you would want to have. They typically can move faster and produce punchier bass than larger woofers. Anything smaller, often cant produce as wide and deep of a bass response... unless its using extreme box tricks, such as tuned ports, to make artificial bass sounds. The better the Woofer driver... the more bass it will produce. For example, my techs 12" woofers, cant produce bass lower nor as powerful, as my EPI 8" woofers. Those coils and stronger magnets, make for a far superior bass experince. That said... I do have a pair of Full sized Advent 10" bullnose speakers. Advents are strange, in that they use a 10" speaker in a 12" metal basket. The bass response they produce, shakes the house. But, IMO.. its way too much for musical accuracy. I only used them on things like movie effect. Such as when watching The Polar Express.. when the train comes in. It literally felt like an actual train was rolling through the living room. They produce a level of bass and vibration, that are similar to a high powered subwoofer. Its quite insane, but again... not good for general music, IMO (way too exaggerated). (I do wonder, if replacing the caps would fix the exaggeration. Ive yet to open them up) Finally... I will say that I tried a specific sound card that had Digital Audio output. Maybe its the age of my amp.. but I can tell you.. that Digital fiber OP, sounded 90% worse than pure Analog. The dynamic range was cut down Drastically... making the sound flat and tinny. I tinkered with it for a bit, and then reverted back to pure analog. Maybe digital works better via RCA connectors... And or, maybe with a newer amp. But I seem to doubt it. According to what I learned about these systems... is that they are extremely limited, and lacking. |
| Osirus23:
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