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Home audio question

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by brad34695, Dec 11, 2007.

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  1. Banjoman

    Banjoman Member

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    Just some clarification on my last post. As mentioned, I've listened to the same set of (large) speakers for over 30 years. Some occasional maintenance has been necessary like re-edging the wolfer cones but, all-in-all, they are still fine speakers. I'm also still running the same Marantz receiver to power the speakers and it's still putting out its legendary smooth sounds. The point is that what you buy now may be around for a long time so chose wisely my son. People tend to hold on to their speakers and pianos which have much longer lives than, say, their cars. :)
     
    #21 Banjoman, Dec 16, 2007
  2. brad34695

    brad34695 New Member

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    I just wanted to send a follow up post regarding my inital post. I took the advice of some who posted and I recently bought a pair of Paradigm monitor series speakers. Oh my, what sound!!! I brought a CD w/ me when I sampled them in the audio showroom, and they sound even better at home. What I thought was odd was the salesperson put my CD in and adjusted his driver settings on all flat (0db).

    I noticed one thing, I needed to adjust my little 5 band equalizer on my home reciever with them. With my old JBLs I would run all 5 bands close to all the way up. I cant't do that w/ the Paradigms as that causes the bass to be almost nonexistant, with far too much empahsis on the highs. It sounds clean at those old settings, but doesn't give enough bass for me.

    Now I have the 100 and 330Hz almost all the way at +10db with 1khz at flat 0db. 3.3 Khz and 10Khz are at 3/4 and all the way up respectfully. Does all this mean I would benefit from getting a subwoofer to go along with the speakers?

    Anyway these speakers now that I have made the adjustment are so good! I want to buy a second pair ASAP to surround-sound my home office as I spend 40+ hours a week in here working away. I might as well enjoy my music while doing so, right?

    I really wish to thank all those that contributed and those that recommended Paradigm. I bought this pair w/ the speakers stands included for $569. That's the best $569 I've ever spent!!

    Brad
    Tampa Bay Florida
     
    #22 brad34695, Jan 21, 2008
  3. priusenvy

    priusenvy Senior Member

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    I was the one who recommended some lightly used Paradigm Studios (next higher series in the Paradigm line-up).

    Not odd at all. You've either got some really severe interactions going on between your speakers and your room acoustics, or (more likely), you have no idea what decent sound reproduction sounds like. Those corrections you're making are completely nonsensical, and far in excess of what would be needed or recommended in the typical listening room.

    Are your speakers in phase? Do you know how to check (or what it means for them to be in-phase)? If they aren't in phase, this could be responsible for the reduced bass output.

    Oh yeah, like Tom Cruise in "Risky Business" (snicker).

    Go listen to a few decent systems and maybe have a friend who knows something about audio reproduction come over and listen to your system. You shouldn't need those massive corrections you're making - in fact, they should make the system sound pretty awful.
     
    #23 priusenvy, Jan 22, 2008
  4. brad34695

    brad34695 New Member

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    PriusEnvy:

    Thanks for your reply and please try to excuse my audiophile ignorance. I checked to see if my speakers were hooked up correctly and they are. Positive is hooked up to positive and negative to negative.

    Could my receiver be too inferior to my new speakers? I am running an old 1979 Pioneer SX-1900. Since it is almost 30 years old, I thought maybe its somewhat dated to newer speaker technology. Worst case scenario is to invite the dealer who sold me the Paradigms and have him give me a home audio consultation. Even if that means paying him a $100 or so for 15 minutes of his time, it might be money well spent in the long run.

    Brad
     
    #24 brad34695, Jan 22, 2008
  5. lenjack

    lenjack Active Member

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    Don't pay for a home consult. Buy a receiver from a store that accepts returns. Try it and if you percieve no difference, return it for a full refund. If the 30 yr old Pioneer is working properly, a new receiver will likely make little or no difference, but being 30 yrs old, there's a good chance that it has problems not worth fixing. Again, try new and return as needed.

    Also, I agree that your equalizer settings are WAY out of line.
     
    #25 lenjack, Jan 22, 2008
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