|   Sound - Bright - Warm? | Crankit
Jan 19, 2002 7:39 AM | | Everytime anyone debates over what speakers or hardware to use bright and warm are brought up. Can we go into what the opinions of what bright and warm are?
When I was deciding whether or not to get Paradigms or B&W's I was often told that Paradigm was the brighter speaker and B&W was more detailed but still considered bright?
One of the biggest factors in me getting new speakers and ditching what I had (Klipsch Reference series 7) was because they were so hard on my ears/ BRIGHT!
From what I've read most associate bright with harsh highs and warm with low driving detailed speakers. Although B&W's are considered very detailed yet bright speakers. All of the salesmen I have spoken to told me that B&W are considered bright but they are some of the most accurate/detailed speakers you will find.
Paradigms were considered (by the salesmen) a bright speaker with less detail overall then the B&W's but with more of a soundstage.
But I often heard from sources that a bigger soundstage often goes hand and hand with warm.
This gets pretty confusing when you are throw $3 to 10,000 dollars out for a sound system and you want to make sure you are a smart consumer and getting what you are after and paying for. |
| re: Sound - Bright - Warm? | Dick Hertz
Jan 19, 2002 8:41 AM | | Well, I'm not very bright, but I am kind of warm. Bright (in my understanding) refers to a speaker that emphasizes the upper mid-range, lower treble frequency spectrum. Warm refers to somewhat of a de-emphasis on this region with a resulting increase in the lower mid-range. I'm sure others have their own perceptions. Really, they're just rough guidelines. Your amp and source equipment come into play as well. If you have a tube amp for instance, I wouldn't go for a speaker that tends toward the warm side. The result may just be mush. |
| re: Sound - Bright - Warm? | FLZapped
Jan 19, 2002 9:08 AM | | Bright=more high frequncies.
Warm*=less high frequencies.
*Except for tube amps where it means lots of 2nd harmonic distortion.
-Bruce |
| re: Sound - Bright - Warm? | Doug C.
Jan 19, 2002 10:01 AM | | My experience is that generally when people describe a speaker as detailed and accurate, the word bright is included to some degree.
I like to listen at high volumes from time to time for extended periods and a bright speaker will tear your ear durms to shreads under these conditions. If you only listen at low to moderate volumes, a speaker that leans to the bright side can be quite pleasing.
I have the Studio 100's and can play them very loud without a hint of harsh high end. What I really love about these speakers is that although they are smooth on the high end, they have an incredible ammount of detail.
In the end, it does not matter what anyone else thinks about a speaker, let your ears be the judge. Everyone's perception of what sounds good is different.
The point was made that better speakers will reveal any weakness of upstream electronics if they exist. A good amp will make the 100's sing.
Doug C. |
| re: Sound - Bright - Warm? | CHRIS8
Jan 19, 2002 9:00 PM | | The previous posters were correct about 'bright'. This is usually a result of speaker with an extremely flat treble response relative to the midrange. Some designers shelf the tweeter about 1db below the average response of the midrannge on purpose. IMO, shelving the tweeter a bit sounds much more natural. I have not seen an anechoic or gated frequency measurment of a B&W, but I'm guessing that they aim for the flattest response. I like the B&W, but I think they could definately pad their tweeter down just a touch. I do wish, however, they would lose the metal dome tweeters. Extended listening is bothersome with those things, at least to me.
-Chris |
| And the missing ingredient is knowing what you like and ..... | Debbi
Jan 20, 2002 2:48 PM | | .....what you listen to. When I come home from a night sitting close to a Jazz horn, frankly I think my Klipsch RB5s(paid 399 for the pair) sound closer to what I just heard than my brothers 8,000.00 B & W 802s in terms of the brash instrumentation. Lets face it, a trumpet makes a strident noise which would be annoying out of the context of music. If I read your post correctly, your complaint is the bright high end. You have what most people consider to be a "good" set of speakers. If the "brightness" is the sole concern, why not use the tone controls and make a further evaluation of your speakers as to other areas as well.A month or so ago, I dug out an old set of Polk RT35s from the garage. When I bought the Klipsch,I was convinced that the polks were a "muddy" generic boxstore speaker. I enjoyed the Polks for a week or so. They are pleasant little pounders and sound good with elevator music content. That is not necessarily a fatal flaw since much of what we listen to does not make great demands on a speaker and is easy for most moderate priced speakers to reproduce.I hooked up the Klipsch(SB3s) again and had a new appreciation for the sharpness vs the droning of the Polks.Maybe the lesson here is that we always want what we don't have, thats why brothels exist. |
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