Too " Bright"?

[Luchman]

About the SF-1's ive been seeing reviews about them being a little "bright" in sound. What does that mean?

Thanks

[tpg]

The brightness comes from horn-loaded tweeters. It gives the highs a boost, and some people say this sounds bright. Most of us here like it, or we wouldn't be here.

Someone more in depth with the horn-ness can tell you more though.

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SoundWise / ProMedia Tech Support / 1-888-554-5665s>

[Soundthought]

I have an answer for you.

This message has been edited by Audioreality on 08-13-2002 at 01:22 AM

[Soundthought]

But i'm having difficulty with triple posting.

I went through hello to edit these three posts.

I posted once, it didn't show it registered.

I did it again, same thing.

Did it a third time. nothing.

So i went about my business elsewhere.

When i popped back in to see what's shakin, I noticed my post was here 3 times. Uggg.

So here we go.

An answer to your question.

This message has been edited by Audioreality on 08-13-2002 at 01:31 AM

[Soundthought]

Hi there,

The reason many people refer to horns as being bright is because a horn is designed to channel more of the sound towards the listener.

In a non horn loaded driver, soundwaves leave the cone and spread out in all directions causing losses of acoustical energy.

In a high frequency horn, that same lost energy is captured in the horn throat and focused.

It then is "sprayed" towards you in a calculated pattern.

It's called the dispersion rate.

The focused sound then reaches your ears with more definition and clarity.

A great deal more sonic information is reaching you before it has absorbed into the environment and dissipated into space.

This cuases the "brightness".

So what you hear as bright, is really what's considered "more accurate".

The truth is "once you go horns, you'll never go back."

It does take a few to get used to them, but after that, anything not horn loaded sounds kinda flat. IMO.

[kenratboy]

Post *****!

Just triple post everything and you will beat Justin in no time!

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[T2K]

"It then is "sprayed" towards you in a calculated pattern."

I've never seen a speaker "spray" anything. I have seen a cat spray a bush. I once saw a fireman spray water on a burning car. I use a throat spray occasionally. I have seen sprays at funerals.

Many consider some Klipsch speakers "bright". I do. Listen to the speakers yourself, in your own home if possible, before commiting to their purchase. To do otherwise is not very bright.

Keith

[boa12]

ttk, those dang tomcats use to spray my leg too.

also, keep in mind which amp, preamp, receiver may somewhat color the sound toward "brightness". some like me have been to enough of them loud rock n' roll concerts usually using horns to have their hearing dimmed which takes away some of that "brightness".

like keith says, best to 1st demo at home w/ your ears,

stuff & room/environment.

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My Home Systems Page

[WMcD]

Lunchman,

Brightness, to my knowledge, means that there seems to be more high treble than the listener believes is warranted.

The term isn't restricted to horns, although some horn systems are judged as being bright.

There is a lot to consider about subjective analysis. In my experience, natural tones of instruments like cymbals, and violins, in person, sound much more harsh and bright than through mainstream speakers playing recordings. So there is a school of thought that bright speakers may be more accurate, and also sound bright at the same time.

Gil

[Manuel Delaflor]

The so called "bright" or even "harsh" sound of Klipsch speakers is commong thinking. We all know that. But I really wonders what does this "bright" sound is?

I mean, the must known reference (the frequency response graph) doesn't show that brightness, there are no overemphasized frequencies overall, at least no more than other speakers manufacturer's.

So, where it is?

My guess is that the perceived "brightness" is simply a more reactive way to reaction to sound, something like the speed of reaction.

Does this makes sense?

[tripod]

I went to a Tweeter store several months ago when I began shopping for new speakers. I had absolutely no allegiance to any particular brand and didn't really know what was considered a better brand than others. I first bought a new center channel (SC-1) then towers (SF-2's) two months later.

My approach to selecting speakers consisted of first isolating just the center channel in the listening room, then switching between EVERY choice they had on the shelves. I did many, many A/B comparisons, narrowed down my preferences, then did more A/B comparisons. It was amazing how many of the high price units I ruled out from 20 feet across the room, without any idea of what brand they were or how much they cost. Several of the very expensive models did sound as good as the Klipsch, but none of the cheaper ones did. When I shared my preference with the salesman he stated, "yeah, they do tend to be brighter than others, some people like that". I was shocked to learn that clarity and realism were looked down upon.

Anyway, the point of this long story is that I recommend going to the store and listening to as many of the speakers as you can. I think it is VERY important to do this with as little prior knowledge (marketing bias) as possible. Just listen to the speakers and decide which sound best to you. Some will be expensive, some will be in your range, I'm guessing you'll like the Klipsch in a blind trial. To me, bright equals clarity.

[Klipschguy]

Subjectively, the highs coming from my Cornwalls are well balanced and mellow (my preference). Conversely, the highs from my Heresys are bright and brassy. Horns can be mellow, it just depends the output level. To each his own - that's why people buy different speakers. BTW, my Cornwalls and Heresys are performing flawlessly.