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Is this an audiophile forum?


Alessio

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1 hour ago, Alessio said:

I'm definitely not an experienced audiophile (i'm mostly a music lover that is trying to improve his listening experience), but i think i've noticed a curious difference between this forum and the few others i've been visiting.

 

On other audiophile forums they all talk about famous amps, high end DACs, huge cables… i mean, all that expensive stuff. And speakers, of course.

 

I'm well aware this is, let me call it, a 'speakers forum', but i'm quite surprised anyway because i don't see any trace of all those expensive devices.

 

Speaking of amps, for example, i've only seen mentioned Crown amps. A brand i wasn't even aware of. I'm not even sure if they are considered hi-fi…?

Btw, i've been reading several threads on biamping, where those Crown amps pop up here and there.

And they're used to pilot quite expensive Klipsch speaker systems.

 

What are your thoughts on that?

 

Please mind that i'm not trying to be polemic at all. I just find all this a little ironic. ;)

Speaking of irony, this makes me guess that if i visit a McIntosh forum, for example, i'll probably find people talking the hell out of McIntosh amps, most of which connected to 'cheap' speakers, because amps are what it's all about. 😅

 

   No doubt this is an Audiophile forum. The big difference here is many have high end SOUNDING systems but do not have $100,000 price tags they feel compelled to brag on. They know what they have and how it works and in many cases are hands on as compared to those who buy by audio reviews that suspiciously tout nothing but $$$$$$$ gear.

 

  I just sold an Integra 50.4 which is supposed to be a very good receiver but certainly not one of those multi thousand dollar deals. I figure I have a pretty high end system and I have migrated to purely Crown amps because in my personal experience they have the best price per watt + quality output and ample capacity for anything. I basically also migrated to purely Pro type speakers because they too have the best sound and I base this on what I have heard personally. I have a system now where the throat length difference between the bass bin woofer and the K-402 horn is 88" and so I have to time align.

 

   I had an MCM 1900 three way system before my current one and it was outstanding but with my newest system I am finding out what all these guys were telling me about bi-amping is true and it brings another whole level of sound quality out. I have never done it with smaller systems so I don't know what the improvement there would be.

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8 minutes ago, Deang said:

We're the sane audiophiles.

Agreed, and personally have never described my love of music as being an audiophile.  In general terms, your journey into speakers and gear is yours and yours alone, and in most cases, on this particular forum, you will get a wealth of information and experience that predominantly, will not belittle your personal choices and preferences.  Nobody can tell you what is pleasing to your ear weather that cost is $1000 or $100,000.  The journey should be fun and enjoyable, not a contest.  Welcome to the forum.

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1 hour ago, Wardsweb said:

While some "audiophiles" do spend a lot of money on their system, spending a lot of money does not make someone an audiophile. To me, an audiophile loves and appreciates music. The gear is a means to an end. So as long as the system delivers live realism and has you get taken away emotionally in the music, that is all that is required, regardless of the cost.

 

I feel many Klipsch speakers fly under the audiophile radar. Sad really because they are a great bang for your buck. The speed, dynamics, realism and ability to articulate a whisper are what I like about my Jubilee and Cornwall III speakers. YMMV

I sold a set of KPT-456's to an Audiogon refugee. He was distraught over the idea that with his income he could never have a good system as he had been assured by the local self anointed ones there that good systems STARTED OFF at $80,000+.  Long story short as I watched his jaw drop when I fired those babies up he left with a set of speakers that cost him $1,500 and sound quality he had been assured he could never afford. What he listened to was was dirt simple. The KPT-456's and I fed my Crown xli800 directly from my PC and used 12g zip cord and he was in heaven on the cheap.

 

  I will never forget what he said about those $$$$$$$ purists. They had him convinced that pure tonal quality was paramount. He had not considered Klipsch until he was really desperate because they had told him Klipsch was to "life like" and not tonally pure. He started off with all that nonsense those guys throw around like "Do you have Dana Crall" or whatever that womans name is the name droppers think is the ultimate. 

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1 hour ago, Thaddeus Smith said:

Yes, this is an audiophile forum. Spend time digging into the subforums and you'll find plenty of people have plenty of expensive gear. And we do our fair share of humble bragging, but we also spend time talking about music theory, source material quality, room treatment, etc. The nature of Klipsch speakers tends to attract people who seek accuracy, transparency, and the optimization of their entire sound reproduction system - precisely because the speakers are so unforgiving.

 

And then there's the people. A great many people that hang around here have decades of experience in the music industry, engineering, exposure to a great many system configurations, and truly eclectic listening preferences. And we're interesting people, too, with a great many side hobbies besides audio and the forum leadership is generous in allowing those "off-topic" discussions to flourish for the sake of building community ties. It's the reason I hang out here and not any other forums. 

Great post 

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To paraphrase the founder of Klipsch and Assocs. "What the world needs is a good 5 watt amplifier" because his original speaker will blow you out of the room at 10 watts.:)

What i think that most klipsch folks will concur with is that 90% or more of the quality of sound of any system is the loudspeaker. Most of the rest is just fluff. Also individuals either like horn loaded loudspeakers or they don't.

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1 hour ago, Alessio said:

Btw, thread title is obviously provocative. 😎

Please don't take it literally.

 

I see there's people on here which has so much knowledge on the audio matter that's kinda scary.

(scary because it just makes me understand how little i do know and how much there is to be aware of)

 

And THAT's also what raises my 'question'.

 

I mean, the same people which are so deeply in the known about frequencies, phase and all that audio world, seem to be useing 'cheap' gear.

Apart from the speakers, of course. ;)

 

That puzzles me.

 

To all my friends, family and others I know. Im Yoda in all thats audio (and its not even close). On this forum Im a humble novice always learning. Plus almost everyone for the most part are really top notch in helping, explaining, and even more just being good people. Its an honor to be part of it IMHO. 

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1 hour ago, wvu80 said:

 

 

I think I may know what Alessio means.  This is a Klipsch forum and as much as we think of Klipsch speakers it is also a place for the followers of Paul W. Klipsch, the man, and his philosophies.

 

PWK had a very down to earth philosophy of how speakers should sound and be engineered, he also had a down to earth idea of what helped that sound and what didn't.  He was very well known for flashing his Bullshit badge whenever he saw an idea which was counter to his audio philosophies.  He was a proponent of lamp cord or zip cord as speaker wire.  He was well known that despite all the hand wringing over minute technical aspects of a speaker and its components, at the end of the day he might declare those things "did not make a dime's worth of difference."

 

I think Klipsch is the working man's audiophile speaker and many of the people here reflect that. 

 

Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

Man this thread is on fire. Another great post. Nice job to the op he has definitely gotten some great responses 👍

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25 minutes ago, Dave A said:

I sold a set of KPT-456's to an Audiogon refugee. He was distraught over the idea that with his income he could never have a good system as he had been assured by the local self anointed ones there that good systems STARTED OFF at $80,000+.  Long story short as I watched his jaw drop when I fired those babies up he left with a set of speakers that cost him $1,500 and sound quality he had been assured he could never afford. What he listened to was was dirt simple. The KPT-456's and I fed my Crown xli800 directly from my PC and used 12g zip cord and he was in heaven on the cheap.

 

  I will never forget what he said about those $$$$$$$ purists. They had him convinced that pure tonal quality was paramount. He had not considered Klipsch until he was really desperate because they had told him Klipsch was to "life like" and not tonally pure. He started off with all that nonsense those guys throw around like "Do you have Dana Crall" or whatever that womans name is the name droppers think is the ultimate. 

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Welcome

 

I think there just may be some misconceptions confusing things.

2 hours ago, Alessio said:

A brand i wasn't even aware of. I'm not even sure if they are considered hi-fi…?

More people here don't use Crown amps than do, you don't know the brand and worry if they are hi-fi, sounds like an audiophile statement. What does it takes to meet your hi-fi standard, sounds like you're not sure except for your knowledge or it's cost,  not a  good way to judge equipment. Very limiting

 

1 hour ago, Alessio said:

My point is, it seems to me (BUT i may be wrong!) that some very knowledgeable forum members put the utmost care in choosing and configuring their speakers while at the same time they're not much interested in all the rest of the chain.

You obviously have not read much here, that's not even close to correct.

 

I like that you are not afraid to ask questions, and question what you got from reading here, some new people never really ask questions like you have. Once you get to know the general attitude toward equipment around here you will see it is way different than your initial ideas might have led you to think.

 

As far as the word audiophile, it sometimes is taken in two different ways and one not so good which is why that word rubs some the wrong way.  imo

 

The good way is someone who's hobby is sound reproduction, movies or music and trying to get the best quality they can achieve with their budget.  Always knowing there is room for improvement, but love what they put together and the quality of sound they have considering how much has been spent.

 

The bad way is someone who judges everything on brand name, reputation and cost. Sound quality must be good if it's xyz 's top of the line, not always true and being snobby about it does not make it sound better. The kind of person who like to impress others with the invoice.

 

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1 hour ago, Edgar said:

 

In some ways the Klipsch forum is more like a hotrodder's forum than an exotic car forum. You can buy a 600 hp Ferrari and smugly drive down the highway, or you can build a 600 hp camaro that will run with it for a lot less money. No, the Camaro will never be a Ferrari, but the Ferrari owner will never know the satisfaction of having put it all together himself. Same applies to some of the systems put together by Klipsch owners.

My system is a Camaro with a Ferrari engine!

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19 minutes ago, dtel said:

Welcome

 

I think there just may be some misconceptions confusing things.

More people here don't use Crown amps than do, you don't know the brand and worry if they are hi-fi, sounds like an audiophile statement. What does it takes to meet your hi-fi standard, sounds like you're not sure except for your knowledge or it's cost,  not a  good way to judge equipment. Very limiting

 

You obviously have not read much here, that's not even close to correct.

 

I like that you are not afraid to ask questions, and question what you got from reading here, some new people never really ask questions like you have. Once you get to know the general attitude toward equipment around here you will see it is way different than your initial ideas might have led you to think.

 

As far as the word audiophile, it sometimes is taken in two different ways and one not so good which is why that word rubs some the wrong way.  imo

 

The good way is someone who's hobby is sound reproduction, movies or music and trying to get the best quality they can achieve with their budget.  Always knowing there is room for improvement, but love what they put together and the quality of sound they have considering how much has been spent.

 

The bad way is someone who judges everything on brand name, reputation and cost. Sound quality must be good if it's xyz 's top of the line, not always true and being snobby about it does not make it sound better. The kind of person who like to impress others with the invoice.

 

Wise indeed sir. +1

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What he said!  ^^^^^^^^^

 

This place is great whether you're deep into music or deep into components.  You obviously are both just like the majority of us here.  The members here are from all walks of life and each one of us is truly interested in comments that are made.  For the most part!  Ha!  You'll find tons of info on just about everything "sound" related.  Who runs what, who likes what, the entire gamut!  From coffee, cd's, LP's, streaming, jokes, to modifications and building of speakers.  The majority of members truly believe in Paul Klipsch and his contribution to sound reproduction.  Why?  He was truly a genius and after 70 years his stuff is STILL COOKIN!  Now it's time to warm up my tubes and throw on an LP!  Nice day here today and I could be doing yard work but you have to have priorities yanno!  Welcome to the Forum!  

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53 minutes ago, Dave A said:

I sold a set of KPT-456's to an Audiogon refugee. He was distraught over the idea that with his income he could never have a good system as he had been assured by the local self anointed ones there that good systems STARTED OFF at $80,000+.  Long story short as I watched his jaw drop when I fired those babies up he left with a set of speakers that cost him $1,500 and sound quality he had been assured he could never afford. What he listened to was was dirt simple. The KPT-456's and I fed my Crown xli800 directly from my PC and used 12g zip cord and he was in heaven on the cheap.

 

  I will never forget what he said about those $$$$$$$ purists. They had him convinced that pure tonal quality was paramount. He had not considered Klipsch until he was really desperate because they had told him Klipsch was to "life like" and not tonally pure. He started off with all that nonsense those guys throw around like "Do you have Dana Crall" or whatever that womans name is the name droppers think is the ultimate. 

 

If TOO "life like" is wrong I don't want to be right!

 

If people ask, I usually refer to myself as "a bit of an audio nut."   

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46 minutes ago, Heritage_Head said:

Man this thread is on fire. Another great post. Nice job to the op he has definitely gotten some great responses 👍

 

=== as a point of reference, threads here are not “on fire” until they hit around 50+ pages of mostly argumentative back and forth to eventually be closed. Just sayin’ — 

This thread makes too much sense to be on 🔥 - and eventually doused —

 

 

 

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I just like good sound and dynamics coming from a horn.   There is no welder needed to push them, there is no masking of any bad recordings or missing out on any nuances....you hear everything from the signal as it is.    Dynamics are the first things I miss when listening to virtually any speaker not involving of at least a mid horn.

 

And the beauty part is, with so little power needed, they sound fabulous even with a ho hum AVR that is barely idling along at less than one watt and showing extremely good THD numbers.  While all along, the plethora of boutique towers and what have you are having to be fed tons of coal to keep up which always brings in the questions of the "cleanliness" of the power side of the system.

 

More sound, less power and higher ohms is beneficial...and its something that the whole market never got except the man himself.

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3 minutes ago, richieb said:

 

=== as a point of reference, threads here are not “on fire” until they hit around 50+ pages of mostly argumentative back and forth to eventually be closed. Just sayin’ — 

This thread makes too much sense to be on 🔥 - and eventually doused —

 

 

 

Fair enough 👍

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