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PA and Studio Monitor speakers vs HiFi modified sound

StereoDav

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Hello to all. Guys just to clear the facts and myths about the sound reproduction. I have decided to post this thread because I come across many threads that actually mislead the potential buyers or people who want to get precise answer about the sound types.
First of all , there is a huge difference between PA/Monitors and HIFI. The most credible and proper sound no matter what type of music / tunes you would like to listen to - is only via PA and Monitor speakers ! HiFi works totally the other way round - it is not supposed to give you the best reproduction because it is a falsified sound modified by the speakers' crossovers. Moreover, HiFi is extremely overpriced where many buyers give you much money and are duped for this worse sound reproduction. Mind this , most sound engineers do not use HiFi in their studios ! PA speakers are not only about volume , PA and monitors give you the most direct sound often with acoustics DSP or EQ to hear as much detail as possible. Now many PA listeners will say , they sound too detailed or sharp , yes ! It is supposed to be like that , this is the sound of the studio guys. I spent many years listening to HiFi and were never satisfied because of the modified crossovers that actually spoil the output throwing away the detail and making me fatigued. So to me listening to PA or monitor sound give me the most pleasure when I want to hear as much detail and power as possible. Also PA / monitors cannot usually be found in popular shops because they are profi products and look too dull for consumers who have often no idea about the difference. All in all it is of course a matter of taste at the end.
 
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Ruhled

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Sorry friend but crossovers are not the evil you make them out to be. This is a bunch of gibberish. And my main system has "pa" speakers and tubes so even though i know what I like, I also know blanket statements like this are useless and wrong. There are as many good hifi speakers as poor pa speakers out there.
 
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StereoDav

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I do not agree totally with your answer. It was not the point of my thread first of all. If someone says that crossover does not play a huge role in speaker design then we have nothing to talk about. Do not confuse my thread with a matter of taste. Gibberish is when someone spends 200k on a speaker cable saying it has improved his sound...
 

NiagaraPete

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Hello to all. Guys just to clear the facts and myths about the sound reproduction. I have decided to post this thread because I come across many threads that actually mislead the potential buyers or people who want to get precise answer about the sound types.
First of all , there is a huge difference between PA/Monitors and HIFI. The most credible and proper sound no matter what type of music / tunes you would like to listen to - is only via PA and Monitor speakers ! HiFi works totally the other way round - it is not supposed to give you the best reproduction because it is a falsified sound modified by the speakers' crossovers. Moreover, HiFi is extremely overpriced where many buyers give you much money and are duped for this worse sound reproduction. Mind this , most sound engineers do not use HiFi in their studios ! PA speakers are not only about volume , PA and monitors give you the most direct sound often with acoustics DSP or EQ to hear as much detail as possible. Now many PA listeners will say , they sound too detailed or sharp , yes ! It is supposed to be like that , this is the sound of the studio guys. I spend many years listening to HiFi and were never satisfied because of the modified crossovers that actually spoil the output throwing away the detail and making me fatigued. So to me listening to PA or monitor sound give me the most pleasure when I want to hear as much detail and power as possible. Also PA / monitors cannot usually be found in popular shops because they are profi products and look too dull for consumers who have often no idea about the difference. All in all it is of course a matter of taste at the end.
You should probably have a listen to Genelec and Neumann. Both are commercial monitors that work brilliantly in a home environment .
 

AdamG

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DVDdoug

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Of course PA speakers & monitors also have crossovers.

In some PA systems (and in some home systems) an active crossover is used. An active crossover is standard for the (active) subwoofer in home theater receivers.

HiFi works totally the other way round - it is not supposed to give you the best reproduction because it is a falsified sound

High fidelity literally means highly-faithful. That is, faithful-accurate reproduction of the recording.

Good hi-fi speakers and good studio monitors can be interchangeable. Studio monitors can often handle more power and go louder. They are designed to be played loud all day, every day and remain reliable.

The trend in monitors is active monitors, and typically they are bi-amped or tri-amped. Most home speakers are passive (except for the subwoofer). There are potential advantages to active speakers. It's easier to build in EQ (analog or digital) to help flatten frequency response. But of course, that doesn't automatically make every active speaker sound better than every passive.

Home speakers are usually designed to look better in a living room, and most monitors look more industrial.

With the popularity of home theater with 5 or more main/surround speakers plus a subwoofer, the trend is toward smaller speakers. But small monitors are also popular because small home studios are now common,

PA speakers are usually highly sensitive/efficient (more SPL per Watt) and they can handle high power. With PA subwoofers there is usually a compromise for more output at the expense of losing the deepest bass, so they can fill a large venue with powerful bass. It's easier to fill a living room or recording studio with strong, deep, smooth, bass.

Also PA / monitors cannot usually be found in popular shops because
Different market... Different application and different customers. You don't buy an 18-wheeler or a race car from your Toyota dealer.

To me, the biggest difference between live music and home listening is the room. I LOVE the acoustics of a good music hall! I've had my (large) speakers in a "dance hall" a couple of times for DJ gigs and they sound much better in a larger room. Another difference is that almost all commercial recordings are dynamically compressed.
 
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StereoDav

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Of course PA speakers & monitors also have crossovers.

In some PA systems (and in some home systems) an active crossover is used. An active crossover is standard for the (active) subwoofer in home theater receivers.



High fidelity literally means highly-faithful. That is, faithful-accurate reproduction of the recording.

Good hi-fi speakers and good studio monitors can be interchangeable. Studio monitors can often handle more power and go louder. They are designed to be played loud all day, every day and remain reliable.

The trend in monitors is active monitors, and typically they are bi-amped or tri-amped. Most home speakers are passive (except for the subwoofer). There are potential advantages to active speakers. It's easier to build in EQ (analog or digital) to help flatten frequency response. But of course, that doesn't automatically make every active speaker sound better than every passive.

Home speakers are usually designed to look better in a living room, and most monitors look more industrial.

With the popularity of home theater with 5 or more main/surround speakers plus a subwoofer, the trend is toward smaller speakers. But small monitors are also popular because small home studios are now common,

PA speakers are usually highly sensitive/efficient (more SPL per Watt) and they can handle high power. With PA subwoofers there is usually a compromise for more output at the expense of losing the deepest bass, so they can fill a large venue with powerful bass. It's easier to fill a living room or recording studio with strong, deep, smooth, bass.


Different market... Different application and different customers. You don't buy an 18-wheeler or a race car from your Toyota dealer.

To me, the biggest difference between live music and home listening is the room. I LOVE the acoustics of a good music hall! I've had my (large) speakers in a "dance hall" a couple of times for DJ gigs and they sound much better in a larger room. Another difference is that almost all commercial recordings are dynamically compressed.
Great post. Thanks. Ok I need to apologize a bit my lack of technical explanation and knowledge. What I meant is that I have never used before PA and active monitors and find them simply great sounding to me. Of course , HiFi can give you great sound, just different. What I exactly meant is that active monitors give you precise flat response where each frequency has the same volume and in PAs probably what I like is their high sensitivity and powerful projection what makes me less fatigued to strain ears for picking up details like in HiFi. Also, I did not intend to be troll here. Just a new broadband active PA fan. Wanted to share my thoughts based on years of sound analysis.
 
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StereoDav

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Yes, I meant middle to upper price range PAs and studio monitors where they can really shine in comparison to HiFi.
 

AdamG

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Yes, I meant middle to upper price range PAs and studio monitors where they can really shine in comparison to HiFi.
If I may interject a suggestion. Slow your roll and peruse our Audio Science Video Library. Just watch a few that catch your interest and you will come away with a deeper understanding of the audience here. We primarily focus on Science and Engineering data and we pay less attention to opinions unless supported by the data. Our bench of Professional Scientists, Engineers and Audio designers is fairly diverse.

@StereoDav Welcome Aboard Sir. ;)

 
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StereoDav

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If I may interject a suggestion. Slow your roll and peruse our Audio Science Video Library. Just watch a few that catch your interest and you will come away with a deeper understanding of the audience here. We primarily focus on Science and Engineering data and we pay less attention to opinions unless supported by the data. Our bench of Professional Scientists, Engineers and Audio designers is fairly diverse.

@StereoDav Welcome Aboard Sir. ;)

 

kemmler3D

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So I think most people here would actually agree with your underlying assertion - which (as I understand it) is that truly faithful sound reproduction is better than colored "hi-fi" speakers.

The reality is that the line is a little blurry between the two categories. Hi-fi speakers like B&W are generally not suitable for monitoring because they're very colored. But "Hi-fi" (read: not marketed as PA or monitors) speakers from Ascend or KEF could work as monitors because they have nice flat frequency responses. Then you have JBL, which is interesting because some of their PA and monitor designs also show up in designs marketed to consumers.

And as others have mentioned, speakers from Neumann, Genelec and ATC, which are marketed as studio monitors, have also found some fans for at-home listening because they sound really good, as you note. (I'm listening to some Genelecs right now.) :)

Almost all speakers have crossovers... this is just the name for the filters that separate frequencies for different drivers in a single speaker. They can be used to make speakers more accurate, or less.

Anyway, welcome to ASR - I think you will find the prevailing attitudes agreeable, but as @AdamG said I think you can slow down a bit as (from what I can tell) we all pretty much agree here. :)
 
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StereoDav

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So I think most people here would actually agree with your underlying assertion - which (as I understand it) is that truly faithful sound reproduction is better than colored "hi-fi" speakers.

The reality is that the line is a little blurry between the two categories. Hi-fi speakers like B&W are generally not suitable for monitoring because they're very colored. But "Hi-fi" (read: not marketed as PA or monitors) speakers from Ascend or KEF could work as monitors because they have nice flat frequency responses. Then you have JBL, which is interesting because some of their PA and monitor designs also show up in designs marketed to consumers.

And as others have mentioned, speakers from Neumann, Genelec and ATC, which are marketed as studio monitors, have also found some fans for at-home listening because they sound really good, as you note. (I'm listening to some Genelecs right now.) :)

Almost all speakers have crossovers... this is just the name for the filters that separate frequencies for different drivers in a single speaker. They can be used to make speakers more accurate, or less.

Anyway, welcome to ASR - I think you will find the prevailing attitudes agreeable, but as @AdamG said I think you can slow down a bit as (from what I can tell) we all pretty much agree here. :)
Thanks. So please tell me why JBL sells HiFi and Studio Monitors ? Why Dynaudio sells Dyna HiFi and Dyna Studio professional ?
 

DLS79

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Thanks. So please tell me why JBL sells HiFi and Studio Monitors ? Why Dynaudio sells Dyna HiFi and Dyna Studio professional ?

Because far to many people don't use their brains! Lots of people believe monitors are only for studio work and HiFi is only for consumers and vice versa. Thus manufactures wanting to maximize profit (within reason), will make both and not waste time trying to fight the stereotypes.
 
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StereoDav

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Because far to many people don't use their brains! Lots of people believe monitors are only for studio work and HiFi is only for consumers and vice versa. Thus manufactures wanting to maximize profit (within reason), will make both and not waste time trying to fight the stereotypes.
This is a bold statement. Do you think most known studio engineers and mixers would also agree ? I doubt it.
 
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