Stereotype Hifi Blog

Being in the Hifi business I have the opportunity to play with many products of various performance and price. It is just natural to play with the more expensive gear because that is where the excitement lies! But life is about balance, we are all different and different things are important to us. We all started somewhere at someplace in life. I did too.

I still remember my first Hifi set I bought. I remember how I did my research, how I saved up and then finally had to borrow a few $ from my bank before I could buy my dream system. I still remember how excited I was, that new smell right out of the box. I felt the weight, looked at the finish, set it up and listened to it for the first time. It SOUNDED MUCH BETTER than in the shop! Maybe it was my imagination? Who cares, it was mine! I was hooked.

However it did not take a long time before the ‘upgrade bug’ got hold of me. I still remember that adrenaline rush to search and save up for the new amp, then new speakers and so on… About 10 years later I sold my last component of my first Hifi set, a Technics SL-1200 turntable. I replaced it with a Technics SL-1100, the father of them all, which I still have today.

Why this story? Because I came across a set of speakers that are targeted for the first time buyer, but unlike the cheap plastic rubbish that are now dished up for the young, this is something special, something I would have been proud to own as a first time buyer. So if you are on a budget (or perhaps even if you’re not) this is for you. Why? Because not every Tom, Dick and Harry will have them and you will not get them at the stores that sell the plastic models. The really good news is that you will not pay more, in fact you will pay less for a far better product, that will sound better and will last longer!

When I look at a new audio product to buy I look at these four L’s in this order: LOOKS, LABEL (Brand), LIST price (RRP) and if a product ticks these 3 L’s then I will finally LISTEN to it. I will only consider buying a product if it tics all four L’s. The new Mordaunt Short Carnival speakers are such products. I was stunned when I first lay my eyes, hands and ears onto them, how is this possible for this kind of money? Let’s look at how these new speakers fit the 4 x L criteria.

LOOKS

• Modern, stylish slim-line MDF cabinets – no chip board here
• Attractive ‘wood look’ finish – no cheap, shiny plastic here.
• Woven composite ‘Kevlar type’ driver cones with proper metal phase plugs – no plastic dummy plugs here
• Proper rubber surrounds for durability – not cheap foam that perishes

The Carnival 6 and 8 floorstanders come with outrigger feet and spikes to stabilize them. They even have a separate mass loading compartment at the bottom that you can fill with sand to anchor them to your floor to make their bass even more solid and to reduced cabinet vibration even further. Both the floorstanders and the Carnival 2 book shelf can be bi-wired as well! The bass reflex ports are on the front allowing closer placement to the back wall without the dreaded bass drone of rear ported products. All these features are trademarks of high end speakers and it is a very nice touch of Mordaunt Short to add them to the Carnival range at this price point.

The black finish looks like real wood, its a black ash, not a black satin finish.

The three ‘show models’ in the range to me is the tiny Carnival 1, the ultra slim-line small Carnival 6 floor-stander and the Carnival 7 sub.

The Carnival 1 is a tiny speaker, about the size of your hand, but to give them heart Mordaunt Short made them sealed units, thus no bass reflex port that can make that terrible port noise on small speakers. You can also mount them directly against the wall (they come with small brackets fitted). The Carnival 1’s are far better looking in their wood look finish than their mass market plastic speaker counterparts. More importantly, they sound like a proper speaker not like a transistor radio speaker, but they do need to be paired with a subwoofer to reach the lower notes.

The Carnival 6 is to me the star in the range. It ticks all the right boxes. It’s a super slim line model, only 910 mm high with its spikes fitted. They have a soft dome tweeter and two bass/mid range drivers. The grill only covers the drivers on the cabinet and leaves enough wood to enhance their aesthetic appeal.

The Carnival 7 sub is next on the list. This must be one of the most elegant subs I have seen, it’s small, less than a 12″ cube but with a performance that will stun you. The four outrigger feet and spikes are a further nice touch to add to their looks. So this new Carnival range definitely ticks the LOOK box with great WAF (Wife Acceptance factor).

LABEL

The Brand Mordaunt Short is one of the great success stories of UK speaker manufacturers. They have a great pedigree that stood the test of time for more than 40 years and has won many awards for their speakers. Unlike most other British speakers companies like Wharfedale, Kef, Mission, Quad etc that have sold to Chinese companies, Mordaunt Short are still a UK company with huge research and design facilities in the UK. Every component in every speaker, even their drivers are all in-house propriety designs. They produce some of the most advance drivers you can find today holding various patent rights on speaker designs and drivers that span over many years. So you can tick the LABEL box as well.

LIST PRICE

When I first heard the RRP of these speakers I thought it was per speaker not per pair! The RRP in NZ $ range from only $249 pr to $1099 pr for the most expensive Carnival 8′s, and when compared to overseas pricing, NZ is one of the cheapest places to get these incredible speakers.

How they can do all this for so little money is beyond me? The only thing I can think of is that Mordaunt Short realised that they had to be better than the onslaught from the east. They have done it and we benefit from that… so you can definitely tick the PRICE box!

LISTENING TESTS

As pointed out before one of the stars for me in this line up is the Carnival 6 floorstanders. They must be the best value for money floor-standers available in NZ to-date. Their sound is crystal clear, with a rich midrange and the bass is tight and fast, lacking only the deep bass notes which is in any case you can leave for a sub. The sound is slightly on the bright side of neutral but that is best for Home Theatre in any case. So this is an ideal speaker if your choice is 60% movies and 40% music.

When compared to normal floor-standing speakers the Carnival 6 looks very slim-lined and aesthetically pleasing see picture comparing it to the Mordaunt Short Aviano 6.

If you want to go for 70% music then I would go for its big brother the Carnival 8. This is a lot of speaker for the money and makes for some serious competition for floorstanders under the $1500 mark. Delivering big sound and solid bass and a rich full bodied midrange, while the treble is slightly toned down compared to its smaller brother, the Carnival 6 however this makes the Carnival 8 a more listenable music speaker that you can turn up quite loud before the treble becomes too prominent.

Of the two bookshelf models the Carnival 1 is definitely the looker. This is one of the most beautiful and striking looking micro speakers I have seen. It’s very well built with a lot of weight showing no skimping on cheap magnets here and yes the phase plug is real not a fake one and the plug itself is metal not plastic! It’s a sealed enclosure and there in lies a small problem… They are not as efficient as the others in the range and thus needs more power to drive than their bigger brothers. Strange but true (see our blog on efficiency). However they have the advantage that you can hang them directly on the wall with none of the problems you will have with speakers with bass reflex ports.

I think that was Mordaunt short’s idea with this model: to use them in movie 5.1 setup that you can directly hang on the walls (they come with small wall brackets already fitted). Thus when you combining them with the dedicated Carnival 5 centre and the Carnival 7 sub you will get an entry level, all wood look, 5.1 movie set that can take on more expensive sets at a fraction of the cost. They are crisp and clear sounding with a clear midrange so you will hear every detail, backed up by a tight and punchy sub.

The much larger Carnival 2’s are definitely the better sounding model of the two bookshelf models. They have the same clarity as the Carnival 6’s but the midrange is where they really shine. To me delicate vocals sound the best on the Carnival 2 speakers. So if that is your preferred music taste go for them and just add the Carnival 7 or 9 sub to give you that extra bit of bass they lack. This is also the speakers that Sam Telling of Stereophile raved about. I cannot say it better than the well respected Sam Telling so I rather quote him:

Stereophile: Mordaunt-Short Carnival 2 loudspeaker By Sam Tellig, August 2009.

The Carnival 2s imaged like crazy. Their soundstage was deep and wide, the images solid and stable. What’s wrong with these $250 sneakers-er, speakers? Nothing. Buy a pair just for fun.

The treble was refined and surprisingly sweet. Or not surprisingly: the soft-dome tweeter is made of fabric.

I didn’t catch a case of metal-dome tweeteritis, the way I do with so many cheap and less cheerful speakers.

So yes, this is probably one of the BEST VALUE for MONEY BOOKSHELF speakers you can buy.

The Carnival 3 dipole rears can be placed on stands but its best to hang them on the side walls.  As all the dedicated movie fans will know dipole rears are by far the best as they disperse the sound around you, rather than directing it straight at you. The Carnival 3’s are probably the cheapest dipole rears you can buy in NZ. Not only that, they have each 4 drivers (two tweeters and two mids – most others only have one tweeter). Even if you already have other speakers and looking for dipole rears the Carnival 3 are so cheap its worth just to buy a set for your HT room regardless, you will then experience how real ‘surround sound’ can be.

That leaves us with the Carnival 9 sub. I specifically left this for last because this is something special… for $699. Yes that is right, only $699! There is not a sub that I have ever heard at this price that can even compete with this guy! It’s not small at just under 15″ cubed with a 10″ driver with solid big rubber surrounds. This sub has all the right virtues of a great sub for movies (and for music if you get the settings and position in your room right). For this money you could buy two, one for the front corner and one for the rear corner and I doubt if you will ever want to upgrade your subs. The outrigger feet and spikes add a touch of class to this magnificent sub nothing can come close at this price!

So we you can definitely tick the LISTEN box on all the Carnival series as well.

So which model is right for you?

From my experience with this exceptional value for money speaker range this is my recommendations:

Carnival 1 Package: 4 x Carnival 1 + Carnival 5 center + Carnival 7 sub
For rooms less than 30 sqm and importance HT 75% and music 25%

If you want a minimalist life style set and your preference is movies then I cannot think of any speaker set available in NZ for this type of money that can beat the Carnival 1 5.1 set 1. If you can spend the extra $200, go for the Carnival sub 9 it is well worth the extra especially for a bigger room..

Carnival 2 Package: 2 x Carnival 2 + 2 x Carnival 3 + Carnival 5 cen + Carnival 7 sub
For rooms less than 30sqm and importance HT 55% and music 45%

If your room is less than 30sqm and music is more important than movies go for the Carnival 2 as front speakers, they excel at vocal music. You can then add the package later if you want to expand into movies as well. Again if you can afford an extra $200 go for the Carnival 9 sub and this system will fill rooms up to 50sqm.

Carnival 6 Package: 2 x Carnival 6 + 2 x Carnival 3 + Carnival 5 cen + Carnival 7 sub
For rooms less than 50 sqm and importance HT 50% and music 50%

If music and movies are equally important to you but you cannot afford a whole 5.1 package now go for the Carnival 6 and add the rest later as we recommend in set 6. The Carnival 6 speakers excel on fine delicate and acoustic type of music, like guitar and Jazz. If you can stretch an extra $200 we definitely recommend the Carnival 9 sub. This is also important if your room is bigger than 50sqm

Carnival 8 Package: 2 x Carnival 8 + 2 x Carnival 3 + Carnival 5 cen + Carnival 9 sub
For rooms more than 30sqm and importance HT 45% music 55%

If music is more important to you than movies and you just want a pair of front speakers then the Carnival 8 is the answer. They are good for all types of music but excel on modern music. If you later want to expand into movies then we recommend the Carnival 8 package. In terms of subs, you need the bigger Carnival 9 with these speakers.

To sum up

As you by now probably gathered our favourites is the Carnival 6 floorstanders, Carnival 2 bookshelf speakers and the Carnival 9 sub. They are all exceptional value for money. However all of the new Mordaunt Short Carnival range speakers have a place and it all depends on your room and you preferred music and/ or movie taste. One thing is for sure… we have never seen a value for money speaker range like this in NZ to date.

Brendan is right: (This blog is off to a good start – Brendan) Some audiophiles buy certain CD’s because it makes their system sound good.  I am one of those but I have an excuse, I am in the business, so I need those type of CD’s to demo the systems to clients in the best possible way.

There is another positive to this, in hunting down these special recorded CD’s I sometimes come across amazing new material that I would never know existed because is not popular main stream music. Discovering these artist opens up doors into other worlds of music experiences.

OK, my 10, Hmm only 10 albums that is very tough! There are so many choices? Where do I begin?  Ok right let’s start from the begining where it all started in the early 70’s..

In no particular order of quality:

Pink Floyd – Dark side of the moon  (1973)
Favourite songs: Us and Them,  actually, the whole album, a masterpiece of recording engineering and music that still stood the test of time 36 years later!

Yello - Stella (1985)
Favourite songs: Vicious games, Oh Yeah. Clinically clean recordings with very tight and super fast punchy bass

Dire Straits – Brothers in arms (1985)
Favourite songs: Everything on this album. One of the great male voices of our time. This can test the richness of your system’s midrange  with crystal clear guitar notes to test your tweeters to the limit… a favourite demo CD of Hifi shops for many moons and even today.

Leonard Cohen – Essentials
Songs of his whole amazing career from early 70′s to his resent 2009 tour. Too many favourite songs, his unique deep voice test the realism of any system.

Toni Childs – Keep the faith (2008)
Favourite songs:  Dream That we Dream of and When it’s All Said and Done. To me one of the most unique female voices. This can paint a 3d picture of her in your room, definitely goose bump stuff.

Jacques Loussier -  Plays Bach (2006) ,,
Favourite songs: All the tracks. A must for classical Jazz demos. The kick drum, piano and bass guitar work is the most realistic sounding on any CD I have heard. It’s like you are there.

Stanley Clarke – The Toys of Men (2007)
Favourite Songs: Jerusalem, most delicate clear treble you can find. All Over Again, bass guitar work that will stun you.

Fourplay – The Best of Fourplay
Favorite songs: Chant, Bali Run and Between The Sheets.  A combo CD of the  great hits of the famous four Jazz players; Bob James on Keyboards, Piano, Lee Ritenour guitars, Nathan East bass guitarist and Harvey Mason drums.  Excellent detail recordings that will test the whole frequency range of your system, from the deepest bass to rich midrange and crystal clear top end.

Air – Pocket Symphony (2007) (Brilliant Choice Tiens, I’m jealous I didn’t have it on my list – Brendan)
Favourite songs: Photograph, One hell of a party. Crystal clear recording with very accurate bass lines.

Tiesto – Elements of life (2007)
Favourite songs: Do you feel me? fast punchy bass. Elements of life, fast punchy bass very complex rhythms to test the speed and control of your system.

So again, what is your Top 10? We’d love to hear from you and maybe you can introduce us into some new music.

A new model that builds on the same principles
used on all the other MJ Acoustics subs. Enter the Pro 55 Mk1 Subwoofer.

MJ Acoustics is world famous for their small miracle musical subs, but the Home Theatre (HT) guys wanted more “Bang” so MJ Acoustics was faced with the dilemma of how to build a HT sub that can still sounds musical as well. This is not and easy task because you need a different approach for each and this is not generally understood by the ‘man in the street’ or even by “reviewers” in Hifi magazines. It is understandable that some of these reviewers have a personal view of what products are good and what are bad. Many people also believe that this is driven by how much a company is prepared to spend on advertising in the magazine. Beware of these types of magazines. You can spot them easily; they do not back their reviews with scientific measurements and proof.

The problem is the uninformed ‘man in the street’ relies on these “experts” for guidance. A bad review can rob them from the opportunity to experience the products for themselves. A few years back we use to go and listen to the products ourselves and compare that to others in the market.  Not any more, it’s much easier to just “surf the net” for info. There in lies the danger: you rely on others (with their own personal taste) to make the decisions for you which can leave you unhappy.

A good example is the case of the new MJ Acoustic Pro 55 Mk1 Subwoofer: below is my first notes that I wrote for the importer and I later found a review in a British Hifi magazine “The world’s No 1 home entertainment magazine” (their slogan not mine). They reported some aspects completely different to what I have experienced. There were no scientific measurements  unlike some of the better known British and USA magazines. So I was very surprised how is this possible?

The debate of honest and unbiased reviews are as old as Hifi itself and it stuns me sometimes that cheaply made horrible sounding units get 5 stars and other well made units that use scientifically proven methods only get a few stars. Makes you wonder what value these reviews have other than trying to boost a cheaply made product of a big company with a huge advertising budget. Compared to well made honest products of small companies that try to make the best product they can for your money and using the advertising money to actually build a much better product.

Its scary how we rely too much on advertising rather than our own judgement, not only in what we buy, but also in what we do everyday – what we eat, even what we think. I am from the old school and do not buy into this. I use mostly commonsense and then further study aspects of these senses to help me in making informed decisions on what is important for me and what is not. The end result is far more enjoyable than just having something that another guy told you to have. So let us revisit the commonsense and scientific principles of what is important in choosing a sub for music and/or home theatre? This is covered in our Subwoofer FAQ’s, but I thought I’d repeat it here as it seems appropriate.

To get the best advice in life you have to go to a specialist. If you are feeling ill you go to a doctor but if you are really sick, or need an operation, you have to go to specialist. A specialist is just that: a specialist in his area of expertise.  So is it with everything in life, if you need the best bed you go to a bed specialist store. If you need the best sub you must go for a specialist sub builder. There are only a handful of these companies in the world today that can be called a sub building specialist, MJ Acoustics is one of them.

The following 6 principles can guide you in making a choice for the right sub for your needs.

1. Build Quality:  The best subwoofers are the ones that are designed and manufactured in their home country, ideally in their own factories, with their own dedicated staff, not in a far off country were they pay the poor workers peanuts and expect them to be proud of their work, it will not happen… ever.

2. Brand Pedigree: The brand must also have a “pedigree”, that is it must stood the test of time.

3. Driver Size: The simple key to produce more bass is” The bigger the driver the better and the quality go hand in hand with the weight of the sub.  The basic physics of bass sound is to move air at low frequencies. The more air you want to move (for good bass) the bigger the driver you need. To design a good small sub is a very challenging engineering job and a hot topic nowadays, but its not easy and its expensive.

4. Design Principles:  There are basically 3 types of sub designs:

• TYPE 1 – Bass driver inside the cabinet and the only bass that comes out are from a port. They are the worst sounding subs with a “hollow, drooney, tube like” bass sound. Remember when you were a kid you talked into a tube to lower your voice. Well that is the same principle used here. This type is used by the mass market “all in one sub/sat sets” from Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, JVC, Bose etc. because it’s cheap to make, you only need cheap small drivers  6″ that do not need to move a lot of air to fake “bass” sounds. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THESE TYPES of SUBS

• TYPE 2 – Bass Reflex – This design is mainly used for  Home theatre (HT) subs. HT basically  consists of a lot of dialog, high frequency effects and lots of “distortion” in the bass frequencies. That is why bass quantity (volume) is far more important than quality and for that you need a big sub woofer and to increase bass volume a bass port is also used to push air out – the so called bass reflex design. However, you introduce distortion (typically 10% to 20%) and also port noise. This is not critical for HT which is distortion and noise in any case at the low frequencies. The advantage of the bass reflex design is that you can build these subs much cheaper, with cheaper cabinets, cheaper drivers and cheaper amplifiers.

• TYPE 3 – Sealed Enclosure – For music, the bass reflex design and big subs is not ideal, in fact nearly the opposite is needed: you need a well designed small sub with accurate bass and less distortion and no port noise. Bass reproduction for music is very important (turn the bass control on your amp completely down and listen how the scale of the music disappears). However “lots” of bass can tire you out very quickly, especially when it drones. Quality bass is far more important, the bass must be tight, well defined and must have bass weight. The best music subs are from the sealed enclosure type (not bass reflex). Sealed subs generally goes lower and have less distortion than bass reflex subs and do not have the dreaded port noise. Sealed subs are expensive to make because the sub’s amp needs to be at least 3x more powerful to drive the driver against the trapped air inside the sealed box. The cabinet must also be made super strong to have no vibrations of its own. That is why the best and most expensive sub from major sub builders in the world use subs of the sealed enclosure type

5. Driver Placement: Another important factor is the placement of the driver. These are very heavy units with huge magnets and it makes sense to fit them in a down-firing way to support themselves. This also has the added advantage of using nature own force, the gravitational force, to help pull the driver down on the start and damp it on the backward movement. This is Ideal for a fast tight bass without the dreaded overhang. It also remove the necessity to turn  your big driver (on front firing subs) every few years at 180 degrees to compensate for the dragging  force on the driver’s rubber surround and voice coil.  The driver also fires at right angles to the main speaker’s drivers making correct phasing and placement in the room less critical.

Now let us see how the MJ Acoustics PRO 55 MK1 sub fits against the above principles.

1. Build Quality: Its 100% designed and built in England.
2. Brand Pedigree: MJ Acoustics have probably won more awards for each of their subs than any other.
3. Driver Size: This is a 12″ driver only beaten by a few 15″ drivers and its big brother the Ref 800 with an 18″ driver
4. Design Principles: Sealed enclosure, the best
5. Driver Placement: Down firing – Yes

So, it ticks all the boxes… the question then “Is the MJ Acoustics Pro 55 Mk1 a ‘Best of both worlds’ sub suitable for Music and HT?”

This is my notes I wrote the John, the NZ importer of MJ Acoustics subs, when I first auditioned this sub.

Hi John,

I now had the opportunity to listen to this new model. What and interesting and very enjoyable day! My immediate thought was – this is good stuff!

I listened to the new Pro 50 Mk1 first as a musical sub with my ProAc Reference 8 small bookshelf speakers, again I heard the same unmistakably unique MJ Acoustic characteristic sound that underpins all MJ Acoustics subs this really separates all of them from the rest of the subs from other brands… clean, tight, fast bass with slam and bass weight, yet still able to reproduce subtlety and detail. The Pro 55 mk1 has heaps more of everything! even at low volumes. As the volume is turned up, the Pro 55 mk1 continues to shine… it just keeps getting louder, yet the sound still remains tight, detailed and controlled, even at very loud levels…fantastic! Why do you need big floor-stander speakers and big amps at huge cost to drive them if you can get the same, no better! With this combo at a 1/10 of the price?

“But wait there is more!” I took the Pro 55 Mk1 down to the home theatre room and invited my wife to come and listen as well (we love to listen to live recorded musical DVD’s). I set it up basically using the same settings as for music and we started the show… we looked at each other and I could see the disbelief in her eyes, we were shocked! We know that track so well, yet we were hearing bass detail that we have never heard before. I turned its volume up another notch and the power and massiveness of the bass thumped at our chests… we heard things like double bass… different types of bass… different types of slam… totally separate of one another… not a single rumble of all instruments stuffed together like with most subs. I turned up the main volume of my AVR and we sat back and listened track after track, we could not stop; we did not want to turn the volume down because it was all sheer enjoyment and when it all stopped, we felt a bit disappointed and a few seconds later I realised what it was… we wanted an encore!

I only ever heard this quality of bass with my $4000 Jamo D6, $5500 Paradigm Servo 15  (both 15″ bass drivers at many times the power) & the bigger MJ models… The MJ Acoustics Pro 55 Mk1 must be the best bargain in Subwoofer History! Suitable for both Music and Home Theatre… how does the saying go? “Yes MJ.. Has done it again”.

1. WOW the boxes are small, but wait… its heavy that is a good sign… it means proper drivers with proper magnets, a solid cabinet of solid built and heavy duty terminals.

2. Open the first box, Ah hah!! New packaging… I like that, much simpler to repack one day when you move. Wow the speaker looks stunning, the size is spot on, the finish is some of the best I have seen apart from Paradigm’s signature series and yes everything looks and feels solid. I like the real wood cherry finish, real wood finish is very rare now a days. Yes this looks very classy… even the detail on the back with speaker’s terminals, class and more class… mmmm… much shallower than the previous studio 60 model. I am a bit worried though, is it going to sound thin?

3. Took one grill off and look at the drivers…nice. Nice solid aluminum mounting plates, yes quality. The new midrange driver, I touch it with the back of my hand… yes it’s an aluminum driver… aaagh no!!  A dummy phase plug on the mid driver… WHY? will come back to that in a minute.

4. Hook them up – both grills off (I always do that with testing, the more naked and clear the speakers stand from any surroundings, the least they can hide something) – I am always nervous when testing a new speaker with my favorite testing track Toni Childs’ track “when all is said and done” from her new album “Keep the Faith“ I saw here live in Auckland recently and thus know how her voice sound in real life. The richness and clarity of her unique strong voice is a true test for any midrange and if that is not right in a speaker then no matter how good the rest is, its never going to impress me. This time I decided to play it first because that dummy phase plug worries me! I insert the CD and set the amp to my normal listening level (not too loud because then you will mask the problems of a speaker) I know this track so well on so many speakers of so many price brackets and?  a sigh of relief… I sit back and listen… I seldom smile when listening… but I could not help myself… yes Tiens you jump to conclusions too fast, her voice sounds rich and clear, close to my $25K reference speakers just not at the same scale but that is to be expected. Yes I like that, no longer am I thinking about the dummy phase plug I will never see it again!

5. Something else caught my attention, their is an air around her voice and her guitar sounds crystal clear. I hardly noticed this before it must be the aluminum G-Pal tweeter I think, concentrating on that confirmed that that was indeed the case. Now I am hooked, this tweeter extends the top end to unheard of heights and instruments sounded a little more free in air and distinct not the squeezed in and ringing of most other metal dome tweeters from other rival speakers.

6. Ok, I can’t wait to test the bass, that slim line shallow cabinet has got my teeth on each other… sheeesh.. I wonder?  Ok I know it’s not ‘run in’ but what the heck I am going to do it, out comes TIESTO’s “Elements of Life” a mixture of electronic dance music with fast tight slam bass and deep rumble bass now and then and with incredible complex fast passages of treble and mids. A true test of speed and attack and bass in all its forms, first track YES! third track YES! I skip to the last two tracks where everything happens in all their glory, YES and YES… I LIKE THESE SPEAKERS A LOT!

I think I got myself a new favorite speaker under $4000! The first time in 10 years that I made that decision in ONE day… gee whizz… I hope I was not dreaming when I will play these incredible speakers tomorrow!  SOUND, LOOKS, SIZE and PRICE its all there!

- Tiens

PS: On this last CD I noticed the mid driver can move a lot unusually so… I checked the web of Paradigm for any clues. This is a totally new driver made by them for the new Studio 60 and the new entry level Studio 10 speaker (the smallest speaker ever in the Reference Studio range) At the back of the driver there is a 1.5″ (more than 3cm) voice coil!  basically unheard off for a mid driver – so 1cm movement to the front and 1cm movement to the back of that driver is an easy feat! They use this driver to help with the bass as well in a 2 1/2 way design rather than a 3 way, clever… that is why I was so surprised by the amount of bass coming from these slim line Studio 60 speakers. The other two speakers in the studio range, the Studio 20 and Studio 100 use the original 7″ drivers from the previous models (with a real phase plug), just in the new superb rounded cabinets finished in real wood. The size of the cabinets is about the same size as the previous models. The Studio 10 and Studio 60 are completely new models, much smaller, more minimalist style, with a huge WAF!! (Wife acceptance factor) In fact I think it is the most beautifully designed and finished speakers at their price points in the market today and with sound to boot as well… it can only be a winner. See the full details and images of each model in the new studio range below.

Paradigm Reference Studio 10

Paradigm Reference Studio 20

Paradigm Reference Studio 60

Paradigm Reference Studio 100

PPS: Can’t wait to get our hands on the Studio 10 and 20′s, partner these with a Musical Subwoofer and that will be something special.

I want to double my listening level so I need an amp of double my amp’s power, right?

Wrong, you are in for a disappointment when you upgrade your 100w amp to a 200w amp… you will only hear a small increase in output level!  You need about 10x the power to double the sound level, so in fact you need a 1000w amp! And 1000w amps are unheard off in the domestic market! Luckily these sort of sound levels are seldom important for quality music listening but it can be important if you want the ‘real’ cinema experience in your dedicated Home Theatre (HT) room.

The problem is the relationship between POWER and SOUND OUTPUT LEVEL (loudness) is not linear that means if you double the power you will not get double the loudness.

Power is measured in watts (a unit of energy) and Loudness is measured in decibels (dB).  A “deci”-”bel” means  1/10  of a bel (a unit of  sound  named after the inventor of the telephone Graham Bell). The human ear can hear an amazing wide range of sound levels so wide that in fact you have to describe it in terms of a logarithmic scale. On this scale 0dB means complete silence and 140 dB means the threshold of ear pain.  For instance a whisper is about 20db where background noise in an office is about 60db, a full orchestra can go up to 100 db and a live rock concert up to 120dB. A jet engine flying over your head is about 140dB. The human ear can pick up changes of about 1dB and an increase of about 10dB is about twice as loud. So it’s interesting to note that a 200w amp can only produce about 3dB more loudness than a 100w amp and that is not much more than the 1dB possible difference detectable by your ears. So its not a surprise that you hardly hear much more sound output when you change your 100w amp for a 200w amp!! ..so if your local sales person tells you this 120w amp will go much louder than your existing 100w amp, ignore that you will hardly hear any difference.

It is interesting to note that this 3dB increase is only a drop in the ocean compared to the 0 dB to 120db you can get at a live rock concert this is why it is basically impossible to reproduce the “live sound experience” in your HT room!

So what should I do if I need more sound output level and cannot afford a 1000w amp?

Fortunately there are two other options here that you can consider:

1. You can go for 4 ohm speakers but make sure your amp can handle this.  You roughly need twice the power to drive an 8 ohm speaker to the same sound level as a 4 ohm speaker of the same sensitivity.  So with a 100w amp you will get the same sound level output from a 4 ohm speaker as a 200w amp out of a 8 ohm speaker.

2. The second option is to go for more sensitive speakers. The sensitivity of normal speakers today varies between 86 db and 92 db (horn loaded speakers can typically go to 100 db or more).  It’s generally the norm that for each 3 db increase in sound level output you have to double the amp’s power.  Say your amp is 100 w and your speaker’s sensitivity is 87 db.  If you change the speakers to 90db sensitive speakers (not expensive to get) you will get the same output level as a 200w (very expensive) amp into your old 87db speakers. 200w amps are basically non existing in the HT market except at the very high-end of $10000!  So it’s a huge cost saving by going for the 90db sensitive speakers.

So the moral of the story is:  if you are looking for HT gear for loud output levels look at a HT receiver than can drive 4 ohms speakers and go for speakers of high sensitivity of at least 90 db. Luckily these come only at a small premium in price. Avoid cheap speakers as they are generally not of high sensitivity and cheap amps cannot drive 4 ohms speakers.

This is not the place to warn you about these models. Just scan the internet forums for these issues and you will be shocked to learn that most popular  brands you see in your local shops are just that… not suitable for  even the average HT setup. Sadly once you part with your money…their is no return. I have seen so many clients burning their fingers on these popular mass market products because they are “a bargain” and “look so good on paper”.  That is the reason why you will not see those Brands on our site. Spend a little bit more and you will be satisfied.

The Amplifier power ratings issue, that’s right, its an issue. Some manufacturers claim huge power ratings and are very misleading but here’s some info on how to read these ‘impressive’ ratings.

One of the first questions clients ask about an amp is “How many watts is it?”

Though power is one of the most important features of an amp (or receiver), an amp’s watts per channel is one of the industry’s most misleading specifications and it’s misused by many manufactures to make their amps look good on paper compared to the rest.… the more watts on paper the “better”.   Watch out for ratings into 4 or 6 ohms, at 1 kHz, at 1% distortion (or even 10%!!! like most “all in one” systems) or “per channel” or worst of all…a peak/max/pmpo output. (not rms)… this is why.

4 ohms vs 8 ohms?

Specified power ratings into 4 ohm speakers give the highest rating sometimes twice the 8 ohm rating. The problem is these amps can seldom drive these 4 ohm speakers.  The reason is that according to Ohm’s law (Volt = Current x Resistance) when the resistance goes down the current has to go up to balance Ohm’s equation. More current means more heat and that will trip the amp into protection mode very easily. Therefore it is very important to look for amps with current driven technology rather than voltage driven technology if your speakers are 4 ohm. 4 Ohms speakers are very popular nowadays because they give greater sound output levels for the same amount of power. This is important for home theatre where sound levels are generally above normal listening levels for music. Worst of all, the amp has to cope not only with 2 speakers but 5 or even 7 speakers which puts a lot of strain on an amp’s power supply.

1 kHz vs 20hz-20khz?

Many brands only specify the power rating at 1 kHz.  Frequencies at and above this are the easiest to amplify and thus that will give the highest rating. Its much more demanding if it has to drive the whole frequency range from of 20 Hz to 20 kHz the normal range for audible sound. The most difficult is the low bass freq from 20 Hz to 150 Hz. This is why adding a powered sub to take care of these low frequencies takes a lot of stress from the amp leaving it to amplify the rest of the signals at greater efficiency.

1% vs 0.1% THD?

The amplifiers watts rating should state what level of distortion is being mesured at.  It is very easy for humans to hear 1 % THD (total harmonic distortion) but 0.1 % THD is inaudible so the power rating must be specified at this level of distortion or less… Typically an amp that can deliver 50w at 10% distortion will only give 10w at 0.1% distortion. A lot of car audio amplifiers are measured at 10% distortion and this practice now appears in some Home theatre amplifiers on the market today.

Per channel vs All Channels?

The highest wattage rating is achieved when the amplifier & power supply only has to drive one channel… many Brands state 100W “per channel” but watch out, that can mean only one channel is driven. When measured, most brands fell to 50% their power ratings if they drive 5 or more channels at the same time.

Peak power vs RMS?

The biggest misuse is some use “peak” power that is the power it can deliver for short burst of time… but that is a far cry from the real issues of how long the amp can sustain this power… the RMS (root mean square power) or simply continuous power is the only true measurement of any amps power.

So if your are looking for true power specs, don’t just believe the salesman “this amps 140W where as that amps only 60W”  look at the ONLY INDUSTRY ACCEPTED STANDARD ….which must state it in the following manner

“100W RMS into 8 ohms from 20Hz to 20KHz at no more than 0.1% THD with 2 (or more) channels driven”

Don’t trust any power rating if it is not specified in this manner…. they are trying to hide something.

When listening to a Hi-fi system it can sometimes hard to pin point what is different about one system vs another, or why this one made you go “wow, that sounds amazing”. Here’s a list of a few things that might help you out.

Full Range Sound

Listen to the sound at both frequency ex­tremes. At low frequencies, listen for bass extension and bass weight and most of all tightness, watch out for “boom” that “hollow boxy” bass sound… that is bad bass that will get worse with higher volumes. Listen how the speakers handle power (to play loudly), clarity (to differentiate pitches), and control (tightness in the bass and to reproduce transients cleanly). Do they sound harsh? Breaking up and distorting? Then avoid them. At high frequencies listen for treble extension (the “air” surrounding Instruments), clarity (to capture delicate details), and smoothness (freedom from edginess and hardness). Watch out for a too bright top end… initially you think it is clarity but after a while it can irritate you so that you feel to turn the volume down… avoid those speakers!!! Good speakers have the notion that you want to turn it up a little bit all the time! Audition using familar music, whats important is listening to male vocals, many speakers lack midrange due to the manufacturer tuning them for bass. Does the male voice sound thin? Do electric guitars sound tinny? OR does the voice sound powerful backed up by full real sounding guitars?

If you are comparing sub/satellite systems, midrange is where you can easily differentiate an excellent system from an average one (I’m fighting the urge to mention some well known expensive systems here).

Transparency and Focus

Good speakers should reproduce subtle textural and transient details at all frequencies. Transparency is like “taking the blanket off” and focus is like tuning in binoculars. This makes the difference between speakers that sounds “nice” and those that sound breathtakingly “real”.

Imaging and Sound staging

That is painting the picture of the artist on the stage in front of you, in depth and width. Believe it or not, you don’t want speakers that call attention to themselves. Good speakers effectively disappear and create the illusion of musicians performing in real 3D spaces (ranging from recording studios to concert halls). When you are listening, does the music sound like its coming from the speakers OR floating in the air? Do each of the musicians sound like they are mushed together, or can you pick out where each instrument is playing? Imaging & staging is effected greatly by speaker placement, so try playing with the distance from the rear wall & the amount of toe in if the sound stage is flat.

Dynamics

Choose speakers that can play at satisfying volume levels in your listening room. The higher a speaker’s sensitivity rating the louder it will play for a given amount of power. How you define ‘satisfying volume levels” is up to you, but the key is to find a system that can handle loud musical passages grace­fully, yet offers enough finesse to catch the finer points of musical performances, sound effects, and dialog. Don’t just audition speakers at a loud volume, listen to them played softly, can you still hear weight in the bass? Does the midrange still come through or are you just left with treble?

Neutral Tonal Balance

This means that all frequencies from the highest highs to the lowest lows must be produced with equal emphasis (volume). A common mistake made by most buyers is that they buy a speaker that emphasizes (color) a particular frequency range like boom in the bass thinking it’s “more” bass, chestiness in the midrange thinking it has more presence or even worse a sharp top end, thinking its clearer. The best speakers offer accurate, neutral tonal balance. Remember in the long run, colouration’s prove fatiguing and neutrality rules.

Q: WHAT SPEAKERS SHOULD I BUY FOR MUSIC AND/OR HOME THEATER?

A: That depends on a few factors:

First of all, you must decide if your main interest is music (HI FI) or home theatre (HT) or both. Your budget is the next important factor and then follows your taste of music and then the size of your room. Lastly, but sometimes very important, is the aesthetics factor, or as some called it the “WAF factor” (wife’s acceptance factor).   Speakers are a very personal choice. I can only guide you in this selection by drawing on my experience and knowledge of more than 30 years in this fascinating field. My experience over many years has taught me that in most cases the speakers that impress you initially are the ones that have “TISS” and “BOOM”,  they sound “different”… but the more you listen to them the more irritating they become especially at higher listening levels. Correct speakers do not always “stand out” when you hear them first … they do not draw attention to themselves… they sound smoother, warmer, not treble & bass focussed, but that is how it should be. Music is there to “relax” you. On the other hand Home theater (HT) are there to “excite” you…so speakers that sound bright and boomy are better for HT…thus you cannot get a speaker that can do both (music and HT) equally good!!

I still believe the best quality speakers are the ones that are designed and manufactured in their home country. The speaker brand must also have a “pedigree”, that is it must stood the test of time. That is why I prefer the following brands.

From USA:  MAGNEPAN (The world’s most famous panel speakers)

From CANADA: PARADIGM, the most awarded speakers in America.

From BRITIAN: PROAC hand built to perfection, some B & W models.

MJ ACOUSTICS some of the most accurate subwoofers in the world

From DENMARK: JAMO (Danish quality and style) most models, DYNAUDIO (quality)

From ITALY: SONUS FABER, OPERA & CHARIO beautifully made in real wood

The simple key to a good speaker is: “The bigger the better.” Also quality goes hand in hand with the weight of the speaker.  The basic physics of sound is to move air at different frequencies. You need different sizes of drivers for different frequencies and the more air you want to move (for good real bass)  the bigger the driver must be (or the more drivers you need ). To design a good small speaker that can match a good floor standing speaker is a very challenging engineering job and a hot topic nowadays. There are only a few of these special small speakers around that are exceptional, Jamo, Proac, Totem  etc are famous for their small speakers but they are generally very expensive. The new kid on the block, MJ Acoustics, has now come up with a small miracle mini monitor that took me by surprise and if you combine them with their exceptional accurate small subs you can match….no beat…floor-standers of 3 times their price!

NOTE: In choosing speakers for music and/or home-theater there are a few things to keep in mind. It is generally the believe that the worst sounding speakers are “IN WALL or IN CIELING” speakers because the designers does not have control on the wall structure and that can influence the sound the most. Next follows “ON WALL” speakers because of their flat size and light weight they tend to sound tinny. (There are a few exceptions to this, THX certified on wall speakers with very powerful subwoofers can be the best option for a dedicated HT room). The next best sound, especially for music, is “BOOK SHELF” speakers, however the best speakers are FLOORSTANDERS; it was, and still is, the best way to go if you want the best for music and HT…however this concept are now challenged by superb mini monitors and accurate subs like the above mentioned MJ ACOUSTICS models especially if your listening levels are normal to above normal…. not insane levels.

Let us look at Home Theater (HT) first: Quality is not that important but quantity is. Home theater is just effects in the higher frequencies in the front and rear speakers and lots of “distortion” (explosions) in the lower frequencies. That is why small speakers and a big enough sub woofer can go a long way in satisfying a HT customer. Also the brighter the speaker sound, the best it is for HT, warm soft sounding speakers are generally not good for HT.  Midrange frequencies are basically confined to the dialog (the voices) that happens on the TV. This is produced by a center speaker which is actually more important than the “effects” speakers. The main problem of most, if not all, of that “all in one” systems below the $1500 mark, is that their centre speaker can not handle the dialog well, it is too small. The other problem is the bass unit is a passive unit with a too small driver, less than 8”, which can physically not give enough impact in the bass. A good center speaker needs at least three drivers, two mid units (4” or more) and a tweeter. The size of the sub woofer is determined by the size of the room and the preferred listing level. In general a bigger room (more than 25 sqm) needs a bigger sub (10” driver and at least a 100w amp).  This is also true for higher listing levels. For HT quality of bass is not that important but quantity is.  An active sub with a 50—100w rms built-in amp and an 8’’ driver is my minimum recommendation. Small passive subs are definitely out.

For more information on Subs, read our Subwoofer FAQ

For music:  The Home theater arrangements are not ideal; in fact almost the opposite is needed. Only two speakers are needed, the front left and right speakers.  There is no need for a centre speaker and rears, but full range sound is needed from the front speakers, not just effects. That is why a small speaker (without a quality sub) cannot do justice to music. Also, warm, soft sounding speakers are best for long listening music sessions.

Unlike HT midrange frequency reproduction is very important for MUSIC because nearly 70% to 80 % of music is produced in this range, however it is the top and bottom end that mostly influence the clients choice…”too bright” , “ too boomy” are the buzz words often heard. Most musical speakers can be put into two categories:  smooth, soft sounding or sharp, bright sounding. This depends mainly on the type of tweeters they use. Soft sounding speakers use a soft dome tweeter and bright sounding speakers usually have a metal dome tweeter. Bass reproduction is very important and most of the times this influence the buyer the most (turn the bass control on your amp completely down and listen how the scale of the music disappears). To define good bass is very difficult and this is also the most difficult to get right in designing a speaker. More bass is also not always the answer. It can tire you out very quickly, especially when it drones, like a badly designed sub. Quality bass is more important, that is the bass must be tight and well defined (very difficult and costly to get it right with a sub). This is much more enjoyable in the long run.  At least two bass drivers is preferred, one to handle the mid and upper bass and the other to handle the lower end bass.  A subwoofer is not important if you have good floor standing speakers but it can add fullness to the sound when a lower listing level is preferred. It can be important to help your stand mount speakers if they lack a bit of deep bass but the most important aspect here is to go for a quality sub of the sealed enclosure type. In fact it is my experience recently that this last approach is the most cost effective way to get big quality sound.

Q: HOW MANY SPEAKERS DO I NEED?

A: The short answer to this question is: only two for studio recorded music and at least 5 and a SUB (the so called 5.1 system) for Home Theater and live recorded music.

One could get the impression from recent articles that all 5 (or more speakers) should be equal for digital home theater. If cost is no object, that is correct, however watch a movie with only the rear channel speakers playing, most of the time very little is going on. While the rear channels in digital sound have the same capability as the left, right, and center, movie producers will continue to use the surrounds essentially for effects, keeping the majority of the audio up front with the video. So you can go a long way with small rear speakers. It is important to note that the rear channels are only there for “defuse” the sound and not to “direct” the sound as in the case of the fronts. That is why the main speaker brands go for dipole speakers (a box with speakers on 3 sides of the box) at the rear to defuse the sound. However they need to be placed at least a meter above your head and in line with your sitting position for optimum effect. If this is not practical in a room the alterative is to go for an extra  speaker (or two!) at the rear (the so called 6.1 and 7.1 speakers setup. Digital surround has enhanced the quality of home theater, but for those of us who do not have unlimited budgets, it is better to apportion your speaker budget according to your musical preferences. “Home Theater Speakers” is a term for speakers which have been designed for extremely wide dynamic range and dispersion characteristics to enhance the home theater experience. Reproducing the dynamic range of HT, like gun shots and car crashes, etc. has pushed speaker development in directions which do not enhance music reproduction. What has been lost along the way is resolution. The typical high efficiency “home theater” speaker does a poor job with music played at moderate levels. Detail and inner resolution is usually lost by a speaker that is also capable of damaging your hearing. Don’t let a loud “action” movie demo influence your buying decision. These demos are impressive and are used to sell “home theater” speakers. “Action” scenes are exciting, but there is more to home theater sound than dynamic range. It is important to ask the salesperson to demonstrate the system at realistic levels that you would find comfortable for a two hour movie.

Q: ARE HI-FI SPEAKERS GOOD FOR HOME THEATRE?

A: In short yes, but high resolution and warm sound in home theater is not appreciated in a 5-10 minute demonstration. The typical home theater demonstration is short and full of crashes, explosions and other dramatic scenes. That is why bright, sharp sounding speakers with slam in the bass are better for HT.  What Hi FI speakers can do for home theater will take at least 20 minutes or more into a movie. The process is subtle. High resolution sound does not call attention to itself. You become more immersed in the movie and don’t realize until later that Hi FI speakers have a seductive quality on home theater that will increase over time. HI FI speakers generally go down lower in bass than HT speakers but the bass is slower and deeper than the case with HT speaker’s slam and impact.

Q: WHAT ARE THE BEST SPEAKERS FOR MY ROOM?

A: To answer that question requires some background information. You may have noticed similar specifications for the least-to-most expensive speakers. There is nothing in the specifications to justify the cost difference. More than any other performance parameter, what you are buying as you move up in the speaker line is resolution (or definition) in both top, mid and bass frequencies. Unlike video, there are no specifications in loudspeakers for resolution. You can hear it, but it is not easily defined.
To answer the question about the best speaker for your room, think of the problem in terms of tweeter, midrange and bass. Even in a small room a better tweeter would sound better. The same argument goes for the midrange. The bass is the only real sonic issue in your room. Speakers are “voiced” by the engineers on set assumptions. Most consumers will buy a bigger speaker for larger rooms because their bass response is “voiced” accordingly.  For a small room this speaker might produce too much bass. Do you buy less resolution with a lower priced speaker so that you can get less bass output? That’s not an attractive alternative.   Fortunately, bass can be eliminated easier than it can be produced. There are some electronic solutions (such as bi-amplification) for a speaker in a small room that is voiced for a large room. The best solution is to go for a very well designed small stand mount speaker and a quality sub of the sealed enclosure type. This approach has become very popular in resent years and is one of my favorite ways to tackle a difficult room.  Bass extension works against good sound quality in small rooms or rooms with poor dimensional ratios. Any volume of air in an enclosed space will reinforce certain frequencies when that air is excited.  This reinforcement is called resonance, and the frequencies at which the resonances occur are the room’s resonance modes. The frequency of a resonance mode is determined by the distances between the room’s walls. The greater the distance, the lower the resonance frequency will be. (The fundamental resonance is supported between two walls at a frequency whose half wavelength equals the distance between the two walls. Another resonance mode occurs at one wavelength, one and a half wavelengths, and so one at every multiple of half a wavelength. The fundamental resonance mode is 1130/2D, where 1130 is the speed of sound (ft/sec) in air at “room temperature and D is the distance between two walls. So for a 20′ room the fundamental resonance will be at 28.25Hz, with further modes at 56.5Hz, 84.75, 113Hz, and so on. This is similar to when you blow into a bottle, you are not producing the pitch you hear; the bottle’s resonant modes are. You are simply exciting the air in the enclosed space nearly randomly; the bottle reinforces certain frequencies that you hear as a pitch. Similarly, a loudspeaker exciting the air in a listening room causes the room to reinforce certain low frequencies. The result is smeared and boomy bass.

The larger the room, the lower the room’s fundamental resonance and thus the more closely spaced and dense the resonance modes are. Closely spaced resonance modes are a good thing; if the resonances approximate a continuum; individual resonances are less likely to be audible. Conversely, a small room’s resonance modes are spread out more widely over the band. With large gaps between resonant frequencies, those resonant frequencies are rendered much more audible. That’s one reason why it’s hard to get good-sounding bass in a small room.

Now some of that is getting pretty technical I know, if you have any questions just get in touch.

There has been a lot of talk about this subject that has lead to various opinions. The general opinion is that the so called “garbage in, garbage out” concept applies – the source is the most important, then the amp and then speakers.

To me it is the component that influences the sound the most and therefore I believe speakers are the most important in your choice, followed by a suitable amp that can drive the speakers and then the source components. However a balanced approach must be followed. For instance it does not make any sense to buy a cheap CD player and a very expensive speaker set or even worse, a very expensive CD player and a cheap speaker set.

The overall result is determined by the weakest link in the system. You will find that by changing your CD player to a more expensive one will make small improvements in your sound, but changing speakers will make a huge difference. The higher you go up the ladder in quality of a speaker then everything in front of them will start to make a difference, amplifiers, CD players and even cables. Note: Better cables cannot improve any component’s sound they can only have less influence on the total sound of the system. So if you do not hear any difference in the sound with different cables do not spend more money on them.

If you got money to burn rather spend it on better speakers.

Q. What Sub should I buy for music and/or home theatre?

A     There is no single answer to this question.
First of all, you must decide if your main interest is in music or home theater or both. Your budget is the next important factor and then follows the size of your room. Lastly but sometimes very important is the aesthetics factor or the so called “WAF” factor (Wife acceptance factor)

The simple key to a good sub is: the bigger the driver the better and the quality go hand in hand with the weight of the sub.  The basic physics of bass sound is to move air at low frequencies. The more air you want to move (for good bass) the bigger the driver you need. To design a good small sub is a very challenging engineering job and a hot topic nowadays. Velodyne are the most famous for their small subs but they are generally very expensive. Luckily the new kid on the block, M.J. Acoustics, have now changed that, they are super value for money.

NOTE: In choosing a sub for music and/or home theater there are a few things to keep in mind.
For home theater (HT), quality is not that important but quantity is. Home theater is just dialog, effects and lots of “distortion” in the lower frequencies. That is why a big sub woofer is best here. Bass reflex type what their power output advantage over a sealed enclosure sub is the answer if you are a movie fanatic.
In fact the main problem of most, if not all, of that “all in one” systems below the $1500 mark is that their  bass unit is a passive unit with a too small driver, less than 8” which can physically not give enough impact in the bass.  The size of the sub woofer you need is determined by the size of the room and your preferred listing level. In general a bigger room (more than 25 sqm) needs a bigger sub (10” driver and at least a 100w amp) and this is also true for higher listing levels.  An active sub with a 100w rms built-in amp and an 8’’ driver is my minimum recommendation. Small passive subs are definitely out.
For music, a big sub is not needed in fact a well designed small sub with accurate bass is much more important. Bass reproduction for music is very important and most of the times this influence the buyer the most (turn the bass control on your amp completely down and listen how the scale of the music disappears). However “correct” bass is much more important than “lots” of bass. To define correct bass is very difficult and this is also the most difficult to get right in designing a speaker. More bass is also not always the answer. It can tire you out very quickly, especially when it drones. Quality bass is much more important, that is the bass must be tight, well defined and must have bass weight. This is much more enjoyable in the long run. The best music subs are from the sealed enclosure type (not bass reflex). Sealed subs generally go lower and have less distortion than bass reflex subs. Also a subwoofer is important to add fullness to the sound when a lower listing level is preferred to compensate for the human’s ear’s naturally lack of detecting bass at low volumes.

Basically you get 3 types of subs:
1: Using a 5″ or 6″ bass driver inside a box and the bass comes out of a port. Remember when you were a kid you talked into a tube to lower your voice. Well that is the same principle used here. This type is used by the mass market “all in one sub/sat sets” from Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, JVC, Bose etc. because it’s cheap to make, you only need cheap small drivers that do not need to move a lot of air to fake “bass” sounds. They are the worst sounding subs with a “hollow, drooney, tube like” bass sound. Also, by hiding the driver inside the cabinet they can get away with low cost drivers made of poor quality materials.

2: A much better why is to use a proper 10″,12″ or 15”driver and let it fires into free air and to increase bass “volume” a bass port is also used (bass reflex). However you introduces distortion, typically 10% to 20%. That is OK for Home theater but not ideal for music.

3: The best subs use a 10″, 12″ or 15” driver in a SEALED enclosure to minimize distortion to about 1% (you sacrifice volume a bit). This is an ideal sub for both music and Home theatre. This is expensive to make because the sub’s amp needs to be at least 3 x bigger to move the driver against the trapped air inside the sealed box.

The industry’s real subs from PARADIGM, JAMO and VELODYNE use this last concept at huge cost but now MJ ACOUSTICS has come up with a range of affordable subs using the same concept. For the first time any enthusiast can now afford to better his speakers sound by adding one of these subs without breaking the bank. Also it will keep your other half happy it’s small and beautifully finished in real wood. There are two other important factors that I like about MJ ACOUSTICS subs:
•    Down firing driver:  thus making use of nature’s gravitational force to help pull the driver down on the start and dampened the back movement, ideal for a fast tight bass with out overhang. It also remove the problem to turn  your big driver (on front firing subs) every year at 180 degrees to compensate for the dragging stressing  force on the driver’s rubber surround and voice coil.  Its also fires at right angles to the main speakers drivers making correct phasing and placement in the room less critical.

•    Remote control on some models to control all the main settings on the sub. Note not all CD’s and DVD’s are recorded equal…it depends on the likes of the recording engineer…his personal choice…with a remote you can have your own choice as well…once you used it,  you can never be without it.

Q. What is the best sub for my room?

A.      To answer that question requires some background information. You may have noticed similar specifications for the less expensive subs. There is very little in the specifications to justify the cost difference. More than any other performance parameter, what you are buying as you move up in the sub line is power and size and thus more bass volume for HT and bass resolution for music. Unlike video, there are no specifications in subs for resolution. You can hear it, but it is not easily defined. Also remember, bass reproduction is heavily dependent on your room acoustics like soft furnishes or hard furnishes. Soft furnishes and soft carpets absorb a lot of bass whereas hard furnishes and wooden floors reflect bass and can make the bass booming and droning. Also you have to think of the problem in terms of the size of the sub. Even in a small room a bigger sub would sound better, you just have to turn it down slightly, the less volume the better. Fortunately, bass can be eliminated easier than it can be produced. The best solution is to go for a very well designed sub of type 3.

Q. How much power must my sub deliver?

A.     The more the better but that also pushes up the cost.  Individual listening levels vary so greatly that a definitive answer is impossible. At least 100w (RMS) is the norm but this is not always a clear cut because it depends on how thick (strong) the driver’s rubber surrounds are, some needs about 1000 watts just to start moving them. Also remember that subwoofers that move a lot of air and are impressive in a home theater demonstration are usually sloppy and become tiresome during extended music listening. If you are impressed with a home theater demo of a sub, wait a bit. The best subwoofers don’t call attention to themselves but provide the most enjoyment over the long haul.

A FEW TIPS
Hooking up your sub:
There are a few things to remember when hooking up your sub and speakers. Never switch on your amp until everything is finally hooked up. Never unplug or plug in any thing with your amp on, always switch it off first. The amp goes through a protection phase when switched on and will only switch the speaker on after everything is found to be safe. When changing things after this, there is no way the amp can tell if something is wrong or not. There are two ways to connect a sub: 1 by connecting your pre amp output (or “sub out” on your HT receiver) to the low level (line level) input on your sub via a coaxial RCA cable. This is the best way for HT. 2 By connecting your speaker terminals to the high level input (speaker terminals) on the sub via normal speaker wire or best via a NEUTRIK connector like MJ ACOUSTICS subs. This is the best for music because your sub then sees the same signal as your speakers and will work then together with your speakers to enhance the bass.

Sub Placement:
Sub placement in your room is critical, especially for good bass reproduction. To understand the basics of sub placement, it’s important to remember that the lower the frequency, the less directional the sound becomes, until you get to the point where the sound is Omni directional (the point at which the wavelength is longer than the distance between your ears – usually below 120 Hz). In theory the subwoofer can be placed anywhere in the room but for optimal music reproduction the sub should be close to the middle of the front speakers. That is in most cases not practical because your equipment rack is in the way…so start off in the next best location, the front corner of the room.  As the sub gets closer to the walls, the bass will reflect off the walls and can be
reenforced, this tends to give a “stronger” bass (more volume) but the bass become more boomier (“sloppier”) or less controlled also known as less defined. As the sub moves further away from the wall, the bass will “tighten” although this will diminish its bass volume. The secret is to move the box in and out from the wall until the best compromise is achieved. In general also place the sub at a slightly larger distance from the back wall than from the side wall…we talking a few inches here.

Subwoofer settings:
It’s a difficult process trying to get a subwoofer to integrate with the main speakers especially when it comes to music reproduction. Trial and error is the best way to tackle this problem. A sub with remote control on all its setup functions is a great help here (like M.J. ACOUSTICS). Most surround sound receivers give the option of sending the bass information to the main speakers or the subwoofer or both. I’ve found that, if your main speaker is a floor standing speaker then the best result and least distortion is when the setting is on “both” thus sending the bass signal to both the sub and the front speakers.  As a rule of thumb for the initial set up, place the phase switch (if available) at zero, the volume level to around 50% and the crossover to around 20% off the lowest setting.  Tweak the settings from there, until it sounds good to your ears, bass tightness is far more important than bass volume.
Tweaking will be different for each room and each placement position.  A note on my personal preference is to have my Sub’s roll off freq much lower for music than for movies typically at 9 o’clock for music and 3 o’clock for movies. The fact is that there are much more info on movie tracks in the range 60Hz to 150 Hz than below 60 Hz contrary to the general believe and music has a lot of information below 60hz. A remote control with different storing settings is a great advantage here, like some MJ ACOUSTICS subs.

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