Speakers that handle every genre of music - important?

Well, as a person who sat out for 20+ years and then jumped back in I have maybe a different perspective. First off I find that I enjoy a lot of music now that I would not have even looked at before... also, a lot of the music I used to enjoy I find just does not hold up for me now. Old ears :dunno:...

What was important back then still seems to be important now... speakers that perform their best at what I enjoy to listen to the most...

I have never liked horns and large bass drivers... great for knocking the walls down and big parties... but who is kidding who, I am not living in the 1970's any more... I most enjoy monitor type speakers.. imaging, sound stage, accuracy... and the room has huge affects on sound... I was thinking I need a big sub... moved the baby REL into the corner... wow, gives all the "extra" bass I could want...

To me, bottom line, I want speakers that excel in what I enjoy the most, if they handle other music, cool, but who cares, I don't give a rats ass about that music anyway :D...
 
When I was in college 40 years ago I would have given my left nut for a pair of Altec Voice of the theater speakers even though I settled for the then state of the art Janzen electrostatics. Explains my moderate loss of hearing huh.
 
I strongly believe that in order to have speakers that can "handle" all types of music, you also have to have equipment that is up to the job as well.

Compared to other members systems on this site, my system is extremely modest at best. With that being said, I chose the gear that I have because they are all well known for being neutral sounding, but also possess other good traits such as a tight, detailed bottom end, natural mids, and crisp, smooth highs. It comes as no surprise that my Martin Logan SL3's are also well known for these same traits.

To help all of this along, having a preamp and amp free of "grain" goes a long way, as well as cables that are also free of grain while remaining neutral. And speaking of the amp, if it's plugged directly into the wall instead of some kind of current limiting device such as a power conditioner, it can deliver it's full power and current to the speakers. And of course, the amp should have enough power to properly drive the speakers to whatever volume level you listen to and then some.

If you have all those traits in the gear alone, and speakers that also match with those same traits, then you "should" be able to play any kind of music through that system and have it sound its best, limited only to the quality of the recording.

I listen to all kinds of music EXCEPT country and rap, and my system does a fabulous job with all of it as far as I'm concerned. It certainly doesn't have many shortcomings. In fact, the only shortcomings my system does have is proper stereo imaging and sound staging, but that's because of the wacky shaped room it's in in this apartment and the fact I only have so much room to work with as far as speaker placement is concerned.

But when it comes to tonality, naturalness and dynamics, I'd have to say this system is pretty good.
 
being great with everything would mean not being the best of one specific thing. its a give and take. I thought my magicos gave the best blend of everything I wanted. I do listen to almost all music. are the S3's the best no but overall they were perfect to me. that being said even the amp's are the same. my SS is awesome at rock and pop and almost everything but I do miss my tubes with classical and jazz.
 
kzhtoo said:
Shouldn't a reference level speaker be able to play all genre well? If not, IMO it shouldn't be regarded as such.
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Quite simply NO! Unfortunately recording and mastering is not held constant. On average a certain genre of music trends toward the same sound. Mixing and mastering are usually done on relatively flat monitors in an acoustic space that is drastically different from your listening space. An "audiophile" speaker that is flat better be in a really well treated room or it will sound terrible. Open baffles overcome some of the room interaction issues and can get away with a flatter response in a normal room. Thus the large variety of speakers accomplishing different goals for different users...
 
jf4828 said:
Unfortunately recording and mastering is not held constant. On average a certain genre of music trends toward the same sound. Mixing and mastering are usually done on relatively flat monitors in an acoustic space that is drastically different from your listening space. An "audiophile" speaker that is flat better be in a really well treated room or it will sound terrible. Open baffles overcome some of the room interaction issues and can get away with a flatter response in a normal room. Thus the large variety of speakers accomplishing different goals for different users...
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jf, I agree for the most part but I'll always take a well engineered (flatter response) speaker, for I understand the importance of the environment in which it is placed. I see so many 'pretty' systems posted with little regard to optimal set up / synergy with the room. Given the $$ these folks have invested they are doing their ears an injustice IMO.
 
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