Other than magnetic shielding, what makes a speaker "made for use in an A/V setup" vs speakers "made for 2 channel stereo"? Is this strictly a marketing ploy or does it come down to how a speaker is made from the ground up?
AV or HT speakers are usually designed to be used with a subwoofer so they won't have as much bass. And generally I would expect them to be less musical.
Just beware of packaged speaker sets, they are usually pretty bad.
Based on zero scientific evidence, I find that most speakers "made for A/V" have an overpronounced range somewhere along the spectrum - they are either very bright (over pronounced high end), very warm (over pronounced low end), or are bright and have boomy bass without a midrange.
Bright - Axiom, Klipsch Warm - Polk, Def Tech Bright and Boomy - JBL, Bose, just about every HTIB
I wouldn't call the Polk Monitor or RTi series "warm" though---just their top-end LSi's.
I'mNotBrightNorWarm
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Posted on
Stu, you're the first person I've ever heard describe DefTech as warm. Most people, myself included, find them to be on the bright side (although not as bright as Klipsch). They definitely benefit from a warm/neutral receiver. When I think of warm speakers (at least in reasonable price ranges) I think of Boston Acoustics towers and the lower-end Monitor Audio speakers.
You bring up an interesting point. I was referring to the DefTech powered towers. The unpowered speakers and power monitors tend to lean on the bright side as you mention. From my experience with them, the powered towers seem warm.
I was in Magnolia Home Theater (in Best Buy) all day on black friday while my wife was shopping. I spent a few hours listening to Vienna towers and Martin Logan (Montage and Mosaic) through a Primare integrated and cdp. In comparison to these (and even Boston Acoustics towers as you mentioned) they seemed very warm. Actually, they seemed almost dark. The internal sub amp could have benefitted from turning it down a notch, but that wouldn't have made them bright by any stretch of the immagination. Everyone in the room (not your typical BB shoppers) said the same thing - except of course the idiot employee how kept insisting that the Martin Logans had powered subs built in even though their was no power cord.
I've also heard the powered towers A/B'ed against Paradigms and B&Ws in another store with different ancillary equipment with similar results.
I'm not trying to bash DefTech. I'm a fan of their powered subs, passive speakers and Power Monitor bookshelves. If I were to start an H/T only system, they would be very high on my list.
I'mNotBrightNorWarm
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Posted on
Stu...
I too just listened to DefTechs powered towers at Magnolia, and I found that they were set up horribly. I like the DefTechs myself, but Magnolia had them tucked into a cubby with about 3 inches of space on either side and in back, and those towers need some space.
The ones I've heard - at Magnolia and at a mom and pop hi-fi shop - were set up normally. Magnolia had a little less room to breathe than the other place but it wasn't horrible by any means.
Next time you're in Magnolia, A/B them against Vienna towers and Martin Logan towers. The DefTechs sound dark in comparison. It's kind of odd because I wouldn't consider the Viennas or MLs as bright.