How do you listen to music in the home?

The Mystical wrote: I am an enjoyer of music with quite an ear for music, but for me, there is no "proper" way to listen to music. $50 speakers, $2000 speakers, I can enjoy music with a great variation of quality.  That being said, I love vinyls.

Ady Cardiac wrote: usually i just listen to stuff on some old seperates ive got.......basically cd player, graphic equalizer which is built into amp... connected to speakers about 3/4 of the way up a wall......dont like having speakers on the floor.....if not that way got some fairly decent chunky headphones i put on on occasion if i want complete cut off from the world....which happens often.

Catcher10 wrote: Design of speaker cabinets has improved dramatically in the last 20 years.

not getting involved, not getting involved, not getting involved, not getting involved, not getting involved, not getting involved, not getting involved, not getting involved, not getting involved, not getting involved, not getting involved, not getting involved, not getting involved, not getting involved, not getting involved, not getting involved, not getting involved, not getting involved...

Design of speaker cabinets has improved dramatically in the last 20 years. You do not need anymore the big large boxs of say a Cerwin Vega or even the classic and much desired Klipsch LaScala or Heresy...those with the huge 15" woofers. Cabinet designs have eliminated the need for such large drivers. For a traditional room size bookshelf speakers with a 5" to 7" mid/bass driver is more than sufficient to get you the low end you need.

I usually listen to music through my headphones, whether it be on my iPod or my Laptop.

But don't put all your trust in a hifi dealer.....they want to sell you their stuff, and they naturally recommend stuff they have.And they may say it's only a question of how much money you want to spend.  You can listen to  speakers of different character to find your own preference.

I don't have much experience or knowledge but I have preferences. My dad bought somewhat expensive Dali speakers 8 years ago, after being recommended by someone in a hifi store. They sound good, but they have a softness to my ears, or "warmth" or something, not a punchy mid range sound. So my own preference is probably a more powerful sound with a good midrange character and a frequency range that goes deep down. My "Jamo Power 365" have such characteristics but they are really old now and have problems.They have a specific "bass reflex system", which I've heard improves the bass at the lowest frequencies.

 If the speakers reaches down to 60hz you would need a sub woofer I guess. And that's a solution I know nothing about. I have experienced sub woofers in computer speaker setups, and it is just a mess to my ears, even if decreasing it to lowest bass level, it's just a lot of bass. It's probably  a different thing with real hifi systems, but I'm wondering about the evenness of  the frequency response if you divide it into speakers+sub woofer.

It's interesting anyway, and the choice of speakers is probably the most important choice.

I found this "List of loudspeaker manufacturers", might be interesting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_loudspeaker_manufacturers


Edited by wilmon91 - March 13 2013 at 20:42

A related question: when you use speakers, where and how are they located?

dibble wrote: Thank you Dean and Hawkwise. ....so does that mean then that I go into a shop with my cd and ask them to play it so I can listen to it? Me thinking... that would really be quite fun with  music I like  filling the store!!!! I think I would prob like to listen to The Watchmaker ( S WIlson ) I did once have the experience of a sub woofer.  I really hated the sound of it, so  I do understand that it is to some extent personal in the choices that you make. Smartpatrol, I saw some boom boxes for the very first time today and there was a good deal on them because  the shop was closing...

Thank you Dean and Hawkwise.

....so does that mean then that I go into a shop with my cd and ask them to play
it so I can listen to it?

Me thinking... that would really be quite fun with  music I like  filling the store!!!!
I think I would prob like to listen to The Watchmaker ( S WIlson )

I did once have the experience of a sub woofer.  I really hated the sound of it, so  I do understand that it is to
some extent personal in the choices that you make.

Smartpatrol, I saw some boom boxes for the very first time today and there was a good deal on them because
 the shop was closing...


Edited by dibble - March 13 2013 at 13:10

Dean wrote: The best judge of speakers is your ears. You can read all the recomendations and suggestions but at the end of the day if you don't like what you hear then nothing will fix that.