Are you more of a bass, mids, highs, or "dont care so much, just want overall balanced sound"person?

Are you more of a bass, mids, highs, or "dont care so much, just want overall balanced sound"person?


  • Total voters
    31
Ideally you want all the material to be there and in proper balance. But if I was asked to pick in a specific order; I’ll say mids first, bass second, and highs last.
 
I figured survey results from The Haven would be noticeably different than survey results from Steve Hoffmans, and as is typical of The Haven and its our :) members, I was not let down. Actually results are noticeably more different than I thought they would be. Here are the results thus far. 23 total votes @The Haven, 145@Steve Hoffmans. Thanks for participating and commenting in this just-for-fun survey and feel free if you havent.

...................preferences...................
The Haven Steve Hoffman
Bass. 14%..... 10%
Mids. 41%.... 12%
Highs. 0%.... 7%
Balanced 45%.... 71%

 
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I figured survey results from The Haven would be noticeably different than survey results from Steve Hoffmans, and as is typical of The Haven and its our :) members, I was not let down. Actually results are noticeably more different than I thought they would be. Here are the results thus far. 23 total votes @The Haven, 145@Steve Hoffmans. Thanks for participating and commenting in this just-for-fun survey and feel free if you havent.

...................preferences...................
The Haven Steve Hoffman
Bass. 14%..... 10%
Mids. 41%.... 12%
Highs. 0%.... 7%
Balanced 45%.... 71%


Interesting that the Highs have not received one vote.
 
The highs, for me, are more often a deal breaker in 'bad' speakers, than they are something I look for as the preferred ideal. I've sold a few speaker due to them having highs I didn't care for. My Spendor S-100s, for one.
 
The highs, for me, are more often a deal breaker in 'bad' speakers, than they are something I look for as the preferred ideal. I've sold a few speaker due to them having highs I didn't care for. My Spendor S-100s, for one.
What kinda triggered my own comment was listening to the EMITs in the little Infinitesimals. Dang, they're nice.
 
What kinda triggered my own comment was listening to the EMITs in the little Infinitesimals. Dang, they're nice.
I only ever had one pair of Infinities with the EMIT tweeter, but I do remember them as they really stood out as having better treble than the other vintage speakers I was playing with at the time. I'm generally not a fan of older speakers anymore, but I'd make room for a nice pair of Infinities (assuming they're small like yours).
 
I only ever had one pair of Infinities with the EMIT tweeter, but I do remember them as they really stood out as having better treble than the other vintage speakers I was playing with at the time. I'm generally not a fan of older speakers anymore, but I'd make room for a nice pair of Infinities (assuming they're small like yours).
The Infinitesimals are the only Infinitys I've had through. I'm not a older speaker fan, either. The little guys with the EMITs and the Luxman are really my final answer to desktop sound, though. The tweeters give the sound a really tangible, "real" texture and imaging.

I still enjoy the B&W DM-14s in the Accuphase system in the bedroom as well, mind you. - nice silk dome tweeters and basically a pretty "modern" concept to them. The combination just sounds effortless from really quiet late at night to really rockin' it. The DM-14s wouldn't cut it as a sub for the de Capos in the main system, but where they are they're just kinda right.
 
If the midrange isn’t right, no amount of sparkling highs or guttural bass is going to make a speaker sound right.

A speaker with less than full range bass but clear highs and proper midrange is still going to still give you a great listening experience, as noted by how widely accepted the stand mount monitor is.

A speaker with a slightly rolled off top end but perfect midrange and great bass is going to likely be labelled “polite”, maybe “warm” or “easygoing” or “musical”, and there’s a market for that too.

This said, I can very much say I prefer having it all. Midrange is the deciding factor, but when bass is included that’s deep and clean, that impresses me, gets my attention, makes me grin like a Cheshire cat. Having crystalline highs isn’t a turnoff either, but unless I’m really monitoring the music, I’m thinking it may be third in line (in theory). In practice, I’d very much be able to live with the compromise a stand mount monitor offers, with fair bass but perfectly executed midrange and enough top end clarity to be articulate and informative.
 
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