Classical speakers that do violins well??

02-08-08: Honest1 said:
"MrTennis' experiment would not work, unless it were conducted in an anechoic chamber, or with very close very directional microphones (which would not pick up all of the sound being rediated from all over an instrument). The reason is that the room acoustics would be doubled the second time around. The recording would have the instrument sound + the room acoustics' affect on that sound. When you played it back, you would have the instrument sound + the room acoustic sound on the recording + the room acoustic affect on both of those sounds."

I've re-read his post and I think that he's talking about recording an acoustic instrument live, not as played through the system. I quite often record my trumpet in my living room and then play it back through the 2-channel system to listen to my tone, articulations, resonance and presentation from the other side of the horn and there are no such issues. (BTW, my Vienna Acoustic Beethoven Baby Grands pass this test with flying colors).

I think that you may have been thinking of having an acoustic instrument play through a mic and then through the 2-channel speakers and then record that. I've never tried it, but I DO think you're right that it'd sound like mud, with the first reflections amplified at least and maybe doubled. It's interesting to think about, but I don't think that's what Mrtennis was suggesting.

Dave

No, I don't think so.

hi dcstep:

you are correct. one records an instrument in one's listening room using a microphone and any recording device, such as open reel, dat, cd recorder, etc. .

the tape or cd then is an input to the stereo system.

i would say that there would be a significant difference between the sound of the instrument and what you hear coming out of your speakers.

02-08-08: Mrtennis said:

"i would say that there would be a significant difference between the sound of the instrument and what you hear coming out of your speakers."

I think you'd be pleasantly surprised.

My living room is large and has a lot of well padded furniture and a thick carpet. When I record trumpet in the middle of the room with the mic about 3-feet away I get a very pure trumpet sound with a touch of room ring. It comes through the 2-channel system very nicely, with accurate timbre, huge dynamics and enough realism to make the dog howl.

Dave

Honest1,

You give but one example why you should leave recording to professionals and keep amateurs away.

You are completely correct that a recording using a microphone will record NOT just the acoutic instrument itself but ALSO the reverberation response due to the room. The biggest effect will be ceiling or floor (esp if floor is hardwood). Audio engineers play with microphone heights and surfaces to modify this reverb effect. Studios even buy large expensive panels for vocalists to sing next to and add interesting effects (these are called "microphone plates").

To record ONLY the instrument you would need to use an anechoic chamber...just as you describe. Only then would the playback be closest to the instrument sound - but even then......there are still other issues that are not worth going into here.

Back to speakers.

As a classical music listener and former choral singer IMO large scale classical is hard to do well on a budget, especially massed string.

I would also say that the front end, pre and amps + are also critically important to your string sound. LP is less problematic.

That said, I've been this speaker search route a couple times, been a Maggie owner, and I frankly have very few speakers I like in this price rnage that I think do justice to orchestral music and string tone - chamber or otherwise. I don't honestly care for a lot of popular speakers.

My suggestion would be to go used - more bang for the buck. Then match your amp(s) to your speakers.

I left Maggies for Alons (now Nola). My Alon Vs Mk IIIs had a lot of what I liked about my Maggies - airy, open, unboxy, coherency, imaging - plus they had some virtues the Maggies didn't - bass and dynamics, resolution, ease of placement. They also had a huge soundstage that didn't require one to sit with one's head in a vise.

So I Like Alon/Nola speakers, the designer voices them with classical music and they're probably a little hard to find used but they are huge bang for the buck. Alon Vs, Nolas...great speakers that are neutral but not colorless, and are very (VERY) slightly forgiving. The down side is you want to triwire them and get them away from the walls. If you do that, then you just point them straight ahead. No messing with toe-in.

I saw a lone voice up there suggesting Shahinians - GREAT idea. If you could find a pair of Shahinian Obelisks used they would be wonderful. Richard Shahinian designs them for classical music. 'Nuff said. They also have a very open presentation (notice a theme here?)

Along a similar line, Ohm Walsh has some speaker models that might do well for you. The have (again) a very open spacious presentation, but excellent for classical.

I personally like Audio Physic speakers better than SF or VAs. Used Virgos would be an excellent choice.

I also like the suggestion for used Vandersteen 3a Sigs - these speakers do many things well and nothing bad, like get hard in the tresble and annoy you on massed strings.

VAs are very sweet, but if you have your heart set on them I suggest you go as high up the model line as you can, especially if you listen to much symphonic music.