I didn't want to hijack the Model 19 Veneer thread (which I've learned a lot from --thanks all!) but it raised some questions for me. Regarding the previous quote from that thread, it has been my experience with audiophile speakers that the "better" the speakers are, the more critical they are of the source material. That is, if you're listening to a great sounding recording (something that was recorded, mixed, and mastered really well), that recording will sound amazing on a great pair of speakers. On the other hand, if you're listening to a recording that was either recorded, mixed, or mastered in a less than ideal manner, the flaws in that substandard source material will be very clearly audible on that same great pair of speakers, and those flaws will be less noticeable on lesser speakers. Same thing for components, if your amp or turntable cartridge or CD player etc. is less than ideal, the inadequacies of those components will be very noticeable on the "better" speakers (more accurate/"critical" reproducers), and less noticeable on lesser speakers. I agree with juniper that speakers like the Model 19's (and Model 14's for example) are very much source dependent, they are such clean, accurate reproducers (and with wide bandwidth), that if your source recording or other stereo system components are less than ideal, you will be able to clearly hear those deficiencies. On the other hand, if you have great components and some great recordings to listen to, they will sound better on those speakers than on lesser speakers. Are these "correct" observations/assumptions--anyone else agree/disagree? I'm basing it on experience--every time I've upgraded my speakers in the past, I've noticed that the "better" pair is more critical of recordings and of other components in my system than the pair of speakers that they replaced. Since I've bought my Model 19's and 14's, I can tell more than ever if an LP, CD, or DVD (or digital cable broadcast) is "good" or mediocre or "poor" whereas on earlier speakers the difference between one source recording and another was not as noticeable. Likewise, since upgrading my Altecs, I've (had to?) upgraded my amplifiers and phono cartridges and the combined effect of the speaker and component upgrades are incredible.Quote:
Originally Posted by juniper
IMHO, that's one reason why the Model 19's and Model 14's are named/considered (by Altec) to be Studio Monitors. It's because they are such accurate reproducers, that they are ideal for critical listening -- including (but of course not limited to) mixing and monitoring in a recording studio. They make EVERYTHING you're listening to (strengths and weaknesses of recordings and components) very clearly audible. I'm currently recording/mixing a new (rock) album with my band, and I can tell you that using Model 19's as studio monitors this time (first time we've recorded/mixed with them) is a learning experience. We're learning things about our "gear" (guitars, drums, keyboards, vocals etc. and the effects we use on them) that we've never noticed/been able to hear so clearly before. It's been a real learning experience, but I can already say that in the mixing and mastering stage it has made things much easier. I used to mix on my previous Altecs, and play those recordings back on other Altecs I had in the house (as well as on my car stereo and boom box) to make sure the recording/mix sounded good on everything I played it on. Often times it did not--I'd hear some problem on the (decent sounding) boom box or other Altecs or car stereo that I didn't notice while mixing the song(s), and go back and remix it / fix the problem until the recording sounded great everywhere/on every system I played it on. With the Model 19's (and we use the 14's for playbacks as well for comparative purposes), after a song is mixed, we much more rarely hear problems with the mix on other stereos/boom boxes/ etc. If the mix passes the "scrutiny" of the 19's and 14's, it (most times) passes everything else. I think this is because of the same assumptions in my first paragraph here?
In a similar vein, I've had to upgrade my headphones since upgrading to the Model 19's and 14's. When mixing past recordings, while mixing, I'd switch back and forth between the headphones and my "old" (previous) Altecs and would often hear nuances on the headphones that I didn't hear on the Altecs. The headphones really helped to "second guess"/fine tune the mixes we were getting. Once I bought Model 19's and 14's, as soon as I switched from the Altecs to the headphones for comparative purposes while mixing, about the only thing I noticed was that the headphones didn't sound as "good" as the speakers (and they were nice headphones--Sennhiesers)! So, I had to upgrade headphones too--and it wasn't easy finding a pair of headphones that didn't sound (considerably) worse than my current Altecs. Anyone else out there with 19's (or any "high end vintage Altecs"--which I bet is most of the people here) have trouble finding headphones that could keep up?
