Balance!

[MajorFubar]

Just how much should you rely on one part of your HiFi chain compensating for imbalance in another?

For example if you have speakers with a prominent bass, you can aim to correct that by choosing cables, amps and sources which individually or together are tonally bright. But surely the problem then is if you shove a pair of neutral headphones on you're going to get an unlistenable sound which will shatter your spectacles at twenty paces.

So surely it's better to have tonal neutrality from the source to the end of the speaker cable, then choose speakers which tonally suit your taste and room accoustics

 

[Overdose]

So surely it's better to have tonal neutrality from the source to the end of the speaker cable, then choose speakers which tonally suit your taste and room accoustics

I'd say that's about right, or even go for total neutrality and EQ to suit.

Personally I think it's a fools errand to try to select various pieces of equipment based on tonal colouration for compensation purposes, it is merely masking a problem and has in any case, far too many variables.

 

[BenLaw]

Just how much should you rely on one part of your HiFi chain compensating for imbalance in another? For example if you have speakers with a prominent bass, you can aim to correct that by choosing cables, amps and sources which individually or together are tonally bright. But surely the problem then is if you shove a pair of neutral headphones on you're going to get an unlistenable sound which will shatter your spectacles at twenty paces. So surely it's better to have tonal neutrality from the source to the end of the speaker cable, then choose speakers which tonally suit your taste and room accoustics

Agree with the sentiment, tho personally approach it the other way round. Get highly revealing and tonally neutral speakers (such as ATCs or high quality actives) and then choose electronics / EQ to suit taste.

 

[bluedroog]

Personally I see it more about fine tuning.

 

[CnoEvil]

Personally, I find trying to rationalize components and how they go together, quite a minefield. There is hifi that shouldn't work together but does, and vice versa.

Though I use it myself, I find the word "Neutral" a little nebulous, as it is often confusing as to exactly what this is. In other words, does it encompass a reasonably wide range of tonal colour, or is it a very narrow band, that most components only aspire to.

Are any/all of these speakers neutral?: ATC SCM range, Kef Reference, B&W Diamond, Focal Utopia, PMC Twenty

Are any of these amps Neutral?: ATC SIA2 150, Bryston, Cyrus Monos, MF M6500i, Chord, Primare, Bel Canto.

All the above sound different, so is there even such a thing as strictly neutral, as every item of hifi adds it's own flavour, no matter how slight? There are those who say active gives the best hope - maybe they are right, but that stops flexibility.

Whether components work together, is so personal and subjective, that it means there can be no formula that will ensure success, no matter how logical it looks on paper.

Just my view (ATM)

 

[Rethep]

I think soundbalance is the most important parameter for me. Of course you can compensate but within a certain area, otherwise you keep on balancing. In the end you always have some kind of compromise.

 

[Overdose]

Though I use it myself, I find the word "Neutral" a little nebulous, as it is often confusing as to exactly what this is. In other words, does it encompass a reasonably wide range of tonal colour, or is it a very narrow band, that most components only aspire to.

The only way to know, is to look at frequency response and see how the equipment behaves, or perhaps listen to a full frequency test tone sweep and see if you can hear the loudness changes along with the frequencies.

Auditioning would determine whether or not you liked a sound, but not if you could determine neutrality, neccessarily. The main reason for this being that we (the general buying public and audience) have no real way of knowing how a recording was actually mastered and what it should sound like, we can only know what it does sound like. The flatter the frequency response, the closer you will get to neutrality and the sound of the original recording, ie no particular emphasis of any frequencies.

It is easy enough to audition equipment though, to determine your tastes, neutral or otherwise.

 

[CnoEvil]

Though I use it myself, I find the word "Neutral" a little nebulous, as it is often confusing as to exactly what this is. In other words, does it encompass a reasonably wide range of tonal colour, or is it a very narrow band, that most components only aspire to.

The only way to know, is to look at frequency response and see how the equipment behaves, or perhaps listen to a full frequency test tone sweep and see if you can hear the loudness changes along with the frequencies.

Auditioning would determine whether or not you liked a sound, but not if you could determine neutrality, neccessarily. The main reason for this being that we (the general buying public and audience) have no real way of knowing how a recording was actually mastered and what it should sound like, we can only know what it does sound like. The flatter the frequency response, the closer you will get to neutrality and the sound of the original recording, ie no particular emphasis of any frequencies.

It is easy enough to audition equipment though, to determine your tastes, neutral or otherwise.

Thanks OD, but the problem is getting hold of this info (and then understanding it!) eg. is it available for the stuff I've listed?....for me, it's only really of academic interest, as I don't choose my equipment that way.

 

[Rethep]

After all, it's all a matter of taste and not of neutrality!

 

[the record spot]

There's no rhyme or reason to it most of the time. In fairness, I tend to go for the sound that suits me. I know what I like (I've bene mucking about with this game for long enough, I should do by now!) and I tend to go for components that fit that bill. More often of late, I've experimented with older gear that's more out of curiosity than long term system building. Great sound can be had in many ways, but I suppose my rule of thumb would be to find the sound you like, and avoid having components that deliver too much of one type of sound characteristic. Other than that, it's open season, which is why I've bought a Sony amp, a Sony CD player and a pair of Rogers DB101 speakers in the past week or so!

 

[SteveR750]

There's no rhyme or reason to it most of the time. In fairness, I tend to go for the sound that suits me. I know what I like (I've bene mucking about with this game for long enough, I should do by now!) and I tend to go for components that fit that bill. More often of late, I've experimented with older gear that's more out of curiosity than long term system building. Great sound can be had in many ways, but I suppose my rule of thumb would be to find the sound you like, and avoid having components that deliver too much of one type of sound characteristic. Other than that, it's open season, which is why I've bought a Sony amp, a Sony CD player and a pair of Rogers DB101 speakers in the past week or so!

+1

 

[lindsayt]

Though I use it myself, I find the word "Neutral" a little nebulous, as it is often confusing as to exactly what this is. In other words, does it encompass a reasonably wide range of tonal colour, or is it a very narrow band, that most components only aspire to.

The only way to know, is to look at frequency response and see how the equipment behaves, or perhaps listen to a full frequency test tone sweep and see if you can hear the loudness changes along with the frequencies.

Auditioning would determine whether or not you liked a sound, but not if you could determine neutrality, neccessarily. The main reason for this being that we (the general buying public and audience) have no real way of knowing how a recording was actually mastered and what it should sound like, we can only know what it does sound like. The flatter the frequency response, the closer you will get to neutrality and the sound of the original recording, ie no particular emphasis of any frequencies.

It is easy enough to audition equipment though, to determine your tastes, neutral or otherwise.

My definition of a neutral hi-fi is where about 1/3 of recordings sound lean or bright, 1/3 of recordings warm or bass heavy, 1/3 of recordings about right or tonally balanced or tonally neutral.

INXS bright.

All Saints bass heavy.

Bachman Turner Overdrive neutral.