Sq of movies apparent with ascend speakers

[shawn784]

I have wondered this since i have first started listening to ascend speakers.

I know i have read many threads in which people say they can hear the good like a cymbal they never heard before or something in the background. What about the bad?

In many movies there are parts that just sound awful that i have never noticed before on my old jbl speakers. An example would be an actor yelling and his voice starts to crackle or distort or just an actor speaking and it does not sound the same as the rest of the movie. I do not know if it is because i am picky and just notice this things. This even happens on big bidget films like spiderman 3 and deja vu. There are some scenes where there is just dialogue and i am hearing what sounds like distortion but must clearly be in the source material.


Anyone else have similar experiences once they had some speakers that produce the good and the bad of the source material?

I find this less often on music for some reason than on movies or television

For a while i thought the speakers were distorting but i played with the volume and also messed with the eq settings and it sounded the same out of all 7 speakers so i was sure it was the source material.

I am quite impressed with my 3 340se and 4 170s and just ordered 3 sierras to compare with the 340s.

[curtis]

Which receiver are you using? How loud do you listen to material?

[Mr.Lawrence]

Are you using Toslink (optical cable) between your DVD/CD and your receiver?

I'm currently comparing the CMT-340se and Sierra-1 and I have not experience what you describe. Maybe my hearing isn't as good, or I become to involved in the movie. :)

[shawn784]

Which receiver are you using? How loud do you listen to material?

onkyo 805 and i usually listen somewhere around -15db give or take 5. i calibrated it with a spl meter.

at times i have listen at reference level just to see if it was any worse on certain parts and there was no audible distortion but the source material sounded the same.

I also have turned it way down and put my ear up to each speaker and it sounded the same.


My only guess besides source material is that maybe the autoeq is doing something but usually i watch movies in ultra2 cinema which makes 5.1 output into 7.1. Ultra2 i believe has its own eq settings and some other things going on also.

[shawn784]

Are you using Toslink (optical cable) between your DVD/CD and your receiver?

I'm currently comparing the CMT-340se and Sierra-1 and I have not experience what you describe. Maybe my hearing isn't as good, or I become to involved in the movie. :)

no im using hdmi from my ps3 and it outputs as pcm. it pretty much serves as everything for me. are there any known issues with the ps3 serving as a blu ray player or cd player etc.?

[curtis]

is the problem only with movies? what about two channel music?

[shawn784]

is the problem only with movies? what about two channel music?

music sounds perfect. 2 channel sounds great.

thats why it leads me to believe that the speakers are just revealing what they are being given.

and its not like a whole movie just certain parts in various movies. i am guessing its just the material

[DougMac]

Ah, the downside of accurate speakers!

You're not alone, I too hear problems with soundtracks I hadn't noticed before. I also hear problems in 2 channel music. While well engineered albums sound much better with my Ascends, they are not nearly as forgiving with poor material as my old speakers.

I'm still a little puzzled why you seem to notice the effect more strongly with multiple channel material. Although you've tried different (and I assume lower) volume levels, I'm wondering if your receiver is running out of gas. Your description of when the problem is most noticeable also sounds like when the soundtrack may be the most taxing. I've also noticed that I tend to listen to my accurate Ascends at louder levels than other speakers. Lack of distortion allows louder without fatigue. Since spl is logarithmic, just a little bit louder requires massive increases in power.

Doug

[shawn784]

my receiver is about the next best thing to a standalone amplifier.

its rated at 130x7 at .05thd

and it sounds the same with the volume very low.

at first i thought it was distortion but upon further investigation i concluded it must be the source material.


I assume that the 2 channel music i listen to must be well enginered

[MichaelG]

I have the 805 and it is plenty of receiver for Ascend speakers.

I have Sierra's across the front now and find that really great recordings are just awesome, which sometimes makes average recordings seem worse.

I use a PS3 and haven't noticed any issues from using it. I prefer it over my DVD player. If you google on PS3 audio settings you will find some threads that help you to maximize the audio and video setup.

Michael