msj Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 I have the same impression with Bose. I used to share this prejudice too. After trying the IE2 headphones I no longer think they are "garbage." The headphones are good for what I need them for (running - changing music, pausing music etc with an iPod). The sound quality will never match any of my Shure's but it is certainly better than the Sennheiser's and Sony's that I have used in the past (for about the same money). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Bill Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 There is no difference in output quality using any digital cable, period. Analog signals, can possibly/maybe be affected by different materials, however most testing shows no audible difference between the highest end speaker wire and lamp cord. The quality of the speakers and the power available to them are really all that matters so long as you are using a cd/dvd/bluray source. FYI, Bose is garbage. Yeah, Bose used to be great but things change. Now the suits run the show, over-ruling the design engineers. Actually, as I've said many times, CDs never were as good as unscratched vinyl. Again, the suits had rushed the product to market. It has to do with the sampling rate. And MP3 files were DESIGNED to be low-fi! They stripped and compressed the file to make it much smaller, so that it took less time to be downloaded on the old slow modems. That all changed with the advent of BluRay! For the first time digital formats were BETTER than vinyl! By a LOT! Neil Young had long refused to allow his songs still under his control to be released in CD format, because of the poorer fidelity. However, BluRay impressed him so much that now his entire library has been coming out in the new format. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngusThermopyle Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 Well Bill in the area of cables I have to tell you that you're basically "preaching to the choir", this is why I do not spend a lot on speaker wire (40 bucks for 50' is not a lot). It's also why Gord does not carry any of the exotic brands in his store, he'd rather see people put the money where it really counts, into the gear they are running. I've bought my interconnects from him, they're good ones, Aucoustic Research, each one cost me an average of $8, once again low cost. Even though they are not exotic I believe they perform just as well as the mega buck products. The real deciding factor for me with the QED speaker wire was quite honestly my girl friend. She hates the look of multiple wire runs around the room. The QED is smaller and uses a white insulator so it blends in far better than Monster and others of that ilk. Now Monster is one company that I truly despise, these guys use every deceptive marketting ploy in the book to sell their products. I should add that one reason I like the AR interconects is because they utilize locking plugs rather than pressure fit. That is one area that will definatelly affect your sound quality. I've been an audio addict for many many years, over that time period you have plenty of time and experience to determine the merits or lack thereoff of all kinds of claims. Remember green magic markers for CD's? That was good for a laugh but a great many people bought into it paying 40 or 50 bucks for "audio magic markers". A newer one is "speaker cable break in period", you would'nt believe how many people believe that speaker cables should be broken in before they achieve their "proper" sound. Sure, some things should be broken in, speakers for example, the cones move so it just makes sense and every reputable manufacturer recommends a break in period, but speaker cables! Come on! Still, people believe this. Here is a link to an excellent site that debunks many cable myths and is actually a really good read. Great Article I could go on for pages about this subject but right now I don't have the time. I do look forward to continuing it at a later date though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GostHacked Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 I've been an audio addict for many many years, over that time period you have plenty of time and experience to determine the merits or lack thereoff of all kinds of claims. Remember green magic markers for CD's? That was good for a laugh but a great many people bought into it paying 40 or 50 bucks for "audio magic markers". A newer one is "speaker cable break in period", you would'nt believe how many people believe that speaker cables should be broken in before they achieve their "proper" sound. Sure, some things should be broken in, speakers for example, the cones move so it just makes sense and every reputable manufacturer recommends a break in period, but speaker cables! Come on! Still, people believe this. The other thing I thought funny too when CDs came out, was those little 'stabalizing plastic rings' you fit over the circumference of the CD to make it more stable when spinning. Which obviously means better sound. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkman Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 I used to share this prejudice too. After trying the IE2 headphones I no longer think they are "garbage." The headphones are good for what I need them for (running - changing music, pausing music etc with an iPod). The sound quality will never match any of my Shure's but it is certainly better than the Sennheiser's and Sony's that I have used in the past (for about the same money). I think Bose got their bad rep from the cube speaker systems they started selling in the late 80's. I tried the headphones and was shocked how good they were. When I was more recently looking for an ipod sound dock, I got another Bose, and have again been quite impressed what it can do with compressed music. People love to hate them, but they do make some good products. As for the OFC wire, corroded copper has more resistance is the issue. Also, with solid wire, the signal tends to run on the outside more which is why stranded copper is best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild Bill Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 I think Bose got their bad rep from the cube speaker systems they started selling in the late 80's. I tried the headphones and was shocked how good they were. When I was more recently looking for an ipod sound dock, I got another Bose, and have again been quite impressed what it can do with compressed music. People love to hate them, but they do make some good products. As for the OFC wire, corroded copper has more resistance is the issue. Also, with solid wire, the signal tends to run on the outside more which is why stranded copper is best. You're talking about "skin effect", Sharkman. Actually, stranded wire does exactly the same thing as solid, since it is made up of many smaller BARE copper wires that continually short to each other along the entire length. There is no difference electrically between solid and stranded wire, only mechanically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkman Posted January 17, 2012 Report Share Posted January 17, 2012 Well, there you go. Anyway, you guys have me depressed about getting into vinyl, I don't want to spend a jack wagon load of cash! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbg Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 Well, there you go. Anyway, you guys have me depressed about getting into vinyl, I don't want to spend a jack wagon load of cash! It really isn't that expensive. I have a $159 turntable from Best Buy and some not too expensive speakers. Honestly it's good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngusThermopyle Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 Well, there you go. Anyway, you guys have me depressed about getting into vinyl, I don't want to spend a jack wagon load of cash! Actually jbg is correct. It doesn't have to cost a lot, another option is to find a good used TT. The girl friend has one of those ION usb TT's, it works but she's no longer happy with it so this weekend I'll be picking up a very nice used Dual for her. Its a good TT and I can get it with a small used phono stage for $100, this will give her nice sound at a reasonable price. She'll have her own little system that wont have cost too much. For instance I'm also buying a new pair of PSB Alpha's for her, these will cost me $200 HST included, with a decent little CD or DVD player, say about $70, the Denon reciever she's inherited from me and extra cables and wires I have her system will cost me less than $400 total. This configuration will give her very nice sound/performance and as I said wont cost that much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GostHacked Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 Yep, spend what you can afford. The difference between good speakers and great speakers are minimal in sound improvements (although noticeable to some) and maximum in price difference. Whatever your budget is, there is something out there to satisfy your needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngusThermopyle Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 Yep, spend what you can afford. The difference between good speakers and great speakers are minimal in sound improvements (although noticeable to some) and maximum in price difference. Whatever your budget is, there is something out there to satisfy your needs. Hey GH, have you ever heard the PSB's, just curious? They're a small bookshelf set and are truly exceptional in their price/category range. I have a spare set of Cerwin Vega's with 8" drivers and was going to let her have those but after listening to the PSB's I decided they were the ones. Quite simply these little bookshelves blow the Cerwins clear out of the water. The Cerwins will be going outside in the gazebo for the summer season instead. Oh yeah, the $200 price is Gords offer to me, I've seen these same speakers going for as much as $300+HST in other places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GostHacked Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 Hey GH, have you ever heard the PSB's, just curious? They're a small bookshelf set and are truly exceptional in their price/category range. I have a spare set of Cerwin Vega's with 8" drivers and was going to let her have those but after listening to the PSB's I decided they were the ones. Quite simply these little bookshelves blow the Cerwins clear out of the water. The Cerwins will be going outside in the gazebo for the summer season instead. Oh yeah, the $200 price is Gords offer to me, I've seen these same speakers going for as much as $300+HST in other places. The PSBs are a pretty good speaker for the price range it is in. Comparable to Paradigms in my view for over all build quality and sound. And I do believe both Paradigm and PSB are still Canadian companies. In the same price range/category, I also suggest checking out Mission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercoma Posted January 18, 2012 Report Share Posted January 18, 2012 (edited) Hey GH, have you ever heard the PSB's, just curious? They're a small bookshelf set and are truly exceptional in their price/category range. I have a spare set of Cerwin Vega's with 8" drivers and was going to let her have those but after listening to the PSB's I decided they were the ones. Quite simply these little bookshelves blow the Cerwins clear out of the water. The Cerwins will be going outside in the gazebo for the summer season instead. Oh yeah, the $200 price is Gords offer to me, I've seen these same speakers going for as much as $300+HST in other places. Can you post a link to these PSBs? I've been looking for an affordable but decent set of bookshelfs. edit: I checked for sellers online and ebay was pretty much the only place I could find them. Even then there was only a couple listings. It seems there are no dealers in the Maritimes. Edited January 19, 2012 by cybercoma Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngusThermopyle Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 Can you post a link to these PSBs? I've been looking for an affordable but decent set of bookshelfs.edit: I checked for sellers online and ebay was pretty much the only place I could find them. Even then there was only a couple listings. It seems there are no dealers in the Maritimes. Sure thing, actually here's a link to their find a dealer page. It shows four dealers in the area of Dartmouth. I used Dartmouth because I used to live there and I don't know where in the Maritimes you are. PSB Dealers Hopefully this will help, even so there may be others based on your location. You can also check out the speakers on this site. For myself I'm thinking about picking up the B5's for my system since my receiver is a 7.1. A friend suggested that I add a sub but I already have a 400w 10" Velodyne and another sub in a room of this size would just be ridiculous. GH, I owned a set of Mission bookshelves in the past, the 761's I think. Very nice speakers, good sound, but I really like the sound of the PSB's. I had the Missions for 9 or 10 years and ended up giving them to a friend so this time around I'll go PSB. The PSB speakers are also a very good looking speaker, thats not really important but it is a little bonus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GostHacked Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 Sure thing, actually here's a link to their find a dealer page. It shows four dealers in the area of Dartmouth. I used Dartmouth because I used to live there and I don't know where in the Maritimes you are. PSB Dealers Hopefully this will help, even so there may be others based on your location. You can also check out the speakers on this site. For myself I'm thinking about picking up the B5's for my system since my receiver is a 7.1. A friend suggested that I add a sub but I already have a 400w 10" Velodyne and another sub in a room of this size would just be ridiculous. Those Velodyne subs are very good. A little more expensive , but worth it. GH, I owned a set of Mission bookshelves in the past, the 761's I think. Very nice speakers, good sound, but I really like the sound of the PSB's. I had the Missions for 9 or 10 years and ended up giving them to a friend so this time around I'll go PSB. The PSB speakers are also a very good looking speaker, thats not really important but it is a little bonus. I had the Mission 700s, when I had the 5.1 system I used them for the fronts and backs, bought the center , and a Polk Audio 10" sub (the mission subs were horrible at that time). Only drawback being a small main driver is they only got down to 60hz. So the bottom end was not there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngusThermopyle Posted January 19, 2012 Report Share Posted January 19, 2012 (edited) Yup, do love Mission speakers, I haven't heard any of their new stuff (last 5 years or so). My preference has always been Canadian and British audio gear. Thats not to say that good stuff doesn't come from other countries though. For instance I'd love to have one of those Mastersound tube amps from Italy that Gord sells, I'd use that for a purely music listening system. Unfortunately I can't justify spending $4700 on one and then another $3000 to $5000 on speakers to match it, not to mention $1500+ for a matching source. Maybe one day, but not today. On a related note. Since I've had my new NAD receiver for almost a week now I've gotta say that I love this thing. Its almost like my speakers were half asleep running the Dennon and now they're fully awake. Even just TV listening is dramatically different, deeper richer sound and far greater channel seperation. The analogue bypass feature for my TT and tape deck is also a really great feature. I haven't even begun to play with the EARS system they use either, should be fun. Edited January 19, 2012 by AngusThermopyle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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