Classical music speakers - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

rickg · #16 12-15-2003, 03:54 PM

I personally don't know anything about the Beckers. Mine had already been replaced. But I know up at the audio forum I never hear anything good about them. Everybody that wants good stereo quality replaces them.

psfred · #17 12-15-2003, 04:03 PM

Becker's are very good -- basically flat response, which is why the boom car kids don't like them.

For classical music, you want the flattest and widest frequency response speakers you can find. This will be a long search, as the ones that will fit in the car aren't going to have very good low end no matter what, and the acoustics in an automobile are terrible at best.

Separate woofers and tweeters rather than "compound" speakers is best, but may not in fact be available for automobile audio, I'm rather out of touch. Don't spend a fortune, as the acoustics are so bad anyway. A friend of mine some years back was complaining that his car stereo sounded better outside the car than in. Duh, no reflections off the windows and roof outside, and no dead zones below knee level.....

Avoid anything with extended bass output, as they will make the music "boom" horribly -- I cannot get good treble on my cheapo Kenwood with the loudness off, bass all the way down, and treble all the way up. Of course, I can hear ultrasonic alarms (the old ones, anyway) -- at least 22,000 Hz, so my experiences won't match the vast majority of folks.

I bought Pioneer HPM 500 speakers many years ago for my home system for the simple reason they had the flattest frequency response of anything available at the time, or at least anything I was willing and able to pay for. This permits the recording to play as close the the intended master as possible, still allowing you to adjust response to match your own ears.

Good luck!

Peter

Zoonhollis · #18 12-15-2003, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Lebenz
This said, I thought MB Quart was the preferred speaker???

I can personally vouch for MB quart. I have 11 speakers in my 300D, 4 of which are MB Quart Reference drivers, powered by Eclipse and PIP amps. Nice sound, from Aphex Twin to Wagner...

rickg · #19 12-15-2003, 04:16 PM

psfred brings up a good point....everybody has different ideas of what sounds good. So I'd go down to a good stereo store and listen to different head units and speakers, and see what sounds good to you. I personally don't like a flat-response-type setting. I like a little more bass than most classical music lovers do. Correction, I like a lot more bass

And a car doesn't require loads of tweeters to make the 'highs' sound clear. But a deck with more power will make a diff during those loud 1812 overture passages, which BTW, I can hear real well in my car

psfred · #20 12-15-2003, 04:31 PM

Rick:

Check the decibel level in your car -- anything over 85 db (A scale, I think) will result in permanent hearing damage after an hour. Damage is cumulative, it never "recovers" from levels above 95 db.

Hearing aids suck.

Peter

AustinsCE · #21 12-15-2003, 04:44 PM

The stock CE speakers ha the tweeters, 2 per side in the back, seperate from the speaker. But I got the ones with tweeters on the speaker, sound better just cause their new and not cardboard.

Can't you just get a stereo with a equalizer to make it sound how you want? Thats what I did. Plus its got a 225 amp in the plate so I didnt need an extra amp, for what I like listening to, its JVC not too bad.

rickg · #22 12-15-2003, 04:49 PM

It may be too late for that

I can tell I'm losing some hearing at voice frequencies, which I guess is the first to go.
But I'm not one of those you can hear coming 2 blocks away. Those are just plain silly. But I do like my music, whatever type I'm listening to, to be a lot louder than a pure classical lover usually likes. I guess it's just a left over from my loud rock-n-roll youth

My mom listened to nothing but either classical, or elevator music. She went out and bought a fairly nice Technics home stereo about 1990. I go over one day, and she had it set so it may as well have been a cheap-o table top radio. Sounded like old AM radio quality. I showed her how to set the tone controls so you can hear "all the music". Nothing real extreme, just boost the bass and treble a bit to compensate for the lack of our natural hearing response at lower volume levels. Next time I went over to see her, the stereo still had the same settings I put it at, and she was converted. She agreed it was better. She was just used to the lousy radio sound quality her generation had grown up with, and thought that was normal.
Everybody likes something different in their music listening.

rickg · #23 12-15-2003, 04:51 PM

Equalizers are a good way to go, if you have a place to put them. Nowdays alot of head units have built in equalizers.

AustinsCE · #24 12-15-2003, 04:58 PM

My dad did that 2 blocks away thing with talk radio, in his old 300SD the previous owner had 2 12s in the trunk, bunch of other crap,he drove through the local ummm... japanese car driver hangout, where all the wannabe Vin Diesel's go. Just so happens his system was louder.

BTW, they dont still use Becker radios do the,is it Blaupunkt or something?

rickg · #25 12-15-2003, 05:01 PM

Booming talk radio!

I'd like to have videos of that

AustinsCE · #26 12-15-2003, 05:12 PM

The things we miss when no ones recording.

psfred · #27 12-15-2003, 06:47 PM

Rick:

Get to a hearing specialist at once, and see what you can save. You DEFINITELY need to eliminate all loud enviromments and wear good industrial 25 lb down ear plugs any time the sound level is too high. I wear mine any time I go out and play pool these days -- too many places are way, way too loud. Dance clubs are the worst, they should have to comply with OSHA work environment standards.

If you wait, you risk complete deafness, and that's no fun at all. Hope you can lipread good -- you probably already do.

Peter

rickg · #28 12-15-2003, 06:55 PM

I've worked in machine shops for the last 17 years, and wear earplugs when there's a loud machine running. The worst is compressed air being used to blow out/off a part or machine. That's a good(bad?) white noise, the worst. But yes, I find I often need to be able to see someones lips when they're talking to me if there's any ambient noise. In a quiet room I don't have any problems. I don't think it's real bad yet , but you're right. I should get tested.

dtf · #29 12-15-2003, 07:27 PM

Peter, Are you saying that you are hearing impaired or have a child that is? As I've stated earlier in this post I have a hearing impaired 3 year old daughter and many, many deaf cousins. I know way more than I ever wanted to know about deafness and sign language. The music level in my car is always at proper levels - the problem is the 3 year old is constantly yelling in the car during her 'normal' speech attempts. Ouch! I carry cotton balls in the car for when she gets too loud.

psfred · #30 12-16-2003, 02:02 PM

dtf:

Yup, shouting when things are quite is a dead givaway for bad hearing. Very common in kids with cronic ear infections, along with the terrible slurring and loss of s and t sounds.

I learned about hearing problems from a deaf roommate, who eventually lost her job because she got progressively more and more paranoid. She lost her hearing from flying in DC3s as a child, I think (her dad worked for TWA). It started imparing her work in 1988, and by 1992 she was almost totally deaf. I've lost track of her (for other reasons), but by 1993 she could no longer use the telephone.

A common problem with hearing loss -- the loss of communication is nervewracking, and some people start imaging that others are deliberately speaking too softly, etc -- the worst about this are the ones who deny the extent of their hearing loss.

Rick:

If you are having difficulty with voice range, you probably have some serious loss already. Machine shops are bad about high frequency noise from 3-phase motors -- they scream pretty loud under load. Make SURE you have the best ear plugs you can find, and I'd use ear muffs, too. The high frequency sound overload damages low frequency hearing.

I get all sorts of flack about my ear plugs when I'm out, but I don't have to shout, either. It's amazing, the background noise vanishes and I can hear conversations!

Peter