Re: audiophile vs. mastering speakers

"Jay - atldigi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote in message
news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]

> I partly agree and partly disagree. Studio monitors are traditionally
> designed to be able to take a beating, not necessarily to be terribly
> accurate. Many monitors have somewhat limited extension and varying
> response curves, yet can stand up to loud playback and heavy use. Some
> models in more recent years have thankfully started to pay more
> attention to the sound quality and accuracy, but durability is still
> usually a top design criteria. Mastering speakers are usually a
> combination of accurate, extended, and reasonably durable. Audiophile
> speakers sometimes fit this desciption as well, yet many more audiophlie
> consumer speakers are voiced for a pleasing effect rather than accuracy,
> and some are comparatively fragile.


Agreed, studio monitors are generally more robust than home speakers.
I however think that their main purpose is to be accurate more than being
able to take a beating. I don't know which companies prefer that approach,
but we mustn't forget that an accurate monitor _should_ be sort of rugged;
for example, the speaker cone must be tightly attached to prevent unwanted
resonances, the speaker has to be hard, solid etc. for minimizing
reflections inside the speaker(more true straight sound), thus also a
shorter decay and so on..So the durability can also come as bonus with the
"accurate" design.
PA speakers are a different matter then...

> Mastering speakers tend to be in the crossover area - the pro monitors
> that put sound quality near the top of the criteria list, or the
> audiophile models that strive for accuarcy over pleasing colors. The
> mainstreams of both categories are often not well-suited.
> In the end, good speakers are good speakers, and I wouldn't discount one
> because of it's intended market, nor would I assume suitability of
> another for the same reason.

Neither would I, based solely on the speaker's intended market, but there is
a certain logic behind the argument that because music is mixed and mastered
through the monitor speakers(in most cases), ie. the music is made through
them, they should be more accurate than the home speakers, where the product
finally ends.