On Sun, 9 Feb 2003 21:11:19 -0500, "Damian Bradley" <dbradley@kingston.net> wrote:

>Again, with budgetary concerns, I assume there is no cheap way to calibrate

>sound equipment of this sort to find out the response curve? I mean my Sony

>amp has a 'bass button' along with bass and treble knobs. I would assume

>that turning everything to its default 'neutral' position would be a good

>start?

>

>I'm now looking into some sheilded bookshelf speakers...PSB Alpha-B, Jensen

>C1, Polk Audio R15, Quest Q610 and Q650, Bose 141 and so on. Obviously not

>the cream of the crop, but I have to use something, at least for now. So

>many questions...Bass port or no, cabinet size vs woofer size, published

>response range, brand reputation / quality. eep.

>

>It is a complicated and wonderful business in which we work.

>

>Cheers,

>Damian

You have had good advice from most in this thread.

With the above, though, you appear to be trying

to predict speaker performance for your purposes

by unreliable means... I suggest going with the

PSBs in your price range (guessing, from the

useable Alphas here - though speaker manufacturers

have an unfortunate tendency to spoil a good model

with the "new and improved" version that follows,

so....;-) No speaker is totally neutral, and most

are far from it, so EQing can be useful if it is

used to "flatten" the sound and not make it "more

interesting". ;-) Be sure you do not use any system

as your only reference, though, and try to learn

the "errors" of whatever you use... (BTW, I find

"pink noise" useful for getting some idea of a

speaker's overall balance and where the peaks

and dips are in its location and with its

associated electronics - this [by definition]

"uncolored" and broad-band sound can tell you

a lot, with experience, though it may tell you

nothing at first...)