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Can speakers get "better"?

carpenter_newtoncarpenter_newton Posts: 71
edited February 2004 in Musicians and Gearheads
ok, i have a shitty shelf system that's over 8 years old. but lately, i SWEAR that i can hear shit in songs that i could never hear before in them. like alot of the percussion and even picks hitting guitar strings.

can/do speakers get better as they get older and more broken in? or am i just crazy?
i suggest you step out on your porch
run away my son...see it all...oh see the world
Post edited by Unknown User on

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    exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    i think they certainly can break in a bit.
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    ChrisPJChrisPJ Posts: 19
    Originally posted by carpenter_newton
    ok, i have a shitty shelf system that's over 8 years old. but lately, i SWEAR that i can hear shit in songs that i could never hear before in them. like alot of the percussion and even picks hitting guitar strings.

    can/do speakers get better as they get older and more broken in? or am i just crazy?

    Maybe your ears and your imagination met in the middle.
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    parchyparchy Posts: 205
    I think your ears must be getting better or something... I'm not sure 8 year old speakers can actually increase in quality beyond the first few... I guess exceptions are possible... what kind of speakers are they?


    Hell, I didn't work at a Bass Warehouse for nothin'!
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    who's_pearljam?who's_pearljam? Posts: 2,104
    Originally posted by carpenter_newton
    ok, i have a shitty shelf system that's over 8 years old. but lately, i SWEAR that i can hear shit in songs that i could never hear before in them. like alot of the percussion and even picks hitting guitar strings.

    can/do speakers get better as they get older and more broken in? or am i just crazy?

    Probably not much better. Speakers do break in a bit after a short while.

    Ears get better because you hear more each time you listen to the same songs, like watching Pulp Fiction the third time,, you keep seeing more things.

    and

    CD's have gotten better. The quality of recording is better in newer stuff than old.
    I used to easily be able to tell the difference right away between digital and tape. Now it's tougher as the quality of recording is better for digital than it used to be.

    Maybe you're crazy, too!:D
    I don't know if you're going to the thing in NYC tomorrow at Hogs and Heifers, but I may actually make that.
    Be kind, man
    Don't be mankind. ~Captain Beefheart
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    mccreadyisgodmccreadyisgod Bumfuq, MT Posts: 6,395
    Speakers do tend to get warmer over time, lose that harshness and get a bit mellower. But that sorta goes too far, after a while... that's why a lot of speakers wear out and sound muffled. Like there's a blanket over them, or something. So it's hard to say how that has worked in your situation...

    Like some of these guys said, maybe it's the way you listen now... I take albums that I used to listen to ALL the time, and listen to them now, with a critical ear, and I hear tons of stuff I didn't hear then. It's strange, how your mind works... and in music, there are so many things happening at once, it's hard to concentrate on every element until you actually put your mind to it.
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
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    carpenter_newtoncarpenter_newton Posts: 71
    Originally posted by who's_pearljam?
    Probably not much better. Speakers do break in a bit after a short while.

    Ears get better because you hear more each time you listen to the same songs, like watching Pulp Fiction the third time,, you keep seeing more things.

    and

    CD's have gotten better. The quality of recording is better in newer stuff than old.
    I used to easily be able to tell the difference right away between digital and tape. Now it's tougher as the quality of recording is better for digital than it used to be.

    Maybe you're crazy, too!:D
    I don't know if you're going to the thing in NYC tomorrow at Hogs and Heifers, but I may actually make that.


    thanks, it must be that i am just crazy. it's not new CDs that i am listening to. like just the other night i was listening to Jeff Buckley's Grace, a CD i've had for a few years now. and i hear all kinds of shit that i'd never heard before. and NO, i wasn't high. :)

    to answer parchy, i think they're "optimus"? whatever crappy Radio Shack brand that they made at the time.

    maybe my ears got "broken in" from alot of shows over the summer? i started noticing it with Lost Dogs when it came out. but i figured that it was just from the songs being remastered and not being shitty mp3s. but now it's everything i hear on the sytem. i dunno. i must just be insane.
    i suggest you step out on your porch
    run away my son...see it all...oh see the world
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    who's_pearljam?who's_pearljam? Posts: 2,104
    Originally posted by carpenter_newton
    thanks, it must be that i am just crazy. it's not new CDs that i am listening to. like just the other night i was listening to Jeff Buckley's Grace, a CD i've had for a few years now. and i hear all kinds of shit that i'd never heard before. and NO, i wasn't high. :)

    to answer parchy, i think they're "optimus"? whatever crappy Radio Shack brand that they made at the time.

    maybe my ears got "broken in" from alot of shows over the summer? i started noticing it with Lost Dogs when it came out. but i figured that it was just from the songs being remastered and not being shitty mp3s. but now it's everything i hear on the sytem. i dunno. i must just be insane.

    It's a GOOD insane though.
    You're becoming more aware of the layers of music that you didn't hear the first time. It can be an art to listen to music, just like an art to playing it.
    A good sound person, either live or in the studio has a trained set of ears to "hear" everything. Maybe you'll be mastering the next PJ album on your optimus speakers:D
    Be kind, man
    Don't be mankind. ~Captain Beefheart
    __________________________________
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    BinFrogBinFrog MA Posts: 7,292
    I always find new stuff in songs after I have heard them a million times.
    Bright eyed kid: "Wow Typo Man, you're the best!"
    Typo Man: "Thanks kidz, but remembir, stay in skool!"
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    DarkStarDarkStar Posts: 734
    Originally posted by carpenter_newton
    ok, i have a shitty shelf system that's over 8 years old. but lately, i SWEAR that i can hear shit in songs that i could never hear before in them. like alot of the percussion and even picks hitting guitar strings.

    can/do speakers get better as they get older and more broken in? or am i just crazy?

    did you move the speakers at all? speaker placement can make a speaker sound different...whether it be better or worse.
    And no one sings me lullabyes
    And no one makes me close my eyes
    So I throw the windows wide
    And call to you across the sky....
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    carpenter_newtoncarpenter_newton Posts: 71
    Originally posted by DarkStar
    did you move the speakers at all? speaker placement can make a speaker sound different...whether it be better or worse.


    good theory. i know placement can make a difference, but they haven't been moved at all.
    i suggest you step out on your porch
    run away my son...see it all...oh see the world
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