I love the sound of street side big box speakers

[ANILKUMAR]

Friends,

I always get amazed by the sound of street side big box speakers arranged in rows, played during festive seasons[esp in Trivandrum]. To mention they nowadays use good quality heavy duty speaker boxes producing an incredible sound.

During festive seasons,when I hear the incredible voice of Shri K.J. Jesudas played at street side[esp those old songs released by Tharangini Studio] and if the quality of sound is good, I just take a temporary shelter at some nearby tea shop and fill my heart.

I always wanted to have a similar sounding(of course a downsized version) setup at home.

So, I spent some time and could collect two 12 " Full range speaker boxes (an old British made speaker in locally made box and a YamahaBR10EliteLoudspeaker- man it is so heavy ) each one connected to two Mono Ahuja [Model A 35 HF and TM 50]Tube amplifiers made for Professional/home use with Phono input and 8 to 32 ohms spk outs.

During my experiment to get the desired sound, I must have tried with at least 6 different tube Amps made during 80's and 90's for home use by Philips and Ahuja.

To test it finally I used my SOTA SAPPHIRE Record player and played a HMV LP "Hindi HITS of Yesudas".
When the first song GORI TERE GAON BADA PYARA stared to fill the air, man!, I got amazed by the depth of Bass and the sweet warm sound the entire setup could produce.
Even I could enjoy MJ's BAD and Illayaraj'a Punnagai mannan through it.

For your eye's my setup:


URL for a bigger photo: https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/hDH3Rw0IwaHLUmUIHR6qrnv06hPnT_o-sM7crXzVJms?feat=directlink

 

[Rajiv]

Hi,

two 12 " Full range speaker boxes (an old British made speaker in locally made box

Could you please post pictures of these full range drivers. You might have lucked into a pair of the classic British full rangers.

Regards
Rajiv

 

[ANILKUMAR]

Rajiv,

Yes, it was luck and result of sincere wish.
I will try to post the pictures later, as I do not want to unscrew the speaker box as of now.
The person who gave me, got this speaker when a church disposed old items. Seems like God heard my sincere wish.

-Anil

 

[amp]

Congratulations on getting your desired setup!

Don't get me wrong but I tend to get a bit scared when I see these monster speakers around my house. For me, it generally means getting hammered till late in the evening at very loud volumes. End up with a headache

 

[ANILKUMAR]

Congratulations on getting your desired setup!

Don't get me wrong but I tend to get a bit scared when I see these monster speakers around my house. For me, it generally means getting hammered till late in the evening at very loud volumes. End up with a headache

amp,
A lot depends upon the quality of the speakers . If the quality is bad, headache is there for sure.
I stand by and listen only if the quality is good. Some times I get to notice some piece of music which I could never notice earlier in the same song....so..
I would prefer to analyze and compare...

 

[amp]

Okay - I understand that. I just think that around residential areas there should be a cap on how loud music can be played. I remember on this Holi and Dhuleti there was constant music being played at very loud volumes and it had frankly become a nuisance.

I am sorry if this has gone off-topic. But congratulations once again on getting your desired setup. Must feel really nice.

 

[reubensm]

Friends,

I always get amazed by the sound of street side big box speakers arranged in rows, played during festive seasons[esp in Trivandrum]. To mention they nowadays use good quality heavy duty speaker boxes producing an incredible sound.

This is truly the most amazing and brave post I have seen on forums, using regular public address equipment for music listening. Hi-Fi pundits would choose to condemn you to a slow and miserable death for indulging in such blasphemy. But the bottom line is, I too have always wondered how PA systems at concerts are very hard to replicate at home. I remember during my early days, my dad used to spend hours trying to tweak his equipment to get it to sound like at the movies (70mm 6-channel sound). Again, what an invaluable insight you have provided us with. Thanks.

 

[ukjeyaraj]

I have also liked them. I grew up in Madurai which is known for music played throughout the year almost everywhere around. Music in public place is played for all reasons from birth to death and all occassions in life.

Late night also, one can listen some nice songs(especially ilayaraja melodies) sailing through the breeze of air from few streets away.

During my college days I always wanted to buy Ahuja 4040S (which was used by most of the PA guys).

Thanks to Anil for bringing back those memories

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

This is truly the most amazing and brave post I have seen on forums, using regular public address equipment for music listening. Hi-Fi pundits would choose to condemn you to a slow and miserable death for indulging in such blasphemy.

Curiously, I just finished writing this post hyeah:.

But the bottom line is, I too have always wondered how PA systems at concerts are very hard to replicate at home.

And you can see form my post that replicating the sound of PA systems at classical-music concerts is the last thing I would want to do. Well, second to last: the sound of setups playing live music at weddings etc is considerably worse and really only good for causing hearing damage.

So, in the worst case, one takes bad equipment coupled with bad "engineers" who think that red lights indicate the right level and that music is supposed to be distorted. But what about the best case? What about good equipment, well set up, and properly operated? We know there are good halls, and even in the annals of rock music, there are bands like The Grateful Dead who took producing good sound, even at high volumes, very seriously half a century ago. When their music didn't sound like music, it was because it wasn't meant to :lol:

 

[ANILKUMAR]

my dad used to spend hours trying to tweak his equipment to get it to sound like at the movies (70mm 6-channel sound). Again, what an invaluable insight you have provided us with. Thanks.

Reuben,
Thanks for your encouraging words. You had almost similar childhood experience like mine. Even I had witnessed with open jaws to my late father's (who could assemble tube and transistor amps) experiments at home.
While on experimenting with my setup, I even managed to get a amp used in a old Theater with really BIG sized tubes. I replaced it, as it was too much powerful (a bit dominant on "high frequency" side ) and did not match with the ambiance & my speakers.

Regards,
Anil

 

[Sumanta]

I liked this post.
Infact PA drivers on open baffle will sound better IMO.

I think 8 inch to 12 inch full rangers will sound life like in a room of about 14'X14' (give and take some). Add some drivers or helps in other way for the bass, your ears will be happy thereafter. Use a small but good amplifier.
I did not do any calculation, I said just based on my experience and little reading and understanding of sound making musics.

 

[reubensm]

Reuben,
Thanks for your encouraging words. You had almost similar childhood experience like mine. Even I had witnessed with open jaws to my late father's (who could assemble tube and transistor amps) experiments at home.
While on experimenting with my setup, I even managed to get a amp used in a old Theater with really BIG sized tubes. I replaced it, as it was too much powerful (a bit dominant on "high frequency" side ) and did not match with the ambiance & my speakers.

Regards,
Anil

The Ajantha Theatre of old was his sound reference. He apparently was impressed by the soundtracks of epics like Ben Hur, The Ten Commandments, etc. I think they used Altecs with Bell & Howell equipment in those days.

 

[reubensm]

What about good equipment, well set up, and properly operated? We know there are good halls, and even in the annals of rock music, there are bands like The Grateful Dead who took producing good sound, even at high volumes, very seriously half a century ago. When their music didn't sound like music, it was because it wasn't meant to :lol:

In the old days, there used to be public adress guys who were knowledgeable and used to take great pains in speaker alignment, drive levels and mixing. Those times have mostly passed by. These days its all about making noise. With regard to concerts, I've admired JBL horn arrays used at rock concerts, have listened to a few, live. Very impressive. These days, many try to replicate the wall-of-sound technique with little luck.

 

[prepress]

Even mostly public address guys use replica JBL speakers, they use Delhi made local speakers and put JBL sticker/badge (orange one) on them and try to impress (fake) people.

In the old days, there used to be public adress guys who were knowledgeable and used to take great pains in speaker alignment, drive levels and mixing. Those times have mostly passed by. These days its all about making noise. With regard to concerts, I've admired JBL horn arrays used at rock concerts, have listened to a few, live. Very impressive. These days, many try to replicate the wall-of-sound technique with little luck.

 

[Sumanta]

Even mostly public address guys use replica JBL speakers, they use Delhi made local speakers and put JBL sticker/badge (orange one) on them and try to impress (fake) people.

That's interesting!

 

[prepress]

Yes, it was good read. Many branded speakers use this OB technology, some use it in different way like Klipsch La Scala Series, their cabinet was designed in this way the 15" driver (remember the large full range driver's sound stage) was on the back and the enclosure was on the front side. It sounds like the live concerts, heard few Jagjeet Singh Ghazals and the experience was unbelievable and awesome. Also heard JBL professional speakers with diffuser, the soundstage was really great.

That's interesting!

 

[prosenjit]

a great read indeed...thanks all.

 

[Rajiv]

Hi,

Many branded speakers use this OB technology, some use it in different way like Klipsch La Scala Series, their cabinet was designed in this way the 15" driver (remember the large full range driver's sound stage) was on the back and the enclosure was on the front side

The La Scala is a horn loaded speaker. It uses a folded horn for the bass.

the JBL "diffuser" is a Bi-Radial horn.

Regards
Rajiv

 

[alpha1]

I always get amazed by the sound of street side big box speakers arranged in rows, played during festive seasons[esp in Trivandrum]. To mention they nowadays use good quality heavy duty speaker boxes producing an incredible sound.

To be honest, I have NEVER come across ANY such roadside PA system which reproduces music with hi fidelity.

Either the bass is booming, or the mid range is honking like a duck, or the high-end is ear piercing - or everything together.
It's a nightmare, and if I happen to pass such a PA system for even a fleeting moment (lets say caught up in traffic), I seem to suffer from an temporary but immense listening disability, and everything else starts sounding great to my ears!

 

[ANILKUMAR]

To be honest, I have NEVER come across ANY such roadside PA system which reproduces music with hi fidelity.

Either the bass is booming, or the mid range is honking like a duck, or the high-end is ear piercing - or everything together.
It's a nightmare, and if I happen to pass such a PA system for even a fleeting moment (lets say caught up in traffic), I seem to suffer from an temporary but immense listening disability, and everything else starts sounding great to my ears!

For everyone's attention: I have written in the post specifically the following line "I stand by and listen only if the quality is good". So we are more bothered about a better sounding setup.

Please read that, we are not debating about the quality of all PA systems. 90% of them produce inferior and disturbing quality of sound due to the use of substandard systems and a bad arranger who does not understand the word "quality" or not paid for producing better quality sound.
I have enjoyed many well arranged live concerts in India as well as abroad. Even in streets of New York and LA we get to hear better sounding road side performances. But for sure, I skip to listen those heavy bass boosted ones.