Is Krix a good speaker?

[Steve Guttag]

That is an impossible question to answer. Sound is quite subjective. Both are competently designed. Neither has a reputation of problems. So, define "better." What is your criteria?

[Harold Hallikainen]

During work in a SMPTE group on sound quality, we discussed multitone distortion measurement or "spectral contamination." I thought it was a very clever idea. A number of tones are sent through the system simultaneously. Ideally, only those tones should come out of the system. Any signal on other frequencies is due to harmonic or intermodulation distortion. I suggested that this could be used in an auditorium even with perforated screens and room reflections since with a large number of tones and a large number of bins to detect distortion, frequency response variations due to standing waves would tend to average out. The group was also looking at coherence and M-Noise. AES was looking at making M-Noise a standard (and may have done so by now). However, coherence is affected by reflections, so I still like multitone better. In any case, I think we MAY be headed towards a measurement where there is agreement between measurements and perceived quality.

Harold

[Sam Chavez]

I'm not sure any of the speaker folks want this kind of accuracy. They each peddle their coloration as natural and label other's colorations as unwanted distortion.

Good luck.

[Randy Stankey]

That is an impossible question to answer. Sound is quite subjective. Both are competently designed. Neither has a reputation of problems. So, define "better." What is your criteria?

Y'know... Sometimes you've got to just pick something. Otherwise, you could end up second guessing yourself to death.

You can look at specifications and sound quality to make better decisions but, when it comes down to brass tacks, you've got to make a decision and stand on it.

[John Thomas]

Here's an angle:

1. Buy speakers that meet the specification needs of the room.
2. Spend the rest of your budget on acoustic treatment and good processing.

[Steve Guttag]

Here's an angle:

1. Buy speakers that meet the specification needs of the room.
2. Spend the rest of your budget on acoustic treatment and good processing.

Okaaaaaayyyy. Is it your position that speakers that "meet the specification" sound the same or similar? And what specification are they meeting? Power handling? That they can play at SMPTE 202's frequency response (with enough processing)?

I'm not diminishing the importance of getting the room treated well...that is, by far, the biggest hurdle. Asking for baffle walls makes people's eyes pop out when they see what they cost. But they will significantly improve the stage speaker response and even help with inter-theatre sound transfer. They also cut your LF power requirements in half (or nearly half).

However, there are a lot of speakers that claim a lot of things on specification sheets...many, if not most, sound bad in a cinema environment. I have not heard many screen speakers that I thought sounded particularly good. They have a tough job. They have to play through a sheet of vinyl with holes in it. They have to cover a pretty significant amount of space. They have to be VERY GOOD with dialog so wacky crossover points will show up, audibly...even if the analyzer says all is just fine. They need to be as close to a point source as possible to give proper directional cues...which gets increasingly difficult as the room gets bigger and more reverberant.