Fiberboard vs. Aluminum Cabinets

[elwoodblues1969]

As much as I hate the use of fiberboard in anything,most of the reasonably priced monitors use this "compressed oatmeal" sh*t,as supposed to aluminum,but how much of a difference in performance is there?
The Genelec 8000 series has the best specs across the board,due to their
components and design,utilizing the latest technology-but I do not want to pay extra for the currency exchange(made in Finland).They are among the most expensive monitors out there and as much of an audiophile as I am,I am still just a recording hobbyist.Don't want to go too apesh*t here in price.
I was considering the JBL LSR6325P,as they have aluminum enclosures,but their specs do not impress me much and I was horrified to find out that the bass driver cones are made out of paper!Not happening for $339 a piece!
Any opinions or input would be appreciated.:smokin:

[EC_Beast]

The Adam A7's have woven woofers. Woofer cone material: Rohacell / Carbon Fiber sandwich. They can be had for a little under $1,000 a pair. I have only heard fantastic things from ADAM users, and I have heard them as well and they are amazingly accurate, and have tight lows, and crisp clean highs. A great buy.

[elwoodblues1969]

the problem with ribbon tweeters is that they are not as durable as dome tweeters.They also do not give as much of a linear response due to their vertical and excessive dispersion pattern.It's overkill,especially for nearfield monitoring when you consider both driver amps are evenly matched wattage-
wise.Besides which,if I am going to spend a grand on a pair of monitors,I might as well cough up another $250 and by the best monitors on the market
which are the Genelec 8030A.
Read the specs on thier website and test them out at a SamAsh store and you will see what I mean.

Thanks for the response though.

[Smithcok]

I would not worry so much about what the monitors are made of, and just pic the ones that sound the best to you. Doesn't that matter the most anyway?

Don't judge a book by whether or not its cover is made out of compressed oatmeal or aluminum.

[dpd]

or, go crazy and get a pair of Wilson Audio WATT Puppies. :smokin:

While I agree you can't totally judge a 'book by its cover', the construction materials of the box DO make a sonic difference - non-resonant materials, internal bracing, etc. reduce the effects the box has on the overall response of the speaker.

Such details, along with a correctly designed box (e.g. Thiel-Small parameters), well-made drivers, properly-aligned crossovers, time-aligning of the drivers, non-diffractive mountings all directly impact the measurable performance of a speaker - not just it's averaged 'frequency (read: amplitude) response; but it's impulse response, the lateral beamwidth, potential main lobe tilt at the crossover frequency (caused by poor crossover design), distortion, and more.

[elwoodblues1969]

Smithcok,

Listen to DPD,he knows his sh*t.On the contrary,with regard to monitors-you do judge the book by it's cover,as even the cover effects the sound,as afterall,we are dealing with monitors,not books.
Due to aluminum's dense mass,it provides the rigidity to reduce internal resonance,as DPD points out.Everything except for the paint,contributes to the overall performance.
Obviously,most companies use medium density fiberboard to cut costs-the same reason most companies use paper cones with a light coating of polyropylene,as supposed to woven glass fiber or a kevlar bi-weave,for example.
I have the Samson 50a's & for the price,they are excellent and reasonably accurate.However though,I believe they are more idealy suited for a home theatre set up,rather than a studio enviroment were the upmost accuracy is critical for distguishing subtle nuances of a mixdown.
I started this thread hoping to possibly find a reasonable alternative to the Genelecs,but there is none,as the Genelec 8000 series are immaculate in every conceivable aspect of material and design.
I challenge anyone to find a company that has a crew of engineers that are bigger audiophiles than they are and who are more knowledgeable than they.:smokin:

[Smithcok]

Whoa hombre. Settle down.

All I said was that, since material makeup can present sonic differences, its important to use your ears and listen to the monitors, rather than just make assumptions on how they might sound based on material construction. Its just that you never said anything about listening to the monitors in your original posts, and when it comes down to it, the sound they produce is arguably the most important factor.

[elwoodblues1969]

I have heard the Genelecs and I did hear the difference.Of course though,if what is behind the alumiunm does not measure up,then the aluminum does not matter.Like with the Genelecs all the components are top notch and in combination with a well designed aluminum enclosure,you get a sick amount of bass in a small package-which is really friggin cool.:smokin:

[DAS]

...I might as well cough up another $250 and by the best monitors on the market
which are the Genelec 8030A.
Read the specs on thier website and test them out at a SamAsh store and you will see what I mean.


These sorts of generic statements stated as fact strike me as odd. I am very familiar with multiple Genelec models, and I think they sound great. However, I do not have good results mixing on them. That's just me. They are good for many things, and I do like them, but they don't always "work" in an intended application. I don't think it's fair to say (or even seriously think) something as subjective as monitors can be the "best." I get that it's really just an opinion though. No big deal. That said, there are some pretty credible guys on this forum who absolutely swear by things like Adam's. I like them as well, and I have absolutely heard things on the Adams that are not audible on other comparable models in a side by side (A/B style) comparison. Additionally, I'd be careful about putting too much stock in "listening tests," especially those conducted in a store environment. For me, I have to record and mix on a speaker before I really know what I have.

[Joseph Hanna]

I challenge anyone to find a company that has a crew of engineers that are bigger audiophiles than they are and who are more knowledgeable than they.:smokin:

If we (somehow) could qualify this, and of course we can't, what would the answer provide for the everyday audio engineer??

The flaw in distilling specs to that level (although indeed from time to time it's fun) is that in order for those spec's to have any practical level of application EVERYTHING else in the general scheme of things MUST be pristine. This would obviously include a level of talent.

It would be foolhardy for someone with anything less than a well tuned room with decent equipment to think that the sum of the specs will equal better sound.

In the end (at least when applied to audio engineering) better spec's are not free pass a better sounding mix.

[Smithcok]

These sorts of generic statements stated as fact strike me as odd. I am very familiar with multiple Genelec models, and I think they sound great. However, I do not have good results mixing on them. That's just me. They are good for many things, and I do like them, but they don't always "work" in an intended application. I don't think it's fair to say (or even seriously think) something as subjective as monitors can be the "best." I get that it's really just an opinion though. No big deal. That said, there are some pretty credible guys on this forum who absolutely swear by things like Adam's. I like them as well, and I have absolutely heard things on the Adams that are not audible on other comparable models in a side by side (A/B style) comparison. Additionally, I'd be careful about putting too much stock in "listening tests," especially those conducted in a store environment. For me, I have to record and mix on a speaker before I really know what I have.

DAS eloquently stated what I was unsuccessfully saying before. Its not that I was saying that materials don't matter. Its that monitors, as a lot of high end audio gear is, can be very subjective in quality. So, listening (and as DAS said, mixing stuff on monitors is often better than just listening) is a great way to test monitors, rather than to base an opinion without listening.