You guys know I don't know much about sound. All these years (decades) of playing, heck I barely know how to plug in and make it work. Somebody else always twiddled the knobs. Now that I do it on my own, wow, is there much to learn!

Anyway, I'd like to know why this is. Why do I sound so much better with a $100 ($50 to me, rebate, yippee!) Logitech z2200 system than I do with a Carvin $1,500 sound system? The Carvin is pro-sound, a 12-channel mixer and 15" speakers.

My voice is baritone, I sing lower than many people. The sound I am getting... my voice just sounds so much better on the Logitech. It seems to pick up more vibrato and I'm not trying to do anything. It sounds much richer.

Is it the sub that makes the difference? If so, this confuses me. Because it's such a big difference, I would want this difference no matter what kind of system I was using.

To the guy who said the Logitech is toyish, all I can tell you is this amazes me.

Anytime you have a bi-amped system, where there is a crossover that separates the bass and highs, it is inherently more efficient and cleaner. That's why the self-powered systems such as the Logitechs, Barbettas, Eons, etc are so popular, in my opinion.
You can't ALWAYS equate price and results! Sometimes you get more than you pay for.
DonM

Okay, Don, first I don't really understand what you mean by that. Well, kinda. But point is, what confuses me is what would one have to do to make, say, the Carvin pro sound system sound like this? My feeble mind wonders why a $1,500 system would not have whatever this is to make this difference.

Maybe the Logitech is just an anomaly, a fortuitous discovery?

And... does this sub make a difference? You didn't indicate that, if it does. I'd like to know the answer to this situation because it is a definite improvement. Thanks.

The sub absolutely makes a difference. I'm sure you are hearing frequencies that the Carvin can't reproduce. I'm also sure that the Carvin will go louder without distortion than the Logitechs. The Logitechs are made for home entertainment or computer systems but are quite good is small rooms. I'm sure there will be situations in which you will find they don't quite do the job. Also, you will need to be careful when moving and setting up the Logitechs as the little wires and connectors are really designed for this type of use. I suspect they will be pretty susceptible to damage.
To get the same quality of sound in larger systems is quite expensive, as most of the top-end, self-powered, bi-amped units run in the $800/ per side range.
I was just on the phone with Hank The Lurker telling him how great his Barbetta 31Cs are. I've been trying them out, and I'm seriously thinking about switching from my 32Cs. I can't tell any difference in the sound, and his are smaller and a little lighter.
I believe the 32Cs would be better in really large situations, but 95% of my jobs are small. I plan to hook both sets up and experiment a little before deciding.
DonM

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Part of the secret is in the long-throw speaker technology. Conventional speakers have large surface areas and dont move in and out very far. Long-throw speakers have small surface but can travel far out and far in. They can move large volumes of air, and this is what you need for bass so low that it is felt rather than heard.

Also the tiny treble speakers do a good job with the frequencies that carry speech information so vowels and consonats come through clearly

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Douglas Wolfe

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I use a triamped system. I have an Altec-Lansing 3-piece which I supplement with a keyboard amp. A 20-watt one for small rooms and a 150-watt one for bigger rooms. It seems to me that the subwoof carries the bottom and the satellites carry the definition and intelligibility. The keyboard amp carries the midrange, and this comes across as the perception of loudness. If I am not loud enough, its the K/B amp that gets turned up.

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So, say, the Barbettas will produce superior sound to say, my Carvin pro sound system? Benefit of my Carvin is 12 channels?

In my opinion the Barbettas blow away most all traditional p.a. systems unless they are biamped. They each have 4 input channels, but you can use them with a mixer, as I usually do.
Downside is they are very expensive and it's almost impossible to find the used, because once you buy them you don't want to sell them.
DonM

[This message has been edited by DonM (edited 01-03-2005).]

DonM - in my experience, the advantage of the 32c is that the 15" spkr will handle bass much better than than the 31c with two 8" spkrs. If kickin' bass is important to your sound (it is to mine when I play left hand bass, especially) the extra couple of pounds might be worth it.

What do you say?

That's what has amazed me--the bass response on the 31 is really good. I don't know how they get that sound with the two 8's. I have used both the 32s and 31s separately but never had them side by side, but I expect to do that in the next couple of days. You may be right about the really deep lows, but that's what I want to find out.
DonM