In article ,
Iain Churches wrote:
I'm afraid that's because you were used to the sound from those
cabinet speakers where the boxes have a voice of their own. Good deep
male speech proves it - an ELS is far more natural.

I did several spoken word albums for Argo with Richard Burton, and also
many sessions with Sir John Gielgud, and the wonderful Michael Hordern
- maybe the ELS would have been good for those!

It certainly would. I've been to several speaker comparisons where the
speakers are hidden and on speech no moving coil unit came close to the
ELS on a live versus recorded comparison. The same with most single
acoustic instruments too.

But,. as mentioned above, they did not meet anyone' expectations
in pop recording, due probably as you say to the familiarity with
infinite baffled and ported enclosures. In addition, one gained the
impression that the ELS was much too fragile for a Ginger Baker
bass drum:-)

Absolutely - but it was really designed for domestic use. Provided it's
working within its maximum SPL it will sound good on near anything. Add a
sub and you could say everything.

Tannoys and Lockwoods - which used the same drivers - were never known
for their neutrality. Fine speakers though they were.

They were used because they met the expectations of producer,
engineer, client and musician. You can't ask much more than
that, can you?

Yes - as with much the badge is the most important thing. I'm not much of
a Tannoy fan - despite having owned a couple of pairs. Autographs and
Yorks.

--
*The longest recorded flightof a chicken is thirteen seconds *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.