# Best speakers to listen to opera on?



## fuzzyLogic (Mar 15, 2012)

Hi, what kind of speakers do you listen to opera on? I just got these for my christmas present, i told my mom it's the #1 thing i want
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?sku=689919&Q=&O=&is=REG&A=details
they sound pretty good imo, my friend has some better ones by polk audio.. but he listens to stuff i rather wouldn't, i can still tell the quality is good though. but anyway what would you listen on, i'm curious because my birthday is only in a few months


----------



## bigshot (Nov 22, 2011)

I tend to prefer box speakers. It's important to have an even balance with classical music, and I find satellite systems have huge firebreaks in the sound between the mains and the sub. Better to have a little less bass with a nice bookshelf speaker that is relatively balanced within a narrower range.


----------



## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

I'm right with Bigshot...I do frequently, actually, listen to classical (some opera) on my modern 7.2 setup but everything sounds far better either through these two giant speakers I have with giant horns or just through my good, old Yamaha 3-way (12", mid, tweeter) box-type speakers which are on their eighteenth year of playing all kinds of music and still sound great; my outdoor speakers now.


----------



## rsmithor (Jun 30, 2011)

*Opera?... Speakers?... The Audiophile's "Holy Grail"*

Let me just say... Tis a slippery slope to audiophile heaven of recorded opera... it's a true oxymoron... the Opera concert hall VRS a miked studio recording. Opera singer's are trained to sing without mikes... the best of the "real" sounding studio recordings are done in hallowed locations with rarefied air... near perfect acoustics. ie locations like: Schneider, Vienna; Manhattan Center, NYC; The Kingsway Hall, Holborn, London; St Martin-in-the-Fields, London; Bayreuth Festspielhaus... to name a few... Opera recordings usually equal large orchestras... I wonder how many mikes were used for recording of Solti's Ring... population 110+... what of the special effects... anvils... etc... Enter the producer... the stakes are monumental... are the singers in good voice that day, week?... different takes spliced seamlessly together... now and then there's a singer like Birgit Nilsson... her huge voice cut through the thickest orchestra like a laser beam... She had to stand many feet away from any audio mike just to keep her voice from pegging the tape recorder's meters, sending the tape into saturation overload... Her recorded voice never sounded like her sound "live"... Speakers for opera? That question, answered... is the "Holy Grail" for audiophile's who are still trying for that "Golden Ring"... (yikes Wagner's everywhere) I'd seek out a fellow audiophile who loves music, jazz, classical, and opera... Ask him or her to recommend a local high end audiophile dealer. One you can trust to match your budget with your ears... bring all your opera CD, SACD's, and DVD fav's... (you can also build a high-end system around your HD/DVD/Blu-ray player) Take plenty of time... repeated listening to your choice of speakers is a must... some dealers allow home trials for systems/speakers/... Me? I listen to music on my tri-amped vintage cira 1979, '8' Panel, Magneplanar Speakers... At 3am, in the dark, the speakers emit a pie shaped hologram of sound, with the singer's and orchestra spread out before me... Ah... it tis bliss... But then again, it ain't the opera house... LOL.


----------

