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good day to all!
OK...so i wanted to somehow cheapley upgrade my monitoring situation. - i WAS using just some $70 Phillips computer speakers...i would also use an mp3 aux. in on a cheap boombox for monitoring also. hah.

sooo i got a hold of my dad's old Fisher home studio speakers...- ya know, the old tall, skinny wooden cabinets that house a woofer, mid, and treble speaker...yeah. i got two of them. i know it's not ideal, but i think it may be an improvement (?). i think it is. the specs on the frequency range and EQ of the speakers seemed pretty good.

But, that's not my concern at the moment.
i needed a stereo reciever to drive these things. i was short on cash (like under $100), so i went to the local pawn shop. the only reciever they had was an old Fisher reciever from like the 30's or 40's -no lie! . so i caved in and bought it for $40. i think it has a tube in there and everything! -not to mention some weird-ass lever thingy (that says :"this is not to be used as a lever" lol) on the back of it. NOT TO MENTION: screws for speaker out jacks. yeah, it's ancient.
anyways, i tried it out, and it didn't sound bad. but the music almost sounded like it was pumping just slightly...or saturated a bit (prolly from the tube inside)...i kinda liked it. .
so the QUESTION:

is this a bad idea for a studio monitor set up? would it color the sound even more than my computer speakers?. thus getting me further lost in trying to get that stellar mix? does the reciever have that much of an affect on the speakers overall sound? should i get a new reciever to improve the speaker's integrity? . has anyone ever done this before? :)

thanks,
-Jordan

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Comments

RemyRAD Wed, 09/24/2008 - 06:17

This is not all we would referred to as an accurate reference system but it's what you have to work with. Now, this is what you need to do to rely upon this system.

Firstly, you want to plug a CD player into this amplifier. Take out a handful of reliable old greatest hits CDs by your favorite artists through the years. Those are your reference. That's what you want everything to sound like to this system. Once you know the way things sound, you could start to mix. But not before that. Not until you know what you're listening t through that systemmmmmyeah. Then you can plug in the output from your computer sound card and if all you have is a Blaster Type card, have a barf bag handy. Strangely enough those horrible cards are better for playing back through then recording through. So again, you just need to get uber familiar with your new monitoring system and what good recording sound like through it. Then you have a reference to work from. And you should still use your other speakers as alternative monitoring sources. What sounds good on one should sound good on the other. If it doesn't it? Reset and try again.

It's all good
Ms. Remy Ann David

jordy Wed, 09/24/2008 - 08:42

hey thank you Remy! and all you guys for the responses...yeah, it may not be as old as i thought...maybe 60's.
the card i'm using is the M-Audio Fast Track USB. -not too shabby for the price.....
but, yeah overall i think it was a nice, conveniently cheap improvement. i can mix the bass alot easier....cause i can actually hear it now.- i used to have what i thought was a good mix, burn to a cd, then pop it in the car system only to find out i had the bass way too loud.
so yeah, this new set up is really helping me.
thanks remy for the advice again.
i'll def. be referencing my fav. tunes