Golden Earring wrote: > Hi Antonio! > > I absolutely agree with the previous answer to your question, i.e. it is > the transducers which have the final job of imparting the sound waves > into your listening room that are now the weakest (arguably the only > weak) link in the audio chain as far as modern music reproduction > equipment goes. Indeed, at least in theory, any earlier components > *-should-* work together without any significant problems, since the > voltage levels & impedances of both unbalanced (RCA phono) & balanced > (XLR) interconnections at the line level are now standardised & most > equipment adheres to these specifications. > > The problems with loudspeakers (or headphones for that matter) derive > from the physical construction of the drivers (cone stiffness, mass, > linearity when displaced from their static position & off-axis response) > & in the case of loudspeakers the choice of loading (infinite baffle, > reflex, transmission-line or even occasionally free-air or even > isobaric) combined with the quality of construction & precise internal > volume of the cabinet. There are other schools of thought (e.g. > Harbeth's deliberately flexible cabinets), but most designers now aim to > make their enclosures as rigid as possible. There is also the critical > choice between a stand-mount cabinet (often referred to as "bookshelf" > loudspeakers, although actually placing them on a crowded wall-shelf > will usually result in a poor sound compared to using rigid & adequately > damped speaker stands & having some free space around the enclosures... > ) or having larger floor-standing enclosures (which usually have more > drivers than stand-mounts). Finally, the crossover design & positioning > of the various drivers relative to each other are critical to achieving > a coherent musical performance. Active speakers may be preferable to > passive ones if you have deep pockets! Whilst the fidelity of modern > transducers has improved markedly compared to designs from say 40 years > ago with the current availability of lightweight rigid materials such as > carbon fibre, graphite or Kevlar for LF drivers & exotic ones like > beryllium or even diamond for HF drivers, it remains the case that > almost all of the non-linearity (aka distortion) of your system will > derive from the transducers - even the very best & astronomically > expensive ones are still not perfect! The specific impact of these > issues for you will depend in part upon the size, shape & even > construction materials of your listening room. > > So loudspeaker design still involves considerable compromise, & > different speakers will usually sound much more distinct from each other > than different amplifiers or earlier components in the audio chain. So > whilst there are some general guidelines that will point you in the > right direction in terms of selecting the right type of loudspeaker for > your room, ultimately the acid test is whether you are happy with the > musical reproduction that you achieve which is inevitably a subjective > matter. I do not believe that any published numerical specifications > pertaining to loudspeakers have any useful bearing on their sound > quality (this is not the case with amplifiers, for example, where > generally accepted measurements can give a reasonable basis for the > unit's suitability(. Arnyk recently send me a link for a 2017 research > paper by 3 eminent Danish academics who were seeking to quantify > loudspeaker performance. It was a tough read, but ultimately I did not > feel that they had actually made much headway! A particular problem is > that some loudspeakers may sound very initially impressive & it is over > the course of several months of regular listening that their sound > begins to grate upon you - the trial period typically offered by even > "top-dollar" dealers is usually NOT long enough for this effect to > manifest itself, which is another reason that I would serious recommend > buying "as new" s/hand loudspeakers, since it leaves you the option of > selling them on later *-without-* losing a significant amount of money > if you change your mind 6 months down the line... > > What is your listening room like (i.e. approximate shape, size, ceiling > height, solid or plasterboard walls, solid or suspended floor & > ceiling)? > > Dave :cool:
Hi Dave ! You seems to be an endless source of knowledge regarding hifi ! Very interesting post indeed. Sorry, I was posting an answer to iPhone, and I'm very slow, my english flows too slowly. My room is a little sitting room, about 20 m² (67 ft), rectangular, I'll be approximatively at 10ft from each speaker, ceiling is at 9 ft heigh, walls are solid but it's open on each side of the room without doors (at right I have a kitchen and at left the living room and dining room). Floor is parquet and ceiling is solid. The room has a few furniture: a sofa (where I sit in front of the speakers), an upright piano (very nice old Pleyel, I'm proud of it), a little table at the corner of the sofa (for the drink of course) and a low dresser. Thanks a lot for your help ! :) LMS 7.9.0 on Linux Mageia 5 and RPI 3 1 SB3, 2 radio, 1 touch Plugins : Trackstat, Smartmix, MusicIP, ... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Antoniop's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=39292 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=107946
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