Didn’t read the other posts, but almost all music is recorded in stereo so why wouldn’t you play it back that way and situate yourself in the position where it sounds best? Yes, there are speakers like Von Schweikert, Boenicke, etc. that use rear-firing tweets and others like Ohm and MBL that that are omnipoles, but as great as they may sound (and I do think they sound great) they’re the designer’s interpretation of the sound rather than how the engineer recorded it. And IMHO that’s perfectly fine and may even be preferable for many. For those who really care about optimal sound, having to sit in the sweet spot is a small price to pay and well worth the small effort. And I doubt even omnipole speakers, although they can sound very good off axis, sound as good or as balanced that way as opposed to sitting in the sweet spot. Hey, if you really care that much about walking around and getting the same (crappy) sound, just get a Bose Wave Radio and live it up.
Is the seated-centered solo listening to music a dated tech?
Is the seated-centered solo listening to music a dated tech? Is the design of modern loudspeakers that facilitates stereo wrong? Are we surfing a compromised tech please recall early 3 channel was superior they used stereo because it was a compromise? I have worked with a research group that used MRIs and sound to light up areas of catatonic people’s brains the research showed that higher quality playback lit up more areas but that stereo caused the brain to work harder is this a source of listening fatigue? After all, we are processing 2 unnatural sources that trick the mind into perceiving a sound field wouldn’t it be better to just have a sound field that actually existed? Stereo is a unnatrual way to listen to music its something that sound doesn’t do. Real music floods a space in all directions stereo design requires beaming and narrow dispersion to form an image is this just wrong? Mono had benefits over stereo modern loudspeaker design can make one speaker with a 360d radiation pattern that can form a soundstage for listeners almost anywhere in a room yet we still sit mostly alone seated dead center not wanting to move much because the image collapses just all seems wrong to me today. The more I experiment with non-traditional sound reproduction the more right it feels to me and those hearing it. Music should exist in a real space not a narrow sliver of it.
Showing 3 responses by soix
@surfcat Actually, we may be closer than you think. Not sure if you’ve heard of the BACCH technology, but it looks pretty impressive and those who’ve heard it have been pretty amazed (apparently it works wonders with headphones too). And it’s already available in several product forms from a company named Theoretical… Heres some info on its development and technology at Princeton. Interesting stuff. I’d love to demo this at some point. |
@surfcat Totally agree. Look, I’m a purist at heart and would always first skew to using room treatments to fix the all-important and oft-neglected room first and then look at DSP if absolutely still necessary, but BACCH looks like a totally different animal and the reviews from the people who’ve heard it sound amazing. Honestly, my first choice would be for a driver that’s a round orb that recreates sound like how we hear instruments in live space (Lansche?). Yeah, i know that’s not the way it’s recorded, but still. Then there’s Ohm, MBL, German Physics, etc. that seem to do a damn good job of generating that result but that can create a more diffuse imagery, which may actually be very accurate as that’s more how I hear live music. So maybe BACCH is overly focused and hyper real — think LED versus a good plasma HDTV — but it still sure sounds intriguing and I’d love to hear it, especially if I can get the basic essentials for under $1000. MBLs would cost me a truckload more $$$, that’s fer sure. |