2. speakers
  3. 151799-293

The sonic rightness of a mono system.

Many conventional stereo systems are producing smaller shortened indistinct soundstages that one must sit dead center of while sounding poorly off-axis. So I wondered is the small loudspeaker in stereo the equal to a large one in mono? So I have pursued that line of thought and have come to the conclusion that no a small speaker in stereo is not equal to the large one in mono. I've tried this with some of the most advanced loudspeakers available and they all failed when running up against one large horn in mono. The large loudspeaker just always had a more physical solid presentation the sound stages near the same in size while the stereo always had this tiring artificial sound that the mono system did not. Maybe our brain gets fatigued trying to fill in for what is missing stereo is an artificial technology designed to fool the ear brain system maybe that in itself is the problem. Mono just sounds right. If I had the choice one large horn in mono is what I would select over any 2-way bookshelf no matter what its cost. Nice thing about mono is its ease of entry give it a try you may have all the needed gear stored about. It's also an excuse to buy that cool solo collectable speaker you know the one that is too big to house 2 of. As always YMMV and this is my opinion after much research and we all have a bias I keep that in mind when I do such things but am human and can not fully escape my human limitations.
johnk

Showing 2 responses by bdp24

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
10,096 posts
 

I long ago learned that I prefer music reproduced by drivers having large radiating surfaces (ESL’s, magnetic-planars) rather than comparatively-small direct radiators (domes, 3"-5" cones), and that I prefer line-sources to point-sources. Small drivers/point-sources make music appear to be coming through two bricks (one for each channel) removed from a wall separating myself from the performers.

I also like voices to appear to be coming from the height of the mouth of a standing person, rather than at knee or even waist height. I like the performers to be above ear-level, as if on a raised stage, rather than looking down at them from a balcony. Also, small loudspeakers miniaturize the sound of a grand piano, drumset, upright bass, etc., turning a life-size house into a dollhouse.

What I haven’t heard is a large loudspeaker that is a line array of small drivers, like those designed by Danny Richie of GR Research (and others, of course).

So, whether mono or stereo, size matters to me. And though mono recordings can sound smaller in the left-to-right plane, they can still possess great depth.

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
10,096 posts
 
IMO, a better analogy than black & white photography to mono sound is black & white film, which I myself great prefer to color (for a glorious example, see The Coen Brother's "The Man Who Wasn't There"). Mono recordings must be reproduced in mono, of course, so the interesting question is whether they sound "better" heard via one loudspeaker rather than two.
More to discover