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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.
128x128johnk

Showing 2 responses by cd318

cd318
2,636 posts
 
Perhaps the key is this -

"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."

Mono generally feels more relaxing to me whilst stereo often sounds more exciting/busy. I suspect that it's also because stereo rarely sounds as real and densely focussed as mono that many enthusiasts become devoted to endlessly searching for imagery in playback.

It's worth bearing in mind that almost all the sounds that we hear everyday are mono in nature. Trying to listen to two separate sounds at once - outside a live concert - is not only unusual but can also be quite stressful. 

Ultimately a preference for either can come down to a choice of whether you wish to hear the music as it was originally intended (eg mono as in the Beatles output pre White album) or as you might prefer it remaster /remix/ stereo/ 5.1/ 7.1 etc.

Or you may even choose to enjoy all the variants.

cd318
2,636 posts
 
@bdp24, I much prefer colour film to black & white yet somehow virtually all of my favourite films happen to be in black & white (The General, Sunrise, Kane, Casablanca, Wuthering Heights, Psycho, The Last Picture Show, Manhattan etc)!

As for the number of speakers for mono, nowadays it’s got to be two. Don’t forget that ’small’ mono speakers used in the 50s and early 60s would now be deemed large. Their bigger brothers I’m guessing might now be called wardrobes.

@prof , Yes that closed-in effect does happen with some mono recordings. For me the worst example was the 2009 CD Beatles remasters in mono. I expected a lot more but they just sounded somewhat hemmed in and sat on in a way I’m sure that would have horrified the folks back at Abbey Road in the days when England was swinging.

On the other many, many mono recordings from the 40s and 50s can still sound sublimely and expansively alive. I think it depends more upon the recording than anything else.
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