Unbelievable

Sorry geoffkait, but this is old news, very old news.

https://www.britannica.com/science/Bose-Einstein-condensate

Still it's good to see Bose still relevant in cutting edge technology.

geoffkait.

You would like an apology?

OK, here's one Mr Magic Atoms.

I'm really sorry for exposing you for the fraudulent and tireless shill merchant that you are. 

Good enough?


Anyway, back to question at hand, does Yamaha's claim stand up?

"Glossy black piano finish provides improved signal-to-noise performance — and adds to the luxurious joy of ownership"

Or is it simply marketing gumpf?

I'm going with the former, because it's Yamaha and they build some great electric pianos, but a few cabinet resonance charts to back up their claim wouldn't hurt, would they?

geoffkait,

"cd318, as oft happens with you my post went over your head, which I’m beginning to suspect is a bit pointed. But don’t think I don’t appreciate the stalking. 🤗"


In that case you won’t mind me wishing you the best of luck with your fishing in amongst the pools of all those poor unsuspecting audio newcomers.

Just be careful with that all pseudo scientific magic atoms gobbledygook you’re using as bait!

glupson,

Those Sony's look like dream loudspeakers. One version of the SOTA.

Yes, I'd say cabinet wood matters.

It shouldn't do, but it always will, as long as cabinet resonances remain audible.
The sound of those resonances will be affected to some extent by the type of wood used in the construction. 

Despite the designers best efforts to silence it, every material has its own signature, especially those used in the cone and cabinet. 

Once you become familiar with it, you might like it or you might not. Thus many high end designs feature exotic materials to not only silence this resonance, but attempt to render pleasant what's left.

Sometimes, rather paradoxically, a quieter cabinet can make the sound worse by highlighting other resonances which may have previously remained buried in the noise floor. 

A bit like that Volkswagen TV ad where  the car noise was so quiet your attention is drawn to an annoying intermittent squeak inside the cabin which is finally revealed to be caused by the swing of a hanging toy ornament.

Unfortunately the day of a boxless point source full range loudspeaker still seems quite a long way off - unless AI/quantum computing could get involved.

Maybe we should all lobby Elon Musk to forget this space thing and turn his engineering attention to where it matters most? 

bikerbw,

Yes, tone and decay are one reason what makes old guitars and violins so sought after. You sometimes see guitars used which have had most of their lacquer scratched off.

In a loudspeaker, the cabinet also contributes to tone and decay - despite the best efforts of most designers to stop it (ok possibly barring exotic designs such as the $165,000 Arrakis reviewed by Robert Harley or the KEF Blade).

It would be interesting for tuning purposes if you could somehow separate the drive unit sound from the cabinet sound.

In a poorly designed cabinet the walls can even effectively become transparent at certain frequencies due to resonance. So you might actually hear more of the box sound than the drivers sound! Definitely not good.

On the other hand a few designers have decided that since you can’t beat it, you might as well join it. So they have attempted to actually incorporate the cabinet sound with the drive unit sound. I think Bosendorfer tried this previously and UK designer Russell Kauffman does currently.

http://www.russellk.co.uk/index.php#

eisen0169,

Thanks for that, it was a pleasure to read such an informative post! 

It just confirms that when these giant corporations such as  JVC, Pioneer, Sony, Yamaha etc really put their minds to it, it's often well worth having a closer look.

Especially their loudspeakers.



asvjerry,

Lincoln Walsh and his interesting designs seem to have somehow become forgotten by the audio world.

The new Ohm Walsh speakers (2000/3000) are near the top of my 'must hear' wish list - once the shows can start up again.