System that sounds so real it is easy to mistaken it is not live
My current stereo system consists of Oracle turntable with SME IV tonearm, Dynavector XV cartridge feeding Manley Steelhead and two Snappers monoblocks running 15" Tannoy Super Gold Monitors. Half of vinyl records are 45 RMP and were purchased new from Blue Note, AP, MoFI, IMPEX and some others. While some records play better than others none of them make my system sound as good as a live band I happened to see yesterday right on a street. The musicians played at the front of outdoor restaurant. There was a bass guitar, a drummer, a keyboard and a singer. The electric bass guitar was connected to some portable floor speaker and drums were not amplified. The sound of this live music, the sharpness and punch of it, the sound of real drums, the cymbals, the deepness, thunder-like sound of bass guitar coming from probably $500 dollars speaker was simply mind blowing. There is a lot of audiophile gear out there. Some sound better than others. Have you ever listened to a stereo system that produced a sound that would make you believe it was a real live music or live band performance at front of you?
Dear @mijostyn : My dynamic type speakers can be operated in line source or point source fashion, we have to remember that ADS designed it as true proffesional/studio monitors and not for home systems.
My seat position is at 2m.-3.m. and sensityvity ADS spec is 95db. Normally I listen it in the 80's db SPL and only go to 95db SPL at seat position or even a little higher when I’m testing or comparings audio items. I like to take care of my way limited ears.
Btw, thank’s @atmasphere .
R. |
@rauliruegas , I think we may have different definitions of point and line source. A point source is a driver that is smaller in all dimensions than the shortest wavelength it is to reproduce. I line source is a driver that is larger in at least one dimension than the largest wavelength it is to reproduce. There are drivers that can be line sources at higher frequencies and point sources at lower frequencies. There are only two drivers that are line sources from zero hertz to over 20kHz. The first is an infinitely tall one and the second is a tall or long one that both ends terminate at fixed barriers like a floor, ceiling or wall. It is impossible for a driver to be both full frequency line source and full frequency point source. It is actually very bad for a speaker the swap radiation characteristics mid audio band as the power projection is very different and will cause frequency response aberrations that vary with distance. Both my ESL and subwoofer systems end at fixed barriers. My system is line source from zero to as high as the ESLs will go which is probably not higher than 18 kHz. Roger West won't publish that spec. I am toying around with inserting a ribbon tweeter to go from 12 kHz up. This would relieve the main amp from having to deal with the crazy impedance curve of ESLs up there and give me a little more flexibility. I will have to biamp it and add a second digital crossover. |
Fact is, it is rare that reproduced and live sound is nearly identical. Once a system accomplishes this the experience is spellbinding (big understatement). I read many reactions to thisr post, who "believed" this not possible. But this is a clear admission they have never experienced this. Nay-saying the possibility is no excuse for slacking from the works it takes to achieve it. In this case, there is no rule to be broken. |
Yes this can be done, I have done it. It took many years to find the secret. I’m good friends with a well known rock band and as so I get requested to see their performance often. At one of these gigs the band sounded incredible, twinkling highs and thunderous bass, above average. So I made my way to the sound engineer and he introduced me to the DBX drive rack. A standard looking peace of equipment that can correct music output for any environment. So l took a chance on it, it is pro equipment so there was a big learning curve and it’s built with XLR connections only. After a few weeks of learning and tweaking, great results the DBX can filter and adjust anything you throw at it (room acoustics, sound nodes etc.) great for people that don’t want to cover there room with acoustic treatments and have to keep the wife happy. One of my inherent problems was speaker placement, one is next to a side wall and one not, so l always had a speaker with wall induced sound reinforcement. With the DBX I can correct each speaker separately so that problem solved. It works with a microphone and can store as many programs as you want. I set mine as the perfect concert hall, and love it. It also doesn’t hurt that I’m running four 15” woofers and a total of 3800 watts. But that’s what it took to get live venue sound like the pros do it. One last thing only buy gold plated connectors or you will develop a hum when the tin connections gets tarnished. Best of luck in your pursuit of great sound and don’t forget it’s about the music enjoyment not the sound. |
