Friends,
Please investigate the following:
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/manufacture/0708/index.htmlFINALLY… somebody else in the audiophile industry truly understands what I have been “preaching” for years now. In the early days here on AudioCircle I believe I was somewhat “branded” as a nut or extremist in my views on amplifier power. The fact is that I have been correct all along regarding the need for high power and now others are clearly heralding that same truth – and they have significantly more credibility than I did back then. What with all of the “pseudo-science” and misleading information being promoted by self-proclaimed “gurus,” it’s easy to see why there has been so much confusion surrounding the power demands required for reproducing the highest possible levels of performance achievable from today’s modern audio equipment. Now that Spectron has taken up the torch as well, maybe the audiophile world at large will start to take the issue more seriously.
Now… once you comprehend the hard-core facts of the matter as outlined in the above article, the next thing you might want to ask yourself is whether or not your speakers are able to reproduce the transient peaks that are called for… without the consequence of dynamic compression and distortion. Even though one has sufficient power (say… from one or more Spectron amps) that by no means guarantees that their speakers can take full advantage of it. Long before they enter into the realm of hard compression and the obvious distortion that results, most loudspeakers intended for home use begin to compress and generate significant levels of distortion. By the time one actually “hears” any form of obvious distortion, their speakers have long been producing significant levels of it.
We find the above facts to be pretty much true across the entire audio spectrum, but there is a region where such compression effects and distortions really manifest themselves. This just so happens to be at the mid and high frequency extremes. If one performs in engineering terms what is called “Fourier” analysis on the most frequently encountered transient bursts, one finds that they are composed of some fundamentals and very many harmonics, which lie in this part of the frequency spectrum.
It is well known that the most commonly encountered forms of distortion (harmonic & inter-modulation) manifest themselves as being higher in frequency than the fundamental tone that has been distorted in the process of creating them. As an example, a 1kHz tone that has been distorted by compression (a.k.a. “clipping” in amplifiers) will produce harmonic artifacts (new signals not part of the original program signal) at 2,3,4,5,6 7…etc. kHz. The magnitude (volume) of these artifacts will be dependant on the conditions giving rise to them (i.e., amplifier clipping, loudspeaker compression, etc.). In any case, whatever their actual frequency and magnitude content may be, these artifacts will almost always be higher in frequency than that of the original tone being distorted. Inter-modulation distortion is considerably more complex in nature, but nevertheless produces higher frequency components as well.
OK, now we must consider that most undistorted transient bursts of 500mS or less in duration (as contained in music) will be very complex in their total harmonic content. If one were to observe them on a traditional oscilloscope as is used in electronic engineering, one would see waveforms of such complexity that the average individual could scarcely imagine or predict. Typically they are composed of many harmonics of unique and complex ordering, and these give rise to the unique sound of the individual instruments and voice that we are all familiar with.
At this point then we will consider the result of these complex signals having been compressed and distorted by the non-linearities inherent in * most * loudspeakers – even those claimed to be of very high quality. If the frequencies in a given transient burst are already complex and consist of many high frequencies, the end result of such a compression/distortion process is that even more complex signals containing even more high frequency artifacts will be generated. As such these artifacts will typically reside in the top 3 or 4 octaves of human hearing and the bulk will reside in the top two. This means that a very high percentage of total distortion artifacts will arise from about 5kHz on up to beyond 20kHz. Seeing that virtually no fundamentals in music or human speech reside in this region of hearing, the human brain/hearing mechanism is not well equipped to discern the differences.
You see, hearing acuity in this frequency spectrum is not vital for human survival and therefore not as highly developed. Although other uses are important for our survival as a species (hence, our extension at frequency extremes), the primary use for hearing is to facilitate communication. Therefore, our greatest acuity resides over the regions covered by the fundamentals of the human voice. Even the highest harmonics of the vocal region are not of primary significance for relative efficiency in communication. As an example, we are all quite familiar with the poor frequency response of the average telephone or common two-way radio. As poor as these devices are it is not usually difficult to understand the person speaking at the other end or even to discern their individual voices from those of others.
Considering the above, we finally come to our main point. Seeing that human hearing is not actually all that acute in the frequency region wherein much distortion resides in modern hi-fi equipment, it is not surprising that many audiophiles have unwittingly “accepted” these artifacts as “normal” and a part of the original music being reproduced. The list of audiophile terms used in describing these artifacts goes on ad infinitum, but are usually associated with the terms ”warmth,” “air,” and “extension.” In many cases these attributes are reported as being highly desirable, but it seems the quest for greater fidelity continues on regardless. Why? Usually the end result of systems exhibiting these effects is often listening fatigue and a desire to find something “better.”
Contrary to the above, a system mostly devoid of these artifacts will often sound less “impressive” at first, provide more detail and resolution upon extended listening, and sound “smoother” and free from the traditional listening fatigue as is commonly encountered. This appears to be Spectron's position and not coincidentally, it is ours as well - has been all along. When you know the facts, there seems to be little room for debate in the matter.
It is also our position that if the consumer desires to get off of the “equipment merry-go-round” and achieve a system that they can enjoy for a lifetime, then they should seek out equipment that will deliver compression-free and hence, distortion-free performance. It seems most of our customers are in agreement as one seldom sees our systems for sale on the used market.
That being said, it appears Spectron amplifiers might be one good option to investigate. There are others such as McCormack, Musical Fidelity, etc. that offer amplifiers of very high output capability as well. When it comes to loudspeakers, well… we know of at least one.
Is it any wonder folks are finding that SP Technology loudspeakers make a very nice match with Spectron and McCormack gear?
Have fun!
-Bob
