Article: The Audio Value Proposition Special Topic: Downsize To Upgrade

[fas42]

6 hours ago, firedog said:

 

And as far as bass: I understand what you wrote and can't argue with any of it. But subjectively, my experience is that speakers that do fairly low bass without rolloff (say 30hz; we won't even talk about those that go significantly lower) sound much more realistic and convincing in music that needs bass reproduction (organ, orchestral) than those speakers that "only" do 40 or 50  or 60 hz. And they even sound better than those speakers reproducing rock and jazz where, I agree, there is probably little sound below 40 hz. I'm not sure why that is: maybe they just have better quality of bass reproduction, or saying it another way, they do it more easily, with less strain, and therefore sound better when doing it. 

 

I would say there is at least one very simple reason why ... the speaker cabinets needed to mount bigger drivers are much more substantial, better braced, quite a bit heavier, sit more securely on their bottoms in the room. The truth is that it is quite straightforward to get "big" organ and orchestral recordings to sound authoritative and rich from 'tiny' speakers, simply by stabilising the cabinets, internally and in how they are coupled to much greater mass objects - subjectively convincing intensity from the bass lines is delivered, and the whole of the music soundscape is in balance.

 

Recorded music can mostly certainly sound truly alive, but the means to that end is not a method that appeals to many people - there are no magic bullets, secret sauces, special techniques that only a few people know; rather, it's unceasing attention to detail, constant experimentation and optimising to eliminate every area of the audio rig, treated as a system that requires a key level of integrity to work its 'magic', that is below the necessary standard.