A Well-Sorted Rig

[RickyV]

@Ralf11’s head a “well sorted rig”.

 

All components impedance matched.

All high level cabling with cable risers.

Usb and Ethernet signals decrapefied.

All components on vibration control.

AC mains regenerated and well grounded.

And off cause in a well acoustically treated room.

 

 

 

[RickyV]

 

sorry, could not resist.

[RickyV]

I do not like the word “rig” I keep thinking of “oil rig”. Must be an American thing to call there beloved piece of hardware a rig.

[RickyV]

4 minutes ago, mansr said:

ah, didn’t know that.
well-sorted and “ makeshift or hasty way” may not go well together.

[RickyV]

12 minutes ago, sphinxsix said:

 

I also don't like the word, it reminds of the word describing what is often a missing link in audiophile systems - 'rug' 

Yes, acoustic treatment must be part of a well sorted rig.

[RickyV]

11 minutes ago, lucretius said:

 

I don't know about that.  "Well-sorted" just means the components are "suitably matched"; it doesn't imply their was careful selection. The components could be suitably matched despite being put together in a hasty way. ☺️

This might go for hifi but not for high-end audio.

[RickyV]

49 minutes ago, lucretius said:

 

I don't know about that.  "Well-sorted" just means the components are "suitably matched"; it doesn't imply their was careful selection. The components could be suitably matched despite being put together in a hasty way. ☺️

“Suitably matched” is not good enough, they should be perfectly matched.

The components should be carefully selected, 

“hasty way” no it take a lot of time. (Included acoustic treatment 😁)

So what you wrote may work for hifi but not for high-end.

 

ps OMG post 666 I hope I’ll live to see tomorrow 😈.

[RickyV]

5 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

“perfectly matched” is not good enough, they should be bit-perfectly matched.

 

Indeed even amps and speakers. 😃

[RickyV]

1 hour ago, marce said:

Hi-Fi means hi fidelity, does this mean high-end is not hi fidelity!

 

fidelity

noun [ U ]

 

US 

 

 /fəˈdel·ɪ·t̬i/

 

fidelity noun  (BEING LOYAL)

 

the state of remaining loyal to someone and keeping the promises you made to that person

 

fidelity noun  (ACCURACY)

 

the degree to which a copy of something shows the truecharacter of the original: 

The fidelity of the tape recordingwas so poor that you could not understand much of what was said.

[RickyV]

Synoniemen van Hi-fi

• accurate
• CD player
• high-fidelity
• personal hi-fi
• personal stereo
• stereo system
• tape player
• tape recorder

 

Synoniemen van high-end

• excellent.
• fine.
• first-class.
• first-rate.
• good quality.
• superior.
• tiptop.

 

So to me hifi is basic and high end is  superior.

[RickyV]

High-end knowledge or just hifi knowledge? 😇

[RickyV]

19 minutes ago, fas42 said:

I like this one - "shows the true character  of the original" - people are so down on speakers, 😉, but I have found that their misdemeanours are the easiest for the human brain to compensate for ... when a system gets into the zone, a particular recording "always sounds the same"; that is, its very distinct personality shines through, exactly as if an old friend is totally there, in the room - and the particular speaker used is quite irrelevant to delivering that message ...

I am sorry I have my limitations with english writing. 
But what I gather from you text is that faults in speaker design are easy for the brain to compensate for? And that speakers are irrelevant to the delivery of the music quality? Is that what you are saying??? Or am I missing something, please explain?

[RickyV]

13 hours ago, fas42 said:

 

What people normally assert as major issues with speakers is that the frequency response is not dead flat, that distortion levels are relatively high, and that the sound is not dispersed perfectly into the listening space. The first and third points really relate to the same thing, that the measured response at some point in the room is not ideal - but my experiences have been that one's hearing is extremely adept at compensating for quite huge variations, provided that the SQ in other areas is at an adequate level.

 

The distortion side is mainly about the deep bass - any half reasonable speaker produces quite decently low distortion above this region; and this is where it really matters, as far as producing convincing sound. A simple test I do is create a sine wave tone sweeping through the frequencies, and output to the speaker, at various volumes. How 'pure' is that sound, and up to what volume is the purity maintained? Trivially easy to hear how the bass starts to fall apart at some point, but beyond that region even tiny laptop speakers, 😜, do a remarkably good job of staying clean.

 

The speakers usually need tidying up, to get best results - I go inside, make sure the wiring is well organised so it doesn't flop around, and that everything, and I mean everything, is hardwired. I also go to some effort to stabilise the cabinet, so that the most rigid parts of the structure are tied to high mass external to the cabinet - and finally, condition the suspensions by heavy driving from cold, each time I intend serious listening. This I find is close to enough to ensure that when I listen, that I hear the recording, and not the speaker - assuming the chain driving them is up to the task!

 

The funny thing is when it comes to  speakers I most certainly am an objectivist. If you see the response curves of some speakers up to 2500 euro/ set or something it's just sad. I think speakers are best example where one would want measure first or at least try to find a response curve on internet of the speakers of interest. Maybe not strange that speaker parts plus labor is only 20% or less of the asking price. 

Most common problems in speakers is probably phase problems in the transition area between drivers. Probably due to filter parts savings.

Still to much energy in the driver near filters drop off frequency. 

Time alignment of the drivers, all drivers mounted in the same baffle not tilted backwards (sound disbursement into the floor).

Certainly filter part replacement, bracing and panel damping will help. Usually I build a separate box for the filter outside the speaker but that's not really necessary.

 

The guy from GR research knows what he is doing.

https://youtu.be/isMTHfjF_zA