|
Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
|
|
|
Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
|
In Reply to: How much reverberation was captured in the original recording posted by G Squared on October 26, 2016 at 07:10:30:
The ear/brain system is better able to pick out the reverberant information in the recording when it's presented this way, versus when it's presented conventionally. In fact, the worst possible direction for reflections to come from is right smack from the same point as the first-arrival sound! This from Floyd Toole, I can elaborate if you'd like.At Axpona this past April, TAS reviewer Andrew Quint came into Brian Walsh's room where we had my speakers set up. After listening a bit and hearing my schpiel, he said (paraphrasing), "Won't the room's signature just mask the acoustics on the recording?"
I boldly replied, "No, in fact you will actually hear MORE of the recording venue, not less!"
Andrew challenged that by pulling out a thumb drive and asking us to play a recording made in a concert hall that he was familiar with. Afterwards, when I asked what he thought, he said "It's not a gimmick, it works."
He later came onto my Audio Circle forum and posted this:
"I'll elaborate a bit on the recording in question and what I heard in my brief audition of Duke's new speaker.
"The recording was a FLAC rip of the CD layer of an RCO Live SACD: Shostakovich—Symphony No. 15; Concertgebouw Orchestra/Bernard Haitink conductor. It's a live recording from March of 2010 (Haitink made a much earlier recording of the same piece with the London Philharmonic; he was the first person to record all the Shostakovich symphonies.) For a couple of years, this has been my go-to symphonic recording when I have just a short time to get a sense of an unfamiliar system. It's an excellent performance, something I can listen to repeatedly without going nuts, which is important at a show. In terms of audiophilia, it's an extremely detailed yet atmospheric representation of an orchestra, with excellent dynamics and fully characterized instrumental colors (bells, solo turns by violin, flute, piccolo, string bass, trumpet, etc.) And—with the right audio gear—it successfully renders the essence of (IMO) one of the greatest 3 or 4 concert halls on earth, the Concertgebouw (thus the orchestra's name) in Amsterdam. I've heard music there, and there's truly a sense of sound being present in the air around you.
"The multichannel program on the RCO Live SACDs (there are dozens) get this last aspect right; so did the Bienville Suite, nearly to the same degree, despite the presence of only two channels. My concern when Duke told me about the rear-firing drivers was that this would impart some generic, Bose-like spaciousness to the recording, but that wasn't the case—what I heard was the unique acoustic signature of the Concertgebouw.
"So, a splendidly realized design - a pleasure to listen to."
Andrew included my speaker system in his "Most Significant Products" list show report.
From time to time at this show, and at others, I'd turn the rear-firing speakers off and on and ask people whether they thought they were hearing "more recording" or "more hotel room" with them on. Nobody said "more hotel room" (at least not to my face!).
Here are some comments from the 2013 Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, by Tyson and Jason (aka "PEZ") from Audio Circle. First Tyson sat in the sweet spot, and then they switched places, and this is what they wrote:
(Tyson)"Saint-Saens Violin & Piano - Maybe, no definitely the most beautiful presentation of this track at the entire show.
"Handel Aria - Ditto, just beautiful. I really expected the imaging to be washy in this room, due to the LCS [Late Ceiling Splash] technology. But the image is rock solid center. And a lot of ambiance stretching WAAAAYYYYY back, way past the physical boundaries of the room. Side to side imaging is not as impressive, but still very good.
"Mahler Symphony - Really nice, big spacious open sound. Again, it actually expands beyond the physical confines of the room. I don't think ANY other system at the show has been able to pull that off.
"Civil Wars - Another room where I don't feel like gouging out Jason's eyes for bringing this piece of music. Now THAT's a testament to the room's musicality :P
"Tom Waits - You know, for such a nicely balanced, somewhat warm and laid back presentation, they sure present old Tom with the appropriate gruffness. Here's the thing - in most systems you have to choose - do I want detail and grunt, or do I want warmth and musicality. Interestingly here, you get all the detail, soundstage and tone in a very musical presentation."
(Jason) "Ok outside of the sweet spot these sound good, but not mind blowing. In the sweet spot these are amongst the best I have heard in the show. I traded with Tyson for my tracks starting with the civil wars and there is a soooooo much more in the sweet spot. Great dynamics anywhere in the room, but imaging and soundstage that is quite breath taking and emotionality that is pretty heart stopping.
"Tom waits ohhhhhh wow. Just amazing. This feels like a real performance. I haven't heard such a focused soundstage at this show period. Absolutely phenomenal. Easily a contender for best in show."
Jason later posted that, in his opinion, we were tied with another speaker for best of show. I think Tyson had us tied for second.
Comments like "a lot of ambiance stretching WAAAAYYYYY back, way past the physical boundaries of the room" and "big spacious open sound... it actually expands beyond the physical confines of the room" are indications that the system was doing a good job of presenting the reverberant information that was on the recording intact, because those descriptions certainly do not correspond with the acoustic signature of a totally untreated hotel room.
Duke
Me being a dealer makes you leery?? It gets worse... I'm a manufacturer too.
Edits: 10/26/16 10/26/16 10/26/16 10/26/16
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- RE: How much reverberation was captured in the original recording - Duke 10:22:45 10/26/16 (0)
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
