I can't say lest @Thomas savage ban me for obscene speech.
I was going to suggest your enquiry would be best serviced by some direct subjective experience of your own.I can't say lest @Thomas savage ban me for obscene speech.
I have to disagree. Not only do we not have all the answers, we don't even know all the questions. Some day there will be more tests available and still we will not have tests for everything that contributes to sound quality. This is my opinion, and you are free to respectfully disagree. In NO WAY am I saying that listening will tell you more than measurements. Please don't misunderstand my point. I believe measuring equipment is the best way to tell if it's any good. I'm simply saying that there ARE things related to sound quality that can not current be measured and there always will be these intangibles "phenomenon". It's why some pairings of speakers, amps and placements just don't work well and others are magical. Is there a way to measure and correct for a very cold room vs a very warm room? Yes, bit it's not very practical. What if the speakers are still warm but the room is now cold because someone opened the door. What about a new piece of furniture? What if I move that furniture closer to the speaker or throw a pillow on it? Do I measure again if there are a lot of people in the room? Are these things that can and should measure constantly or are they possibly phenomenon that we don't have a good way to measure and adjust for constantly? I could probably come up with a good list of technical things that are hard to measure as well. I feel like impedance is a pretty complicated one that's hard to measure because it's different at different frequencies. It can be measured but do we really know everything those measurements mean to sound quality or could there be some phenomenon in there that our understanding of measurements doesn't cover? I bet there will be a better way to measure impedance in the future to gain further knowledge of sound quality. If you still believe there are no auditory phenomena that can not be easily measured, that's cool.Yes to the former.
As to the latter, well, here's a list of all demonstrated auditory phenomena which were not easily measurable:
Quite a list!
I have to disagree. Not only do we not have all the answers, we don't even know all the questions...
I was going to suggest your enquiry would be best serviced by some direct subjective experience of your own.
I mean your all very close friends right...
...and he still has a house to put them in ? ...They ended up getting divorced.
He still has his big class A amps to keep him warm at night.
I have to disagree. Not only do we not have all the answers, we don't even know all the questions.
All the same subjectivist BS we've heard 10,000 times on almost as many websites.You seem to be ignoring the gorilla in the room...blind ABX testing.
I have to disagree.
All “dynamic” really means is that the speaker gets loud without heavy distorting or linearity issues.
Frank, in reading your post I would only add that I don't think anyone claims that horns are the only speakers capable of strong dynamics. Only that most often they exhibit the technical properties that contribute to good dynamics.I do not find the horns to be more dynamic than the Epilogs despite their 109dB/watt sensitivity
Exactly.I have always thought dynamics were a linearity issue with speakers which do not sound dynamic being limited either by low efficiency leading to amplifier running out of steam or the speaker itself being non linear from a relatively low SPL. The former and plausibly the latter have been present in the speakers which I have found lacking in dynamics. Spendor BC1 for example were impressive on low level speech and string quartet but were truly pathetic on a Mahler symphony when I auditioned them 40 years or so ago.
Paul Klipsch argued that for realistic levels in the living room you needed a speaker that could provide at least 115 dB without appreciable distortion.
I don't think he was wrong. Realistic levels being the key phrase. He also didn't mean listening to anything at an average level of 115 db. Just that momentary outputs like that would be required for real levels of sound. Nor did he mean you needed to always listen with peak levels reaching that SPL.Is that really so? I typcally listen music for 3-4 hours every day and I'm supposed to crank it to "at least 115dB"? And how much is my hearing supposed to last with that kind of SPLs?
If you want to realistically reproduce levels at rock concert to make impression you're near the first row that is certainly true but for the rest of the music genres hardly so.
Some would have said location, location, location. But when you think of it, location in the room does impact frequency responseAgain, not at all. In the words of Sean Olive, the top 3 important parameters for any speaker are frequency response, frequency response and frequency response!
I don't think he was wrong. Realistic levels being the key phrase. He also didn't mean listening to anything at an average level of 115 db. Just that momentary outputs like that would be required for real levels of sound. Nor did he mean you needed to always listen with peak levels reaching that SPL.
One reason I liked Jazz clubs in my late 20s and 30s is you can go to one, have dinner with friends, spend time and listen to the music for at least a couple hours without ear damage. Just don't sit right at the stage near the sax player.
Now levels in such clubs weren't at background listening levels, but were a far cry from a club with a rock band or going to a rock concert.
Going to classical music concerts, they were often louder than jazz clubs, but not like rock and not continuously loud to the point it seemed like an ear assault. At times the SPL peaks way on up there. Now if your speakers are good it can also do polite chamber music just as well.
About this spl-capacity. I have never wanted to have high spl and I've been happy with 20-50W amps since '70s. Now during last 6 years I have met many new "hifi" friends and visited vice-versa. Almost all of them want to listen so loud that I must walk out of the room! I can't give any quality assessment with that high spl, peaks measured around 105-110db. But, obviously I am the weird guy representing minority...