Sadly it makes hifi really dull because the only conclusion is that any amplifier more expensive than a £300 Yamaha RN-303, which at 100w and inaudible distortion will drive just about any speaker, is a waste of time and money. Which may well be true!
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What does "fast" mean with regards to an amp?
- Thread starter Nozza
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I agree with an earlier poster, fast sound is almost always referring to bass and mids which can be perceived as heavy, slow, muddy (insert whatever descriptor you wish) etc. I can see there being a difference in the sense of perception. In theory an amp can be either deliberately coloured, or interact in such a way with a transducer that lower/mid frequencies are reproduced with less fidelity, for example overblown mid bass. If one listens to a passage of music where there is a fair amount of rhythmic bass melody on an amp that for whatever reasons thickens up those frequency regions, as compared with an amplifier that doesn't, the more coloured amp by way of comparison may indeed be perceived as slower as some of the elements of timing and dynamics may be obscured. That is just my thinking and very non-expert possible explanation.
I suspect that 'fast', especially in a woofer, might mean that the timing of the transient components around a bass note is such that they arrive at just the right time so that they put the "corners" onto the right places on the bass note's fundamental.
Well.. let's break this down. "Fast", as I understand it, means it can play fast and impactful passages accurately. Death metal kick drums with bass on top. If the sound is produced accurately it is "fast", if not its "muddy".
The voice coil has to move the mass of the cone. This takes force, which takes current. Lots of quick changing current. What measurable parameters impact this? Freq response at certain power levels right? Output impedance? That's measurable.
The voice coil has to move the mass of the cone. This takes force, which takes current. Lots of quick changing current. What measurable parameters impact this? Freq response at certain power levels right? Output impedance? That's measurable.
Russell484
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I thought my amp was a bit slow, not having good rythmn or slam, according to What HiFi. I was playing vinyl so I put the turntable speed up to 45 rpm and turned up the volume on my amp and now I have speed, good slam and rythmn. But I actually prefer to listen at lower volume levels and at 33.333 rpm. What HiFi is kind of a joke, their reviews are filled with imaginary qualities like rythmic pace, timing, speed and slam and a bunch of others. What changes to the circuitry of an amp would you make to give it more slam. How do you measure the resulting slam? I don't have the equipment to measure my amplifier, I do have the ability to measure bullshit, and What HiFi measures very high on the scale.
I'm guessing that by 'slam', subjectivists mean the ability to very quickly deliver large amounts of sound or electrical power, i.e. sharp risetime sort of stuff that has little to do with sound quality after a reasonable amount of capability is reached. I remember when slew rate in amplifiers was a thing, and stupidly overblown specs for that were considered the way to go. Why settle for a very few V/uSec, all you need, when you can go for hundreds or V/uSec instead? It's just specsmanship without knowledge of how specs describe sound quality. It's like asking for a drop forge when all you need is a tack hammer.
A lot of owners view their little Fi-Fi amplifier as more of a pet than an amplifier. Nothing's too good for my little Fi-Fi; do you understand? Nothing! They're tolerant of little Fi-Fi pooping on the sonic carpet. Sorry about the malodorous metaphor.
Yes, but higher end receivers have room EQ which is nice.
If you want "excitement" in Hi-Fi, which I would define as the ability to accurately reproduce high SPL dynamic content, you can't get there with just amps.... you need some efficient speakers.
Unfortunately there is a whole cottage industry trying to make audio appear way more complicated than it is, sell it stuff and to feed the ego and inflated self-esteem of those who want to feel superior. It's all b*LL*X.
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besides slew rate...
if an amp cannot generate adequate current to fulfill its role as a motor to move the heavy magnet assemblies in a speaker right away, then perhaps it really would be slow
- the above is a testable hypothesis, so get on it
if an amp cannot generate adequate current to fulfill its role as a motor to move the heavy magnet assemblies in a speaker right away, then perhaps it really would be slow
- the above is a testable hypothesis, so get on it
But why? I am familiar with the layman's simplified rationale, that stiff, lightweight cones have better impulse or transient response and thus are more dynamic or detailed due to less smearing or something along those lines. I don't see why the same cannot be achieved with a well engineered speaker and adequate power. If the motor is beefy, the heavier cone and lower efficiency shouldn't be an issue.
For an 85 dB per watt @ 1 meter efficient typical bookshelf speaker you need need over 1,000 watts for a 115 dB peak @ 1 meter and more like 2,000+ Watts for a 115 dB peak at 3 meters (normal listening position). A bookshelf speaker can not handle that much power .... to much excursion and heat dissipation, it is just not physically possible.
JSmith
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