would like to know whats the sound differnence between a normal stereo HIFI to the higher components..after all we all listen to the same with little volume up,and some decoders are there to in the lower versions too
Shagird - this is a million dollar question that could also start a third world war between audiophiles and non-audiophiles !!
Let me start the answer your question by asking a counter question? Have you listened to the public address system that are sometimes used on the roads in India? Have you heard them playing music? Now how would you compare them to a normal stereo HiFi that you have at home playing the same song? Would you agree that your normal stereo sounds much better?
The public address system has a different objective - that of creating enough sound to attract people. In the process the person playing the song or whatever does not care about quality of the sound.
Music is of different types. In India we have film songs, we have carnatic, we have Hindustani, and now we have fusion music. All these music have different voices and instruments played at various frequencies, and recorded in various environment. The minute you start recording, you are introducing an artificiality to the sound.
The basic objective of a playback equipment is to recreate the sound as close to that of the original equipment or voice as possible.
Take the case of a huge drum. To recreate this sound, you not only need a good amp, but also a large speaker that can play the low frequencies. Whatever may be the quality and price of a good stereo, it will be physically impossible to recreate low frequencies unless you have a large speaker that can push a lot of air. Similarly, a western classical has 100s of artists playing different instruments. To recreate this, you need electronics that can handle the varying frequencies of all the instruments.
Then there is what is called sound stage. How do I explain this? Take a walk one day and sit in a park near your house. Close you eyes and listen to what you hear. The birds, traffic, people walking and talking, children screaming, etc. There a couple of things you must pay attention to. One is that the sound will be coming from all around you - in other words a full 360 degrees. Secondly, in spite of the large number of sounds, none of them will overwhelm the other sounds. In other words you can hear each sound clearly. Third, in spite of the low volume of some of the sounds, you will be able to precisely place the direction and the distance (roughly) of the sound quite easily.
Keep this image in mind and go and stand in a very noisy place such as crowded market, in a cinema hall just before the movie starts, or the open door of a fast moving train. What do your hear? Just noise, right? You will not be able to hear individual sounds, identify the speaker, or even locate the sound. This is called cacophony.
When a song is recorded, the artists are looking to set a certain rhythm and a tune in place. To make the music more attractive various instruments are played to enhance the rhythm and tune of the song. Whether recorded in a studio or live on a stage, the artists would like you, as a listener, to understand and appreciate the music.
When we talked about sound stage above we were looking at a very large canvas - a whole park with a large number of loudspeakers all around you. Each participant - the birds, people walking, traffic - each is an individual loudspeaker focussed on just one sound. In spite of so many speakers, you can hear each sound clearly.
Now take the case of a stereo system. You have just two loudspeakers. These two loudspeakers have to recreate all the sound recorded, each sound being clearly audible. When the number of sounds (voice and instruments), are less, the issue is much less complicated. When the number of sounds become large in number, the issue becomes complicated. In addition to having the capabilities of recreating all the sound played at various frequencies, the electronics and loudspeakers have to also recreate the sound stage. By making the music sound as close to the original sound as possible, the stereo system will be able to present an authentic sound stage to you. To do this, the system has to project the individual sounds making you feel the artists are standing in front of you and playing in real life.
The objective of a good system is just that. To play so well that you will feel there are no electronics or loudspeakers, but the real artists playing for you.
Cheers
