On why audire, lyrita, rethm (S.D.S.) will never have mass appeal

[suri]

Hi psychotropic,

what say then, that the recipe for an serve-all speaker system be-

a superb full-ranger with bass augmentation and above-12,000 hz augmentation.

there should be a defeat switch which cancels both augmentation when the listener wants to listen to jazz ensembles and classical, and can be switched in when the listener's grandson wants to listen to trance, rave and (god forbid) rihanna

but here there will have to be active amplication for each augmentation and also the full range - hey, so, maybe the ideal loudspeaker is the beolab 5000 or perhaps the linkwitz orion?

That too will not work- and why? - simply because the bass module is co-located with the other drivers and such a system begs for trouble because for every room there is a particular "sweet spot" for the bass module. having all the drivers in one tower is the reason for bloated and boomy bass- this screws up and muddles the midrange and this is the reason audiophiles stick to single driver full rangers that do not do bass.

the bass frequencies are the most difficult to accurately produce, reproduce and control (and enjoy).

So the only way to integrate all the desirable attributes of a speaker system is to allow one single bass module to have an independent location (independent of the main floor-standers which are ,perhaps, full range single driver), and give each independent amplification.

Full range three-way will always be shunned by those who desire clear unmuddled emotional delivery. Emotional impact and delivery equates to sharp intakes of breath, the quaver of voice with the end of expiration, the sharp plosives of anger, all of which are obscured when bass is not managed properly. Also, delicate cymbals, the nuances of delicate percussion, the last dying notes of strings - all these are lost.

 

[venkatcr]

a number of friends and I have listened to the rethms, but I was the only one among them who liked them. (was absolutely stunned hearing stevie ray vaughan's "Tin Pan Alley" - still lingers in my memory).

There are a lot of factors that go into this, and I would rate the following as important:

• Experience - how many speakers and systems have you heard?
• Intimate knowledge of the song you are listening to - how well do you know the song playing?
• Focus - can you put off your mobile and stop being distracted. Can you free your mind of all thoughts and listen to the music? When you are listening to a Hindustani or Carnatic number, can you appreciate the taal and hear the tampura setting the beat? Like we focus our eyes when we have to read a small letter, can we focus our ears?
• Nuances - linked to point 2 above, can you recognise and appreciate the minute nuances that the musician has used. A bell here, a tinkle here, a violin gently repeating the main note?

these same friends and I heard (on different occasions) B&W 802d and the Wilson WATT/puppy. All of them and I liked what we heard.

Different ears, different minds, different subjective sensations, but why did all of us like latter systems? That has intrigued me, and I must seek answers.

On a tangent, (but still relevant to my search for the truth) but out of a hundred randomly selected people (who like to listen to music, we must avoid selecting Taliban), 88 of them will like the Bose music systems. Why is that? perhaps, the sound of mother's heartbeat reaching our ears through layers of tissue and fluid while one was in the womb were very comforting, and one seeks to re-create that environment ( you know, muffled bose (bass) sound?!! that 6th order bandpass system that bose uses for bass (acoustimass module) is just a "whoosh whoosh" pneumatic pump!

There are again two factors here. One is amplitude. Most demos, if you notice, the salesman will control the environment and usually play the equipment at loud volumes. In addition he will generally use music / movies that he is sure will show his equipment in good stead.

Second, I have generally seen people appreciate deep chest thumping bass. This is what Bose is using to it's advantage. As you say this could be related to our experience in our mothers womb.

Ultimately it is the difference between clarity and completeness, and a just deep sounding thumps. At the same time, I would say, let the people enjoy what they like. Why push them? If a guy wants to pump 500 watts in his car to impress all the girls and rattle his glass, who are we to say he is stupid? Do you see his requirements are completely different? We cannot presume that everyone will hear music with our 'ears'. When we were doing the audio source shootout in Chennai, this fact hit me like a bolt. Every one of the members were listening to the music playing with different needs and assumptions. One was even sweet enough to say he just could not understand or appreciate the differences we were talking about. Take our friend Mr. Manu from Punjab, for example. His sole requirement is earth shaking bass.

Cheers

 

[hemantwaghe]

Ultimately it is the difference between clarity and completeness, and a just deep sounding thumps. At the same time, I would say, let the people enjoy what they like. Why push them? If a guy wants to pump 500 watts in his car to impress all the girls and rattle his glass, who are we to say he is stupid? Do you see his requirements are completely different? We cannot presume that everyone will hear music with our 'ears'. When we were doing the audio source shootout in Chennai, this fact hit me like a bolt. Every one of the members were listening to the music playing with different needs and assumptions. One was even sweet enough to say he just could not understand or appreciate the differences we were talking about. Take our friend Mr. Manu from Punjab, for example. His sole requirement is earth shaking bass.

Cheers

Nice and honest statement from our senior member -Thanks!!

 

[suri]

There are a lot of factors that go into this, and I would the following as important:

• Experience - how many speakers and systems have you heard?
• Intimate knowledge of the song you are listening to - how well do you know the song playing?
• Focus - can you put off your mobile and stop being distracted. Can you free your mind of all thoughts and listen to the music? When you listening to a Hindustani or Carnatic number, can you appreciate the taal and hear the tampura setting the beat? Like we focus our eyes when we have to read a small letter, can we focus our ears?
• Nuances - linked to point 2 above, can you recognise and appreciate the minutre nuances that the musician has used. A bell here, a tinkle here, a violin gently repeating the main note?

There are again two factors here. One is amplitude. Most demos, if you notice, the salesamn will control the enivironment and usually play the equipment at loud volumes. In addition he will generally use music / movies that he is sure will show his equipment in good stead.

Second, I have generally seen people appreciate deep chest thumping bass. This is what Bose is using to it's advantage. As you say this could be related to our experience in our mothers womb.

Ultimately it is the difference between clarity and completeness, and a just deep sounding thumps. At the same time, I would say, let the people enjoy what they like. Why push them? If a guy wants to pump 500 watts in his car to impress all the girls and rattle his glass, who are we to say he is stupid? Do you see his requirements are completely different? We cannot presume that everyone will hear music with our 'ears'. When we were doing the audio source shootout in Chennai, this fact hit me like a bolt. Every one of the members were listening to the music playing with different needs and assumptions. One was even sweet enough to say he just could not understand or appreciate the differences we were talking about. Take our friend Mr. Manu from Punjab, for example. His sole requirement is earth shaking bass.

Cheers

Hi venkatcr,

-when I first heard the rethms - those were the first good speakers i had ever heard, all previous were AIWA and SONY! - probably the reason for my astonishment.

- first time also i heard that song!

- i am able to focus on the experience of listening and shutting out everything else - my wife despairs and my friends tell me i have stopped enjoying music and "all this guy does is try to see if that note is missing, are all the percussion instruments heard.....etc."

and all the other points in your post ring true

cheers