| The Savvy Audiophile | High End Music Reproduction/cont'd |
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Now, let’s go to the very top. In recording studio terms this is where the “air” lives, from 8,000 Hertz all the way up to 20,000 Hertz. Instruments do not produce any fundamental frequencies in this range; rather, this where the top harmonics are found. Some research indicates that harmonics lie much higher but, for the purposes of our discussion, the point is moot. What is important to know is that without accurate reproduction of the frequencies within this range, you can easily tell that you are listening to a recording and not to live music. This is also where you pick up the aural clues that tell your brain where the room boundaries are located, and whether or not the performers are a room with soft diffuse walls and carpeting or one comprised of hard surfaces like glass or stone. Cheap systems will have spec sheets that claim the system’s frequency range is up to 20,000 Hertz, but what you’re not given is the degree of tolerance. On a high-end system you may find that the range is given as 38-25,000 Hertz plus or minus 3dB (often noted as +/- 3dB). What this tells you is that at any given frequency across the spectrum the signal may in fact be 3dB louder or quieter than the average of the rest of the frequencies. Your cheap, low-end system may, in fact, be 12dB down at 16,000 Hz. (but the specs won’t tell you this). Sure, the system can produce the stated frequency, but not in any useful amount. To cover up for the lack of true high frequency response, this type of system usually exaggerates the highest frequencies it can actually reproduce, usually somewhere around the 8,000 to 10,000 Hertz range. This emphasis manifests itself as a brash, unpleasant high-end that is fatiguing to listen to. In addition to telling your student about a system’s frequency response, you’ll also have to talk about a type of compression that occurs on a cheap system. Due to a lack of clean power and use of inexpensive drivers, the low-end system will squash the dynamics of the music; the system will literally “run out of steam” when trying to reproduce the sharp transients and leading edges of notes on instruments like piano, acoustic guitar, drums and cymbals. In some cases the drivers will literally “bottom out” (run out of physical excursion). When this happens, the sound flattens and all life dies from the music. In extreme cases, outright sound distortion occurs. Finally, you’ll have to talk about soundstage, relative to height, width and depth. The performers should, individually and as a group, occupy a three-dimensional space, and in a high-end system you will have a sense of “being there”, experiencing that space. You should be able to close your eyes and picture the location of individual instruments. It is this kind of imaging that typifies the high-end audio experience. Low-end systems are wholly incapable of creating this illusion. Usually, after this kind of thorough demonstration and explanation, the low-ender can be converted into a neophyte audiophile. Having heard and understood the difference, he/she may never be happy listening to inferior audio reproduction again. At least that should be your goal. Ultimately, we have the obligation and the opportunity to bring our brethren into the light. Spread your enthusiasm for high-end. Help to make the world a better sounding place. It really is up to you |
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