Wednesday, 25 September 2024

What do you expect

 I have just installed new speakers to replace my 30 year old transmission line ones. They do sound a little better but by not much of a margin. I wasn't expecting a big improvement but modern technology has improved matters. But as for night and day differences then no. If there is a night and day difference between the sound of your HIFI equipment then one or the components you are testing is not High Fidelity .It is possible that both components being tested are not HIFI too. You can't have your sound quality cake and eat it.

My new speakers are better able to show up differences between the performance of different cartridges and styluses. For instance I have a cartridge with a conical stylus and another cartridge with a micro-line stylus. If you read HIFI magazines then you will be told that micro-line styluses are so much better than conical ones, they are also much more  expensive. I cannot honestly say that the performance of the micro-line stylus is significantly better, and there is certainly not a night and day difference. My new speakers enabled me to hear more detail coming coming from the micro-line stylus especially when playing classical music but not much more. The speakers also reproduced the tiny clicks, that all LPs are plagued with, better. LPs are fun but I much prefer to play CDs of classical music because there are no physical flaws apparent from the medium. 

When using  an LP record player with my old speakers, compared to the new ones, I can hardly tell the difference between one stylus or another if at all. Classical music can be used to test HIFI performance because of the wider dynamic range and variety of instruments. Also you can compare the recorded performance against a live performance , if a recorded violin sounds exactly like a violin in the flesh then you have a good recording and good HIFI equipment. The same could be said for the human voice when listening to opera.

Modern HIFI has probably become as good as it can get. Therefore you can understand why HIFI magazines and Manufactures use so much hyperbole to manipulate your expectation that your  new piece of expensive equipment is so much better than your old one. Let's be honest it can only be marginally better and you may not be able to tell the difference in a double blind test. The same applies to digital sampling rates, as CD 16/44.1 kHz  streams are more than sufficient to playback all music with complete clarity.

I often ask myself why would you want to pay thousands of pounds to play back an LP record which is made of almost worthless plastic that is full of flaws. I can understand why pride of ownership is important and that we can all appreciate top notch engineering, so good luck to anyone who has ten grand in their back pocket to spare - even if the music won't sound very much better.

Tuesday, 3 September 2024

I have bought new speakers

 I wasn't going to buy new speakers until I heard a deterioration in my existing TDL RTL 2 transmission lines which are now over 30 years old. I was reluctant to change anything. However, I was listening to some opera about two weeks ago and heard some distortion when Mirella Freni sang an aria from La Boheme.

Her voice is very powerful and has a huge dynamic range when she was at full volume then her voice sounded distorted. My old speakers were tired at high volumes. I invested in a pair of Acoustic Energy AE109 Mk2. I hadn't auditioned them but I knew I could send them back if I was not satisfied.

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/7923506--puccini-la-boheme

The speakers cost £600 for the pair. They offered terrific performance for the money from the outset without being "run in". I am not convinced that speakers need to be "run in" for that matter. Anyway, after playing Mirella Freni again the distortion had disappeared when she hit the high notes at high volume. The speakers sounded  noticeably better across the frequency and dynamic range. My wife also noticed that the the diction of the singers was clearer. The speakers were keepers and I was very pleased with them. The old speakers were almost holding their own especially when comparing pop music and jazz, but it was classical music that revealed the differences. I tested the sound reproduction by playing the BBC proms on Radio Three and I noticed the improved sound quality of the new speakers.

At one point when playing Beethoven's 9th symphony at higher than the usual volumes, I though that at some times the bass sounded a bit booming. However, this was more a function of the recording which was apparent when listening through a decent set of headphones.

I also tested LPs against their digital equivalent; I played Chasing The Dragon's Espana LP  which was recorded directly to vinyl without the intervention of a tape or digital recording machine. Essentially, I was listening to a live recording. Rosie Middleton's voice sounded almost perfect, and at at some points it felt as if two mezzo-sopranos were singing, as her voice was that rich. When I compared the LP to the digital recording which was made at the same time I could hardly notice any difference, which is a tribute to how good vinyl can sound if it is produced and recorded well. It is also a tribute to modern turntables and cartridges. However, the LP record reproduced some clicks perfectly. Clicks and static discharges annoy me intensely which is why I rarely buy classic LPs, I prefer the digital purity.  

https://snvinyl.co.uk/Espana

I also compared a remastered vinyl version of Miles Davis Blue Haze to its CD equivalent. Once again I could hardly notice much difference in sound quality, but the LP sounded more "lush" and "thicker "to my ears, some may call this warmer. Obviously, the CD produces better sound quality, and I prefer the accuracy of a well recorded CD, but I can understand why some people think that LPs sound better, as the inherent sound distortion of LP playback introduces extra harmonic features. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Haze


All in all replacing the speakers was a good HIFI experience for me and points out that when making comparisons and judgements there are too many variables to consider. One thing is certain; it is the quality of the recording that really matters. A £10,000 set of speakers will not improve a bad recording and won't stop you hearing the annoying clicks and crackles which are always present on vinyl LPs even brand new ones.