music sound question?

Question

I listen to a lot of music and go to a lot of concerts. Just last night I was at a 1000 seat thetaer witha balcony and loved the full sound, (but not loud) of the music in the front of the theater while I was under the balcony. It just sounded so full and crisp and a lot better than what listen to at home. When I build my new house, how do i get that full sound? I hate surround sound and hate movies. What should i consider?

Answer 1

Hi there.I know exactly what you are getting at.I had a room built on the back of my house for reproduction of music only back in 1983.It is 26 feet long by 15 feet wide by 8 feet high.At the moment i have a very good Turntable,Arm and Cartridge for Vinyl playback.A standard DVD/CD Player,Valve PreAMP.Separate 2 channel Power Amp. and 2 British Speakers.

As you are aware ,conventional stereo doesn't sound anything like a live sonic event even with the most expensive equipment available.Stereo reproduction is subject to fundamental distortions of spatial perspectives that just don't occur in real life.

The reason why you can't get the feeling of listening to a live event at home is rather complicated so i will explain as simply as possible.At a live event ,your two ears can only receive two sound arrivals at any one time.If you are listening to a violin player who is left of center stage at the concert hall,a note from the violin arrives at your left ear first,and a fraction of a millisecond later arrives at your right ear.Without looking you can tell where the sound originated from by the different intensities of the note at your ears.

When listening to the same violin recorded on a playback medium,each ear heres the sound of BOTH LOUDSPEAKERS, which results in FOUR sound arrivals at your two ears.That is TWO extra arrivals that don't happen in real life. To understand why this happens,we have to go back to the recording studio and how the sound of the violin is recorded.The sound of the violin is recorded in both channels of the master tape.At the mixing stage the recording level is adjusted to be higher in one channel and lower in the other(this simulates the violin sound to appear to be left of center stage,just like at the live event) When the CD is played back through your stereo speakers,the sound of the violin comes out of both speakers ,louder in the left speaker than the right .This gives the impression of the violin located left of center stage.But the problem is out ears are listening to the sound of FOUR violins.This confuses the ear/brain mechanism and results in a flat confined sound image which is nothing like the real thing. We need to cancel those extra unwanted sound arrivals then we get close to a live event at home.

Keep in mind there are no loudspeakers that can correct the problem even if they are bi-polar or omni-directional, they all result in four sound arrivals at your two ears.There are no Amplifiers that can do it also, even surround sound is flawed(too many speakers-too many sound arrivals)

Can you understand what i am saying ? If you have any questions,feel free to ask.

Answer 2

This is a case of quality over quantity. You will

want to invest in either a superb integrated amp

or power amp/pre-amp combination, a quality

DVD and/or CD player, and most importantly, a

great sounding pair of loudspeakers (and a nice

quality powered sub if you play a lot of movies in

the system as well). A good place to browse for

some high-grade gear is AudiogoN. And if you

want some specific suggestions, I will provide a

few links for consideration. If I can help you any

further, I would be glad to help. An appropriately

composed system will give you a near represen-

tation of what you heard at the concert hall. Also,

get a good set of speaker cables, interconnects,

and a good, solid component stand for proper

isolation for best sound. Good recordings help.

Answer 3

You should listen to Bipolar speakers to see if they produce the sound you are seeking. One of the best companies who makes Bipolar speakers is Definitive Technology.