How close to the real thing?

I agree cone area in addition to overall driver quality and build, optimal power delivery, and ability to pressurize air as a result is key to getting dynamics out of a playback system that can compete with the original instrument(s) in a similar room configuration.

This is one of the reasons I am a big fan of Walsh drivers. Drivers applied using the Walsh principles where sound is emitted from the rear of teh cone omnidirectionally benefit from effective application of available driver surface area, and the omnidirectional aspect results is a sound dispersion pattern more like that of a real, un-amplified, acoustic instrument. To get similar results with conventional driver technology generally require much larger designs and drivers that bump up the cost to deliver substantially.

Hi Hifihvn,
Drummers wear headphones because they are mic'd and are using the headphones as monitors. Drums get very loud, up to 110db. I have not heard any strings that can cause hearing damage. Granted most of my live listening is to cello and violin & piano and it is in a venue capable of seating 600 people, but as I stated earlier, I run a sound board fairly regularly. I have never been subjected to threatning levels from these instruments.. and I do tend to duplicate spl's at home vs live(non amplified) venues. The peaks are short term and is required to really get the dynamics that have been discussed here. I completely agree that the wink link is the recording. Good Listening, Tim

"I completely agree that the wink link is the recording. Good Listening, Tim"

The recording being the weak link is where a good audiphile wants to be. That is one thing that is not in his/her control.

Hi Timlub,A lot of musicians have been aware of themselves being at risk for hearing loss.Schools of music teach them about this also.The headphones and plugs I was referring to,were the passive ones that they can hear what they need to,without amplified headphones,or plugs.It depend on the situation as you most likely know dealing with recording,or mixing for amplified music.A violin can reach 110 db at their ear.Wind instruments can get high also,plus a lot of others.It depends on the instruments too.But instruments used for concerts are the ones that are chosen for volume, along with their sound quality.There are some that say some of the lesser wanted instruments,may sound better, but just can't produce any volume,to qualify for a concert quality piece do to this.Some wear those plugs with holes in them(I think),that claim to let enough frequencies through for them to perform correctly.A couple of links for sound pressures.I'm guessing the music schools might have accurate info on this,plus Google.I like live music,we need it for our recordings,but we can do fairly good at home listening,for great enjoyment also.The last one may be conservative for db ratings in certain cases.Links.[http://www.hear-it.org/page.dsp?page=1662][http://www.sengpielaudio.com/TableOfSoundPressureLevels.htm][http://www.gcaudio.com/resources/howtos/loudness.html]

Well Hifihvn, you just enlightened me, I didn't even consider the violin at the ear, nor am I experienced with any large scale concert type instruments.
and yes, we have headphones that allow some hearing. We do have a sound chamber that drummers can use(we tend to allow the drums on stage), it uses speakers as monitors and the drums are mic'd and sealed from the outside world, so the drums are completely by mix. Thanks for the info, i'll check it out. Tim