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We should reject hard-to-drive speakers more often

Sorry I know this is a bit of a rant, but come on people!!

Too many audiophiles find speakers which are hard to drive and... stick with them!

We need to reject hard-to-drive speakers as being Hi-Fi. Too many of us want our speakers to be as demanding as we are with a glass of wine. "Oh, this speaker sounds great with any amplifier, but this one needs amps that weigh more than my car, so these speakers MUST sound better..."

Speakers which may be discerning of amplifier current delivery are not necessarily any good at all at playing actual music. 

That is all.

erik_squires
phusis's avatar
phusis
1,138 posts
 

@erik_squires wrote:

At some point significantly below Xmax I believe there begins to appear evidence of compression, both within the FR and distortion.

In addition to thermal issues this would only stress the importance of headroom, and also as a phenomenon somewhat equivalent to thermal modulation as an effect that has sonic implications well before the typically assessed limits, both thermally and mechanically. These "grey areas" definitely need more attention. 

invalid
1,109 posts
 

@phusis  I couldn't agree with you more about overly damped bass.

ditusa's avatar
ditusa
1,779 posts
 

@phusis Wrote:

Overly damped (i.e.: "tight") bass isn’t natural bass to my ears, nor is the inverse scenario - it’s certainly about finding the right balance in relation to one’s (p)reference and context.

 Couldn't agree more! See article below:😎

Mike

http://diyaudioprojects.com/Technical/Papers/Damping-Damping-Factor-and-Damn-Nonsense-Floyd-Toole.pdf

 

theophile's avatar
theophile
210 posts
 

I give you permission to reject hard to drive speakers, on my behalf. Keep up the good work.

erik_squires OP
15,959 posts
 

Thinking about this thread for a while and I realize I should have inverted the headline.  What I wish I had written was:

 

We shouldn't praise speakers specifically because they are hard to drive.  A speaker that is discerning of amplifiers because it is hard to drive is not necessarily any good at playing music.

My bad.

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