Electrostatic speakers and low volume resolution

"04-02-15: Mapman
Not be heretic about it but our ears do not have flat frequency response to start with, hear differently at different volumes, and become less sensitive over time as noted. So digital signal processing or equalization may be all the doctor ordered to provide any needed corrections."

It may be a reasonable fix in some systems, but not all. Not taking account that its another component in the chain, an EQ alters phase on whatever frequencies you are adjusting. In my main system, for example, I was careful to select components that keep the signal unaltered, with regards to phase, from my source to my speakers. Using an EQ would undo all that.

Thanks, Zd. I'm not advocating use of an EQ as a solution for all problems and I do understand, or at least am aware of, phase issues associated with additional artifacts being introduced into the sound stream. However, if I had the know how and did what you described in the first place, I would still be faced with the issues of my hearing loss, the extent of which is not bilaterally equal. To further complicate the scenario, my listening room, unfortunately, is my living room and using the auto room equalization capability of the 2496 has resulted in a noticeable improvement that I've been unable to acheive by other means.

About 2 years ago I had a motorcycle accident which resulted in my having to use crutches for awhile. Using them wasn't as efficient as normal but it was a heck of a lot better than going w/o them. I look at the EQ a lot like that except that, unlike crutches, I'm walking better than before the injury.

I guess what I'm saying, then, is that for someone like me who has been in the hobby for over 50 years but have only recently delved into its more technical intricacies, the EQ provides adjustments that allow more direct, wide ranging and relatively simple control.

ZD, one of the many things that I've had difficulty understanding, and I know to be important, is the relationship of signal phase and sound quality, especially how it comes into play in designing a system. I've read several papers on the subject and one of the common points is that phase alterations are generally not considered good and that EQ's have a phase altering effect. I fully understand that to be the case but understand also that every artifact in the system that has to do with signal processing will also.

In two articles it was at least alluded to that CD players alter signal phase but that the shift is linear across the spectrum so that this phase change would be audibly unrecognized. Even this I don't understand; if the signal across the board is delayed by the same amount, wouldn't the phase change in the upper frequencies be more dramatic because of their waves being closer together?

I'm in this way over my head and probably off base in some of what I think I understand but I've not been able to get how one would go about putting components together to minimize the effects of phase alteration and how one component (in this case, the EQ) would have a greater negative effect than any other. Is it just because any "unnecessary" additions exacerbate the cascading effects of phase alteration w/o providing an off setting improvement?

BTW, and somewhat off subject, some time ago I started a thread regarding phase testing using pink noise and how I noticed some migration of the sound as I progressed through increasing frequencies. I performed the same test after I did the automatic room equalization and, although this resulted in auto adjustment in only the lower bass frequencies, this migration of sound in the upper frequencies seems to have been reduced.

Phase is tricky! We can't hear phase on simple tones like a sine wave, but we can hear it in a spectrum of frequencies. Our ears use phase to construct the sound stage. If phase is altered, it can also be interpreted as tonality.

I had this demonstrated in spades years ago when I was trying to find why a phono section was sounding bright. It turned out that the manufacturer had abandoned the RIAA curve at frequencies above 50KHZ- well above human hearing- but the phase shift that resulted sounded like brightness. The fix was to restore the RIAA curve even though the preamp hardly had much bandwidth above that!

An EQ unit between me an the source would be one of the things I would look at eliminating if low level detail in the system seemed to be lacking. There are often other ways of dealing with hearing loss.

Tricky is an understatement from my standpoint. Phase relationships are so important to realistic sound reproduction one hand and potentially destructive on the other that understanding it sufficient to work with it in my system is making my brain tired. It's one of those things that, at this point in my development, I'll just have to count on the experts for guidance.

As far as dealing with individual hearing issues goes, I can only think of two things beyond the EQ that can work. Nearfield listening is one which I have in my garage setup (repurposed B&K AVR 307, iTunes lossless files and Celestion A speakers) which is not too special but sounds very good. The other is the use of hearing aids which I don't tolerate well because of ear canal problems. I've gone through 2 attempts using quite advanced aids and choose not to continue using them except as a last resort when or if the time comes for that.

All sources in my system (CD player, Apple TV, Sony Jukebox and DAC are routed through the preamp) and each, when in use, will contribute to phase alteration to some extent. BTW, how do autoformers fit into the scenario. As far as eliminating the EQ goes, I feel it has been too important an addition to consider removing it at this point.