Bombaywalla ... I read as much of the discussions as I could before falling asleep at 1:30am in the morning. No surprise ... the physical science is way over my head. But I do have some take-a-ways that I would like to share. As a threshold matter, I ask whether we are "polishing a turd" as a practical matter.
As a warm up, there was some discussion which addressed whether using mics to record a musical presentation accurately captured the complex sound wave information that emanated from the multiple performers and instruments. One poster said that all a mic could do was sample a point in 3-D space, thereby missing a considerable amount of sonic/acoustical information. Even using multiple mics, while an improvement, still left much sonic information "on the floor," figuratively speaking.
Next ... the mastering process. So called sound engineers manipulate the sonic information that was imperfectly recorded at the live performance. The result is more sonic contortion and distortion.
Let's skip the next steps relating to the reproduction and transmission of source material via the various media used today (e.g., LP, CD, SACD, internet downloads, etc) and the electronics used to decode the information back into analogue electrical signals that are fed into the speakers. Suffice to say that additional contortions and distortions are infused into the analogue signal before it even reaches the speakers.
Ok, we're now at the speakers and a whole new set of issues present themselves. The bottom line challenge is that our speakers have to reproduce, more like reconstruct, the complex electrical analogue signals back into sound waves that are in phase through the whole harmonic spectrum.
And here the engineering problems and challenges are almost insurmountable: designing a system using multiple drivers that are mounted on a baffle (sloped or not sloped) to reproduce a point complex source sonic wave front that is the same as the original signal, even as modified by the sound engineers at the studio. My take-a-way is that the speaker designer can solve one problem, but create 5 more.
I don't want to embarrass myself by trying to faithfully restate what was said in the various posts. Suffice to say there are physical science challenges presented with every electrical and mechanical component that makes up a complete speaker system. At best ... what reaches our ears is the product of price point driven compromises that are ultimately limited by the laws of physical science.
My bottom line take-a-way is if "it" sounds good, "it" is good. Sure, we can and should audition speakers. Some will sound better than others. But to think any one speaker has perfectly solved all the engineering challenges and is able to faithfully reproduce a point source complex sound wave at the listening point is a pipe dream ... more like shear nonsense.
Perhaps that may be the reason many audiophiles and reviewers say that while specs and stats are informative ... in the end, what counts the most is how a speaker **subjectively** sounds to THAT listener, plugged into THAT listener's rig, positioned in THAT listener's sound room, and so forth.
And to me, that is what makes our hobby fun. Right now, I am listening to Eugene Ormandy, conducting the Philly Orchestra, performing a suite of various Saint-Saens selections. I am still enjoying the music even though it is being imperfectly reproduced by my imperfect rig.
Cheers,
Bruce
