ark@rabbit.UUCP (12/15/83)
Some ads I've seen (notably from Linn and friends) suggest that when auditioning equipment it is essential that only one pair of speakers be in the room. If more than one pair is present, even if the other speakers are not connected, it will affect the sound enough to make sensible comparisons impossible. I can (barely) see the justification for this: concert halls, for example, tend to be sealed boxes, and if a listening room is also a sealed box, putting another set of speakers in might have an effect similar to a leaky seal. However, my living room is definitely NOT a sealed box. Kind of reminds me of Peter Schickele's description of the lute: it's so quiet that you can't hear it if there's another instrument in the room with it, whether or not that other instrument is playing. I also do NOT understand how one can compare speakers if only one set is in the room at a time. Perhaps some of you out there can provide me with evidence, instead of the opinions I have seen so far.
sdo@u1100a.UUCP (Scott Orshan) (12/15/83)
I had a similar idea about extra speakers in the room affecting the
sound of the speakers which are playing due to their own resonances.
I was more concerned about listening to speakers in a store where
there is a wall full of speakers. I noticed that it is difficult
to identify which speaker on the wall is playing, and wondered
if the other speakers were contributing extra sound.
Anyway, I wrote a letter to Larry Klein of Stereo Review which was
published several months ago (I can't remember which month exactly).
He thought that the effects of other speakers were minimal compared
to other room effects, and that the lack of visual clues was responsible
for the difficulty in locating the active speakers.
I'm not entirely convinced, and I think tests would have to be done.
Scott Orshan
Central Services Org., Piscataway
201-981-3064
{pyuxi,houxm,ihnp4}!u1100a!sdofaiman@uiuccsb.UUCP (12/17/83)
#R:rabbit:-227900:uiuccsb:5700020:000:629 uiuccsb!faiman Dec 16 23:49:00 1983 Idiot, you're not meant to compare the speakers. you're to luxuriate in their grandeur. In fact, there's a simple formula that tells you how many speakers you should have in your room at any one time. No more than $5000 worth. So, you see that the el-cheapos who don't give a fig for all this audio hype can get quite a few boxes worth and still enjoy their Mozart, Bach, Schubert, etc, while you poor bastards who are still chasing the will o'the wisp of reproducing pure concert hall electric twango in your living rooms will have to be content with one lousy five-grand piece of electromagnetic junk. Enjoy, kinderlach. w
craig@hp-pcd.UUCP (craig) (12/18/83)
#R:rabbit:-227900:hp-kirk:5300014:000:239 hp-kirk!craig Dec 16 07:23:00 1983 I believe the concern is that the other speakers in the room will act like passive radiaters. Whether they will produce enough sound (or effect) to influence the playing speakers - I don't know, I have never noticed or tried to notice.
winograd@nbires.UUCP (Steve Winograd) (12/22/83)
I have heard the single speaker demonstration done many times and have
performed it many times for my friends. Every time, it has been immediately
obvious to everyone that having extra, undriven speaker(s) in the room
destroys the sound of the system.
First, the acoustical reason. The undriven speaker is excited
by sound waves in the air and, working in reverse, generates an electrical
signal which stores energy in the voice coil and/or crossover. When the
induced field collapses a short time later, it causes the undriven speaker
to reproduce the stored sound. This reproduced sound is an especially
obnoxious, non-musical distortion which has no relationship to the sound
being produced at that same moment by the driven speakers. Cancellation,
intermodulation, etc. occur and the music suffers.
Now, for more important matters: how can one compare speakers if only one
set is in the room at a time. Contrary to what the popular hi-fi magazines
say, people ** can ** remember sounds over a period of time -- it's just a
matter of knowing what to listen for. Here are some suggestions:
1. Can you follow the tune? Try humming or singing along. If it's hard
to do, the system probably isn't very good.
2. Are the instruments in tune? The most obvious effect of extra
speaker(s) is that the music goes out of tune. Try it with solo
piano music.
3. Can you follow the beat? Are the instruments playing together with
a feeling of good ensemble? Extra speaker(s) destroy the ensemble.
4. Most importantly, is the music appealing to your emotions. That,
after all, is the whole purpose of music (and hi-fi's)!
Just sit back, listen, and trust your ears!
john@ctvax.UUCP (01/04/84)
#R:rabbit:-227900:ctvax:32900002:000:188 ctvax!john Jan 2 09:38:00 1984 Shouldn't we actually test ONE speaker in a room, not just a pair of speakers? It seems that the left speaker will induce signals in the right speaker, and vice versa. =John Shelton=