Sound reproduction and the failure of most applications

Think of what we usually see in a sound reproduction system, be it a 2 or 5 or 7 or whatever, channel system: a chain of interconnected components. At one end of the chain we have a component which reads the medium (dvd, cd, LP, tape, HD...) and produces a signal which is sent to the next component in line, and so on until we get to the speakers. These are there to convert the electrical signal into sound -- ie. sound pressure which is perceptible. We cannot feed our ears with an electrical signal alone. So far so good.

Components come in many sizes, shapes and prices -- in fact, prices can range from 1:+1000 for a single component... There are speakers out there costing 100 and there are others costing 100.000 -- what you get is a PAIR of speakers i.e. two...

Expensive components are "hi-end" in that the sound they produce is expected to be orders of magnitude superior to their cheaper brethren.

Accordingly, there is a lot of discussion in forums (OK, that should be "fora" I suppose) about which component is "best", better than another, etc. Heated discussions of an emotional nature abound and a lot of pseudo science is bandied about -- and much of this is ultimately inconclusive. Why? Because the discussions rarely address the real problem -- rather they focus on purchasing decisions: "I can't hear the voices too well, what should I do?" Answer: "Oh, yes, well if YOU CHANGE your speakers from XYZ to ABC-Grand Signature, all your problems will go away"
I.e., purchase another component.

What's the problem? The applicability of all those components thrown together as a system -- i.e. the way the system is implemented.

The most common misconception is to be seen at the end of the chain. This misconception catastrophic -- to the sound, to the industry, and the art of sound reproduction. Let's see why and where.

Let's go back to this system/"reproduction chain": at one end is the "source" component at the other end we have the speakers and, right behind them, we have amplifiers. This system, chain of components if you will, is called upon to reproduce sound which is, at least, within the official range of human hearing: 20Hz to 20.000Hz. Not only that, but we expect the system to reproduce the sound in a faithful manner -- i.e. as it is on the medium, or close to what it would be in a real life situation, live. For example, Mr Pavarotti has a large voice; the system should reproduce a large voice -- not a beautiful but small voice.

OK, so we have our expectations lined up. We have our components. What's wrong?

Look back at the end of the chain: as we said, there are speakers and right behind them is an amplifier. Let's focus on what we expect these two types of components to do:

The amplifier should provide gain (i.e. amplify sound) from the depths of hearing to supersonic frequencies. OK.

The amplifier so doing will "drive" the connected speaker which is in turn called upon to produce sound from the depths of hearing to supersonic frequencies...

In current lingo this is described "from DC to daylight"

A tall order? You bet. Read on if you've come this far.

Look at most speakers: each speaker has a number of drive units. Each unit is there to reproduce part of the spectrum and, together, they are expected to reproduce sound from DC to daylight. Now we're getting a bit more complex.

Each drive unit is different -- in size, electrical properties, etc. Now we're getting worse.

Each drive unit is connected to a circuit that filters out the frequencies each drive unit is NOT called upon to to convert to sound.

There are many other considerations that enter the complexity equation, but we don't even have to go any further.

Let's keep this simple.

We expect one amplifier channel, ONE, to drive these all these units, the circuits, everything, in a homogeneous way from DC to daylight or, at least, from 20Hz to 20kHz and produce sound that simulates reality!!!

Who are we kidding???

Think of ULTIMATE LIMITATION of a SINGLE AMPLIFIER called upon to work FROM DC TO DAYLIGHT AND, accordingly DRIVE A LOUDSPEAKER THAT'S ALSO EXPECTED TO PRODUCE MUSIC IN A HOMOGENEOUS MANNER FROM DC to DAYLIGHT.

If you want to hear correct sound, one that is easy to understand and grasp because it has elements of completeness and audibly justifies your investment to boot, you must have one amplification channel per speaker drive unit. This application will also lead the unsuspecting, non audiophile, audience to grasp spontaneously the value of your much beloved chain or system. They will instinctively know why it is superior to its $100 equivalent.

And, since many of us cannot do this and such products are very rare, compromise and start by amplifying your lower frequencies / 100-80Hz downward / separately.

The differences are huge -- compare a glass of pretend $1 wine to a Chateau Margaux.