NonameHifi Ozhan Atalay asked: Introduction
Basically accepted thing in audiophile world is that it almost impossible to achieve the best sound by just combining only the best equipments. Much cheaper but properly selected and tweaked system may sound better than its expensive brothers. This is called system synergy in audiophile world. System synergy is not only about combining the best equipments but it is a kind of long and enjoyable way to maximize their performances.
The precautions and principles may be seen absurd and meaningless for someone who does not have solid understanding what the hi-end is.
Within last twenty years, I spent considerable time, money and efforts to achieve best sound (..Or what ever the best is). I wrote a couple of important points from my own perspective. Most of these points may be known by the audiophiles anyway if not implemented. More important, below points consist of my own observations merely. There are so many known different tweaks and techniques. I avoided not including here the points that I did not try and/or the points did not work well with me. I believe below mentioned points will step up someone’s system to a higher level by using the same equipments.
I apologize for my level of English. I am appreciated if someone warns me about the main language mistakes anywhere in the web site.
The only certain truth I learned after twenty years is that “there is no one absolute truth in Hi-End” Most of the truths in High-End can not be proven by scientific measures. Very sensitive human ear hears a lot, interpret, evaluate and decide. In a listening session of three audiophiles, what is probably going to happen is one of the persons will find the bass insufficient, the other may find it so much and excessive, but the system owner will think it is fine, not less, not more. That phenomenon is called “brain reference”. (See for more details) Brain reference is a kind of prejudice comes out of our own system’s timbre and tonality. This phenomenon sometimes causes conflicts with someone who compares better equipment versus his own equipment and may not like the sound of the other in spite the other was clearly better.
Most of the points stipulated below will depend on the capabilities of the system but more important, depend on the experience of audiophile. A poor system will not differentiate the points or less experienced ears may not pick them up either. That’s why some of the points below may not be regarded by everybody. I will be delightful if someone who reads that article picks up one or two points.
1. Listening at Night; Critical listening or equipment testing should be done in the night hours. This rule obviously applies to one who lives in a big city. Non noticeable city noise affects our hearing and we are basically not able to hear what our system delivers to us during the day.
Due to city noise is several times lower in the night, all hidden aspects in hi-end appear in the night and the system delivers its full potential. For more information, please check Noise (see for more details)
2. Heat and Humidity; Humidity and heat have serious influences on sound. Systems can not generate their best sound, power and dynamics in a warm and damp weather. I am not sure why this happens but it happens. There may be two reasons: The damp air is heavier in such circumstances, thus the loudspeakers are not able to pull enough air into the room. Or the loudspeaker materials may soften and behave differently in warm weather. To cool the listening environment prior to listening session eliminates that effect.
3. Darkness; Music should be listened in dark room. Particularly, the loudspeakers and the system should be kept in dark and the original recording venue should be imagined while listening.
The main objective of a good quality hi-end system is to depart from the hardware and to go into the recording environment. Listening music while watching the hardware will physiologically demolish the virtual environment that we intent to be in. The most inconvenient part of a hi-end system is inexistence of visual imaging. The reality sense is so different when participating to a live concert or listening/watching from a DVD player via a surround system.
If the listening environment is not dark, the speakers will be perceived as the sources of the original sound.
4. Finding the Correct Listening Distance; the sound is spread in waves called frequency. The volume of every frequency will be different in connection with the distance from the speakers. In terms of the volume, frequencies will be up and down when the distance is changed. Especially higher mids and treble sections will vary between 20-5 centimetres. Such frequency peaks can be easily recognized by listening.
a - Listen a test CD which contains different test frequencies. For instance start with mono 1000 Hz at the listening chair. Then stand up and walk very slowly through your system. (Preferably with your closed eyes). You will immediately realize that the signal will have ups and downs in volume while you are moving as if somebody was turning on and off the volume control.
b - The main frequency of the music and the one which is closest to human sound is 1000 Hz. 1000 Hz is your starting point. 1000 Hz will be at its peaks so many times in connection with the distance of your listening chair. Find the closest distance to your current listening chair that the 1000 Hz is at peak. The ups and downs in that band should be changed around 50-70 centimetres. This is the best location to hear the middle frequencies but it is not the best location yet to achieve the best frequency spectrum. It is just the starting point.
c - Stick a rope to back wall that may come through your shoulders. Now close your eyes and listen different frequencies such as 300-500-1000-2000-5000-10.000 Hz etc, move top of your body (while sitting) forward and backwards. Mark the peak points of every frequency you listened on the rope. Our aim is to find a particular point that most of the frequencies are at their peaks. If you are not successful and these points are not closer each other, move your speakers 10 cm’s to front (or your listening chair to 10 cm front or rear) and repeat the same exercises till you find a certain point that most of the frequencies are at their peaks.
It is not an easy task, time consuming but free of charge. Once you have the point, you will be very surprised with the improvement of the sound of your existing system.
5. Room Acoustics; Room Acoustics is the most known but the least considered part of Hi-End. A conventional speaker may throw % 40 of the sound directly to listener; rest of the sound comes through the walls by reflections. Reflection means the timing difference of the original signal, hence an additional acoustic which does not exist in the original record. Within such a complexity of reflections, a part of the original signal will come late due to the front wall or ceiling or etc, a part of the original signal produced by the left speaker will come as if coming from the right speaker and vice versa. Such a complex listening environment will demolish the stereo imaging and channel separation.
Some audiophiles are happy with this case due to speakers are seem to be better disappeared and soundstage is wider and deeper. Some producers add additional mid/treble units to the back side of the speakers (dipoles) to emphasize such effects.
One thing should be considered that such reflections do not exist at the original sound. If something is produced by the system/room in addition to the original sound should be named coloration.
If the aim of a good hi-end system is to reproduce the original sound, such reflections should be avoided as much as possible. Especially ribbon and electrostatic speakers will suffer a lot from such reflections.
Carpet on the floor is a must to lower the reflections (standing waves) between the floor and the ceiling. Thicker curtains will help to lower the reflections of the windows. Glass covered photos and such stiff furniture should be avoided.
This article is not intended to give recommendations how to make a room tuning, lots but lots of information may be found on internet. But it is just to emphasize the importance of room acoustics.
6. Precise Focus and Loudspeaker Placement; this is also another known but the least considered part of Hi-End. It is critically important to locate both speakers at the exactly same distance to achieve precise focus. Distances should be very carefully measured and both of the speakers should be placed exactly to the same distance through listener.
OK but why such important!
Sound signals are distributed in waves as explained in section five. The people who tried the settings in section five will realize that, the peaks of frequencies vary in conjunction with the distance from the speakers. Especially the treble frequencies will vary a lot by only one centimetres of a change. In such cases, if one speaker is just one cm closer to the listener, some frequencies will be heard a lot from one speaker but will not be heard from the other speaker. If the upper harmonics of the human sound consist of such upper frequencies, (it is!) this is obvious that the sound will move from the middle to left or to right. Moreover, within that case, some frequencies will be collided in full phase and will be exaggerated, some others will be collided by inverted phase so are destroyed.
This is the exactly the same effect of loosing bass when connecting one speaker out of phase.
7. Mechanical Vibration of Electronic Units; Quite a lot of vibration absorption feet and platform kinds exist in the market. They are to be placed under the electronics/speakers. Such materials have two intentions;
a- To eliminate the external vibration coming through the unit
b- To eliminate the vibration of the unit itself (CD driver motor, speaker cone vibrations etc)
Most popular ones are the cones (spikes). I believe the proper usage of spikes is not known very well. Rather than being a vibration absorber, spike is a kind of transmission material that transmits vibration from one point through the other point. In other means, vibration is condensed to one point and mechanically carried to other platform by the spike but not eliminated. If the connection surface is stiff (for instance marble, granite, etc) such vibrations are passed to that surface. Underneath of such a stiff platforms (marble, MDF, glass, granite) must be covered by an elastically material such as cork, mouse pad, neoprene rubber or similar.
The vibration can not pass from a stiff platform to an elastically platform and will be transposed to heat between.
Direction of the cone is also critically important. The direction should be in conjunction with the intention of vibration transmission.
May be the last thing about the cone is the cone should be in touch with the chassis of the component directly. If any kind of rubber, double sided band, blue tack or such an elastic material is put between cone and the unit that material will try to transpose the vibration and the cone will not work.
8. Marble Under the Loudspeakers: A marble platform under the speakers eliminate most of the unwanted resonances of the speaker. The thickness of the marble should be at least 3 cm and the size should be at least 10 centimetres bigger then the edges. Underneath of the marble has to be covered by an elastic material such as cork, mouse pad, neoprene etc.
How does it effect the sound is, you have more powerful but more clear and tight bass, relaxation at the mid and top frequencies.
The speaker has to be connected to the platform via a cone, not by an elastically feet. The sharp end of the cone has to direct the marble but not to the loudspeaker.
Pauline
