Theory That Musical Genre Preference Drives Loudspeaker Preference

[Ron Resnick]

I believe that after an audiophile has sufficient experience listening to live music, and sufficient experience listening to evolved and refined audio systems in people’s homes or at loudspeaker manufacturer factories or in dealer salons (I am trying to exclude audio shows here), eventually, ultimately, for many audiophiles, musical genre preference drives loudspeaker preference. (Of course cost, size, form factor, color, Veblen good theory, brand preference, status symbol reason, partner acceptance factor, etc., may contaminate this postulated connection.)

David’s Bionors confirmed my view that there is something about the way that horn loudspeakers couple to the air that is consonant with the way that brass musical instruments themselves propagate their sounds to the air surrounding them. This is why I believe that many jazz aficionados and chamber music aficionados eventually find their way to horn loudspeakers.

My personal primary musical genre interest is solo vocals. For me planar dipole loudspeakers -- due to what I perceive as a highly-resolved and open presentation and sense of in-the-room realism -- achieve the greatest suspension of disbelief on solo vocals. My primary musical genre interest has not changed, and every loudspeaker I have owned has been a planar dipole.

Which loudspeaker topology is "best"? The “best” loudspeaker I have heard varies based on whether I am trying to maximize my suspension of disbelief for, for example, solo vocal recordings, live jazz club recordings or big symphony orchestra recordings. If I listened equally to each musical genre then I would select, yet again, a different loudspeaker (dynamic drivers in big cabinets) as a general purpose loudspeaker to maximize the sum of my suspensions of disbelief across different musical genres.


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[bonzo75]

For classical, jazz and rock it is dual FLH.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

at the top of the food chain, some loudspeaker types simply need more from a room and system maturity than others to be able to do all genres appropriately. once accomplished there are no limits to genre. from that point you jump into preferences, and musical and sonic priorities and counting angels on heads of pins. this or that speaker type do this or that differently. trade-offs.

below the top rank (not dollar related particularly) we do see less ability for all drive types to be highly competent at all genres.

as we hear so many speakers in less than ideal situations, no doubt certain speaker drive types have an easier time with particular genres, so easy to respect some generalizations. but ultimately i don't see these generalizations hold up when things get truly optimized.

just my opinion. YMMV.

 

[marty]

For classical, jazz and rock it is dual FLH.

Well, that certainly covers a broad swath. What then exactly, is left for cone and planar speaker to do best? Country music, Icelandic folk songs, klezmer music, Tibetan Bells and some sound tracks from dinosaur movies?

 

[bonzo75]

Well, that certainly covers a broad swath. What then exactly, is left for cone and planar speaker to do best? Country music, Icelandic folk songs, klezmer music, Tibetan Bells and some sound tracks from dinosaur movies?

well I liked apogee as you know. Dual FLH fit the same midbass and integration as Henk’s and with better nuance of the music through simplified sets circuitry, because they require very little power

 

[Atmasphere]

David’s Bionors confirmed my view that there is something about the way that horn loudspeakers move air that is consonant with the way that musical instruments themselves propagate their sounds to the air surrounding them.

It really doesn't work that way. Horns move air the same way as any cone speaker (they use diaphragms after all) except they have better coupling. Musical instruments, like a violin, rely on resonance in their body that is responsible to a great degree for the particular timbre they make. Resonance in speakers is usually not good although its something you deal with, in particular in the bass region if a box is involved.

Horns work well on two accounts: if they are properly designed they can be very fast and low distortion on account of the driver really not having to work that hard with little excursion and they are directional, allowing you to minimize side wall reflections (read: 'smoother') in a home environment.

 

[Ron Resnick]

It really doesn't work that way. Horns move air the same way as any cone speaker (they use diaphragms after all) except they have better coupling.

Thank you for correcting me.

David’s Bionors confirmed my view that there is something about the way that horn loudspeakers couple to the air that is consonant with the way that musical instruments themselves propagate their sounds to the air surrounding them.

 

[marty]

If god wanted a piano to sound like a horn, he would have put one on top of the soundboard.

 

[Atmasphere]

Thank you for correcting me.

David’s Bionors confirmed my view that there is something about the way that horn loudspeakers couple to the air that is consonant with the way that musical instruments themselves propagate their sounds to the air surrounding them.

Horns couple through the mechanism of the horn itself. Some musical instruments, like brass instruments, use this technique as well. Others, like string instruments, do not. I'm not saying that the Bionors aren't great speakers, but they rely on horns and likely not resonance (else they would be very colored and it sounds like you don't think they are).

 

[andromedaaudio]

Guys if piano is your primary music source , you re lucky .
No need for amps loudspeakers

You can have a real steinway in your home for around 150 K
Its operated via levers and an app and plays everything you want

Ps You can also save the time you spend on audioforums as there is nothing more to discuss

 

[andromedaaudio]

 

[DasguteOhr]

After 12 years of experimenting with DIY speakers (full range speakers, DIY bass reflex speakers, DIY electrostatic speakers and DIY horns), I have built a Frankenstein speaker. A coaxial 15" point sound source with a horn driver, which acts as a dipole to distribute the sound in the room.
Due to the club-shaped radiation, there are hardly any room modes left . No more bass problems thanks to partially active control of the additional 15" bass driver down to 30hz. The search for something better is over.
P.S
It looks not particularly pretty, but for me the only thing that matters is the sound

 

[PeterA]

Guys if piano is your primary music source , you re lucky .
No need for amps loudspeakers

You can have a real steinway in your home for around 150 K
Its operated via levers and an app and plays everything you want

Ps You can also save the time you spend on audioforums as there is nothing more to discuss

My friend has one of these pianos. I actually heard it a few times at his dinner parties. It sounded great. We did discuss a few things, namely the performance captured on the program, and the location of the piano in the room.

A rather inebriated dinner guest offered the invisible man sitting on the bench a scotch when he finished playing.

 

[PeterA]

View attachment 120399

Is that a picture of a side loaded horn that resonates?

 

[andromedaaudio]

Is that a picture of a side loaded horn that resonates?

No its open baffle

 

[Ron Resnick]

Dear Ralph,

On the sonic cues theory thread you posted: "Its not theory that speakers do not favor genre- that's simple fact."

How it is a "fact" that speakers do not favor genre?

 

[PeterA]

For classical, jazz and rock it is dual FLH.

Kadar, you make it sound like dual front loaded horns are an all purpose speaker. I more or less feel the same way about my corner horns. In addition to those genres, I also listen to choral and blues. Different scales, amplified or unamplified, they all sound good.

I also enjoyed classical, jazz, and rock on my former Magicos. Within each type of loudspeaker, some designs are more successful than others and on a greater variety of music. If dynamics and resolution are high and distortions low, any speaker type should be able to play a large variety of music.

 

[thedudeabides]

If dynamics and resolution are high and distortions low, any speaker type should be able to play a large variety of music.

Exactly.

 

[Ron Resnick]

If dynamics and resolution are high and distortions low, any speaker type should be able to play a large variety of music.

I am not intending to suggest that a speaker type cannot play a certain genre of music. I think every speaker can play every genre of music.

I am thinking about the very subtle nuances and differentiations we audiophile hobbyists make in this hobby when the rubber meets the road and we write a check for a loudspeaker. It is in that context and at that moment that I think the subtleties of our individual subjective preferences for certain kinds of music on certain types of loudspeakers comes into play.

 

[Atmasphere]

Dear Ralph,

On the sonic cues theory thread you posted: "Its not theory that speakers do not favor genre- that's simple fact."

How it is a "fact" that speakers do not favor genre?

Quite simply, all humans use the same hearing perceptual rules (which is also the reason that deciBels are something useful).

So musicians, regardless of genre, produce music that is spread across the audible spectrum in the same way. Speakers simply have to reproduce that spectrum. You might argue rock is louder, but classical can be every bit as loud. So sound pressure isn't a thing. You might argue it has something to do with bass, but electronia, rock and classical all produce tones to 20Hz and below. So the ability to play bass isn't a thing either. I can go on; essentially that which makes a speaker good at rock makes it just as good at classical or any other genre.