“Physicality” in sound: my novel theory of its basis.

[Duke LeJeune]

Good explanation for the speakers, but what about the effect from electronics? Surely you have heard some electronics giving more physicality and presence than others? You can emasculate even them most physical of speakers with poor electronics choice.

I'm not sure how far back up the signal chain I have relevant and useful observations, let alone (hopefully plausible) explanations to go along with them.

A disproportionate number of systems that (to my ears, and with eyes closed) created a convincing impression of being in the physical presence of actual musicians used tube amplifiers. Disclaimer - I'm a dealer for an OTL tube amplifier manufacturer (Atma-Sphere), and have been for about twenty-five years.

 

[morricab]

The tone is what tells me that an instrument is a violin or a viola. It is not the 3D image in my mind's eye from listening to my system. I certainly agree that the instrument is placed in space relative to other instruments on the same stage, and that is left/right/ front/back, and often the height of the violinist, standing or sitting. The energy and scale is simply too big during a live concert to same definitively that the violin is 23" long. The live experience is just not that precise. Yes, the impression from a good system is of physical instruments and people performing in space.

Yes, of course it’s the tone that tells you the instrument, no one was suggesting otherwise. The reality of you seemingly not being able to get a 3D image from your system is another matter and, IMO, something your system does not do optimally because it is reproducing recordings and not channeling the Berlin Philharmonic directly into your room from a mid-hall seating position.
A good reproduction of a closely miked violin will have the tone, detail, dynamics AND dimension/physicality of the recorded instrument.

 

[bonzo75]

Hello Vinicius,

Thank you for this excellent post! I love this kind of think piece!

I have often said that I believe that horn speakers doing a wonderful and convincing job of producing brass instruments, for example, because horns move air in a way that is consonant with the way those instruments themselves move air.

How do you explain the sonic physicality of the MBL 101E Mk. II and X-Treme loudspeakers?

Specious as usual. For our readers not conversant with the English language, the word does not refer to the 3d space Ron is not getting

 

[PeterA]

A good reproduction of a closely miked violin will have the tone, detail, dynamics AND dimension/physicality of the recorded instrument.

Brad, could you clarify something about this statement? When you write “dimension/physicality” like this, are you suggesting that dimension and physicality are somehow interchangeable or equivalent sonic attributes? I think of them as distinct characteristics.

My system does in fact convey a sense of dimension, though I prefer to think of it as relative scale. Various recordings do present different sized impressions. I can clearly distinguish for instance the relative scale of say Peter Schrier singing Winterreise in front of a piano and someone singing in the middle of the choir in Cantato Domino. Or a timpani in the back of a stage versus Jim Keltner’s solo drum kit large and up close in Sheffield’s famous track, or the violin smaller and to the left of the cello in Brahm’s concerto. And that sonic information from the recordings presented by my system do encourage images in my imagination formed from memories of live experiences. So it does all come together into something believable and convincing, because of both the relative scale and also the sense of physicality from mass and impact presented in the front of the listening room. For me, it just does not seem as literal an image as what some others seem to be describing.

 

[Holmz]

How is a human voice, which you use as your reference, fundamentally different from a horn? You have narrow constriction in the... throat that progressively opens to the ...mouth. Funny how horns use the same terminology...

Not speaking for @Ron Resnick - but for myself… it was somewhere between conception and shortly after birth where we are exposed to the human voice.
We do not use horns as a form of communication except for the heralding of the angels, whereas the voice is used ubiquitously.
It should be one of the more/most well understood sounds that we train ourselves to listen to.