Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/5/84; site angband.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!bonnie!akgua!sdcsvax!dcdwest!ittvax!decvax!genrad!panda!talcott!harvard!seismo!ut-sally!mordor!angband!sjc From: sjc@angband.UUCP (Steve Correll) Newsgroups: net.audio Subject: Re: How to choose speakers Message-ID: <47@angband.UUCP> Date: Tue, 26-Feb-85 16:30:40 EST Article-I.D.: angband.47 Posted: Tue Feb 26 16:30:40 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 3-Mar-85 04:30:40 EST Distribution: net Organization: S-1 Project, LLNL Lines: 29 > Um, I may be off base here, but my understanding of A/B comparisons was that > the extra impedance that had to be switched in to equalize the loudness of > two speakers penalized more efficient speakers. A local high end audio dealer > here (Gala Sound) demonstrated this to me once -- he took a reasonable (but > not great) set of accoustic suspension speakers, and A/B'd them with a pair > of highly efficient (and expensive) ones. The expensive, efficient speakers > sounded terrible by comparison. Yet, removing the extra impedance from the > circuit and driving it on the same source material, it was readily > ascertained the expensive drivers were doing a better job reproducing the > sound. If my dealer equalized loudness by putting impedances between the amp and the speakers, I'd find a new dealer. Such impedances would impair the ability of the amp to control the reactive load which the speaker presents to it, and they would be expensive and inherently hard to adjust accurately because they would have to be wirewound potentiometers to handle the power. Fortunately, it's cheap and effective to adjust the loudness by switching among ordinary potentiometers located between the preamp and power amp; these have no more deleterious effect on the sound than do the volume control and selector switch within the preamp itself. If you're skeptical that loudness affects your perception of sound, you might find a dealer with such a setup and try comparing two very similar speakers at various degrees of loudness mismatch. I find I can confuse myself thoroughly with such an experiment. -- --Steve Correll sjc@s1-c.ARPA, ...!decvax!decwrl!mordor!sjc, or ...!ucbvax!dual!mordor!sjc