All fine points however, the nature is against those over 50 years old. Hearing loss and aging
The absolute capability of the aging ear appears to secondary to having extended bandwidth from the speakers present. This is my experience at least. I made the Oppo tests when I was in my early 70's. Still I could hear differences through the STAX headphones, but not the Audeze or several others.
It's because the differences you speak about are actually in the range around 5 kHz. I have listened to Stax Lambda and Omega II, Audeze LCD 3, and Sennheiser HD800. The HD800 has the most perceived detail of all of them, in my opinion. It's got a bump in frequency response near 4-6 kHz, this seems to give that hyper-detailed perception. It can be tamed with EQ in that same range.
Years ago I did tests with a friend and files that had all content above 10 kHz removed and no one could tell the difference (blind).
Couldn't edit any longer but meant to type 20 kHz not 10.
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/121e/2aa46ca079d09dc7cb5de91d3aad2867b9fe.pdf
Almost anyone can make a similar experiment at home. CCIF 19+20kHz tone reproduced through a single wide range driver or system with a tweeter and a good crossover (well above 1kHz). Warning: Keep the level low not to destroy the tweeter!!. 19 and 20kHz tones will be inaudible for most, 1kHz IM tone is well audible.
Last edited:
Personally I think you are going in the wrong direction here but it is your research. Not many people can hear differences, but if one can, how do you know that he will prefer your champion?
All this is very confusing to me. With a crossover at, let say 10KHz, and apart the IM produced by the amp itself, what can produce an IM signal in the medium speaker when you add the tweeter ? The Back EMF ? (oh, an acronym again ? ;-)
Adding a tweeter to my main system, that cut at 16kHz, although my old ears cut at 12KhZ, i can hear a difference that I dislike. it sound more 'hifi', less natural.
Last edited:
Yes and we do not want possible amplifier IMD to be added to the tweeter, that's why the crossover helps, and it also prevents HF 19 and 20kHz to get into midwoofer. Simple test. If it is a tweeter IMD, one will hear 1kHz from the tweeter. If it is an amplifier, one will hear it from the midwoofer. Simple as ABC, daily testing practice.
It is not the technical aspect that confuse-me, but the psycho acoustic one.
In my case, a tweeter was added with a12dB/oct passive filter. Air coil, good film caps. Cut at 16kHz (go figure). The tweeter itself (had a FR at ~4KHz, attenuated by 4dB.
I doubt any listenable Back EMF component, that could be produced by the tweeter, could be injected in my medium horn, attenuated itself by more than 10dB.
I doubt too that the tweeter itself could produce, at listenable levels enough IM under its FR to spoil the result.
I doubt that the added charge of the tweeter can lead my current feedback amplifier to produce much more IM with it than without.
I'm not allowed by my doctor to can ear anything above 12kHz (see my avatar).
Why do I hear a difference ? And not a difference in distortion, but in tonal balance, that I dislike.
I would like to add that the main change I noticed with my old age losses of audibility is that HF components in the ordinary considered audible range (20 000), that are now above my audibility threshold, is felt as disagreeable and unnatural in my hifi system ... and not in real life sounds.
Last edited:
Thanks. Experience says universal detection and universal preference when applied to systems. Application to loopback recordings is demonstrating cable differences that are readily and predictably implemented.......cables are dynamics control devices and I am yet to hear one that does not have some kind of signature.
Why not cables in a range of defined sounds or moods and at sensible cost....neutral or silver or gold or detailed or natural or laid back etc etc etc....it's perfectly possible and without the usual cable vendor nonsense explanations and nonsense prices.
Not all the recordings I posted have defects but one is enough to satisfy the zealots. I will post new technically perfect 24bit source file loopback cable recordings tomorrow when I have run some QA checks.
Dan.
Last edited:
Oh, by the way and about the KEF's.
You know that I disliked those speakers at first listenings.
Yesterday, I tried to use the auxiliary input, playing some tunes in my smartphones with Chromecast and Power amp, that offer a parametric equalizer. I did a little slowly descending equalisation.
Much more better. I tried to figure out what was the band of frequency that annoys me. It seems it is around 10KHz.
So, is-it likely the brutal membrane break of the bass medium driver that i dislike ? (see attached).
Too, I had done a little attenuation at 2kHz, I was surprized that it corresponded to a bump in the response curve, that I discovered after on the attached curve.
It is a pity Kef do not offer a parametric equalizer via its DSP, instead of those mysterious and confusing options (shelves, distances of the wals, live or dump room).
- Status
- Not open for further replies.