Anyone else find speakers incredible?

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Isn't it amazing how vibrating paper cones pushing air can reproduce just about any sound within the human audible range?

The concept is so simple yet so hard to believe at the same time.

 

[slightlyhuman]

can i hit that shit too?

 

[spidey07]

How so? It's just a pressure wave of air. There are other speakers that use different means than just a paper cone you know. Electrostatic, planars and piezoelectric come to mind.

And electrostatics are the most accurate there are, everybody knows this.

 

[seepy83]

It amazes me all the time when I think about it. More than it just being able to reproduce a single sound at a time...but the fact that it can make many sounds at once absolutely baffles me.

 

[slackerinabox]

Isn't it amazing how vibrating paper cones pushing air can reproduce just about any sound within the human audible range?

The concept is so simple yet so hard to believe at the same time.

I've always thought that speakers and headphones are under appreciated tech. Especially the vast variance between manufacturers - they're all basically the same thing: wood/mdf/paper and wires, yet some can make my ears bleed and some reproduce sound so beautifully that they make you want to cry happy tears. Heck, I find vinyl records amazing as well, and feel digital audio's a step back

 

[olds]

Isn't it amazing how vibrating paper cones pushing air can reproduce just about any sound within the human audible range?

The concept is so simple yet so hard to believe at the same time.

What sound that is in the human audible range are they unable to produce?

 

[spidey07]

It amazes me all the time when I think about it. More than it just being able to reproduce a single sound at a time...but the fact that it can make many sounds at once absolutely baffles me.

It's still just a single waveform.

 

[lxskllr]

Isn't it amazing how vibrating paper cones pushing air can reproduce just about any sound within the human audible range?

The concept is so simple yet so hard to believe at the same time.

I'm generally more impressed with old tech than new. A needle rumbling through grooves is much more interesting to me that a laser bouncing off divots. All that stuff is especially cool when you think about the time in history it was invented.

 

[joesmoke]

i find them to be incredulous myself... :awe:

but seriously, that is one of those subjects that if you get real stoned seem to be amazing but really arent.

 

[Mike Gayner]

Amazing how people are amazed at the most mundane things.

 

[slackerinabox]

You know what else I find amazing? Broadcast tv! The fact that, 70 years ago, they figured out how to send analog video through the airwaves...

This thread reminds me that I need to buy more weed

 

[destrekor]

It's still just a single waveform.

wat

 

[randay]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ff_AXVlo9U

 

[olds]

wat

It's still just a single waveform.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

can i hit that shit too?

lol

 

[spidey07]

wat

Yep. All the different sounds are just summed together, but it's still a single wave.

 

[destrekor]

It's still just a single waveform.

:biggrin:

 

[slackerinabox]

:biggrin:

wat?

 

[destrekor]

Yep. All the different sounds are just summed together, but it's still a single wave.

Yeah I've figured that out looking at sound analyzer graphs and stuff, but still never understood how that shit translates in my ear.


If we keep hitting the good stuff, the more and more simple things just get profoundly more interesting and harder to actually comprehend.
I need to take a step back.

 

[mesthead21]

You know what else I find amazing? Broadcast tv! The fact that, 70 years ago, they figured out how to send analog video through the airwaves...

This thread reminds me that I need to buy more weed

Damn me too

 

[ElFenix]

next you'll be amazed at how they cram all that graham.

 

[Howard]

How so? It's just a pressure wave of air. There are other speakers that use different means than just a paper cone you know. Electrostatic, planars and piezoelectric come to mind.

And electrostatics are the most accurate there are, everybody knows this.

Accurate how?

 

[spidey07]

Accurate how?

Lowest distortion, more accurate to original waveform, etc.

That's why cone/box speakers are called "distortion boxes".

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

I still havent figured out how they get the caramel INSIDE of the chocolate. I mean, how do they make a caramilk bar?

 

[Rubycon]

And electrostatics are the most accurate there are, everybody knows this.

ES is smooth (and at the risk of sounding a bit audiphilish) and quick but they don't have the punch to deliver the brazen crescendo of a well recorded live performance at first row. Either the amplifier runs out of steam or the mylar snaps. Both very horrible sounding.

Paul Klipsch had it right back in the 50's. The mathematics don't lie. The same "problems" surrounding horn loaded drivers plague modern day systems. Many amplifiers have very high distortion at low levels. Horns in home systems are frequently played at moderate levels and given their efficiency the amps are run in a range where distortion is revealed easily by the listener. The listener in turn blames the speakers (rightly so as speakers always produce more distortion than electronics - common thought but incorrect in this case!). Fortunately, newer designs are lower in distortion at near zero output.

It's amazing listening how loud a full horn speaker can get with a headphone amplifier!

Really good recordings played through these systems are stunning. Unprocessed snare hits will raise the hair on your neck just as they do with a drummer in the room! A trumpet has the sizzle even at live volume without sounding fatigued.

I don't really listen to my music loud but I expect the playback system to deliver when there is a crash! Unfortunately most modern popular recordings are so overprocessed and compressed to make them louder they are fatiguing to listen to at anything louder than two. :thumbsdown: