BAJ issue 50 6.indd - Malcolm Steward

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in association with 24 Messenger at Large WE CAN THANK MUSICAL FIDELITY’S ANTONY MICHAELSON AND HIS SUPERCHARGER INITIATIVE FOR PUTTING POWER FIRMLY BACK ON THE HI-FI AGENDA, AND WHILE I DON’T ENTIRELY AGREE WITH EVERYTHING HE SAYS, I THINK IT’S A TOPIC THAT WELL DESERVES A FRESH AIRING. Michaelson’s basic contention is that we need to be able to generate realistic levels – i.e. something close to the live experience – to consider our systems ‘good quality’. And in order to do so we need to be able to generate peak levels of at least 106dB at our listening seat, which requires more than 300W of power with average (88dB) sensitivity speakers. That proposition is arguably implied in the word ‘fidelity’, but it also raises interesting questions about how we want to enjoy music in our homes. Are we really trying to recreate the live experience? Or are we merely trying get the most out of our music, in an environment that’s very different from the concert for your home for your garden hall or rock venue? I would argue that either objective is equally valid, and that our personal relationship with our chosen hi-fi system is as individualistic as our particular (or peculiar) tastes in music. Some listeners may indeed want to try to recreate a concert hall experience, which for a good seat in an orchestral performance probably does reach 106dB or thereabouts, a reasonably realistic target. But the levels at a rock concert are going to be a whole lot louder still, maybe as much as 10dB, and there’s no way you’re going to generate those with anything short of a PA rig. (And if you do, there’s allegedly a real risk of permanent hearing damage.) However, the home experience is very different from the live concert for a number of reasons. At a classical concert you’re expected to sit quietly and respectfully, not attempt to communicate with your nearest and dearest in the next seat (barring perhaps a hushed whisper in the ear). Interpersonal communication is not discouraged at a rock concert, but it’s neither easy nor effective, usually involving a brief monosyllabic for your entertainment for you Branksome Place, Haslemere, Surrey, 19–20 April 2008 www.luxurylivingshow.co.uk The BAJ ISSUE 50 | 2008
“get off my foot” shouted into someone’s ear. When I’m listening to music at home, it’s different on a number of levels. Because the listening room is so much smaller and more confined than the concert hall, it doesn’t let the low bass ‘breathe’ in anything like the same way. For me at least, whereas the concert is essentially a focused and essentially private experience, home listening is a much more casual and social affair, usually punctuated by discussion and conversation. And if you want to try to hold a conversation, you don’t want the music peaking up at around 106dB. There is one qualification here, which is that classical music has a much higher peak-to-mean ratio than rock material, and solo piano is the most extreme example of this. And while the mean level of the music is the part that determines the perceived loudness, it’s the – and one ex-editor of Hi-Fi Choice used Martin peak level that decides how big the amplifier has to loudspeakers at home!), I reckon most people will be be to avoid clipping. Ironically perhaps – or against reasonably happy with systems that are capable of superficial expectations at least – a bigger amplifier is reaching 100dB, a level which will require just 50 watts needed to achieve the same mean levels for classical per channel of amplifier power with average (88dB) than rock music reproduction. (In practice, of course, sensitivity speakers. classical music doesn’t need to match rock’s mean level That in turn helps explain why a typical push-pull to sound realistically loud.) valve amplifier does in fact deliver enough power At this juncture I decided it was time to get out the for most practical purposes – the more so when one sound level meter and start checking a few figures. other important factor is taken into account. That’s (I can’t guarantee this meter’s accuracy, but see no the behaviour of an amplifier when it’s overdriven. reason to doubt it either.) A little to my surprise, even Some amps sound quite nasty if/when they go into 100dB peaks sounded very loud indeed, and one clipping; others (especially valve examples) do so still needed to raise one’s voice quite substantially to gracefully, indeed almost unnoticeably. This is a very converse when music was peaking at around 90dB. worthwhile bonus, as an ability to handle a momentary Indeed, at this level on the meter, the music was about overload without losing control effectively means that as loud as I found comfortable; push the volume any an amplifier can behave as if it’s more powerful than harder and the music somehow seemed to be getting its voltage rail or current capability actually implies. It a bit too loud for the room. won’t necessarily maintain full accuracy when doing However, it’s impossible to come up with hard this, true, but this does mean its mean level can be and fast rules as the ‘maximum comfort level’ varies pushed a little harder than its measured power rating considerably from one source to another, from one suggests. And since it’s necessary to double amplifier type of music to another, and perhaps most of all from power for just 3dB extra loudness, that can be quite one individual recording to another. With the limited important in making well behaved lower powered equipment I have available, it’s also virtually impossible amps more practical than one might expect. to tell whether I’m accurately monitoring peak as well So, while I don’t in any way dispute Michaelson’s as mean levels. However, it’s generally accepted that opinions about the desirability of high power a peak excess of between 6dB and 10dB is desirable, amplification and the attendant advantages of ample which takes the desirable system loudness capability headroom, I still think it’s possible to enjoy a hi-fi up into the general vicinity of Michaelson’s figure. system with the right sort of lower power amplifier in That said, aside from disco loving party throwers the real world. And I still believe that the first Watt is by (who would probably do better with a PA system far the most important one. BAJ_EV-1S_maple_qtr-strip_[Jan08].qxp 01/02/2008 17:02 Page 1 The BAJ ISSUE 50 | 2008 Luxury DAB Digital & FM portable radio PURE EVOKE-1S January 08 �� 0845 3376637 www.pure.com tradesales@pure.com �� COMMENT 25
Page 1 and 2: £5.00 ISSUE 50 | 2008 The BAJ ISSU
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BAJ issue 50 6.indd - Malcolm Steward

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