EDLINES

Our Editor reduces hi-fi and AV quality to one question — how loud does it go?

Ihave always listened to music, or have preferred to listen to music, at or near reference level, which is, by most people’s standards, quite loud. But this was the level at which music was played in our sitting room growing up — my mother would sit reading, sometimes with her fingers in her ears, while my father listened to new albums or the studio recordings he had made of bands, big bands and radio orchestras. So for me, this is the level at which music comes alive. Vibration is vibration, after all, and while musical information can get to your ears via headphones, there’s nothing like the physical vibration of skin, body, eyes (they do say eyes can register high audio frequencies) from a big system on song.

That’s not to say I like it as loud as possible — heaven forbid. There’s nearly always a ‘right’ level, which rises over time as perception adjusts, but above this sweet spot things can sound just a little too loud.

Of course ‘too loud’ is often an indication of the point at which distortion becomes evident. If a system starts to audibly distort at whatever level, it will sound unpleasant, and that’s the practical limit of use for that system. Cheaper, poorer-designed systems may play well enough at background levels, but turn them up and they can sound nasty very quickly. Some people may say ‘I can’t hear distortion’ and maybe they can’t define it, but I’d contest that anyone can hear the difference between a distorted system and an undistorted one — I bet those same people complain when they have a bad phone line.

Physically small systems have a further limitation — the quantity of sound they can produce. Even if they can shake themselves to pieces before distortion creeps in, they’re limited as to the sheer quantity of air they can move. It’s called ‘volume’ for a reason.

So how are we to view the clear trend in audio towards smaller wireless speaker systems, soundbars, even portable speakers? The belief, widely marketed, is that these systems can sound simply amazing. Some are remarkable compared to the run-of-the-mill, yes, especially for the money. Yet these solutions make truly loud playback impossible. It doesn’t matter if your portable speaker can stream at 32-bit/352kHz or perform a double MQA unfold. It can’t possibly energise the air with a thousandth of the power being thrust out by the 12-inch cones and twin horns serving my music room. All those people settling for the “portable speaker that sounds amazing” have forfeited the ability ever to play music loud. They can’t make it real. Consequently the smaller smarter trend begets a less anticipated trend — people will no longer listen to music loud, because they can’t listen loud, and if they try, they’ll soon turn it down again because of the distortion. These homes will lose the greatest joys available from music.

Hi-fi, on the other hand, can deliver quality and quality. Indeed you might say that the transition at which ‘audio’ becomes ‘hi-fi’ is that point at which things start to sound real — like really real. It’s wonderful to be on the right side of that line.

So I might be blasting out Ella and Basie’s Ain’t Misbehavin’ or some such highly dynamic fare to make some visitor go ‘Jesus!’ when they’re questioning why my speakers are so large (they’re not THAT large)... and they might say ‘Great quality, man’... and I might reply that the source file is a high-res FLAC, and discuss whether that’s overkill or not for a 1950s recording... or explain that the file is guided by quality-conscious Roon software from a Thunderbolt drive to the DAC and into some rather traditional pre-power amps... So yes, it is great quality, thanks.

When in fact what I should reply, what really says it in a nutshell, is simply ‘Yes, it goes loud.’

Does your system go loud? Are you considering getting a smart speaker because they’re so smart? Please think about the quality and quantity required for music to become real, rather than mere background. And be assured that all the systems reviewed in Sound+Image get played really quite loud — or as loud as we can stomach until we find where they sit on the line from yeuck to yeaharss, with regards to both quality and quantity.

So I would encourage you to spend one of these longer winter evenings listening to your system with your favourite music, finding the point at which it’s just too loud, and then enjoying a good session of music at a level just below that.

Or if you currently have a smaller system and would like to hear how things can get a little more ‘real’, then you’re in the right place. Absorb ideas from our magazines, seek the advice of a local hi-fi shop, or sit down in front of some systems at a hi-fi show (hi-fi shows are all about sitting down, or should be). And together, we can all make it real. Cheers!