Music Today
On Wednesday, March 26, 2014 2:28:42 PM UTC-7, Peter Wieck wrote:
On Wednesday, January 29, 2014 7:30:20 AM UTC-5, Oregonian Haruspex wrote=
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The recording industry was always about churning out the lowest quality=
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noise on the cheapest media possible. There are so few exceptions that=
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they could all be named in a breath.
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Oh the poor music listener, never knowing the pleasure of hearing their=
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pablum on Class A tube amps!
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OK - from a lurker out in left field, rendered as an opinion, and looking=
for feedback:
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a) Sound is about moving air.
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b) Moving air requires energy.
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c) Moving a lot of air requires a lot of energy.=20
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d) Sitting mid-orchestra at a lively (and live) rendition of the Saint-Sa=
ens organ symphony puts one in the middle of a great deal of moving air.=20
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e) To duplicate that experience at home in a moderate sized room will req=
uire considerable amounts of energy to achieve notwithstanding speaker effi=
ciency.=20
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f) A good recording of the Saint-Saens organ symphony will have a 30dB pe=
ak-to-average variation, very likely 40dB from the most quiet to the most l=
oud few moments. So, 10x10x10 =3D 1,000. The peak wattage required from the=
amplifier will be 1,000 x the requirement at the quietest passage - that i=
s if there is to be no clipping - soft or otherwise.=20
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How is this done (reasonably) using Class A tubes?
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And I will be the first to admit that Class A tubes may be the absolute *=
ideal* for the likes of Gregorian Chant, with a P:A of perhaps 10dB, if eve=
n that. Or about any solo instrument other than an organ or concert grand p=
iano. But for fully orchestrated pieces of significant dynamic range?
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Also admitting for the record that I am a monster-amp person, speaker eff=
iciency be .....=20
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Peter Wieck
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Melrose Park, PA
You don't need to move the same amount of air that was moved in the concert=
hall. You only need to move the air next to the listener's ears. For one p=
erson or a small group of people we are not talking about that much energy.=
Class A tube amp can handle that no problem depending on the amp and the s=
peakers connected to them. It's really not a challenge to match the SPLs of=
a live classical concert for home playback even for a pure class A tube am=
p based system. I'd be more worried about playing rock music or jazz if SPL=
s were all that mattered.
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