We need to talk about SPEAKERS: Soz, ‘audiophiles’, only IT will break the sound barrier article is interesting reading on audio design, DSPs and the debunking of traditional hi-fi. It says that today’s loudspeakers are nowhere near as good as they could be, due in no small measure to the presence of “traditional” audiophile products. In the future, loudspeakers will increasingly communicate via digital wireless links and will contain digital processing which means that the link between IT and loudspeakers is destined to grow. I pretty much agree that too often today then talking on hi-fi, science is replaced by bizarre belief structures and marketing fluff, leading to a decades-long stagnation of the audiophile domain. It’s a scenario ripe for “disruption”.
2 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
DSPs come to active speakers:
What 1238A is then eaten? Well, Genelec has been already previously considered to be an excellent , moderately robust three way 1038B, put the amplifier into new, added-in digital (DSP) crossover and found workable Genelec GLM room correction system. Speaker versatility enhanced by the fact that the back of the recess with four screws and ribbon cable attached to the RAM L-amplifier module can easily be removed and placed apart from the speaker. If the speaker is immersed in a wall or placed in the otherwise hard to reach, do not have to worry about the amplifier cooling and service must be easy to treat.
However, the amplifier does not otherwise need big cooling because of its 500 and 250 W bass and mid-range amplifiers operating in the D-class. Traditional AB-category Treble amplifier output power of 200 W.
In nearly three-week intensive listening I could not find on the basis of 1238A to many weaknesses, but there were many strengths.
“1238A bass response, if necessary extremely powerful, to the shock-and hues galore. ”
Another feature, which is more an advantage than a limitation, it is 1238A’s mercylessness on bad recordings. In true style of the monitor, it says baldly of sound quality.
Source: http://audiovideo.fi/testi/genelec-1238a-dsp-aktiivikaiutin-testissa
Tomi Engdahl says:
Say goodbye to the noughties: Yesterday’s hi-fi biz is BUSTED, bro
Are the days of floorstanders and separates numbered?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/07/10/breaking_fad_yesterdays_hi_fi_business_is_busted/
Breaking Fad In case you hadn’t heard, someone has ripped up your pappy’s hi-fi handbook. Seismic shifts in just about every area of music technology have fundamentally changed the way we use home entertainment.
The once hot items of the noughties – Blu-ray, AV receivers, all-in-one systems – are now on the slide. Meanwhile, sales in network media players, soundbars and Bluetooth speakers are booming. The pace of change has left traditional hi-fi and AV companies reeling.
This is all good news. Audio technology is suddenly interesting again.
There’s nothing new about such evolution.
This year Spotify alone will have 30 million paid subscribers, a leap from 10 million in 2010. And the biggest category in audio hardware now is “multi-room”, a sector created by Sonos.
new multi-room consumer. They’re typically aged between 35-45 and almost all subscribe to a music service (94 per cent). The majority (60 per cent) became multi-room converts after reading about the technology online.
We’ve seen some of the CE brands launch comparable wireless systems, but this is the first time a classic hi-fi major has committed heavily to wresting lost ground back from Sonos.
Where the HEOS platform becomes particularly interesting is when Denon starts to build it into its AV receiver range as well as soundbars and soundbases. Expect that to happen within a year.
If traditional two-channel audio does have a future, then it could be as the preserve of high resolution audio.
Sony has taken the industry lead in High-Res Audio