Speakers vs amps and cd players
Reply #192 – 2014-09-15 17:57:22
But if you have the opportunity to minimise phase distortion from your speakers..? Does it matter whether or not some research (funded by a passive speaker manufacturer maybe?) seems to shows that "phase isn't important (for timbre in mono)"? It is an arbitrary distortion of the signal that can be minimised with DSP. Are people really arguing that phase isn't important, or are is it that the very thought of using DSP is so abhorrent to them that passive speakers just have to be adequate? Hey, I'm arguing all the way for higher fidelity, even if we're past some audible thresholds (true high end). I think most here are interested in what we can achieve technologically. But claims about the audibility of various things, including phase, are often grossly exaggerated. You gotta keep all the things in perspective. If you can easily correct the phase response then please do it, but its effects will likely be minimal to inaudible if there are problems with much more important things: the recording, the speakers, positioning, the room ... I wouldn't tell someone with such problems that he has to fix the phase response. Similarly I wouldn't tell someone to buy a better amp to reduce distortion by 0.5% when the magnitude response is all over the place.('Hilarious' that people can't see past the aesthetics of a pair of prototype speakers!) Was that directed at me? I thought it was pretty clear that my comment was not serious.