Boom, Boom, Boom...

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Been mulling over the idea of building a variant of the classic loudspeaker, the Klipsch La Scala: a [sort of] folded-horn speaker with short horn-loaded midrange and top-end drivers. Except that I don't possess any appropriate speakers or drivers at present and don't have the budget to support suitable purchases. So far, so bad; and one might ask, why bother, considering I already own perfectly good loudspeakers that provide - for the most part - adequately good sound reproduction to my ageing ears. Which is a good question. I think the motivation for this notion is one of nostalgia for a sound from my youth: coloured and colourful - musical in nature - rather than crystal. The irony is that the Klipsch Horn speakers were one of many designs of the post-war era designed to further the cause of what was then called "High Fidelity", the doctrinal [and, it has to be said dogmatic] approach to accurately reproducing music with what was, after all,  technically compromised apparatus, and that these days are considered to be 'flawed' designs. I grew up listening to great music reproduced on big old boxes with single, full-range drivers: mostly bass and mid-range focussed and with little attempt to address 'fidelity'. My take is that if it sounds good, accuracy means doodly: music is after all, pure emotion. My aim, if it even takes physical shape, is to produce a nice musical 'noise' - for that is all that it will be; just like a symphony orchestra or a rock band at full tilt, just a nice noise. Fidelity is a philosophical construct, no more: an ideal destined to disappoint.

Comments

  1. Anonymous5 October 2024 at 14:39

    I gave up on the "Hi-Fidelity" romp when I realised that I was listening for flaws and NOT the music which, as you say, is the POINT of the excersise!
    ATB
    Joe

    ReplyDelete

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