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PAPERS
Democracy, Religion and HiFi
Perhaps at the risk of eternal damnation, I thought I'd offer a few thoughts
on our great love in life, the 'Good Sound'. But first a few words of
introduction, on psycho-acoustics, of all things.
Just what is psycho-acoustics and why is it important? It is the study
of sound, and its associated human processing - musical perception. We
might more subjectively call this listening. But whatever it is, the business
of sound perception is often quite a contrary phenomenon; it is mixed
up with belief, environment, and what we nebulously call 'taste'. A human
being gravitates towards a particular musical genre - we have many categories
in our club - and these categories form subsets of the greater world of
enjoyment we call 'music'. The interesting thing is that we frequently
tend to curse those strawberries and dislike those oranges - we unconsciously
display musical prejudice and over time this can become something of a
religion.
I like rock 'n roll. I also like the romantic classics, and I love some
modern jazz. But I dislike rap, and I'm not too keen on opera either,
although I love intermezzo. When discussing these other genres, my face
screws up, and I look quite uncomfortable. You'd think I really didn't
think much of those who actually like this stuff...
Enter musical racism. There are no laws against this one, but it is highly
pervasive, and can even kill otherwise pleasant musical conversations
stone dead. I confess to some alarm when a sensitive lover of classical
music reveals, in a moment of naive trust and frightening philistinism,
an enjoyment of heavy metal. Inwardly I ask myself all sorts of questions
relating to the perversity of human taste and the complete inappropriateness
of some people as they claw their way through musical culture. Oh dear,
there I go again...
Music, often described as the universal language (a statement I suspect
is flawed), has the interesting power to evoke images, feelings - and
prejudices. It seems to tickle the associative centres of the human brain
and call forth remembrances of things past; a lovely walk on a spring
day, a first kiss, a beautiful meal in a special place, an exciting holiday.
Significantly, this intense experience is best when the subject listens
but does not see; the visual spectacle seems to dull the auditory experience.
Even hardened audiophiles would confess to favourite pieces which continue
to evoke marvellous feelings - despite routinely listening for the 'realism'
of that snare drum at the end of bar four and coolly appraising the anguish
in that female vocal. I still love Eric Clapton's "Old Love",
even though I abuse it as a 'test piece'. Notably, this power of association
is unique to the individual even though we all hear the same sound. But
we certainly don't hear the same music. In truth, we all march to different
drums, and therein lies the rub.
The perception of music is one very strange thing. A good friend just
loves Bartok. I think it is cacophonous nonsense. I adore Sibelius; he
thinks it is derivative schmaltz. My mother goes into raptures listening
to Dame Joan Sutherland; I think her singing, though interesting (I'd
better be careful here!) is unmusical. I believe there is something cosmic
about the Bach Double Violin Concerto; my children positively hate it
and would far sooner listen to Lighthouse. And my wife enjoys country
and western. The danger here is that we become musically intolerant, and
slate the 'opposition'.
While musical perception is something all human beings enjoy (and suffer!)
we audiophiles have an additional prejudice to contend with. Just love
Krells? Adore the ARC amps? Really hate those execrable sand amplifiers?
Think push-pull is passé? SET rules, OK? Digital is just horrible;
vinyl is infinitely superior. DON'T LIKE HORNS. Won't listen to anything
less efficient than 98dB/watt/metre. Boy, do I dig Lowthers...
I believe it is both logical and desirable to foster a wide variety of
hifi equipment just as we enjoy an incredible range of choices in recorded
music. In truth, a hifi is a system, and all systems - including the organic
machines we call people - have synergies, which make them better at some
things than others. So it is that horn speakers, which sound pretty average
with solid state amplifiers (my opinion, folks!), often shine with Single
Ended Triodes. And direct radiating speakers, for all their inefficiency,
can sound absolutely sensational with - yes, you guessed it - sand amplifiers.
It really depends on the system, and much depends on where you choose
to place your head, metaphorically as well as literally.
There has been considerable debate in these pages over the years about
'which system sounds better'. I believe there are four variables here;
first, and most obviously, the system. Second, the material being played.
Third, the room environment. And fourth, the musical and audiophile preferences
(a polite word!) of the listeners. This last is the religious dimension,
and perhaps the one deserving of most attention. It is characteristic
of the beast that matters of belief cause the most bloodshed, and amongst
all compulsive- obsessives religion can cause considerable ructions.
There really are no categorical statements; there are merely preferences,
and these are judiciously mixed with engineering - which tries very hard
to be objective. And somewhere in all this lies the unnerving statement
from JC Morrison, a gifted audiophile guru in Hoboken, NY with a background
in psychology, that '...in hifi there are levels. Welcome to the next
level.'
Hugh Dean
© Copyright Hugh R. Dean 1999
All rights reserved
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