Veteran audio fans talk about the various ways of playing the sound is always like a number of family treasures, such as which country's equipment sound how heroic and atmospheric, which country's style is soft and warm, which country's temperament is beautiful and vulgar, etc.; for example, the combination between the equipment should pay attention to the harmony of yin and yang, soft and hard, and be able to achieve tension and relaxation, ease of retraction, huge and meticulous, and so on. In the final analysis, it is actually said that the sound system must pay attention to reasonable collocation in order to make a good sound, and the audio equipment, whether it is affordable or top-notch, cannot escape these laws.
So how exactly is it to be matched? Are there any equipment project indicators that need special attention? Anecdotal sayings roughly refer to the fact that each piece of equipment is rarely truly neutral, most of them will be branded with their own personality because of national cultural inheritance, designers' personal aesthetic orientation, etc., some masculine, some blunt, some feminine, some sweet, if similar styles of equipment are matched together, there is a high probability that there will be a superposition of personalities, which will lead to the replay of the sound too personalized, so that the sound deviates from neutrality farther, limited to playing a certain type of music. I believe that this is a period that most players do not want to appear, unless you prefer that kind of personality voice.
But in fact, to successfully set up a sound system is not difficult, first of all, we need to first understand the historical background and sound style of the Xinshui brand, such as american housing conditions, like the music is more diversified, the equipment style generally belongs to the type of full strength, heroic atmosphere, dynamic and surging type; for example, Italy has a deep European cultural temperament, the sound of the equipment produced is aesthetic and sensual, warm and romantic, with a strong classical style; the German character is rigorous and rational, and the sound style of the equipment produced is calm and pure. Profound and meticulous, and so on.
In the actual collocation, we can first consider the combination of the amplifier and the speaker, first look for a speaker that suits your personality preferences, and then consider a power amplifier that can play the performance of this speaker, and then consider the integration of sound source equipment, and finally use the wire for fine tuning. As long as the sound system is understood and formed according to this sequence principle, the chance of success is very high. As can be seen here, some technical specifications of the amplifier and speaker need to pay a little attention, such as the power of the amplifier, signal-to-noise ratio, damping, the impedance of the speaker, sensitivity, bandwidth and so on. In fact, this parameter will not play a decisive role in the success of the collocation, but it can help you make a reasonable choice after reading it.
The main parameters we need to focus on
First, impedance matching
McIntosh's vacuum tube power amplifier and most of the transistor power amplifiers are patented audio output transformer, due to the different output impedance optional, and the speaker matching, the output group of the power amplifier provides 0 (ground), 2, 4, 8Ω and other corresponding matching impedances corresponding to the nominal impedance of the speaker, otherwise there will be a phenomenon of reducing the output power and increasing distortion. McIntosh's exclusive Unity Coupled Circuit (fully coupled output transformer for vacuum tube machines) and Output Autoformer® (multi-wire and winding output transformers for transistor machines) have always been the secret of success of the leadership group, and many people even attribute the success of McIntosh to its output transformer.
The use of audio output transformers on transistor power amplifiers can make the load operating point of the power amplifier components in the power amplifier permanent and stable, so that the transistors are in a more ideal working environment, greatly improving the service life and safety of the amplification transistors, thereby ensuring the safety of the amplifier and the speaker, and making the sound performance reach a higher level. It also makes the amplifier have better control over the speaker, with lower distortion and fuller pitch and more relaxed sound.
Second, power matching
Generally speaking, the rated power of the speaker label refers to the power value that is endured for a long time, such as 200W, which means that the speaker can withstand 200 watts of power continuous input, if the minimum time exceeds this power, do not worry, usually will not cause damage to the speaker. Many speakers will also be marked with the recommended power value with the power amplifier, such as the potential bully Minima Amator II. Label 35-100W, which means that the minimum power requirement of the matching power amplifier is 35W, and the maximum withstand power is 100W. But is it possible to match a 200W or even more powerful amplifier? It's okay, provided you're listening to music at a normal volume, then the speakers are still safe.
Looking at the rated output power of the power amplifier, it is the output power tested under certain conditions, such as the power amplifier with an audio output transformer, no matter how many impedance speakers are matched, his output power is basically unchanged. For example, Maijingtu's MC312 stereo rear stage, whether with 2, 4, 8Ω speakers, the maximum continuous output power is 300W. For power amplifiers that do not use output transformers (such as MA252/MA5300), the power size is only closely related to the impedance of the speaker, and has nothing to do with the rated power of the speaker, the maximum continuous output power is 100W when matching the 8Ω speaker, and 160W when matching the 4Ω speaker. Regardless of whether the speaker power and the power amplifier power are the same, there is no impact on the power amplifier operation.
Of course, if the speaker is a large speaker that can withstand 800W power like the 300th anniversary of IL Cremonese, although the minimum recommended power is 100W, if you really use the 100W amplifier to match, there will be a state of weakness and powerlessness when playing big dynamic music. And if you change to the McJingtu MC611 or even MC1.25K mono stage, the reserve power of the amplifier is large enough to fully show the full connotation of the music, especially the low-frequency part of the music, the performance is more vivid and powerful. This is a more reasonable combination.
In short, keep in mind that the rated continuous output power of the amplifier ≥ the maximum input power recommended by the speaker is the best performance and value of the amplifier and the speaker. Personally, I would rather have a big horse-drawn cart than let the small horse-drawn cart not move the car. When there are conditions, you can choose a high-power amplifier, and definitely do not choose a low-power amplifier. Although the big horse-drawn car will cause unnecessary waste of power, but the situation of the small horse-drawn car, so that the speaker can not get enough push power, the entire audio system can not play the best sound effect.
Third, what is the sensitivity of the speaker?
One of the indicators of the speaker is called sensitivity, and some manufacturers will mark it as efficiency, in fact, it is said that it is the same thing, that is, your speaker capacity is not easy to promote. The higher the sensitivity, the higher the sound pressure level of the speaker at the same power, and the louder we hear. In other words, the higher the sensitivity, the easier the speaker is to push, and the less power is required to achieve the same sound pressure than the low sensitivity speaker. However, there are many low sensitivity speakers on the market, these speakers in pursuit of higher power carrying capacity, will use a large voice coil that consumes more current and a crossover with a high compensation design, the power amplifier has higher requirements, and a higher power amplifier is required to promote, and the design ideas of each brand are different, which also leads to these differences.
So what exactly does sensitivity affect? To know that for every 3 decibels (dB) lower sensitivity, in order to achieve the same sound pressure level, the drive power is required to increase by 100%, which is something that many people will ignore when buying a power amplifier and a speaker, but it should not be ignored. For example, the sensitivity of Maxima Amator's perfect lover is 88dB, which means that only 1W of power needs to be input, and the sound pressure of 88 decibels can be measured at a distance of 1 meter. The sensitivity of the two floor boxes of The SonttoV./VIII. Poet 5/8 is as high as 90dB, which is already high in the same type of speaker, which means that the range of amplifiers that users can choose will be relatively wide, and they do not need high power to bring shocking sound effects.
Fourth, the collocation of timbre personality
In addition to the above hard indicators that need attention, one point that cannot be ignored is the collocation of timbre personality, that is, is there a complementary role in the timbre orientation of the speaker and the amplifier? Or will it degrade the sound quality. Therefore, before purchasing equipment, you must figure out the sound style you like personally, such as the large symphony and jazz that like low-frequency rich, surging dynamics, percussion, and percussion, you must consider the floor box with a larger bass unit caliber or more woofers, such as the Sonetto VIII Poet 8 and Olympica Nova V floor box that uses 3 180mm bass, and their low-frequency performance is very loose and full. This type of speaker is suitable for combining power amplifiers with high-power transistors or front and rear power amplifiers, such as Ma9000, MA7200 and C49/MC312, C53/MC462/611, C2700/MC611/1.25K, etc. can find the ideal choice.
If you like to make a small lyrical lyrical string performance, you can choose two-way SonettoI. Poet No. 1, Olympica Nova I. Opera House Nova No. 1, Electa Amator III. Big Lover and other excellent bookshelf boxes, with MA252, MA352, C2700/MC275 and other vacuum tube technology amplifiers, you can experience the warm, sweet, soft and elegant musical charm.
※This article was originally published from the WeChat public account "Sheng He Audio-Visual Group".