Playback of recordings with TOO MUCH dynamic range, what do you do?

I must admit the recordings I’m referring to are few and far between. I’m not talking about different track levels. I’m talking about the whole recording session. Some tracks sound as if you’re listening to the performers from outside the venue then without warning its as if you stepped through the club door. My system can reproduce the levels with ease but my ears and my neighbours’ not so much.

 

one of those tracks with strong peaks over a low background: "Clouds" in "Floating World" by Jade Warrior.

 

Enjoy the silence...

 

Please hold the hook for just a few moments more, allow me to explain...

Here is an "audiophile's dream".

OK, there we go, let's start here. you can't put K-horns in a small room and expect them to behave they way they would in a far larger room.

Look at any of the print ad's fron back in the day. Have you ever seen K-horn's being depicted in anything other than a very large room?

Don't answer that, it is a rhetorical question. No you have not.

You have not, because they were never intended to be used in any room other than a large room.

Next, they are ultra efficient speakers, like those for live sound or for theater use.

In other words you have purchased a pair of the most dynamic sounding speakers that you possibly could.

I have an appointment, please leave this thread open for the next three hours at least. There are some important things to cover here.

Thank You S&G

 

To continue...

As far as room size was concerned, Paul Klipsch envisioned them being placed along wall, with a center mono channel speaker placed between them, that speaker became known as the Heresy.

Another thing about the K-horn's, their midrange horn is known as the "squaker" and for good reason. It is a very harsh horn!

From the ALK Engineering site:

Do your Klipsch speakers sound harsh or give you a headache after listening for a while? It's a very common reaction and the reason is the squawker horn. Not the K55 driver, the HORN! This is the fix...

The components in the K-horn are the same as the La Scala's. These are my custom La Scala's.



With the custom grills off.



That squaker horn is hash and HF through this horn will take the top of your head off!

Replace the horn with either a 511B horn from Altec or an Altec 811B horn.

Replace the stock Klipsch crossover's with crossover's from ALK Engineering, your ears will thank you for it!

ALK Crossover's provide a constant 8-Ohms between the amplifier and the crossover. Very important and even more important with tube amplifier's.

Speaker's like the super efficient K-horns will give a recording, a live sound experience, which is normal for your listening, as I understand it.

The thing is, recordings are not made in the first place, intended for playback on super efficient horn loaded drivers. They are engineered to sound good on relatively inefficient direct radiator's that are about 87 dB efficiency as an average.

Now, if someone engineers a recording to sound dynamic with those type of speaker's, if you play that same recording back through K-horn's, and the dynamics will be through the roof.

Back to dynamic's...

Live music, with amplification is very dynamic, which is why there are live music venue's.

Also, at dynamically loud volumes, there is one key element to control the volume and the dynamic's.

That would be the sound man!

During the entire performance, the sound man "rides" the volume, as to get the maximum amount of dynamic's. That is the part where the music/vocals are loud and satisfying, dynamically speaking. But when you go past that point, bad things happen and the music/vocal's become harsh and undesirable to listen to.

It is the job of the sound man to get the most out of a live performance, audio wise, without ever crossing that line.

When someone records source material and engineer's it to be played with average speaker's and then you play back that same source material on k-horn's, the dynamics will become more expansive, which means, the volume control is no longer a set it and forget it thing.

You will have to ride the volume control, in order to achieve the maximum dynamics, but cutting back, before going over the edge.

These are my Altec A7 VOTT's (Voice of the Theater) speakers, they have been modified into a fully horn loaded 4-way system, with an added super-tweeter, commercial sub-woofer and ALK crossover's, which were designed for legacy Klipsch speakers.



Vintage Altec's differ from vintage Klipsch, due to better horn's and better driver design's. They are not harsh.

Still, I have a remote analog volume control, between the tube preamp and the tube SET power amp.

That's it hanging over the back of the sofa.



It is right beside me, where I can easily reach and adjust it with my left arm.

Just some things to take into consideration, when running very high efficient speaker's.

 

The main limitation I find is that the small space dictates the max SPL for quality reproduction (hard reflections and the like). I also find the driving electronics are critical in avoiding the “harshness”
that you referred to. I’ve experienced this in the past with different amplification but when synergistic components are used such as those I have now I have absolutely no complaints.

Obviously a larger space would more suitable but it is what it is and I just love the sound.

 

Run your system through a TL Audio compressor. Just kidding.

 

Funny the first two albums I thought of were "The Final Cut" and " Amused to Death". I seek out albums with great dynamic range, then get annoyed when i have to keep adjusting the volume with the remote. The Final Cut in particular is really annoying. But I love the music so I pay the "battery usage" price to listen to it.

 

I hate adjusting the volume with a remote, as specially with a digital remote.

I don't so much mind setting the initial volume, like when watching a movie and even if you had bump the volume up or down a tad.

Better are the remote volume controlled analog pots, like the Alps. At least these have a motor which responds quickly to the remote.

But, as you say, dynamic music tends to be, dynamic and that often goes hand in hand with continuous volume adjustments.

 

Agreed, I’m constantly riding the volume pot like a bucking bronco. I play a lot of compilations. I hate, hate, hate, stepped volume controls!! No matter how fine the gradations are the setting I desire is invariably in between one of those “fine” steps. AARRGH!

 

The first time that I encountered one of those was my 2nd audiophile type amp. It was a Sansui 717, and I had it back when I was a teenager.

Drove me NUT'S!



The analog volume control knob is use is a Emotiva Control Freak, which is no longer made, but they do pop upon eBay from time to time.

Here is a YouTube video, gives you a better look.



I have it hooked up between my tube preamp, which sits behind the Sofa.



And, my power amp.



With the control's at my fingertips, it is easy and just as natural as modulating a gas pedal while driving a car.

Those who don't live with ultra efficient speaker's will not clearly understand how useful an inline analog volume control can be in the system.



The Peachtree iNova controls the volume of the front mains and the musicBox on top, controls the volume of the rear tower's, the Control Freak is exclusively used to modulate the volume level on the A7's.

 

An Automatic Gain Controller (AGC) can act as a "magic hand on the volume control", to bring up the level of the quiet parts and tame down the loud parts, without squashing the audio like a limiter does. Typical examples include the Aphex Compellor, Symetrix 422, and various units from CRL Systems, such as the TVS-3001:

 

Exactly! I end up resorting to using the night mode setting on my receiver which acts as a sort of compressor.

 

I like both of these for their dynamic range, but I've never found them to be annoying. My system is kinda different in that it really doesn't get "loud" so much as just huge. So I can turn it way up and it never hurts or gets annoying.

 

I loved that disk back in the day. It does have some serious dynamics.