DIFFUSION
Too much Diffusion = Mass Confusion!
Engineers in the industry have spent 75 years developing ways to better “kill” the response of the room or listening environment. Then they decided it would be best to design inert speaker cabinets and fill them with polyfill dampening materials. Diffusion, Dampening, sound control, Kill KILL KILL!! yes, this should result in a better listening experience… (see the Surroundings post)
Let’s look at a few sources again….
- The Piano
Hand voiced, tuned soundboard resonates, strings resonate
- String Instruments – Violin, Viola, Cello, Dbl Bass, Guitars
Hand voiced select woods chosen for their resonant properties. Finishes chosen for their ability to protect and
sustain the woods resonant properties
- Drums & Percussion
Maple or Birch shells selected for their excellent resonance properties. Cymbals and gongs are made of brass and bronze
for their wonderful sustained resonance properties. Drum heads made of select materials for different timbres and color of resonance. - The Human Voice
The chest cavity, vocal chords and facial bone structures all designed to resonate.
As you can clearly see, all of these instruments have resonance properties as their common denominator. Doesn’t it seem natural for accurate reproduction of these sources we should listen in an environment that was made to support the very instruments we’re listening to? Maybe played through speakers that were designed and crafted much like the soundboard of a fine german piano? If we’re sitting in a concert hall listening to an orchestra play Mahlers 5th Symphony, would it be a different experience if my surroundings were made up of perfectly positioned panels hand selected for their warm, full-bodied resonance characteristics, then voiced like a Steinway soundboard to bring out the definition and clarity…?
Yes it would be different. In fact, it would be totally enveloping and the emotion that starts at the heart and soul of every musician on stage would overtake you.
