I believe we have only begun to talk about "SPACE" and how to achieve it in a home listening environment. There is more to come.
Hello Karen,
I have just returned from a second trip to visit David Karmeli in Utah. One of the important take-aways from this second visit was an improved appreciation for what you refer to as space, and David refers to as "ambiance". Over the two visits, I heard seven different speaker systems with a variety of turntables and cartridges, even a digital source, different cables, and a full selection of the various Lamm electronics, some discontinued, some in current production, from 18 watt SET to Class A push pull tube, to 100 watt Class A solid state.
All of the systems conveyed a good sense of space, regardless of the gear or the room. I heard this same natural quality of the character of the space in which the musicians are playing from each system, and I hear it now from my own system at home. I have come to realize that this sense of ambiance or space is basically information that is imbedded in the recording, captured from the original performance. This is not about the speaker as was asked in my Utah visit thread. This is about the whole system having a level of resolution that allows the listener to hear the information on the recording. It begins with good basic power delivery to the components which I am learning about right now in my own system.
The challenge is to not lose this information somewhere along the chain through poor gear choices, room treatments, wire choices, or set up decisions. I have also heard the effect injected into systems by cables that enhance certain frequencies. However, when this happens, everything sounds the same from recording to recording, and it’s really not the same quality of naturalness. In fact, it is quite unnatural sounding, and it immediately tells me that I am listening to a high-fi sounding system.
This is one of the big lessons I learned with this most recent visit to Utah. Fellow member Tima and I heard a truly impressive rendering of space on three recordings: A Bach organ and trumpet recording in a cathedral, Ella Fitzerald singing and Joe Pass playing his guitar at a cafe or jazz club, and Peter Schierer singing Winterreisse. In each case, with eyes closed, we were transported to the venue and in the presence of the musicians and instruments. We clearly heard the distinct characteristics of each space on those recordings. The information exists there on the recording. The challenge is to leave it intact and deliver it to the listener. David's systems all did this.
The other aspect of all this that I realized while visiting is that the natural resolution required to present convincing ambiance also results in natural tone and dynamics. These qualities come together. They are all embedded in the recording and are interrelated. It's basically all about information and not corrupting it before the listener has a chance to hear it. We can achieve this sense of space or ambience, (Tima's context) by simply choosing the proper gear and setting it up well. In some, rare instances, as I heard from David's main Bionor system and the vintage JBL M9500s, the sense of being in the space is quite extraordinary and unlike what I have heard from other systems.
