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A
Wide-bandwidth
classical music system
This system should be capable of reproducing the large dynamic swings,
bass of the kettle drums, detail of the violins, and the soundstaging and
imaging of a real symphony. |
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| Speakers |
In order to achieve a high-bandwidth the system is going
to need some bass. To provide this some large full-range speakers will be
used. To ease the amplifier's job in generating large dynamic swings, the
speakers should be fairly efficient; say > 88 dB/watt/meter. |
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| Amplification |
In order to achieve large-dynamic swings a large (200 watts or over)
solid-state amp or a tube amplifier capable of lots of control over the
speaker is required. In order to reproduce the delicacy of a violin an
amplifier of some finesse, with the ability to render fine detail is
required. The amplifier must also have the capability of reproducing many
dozens of instruments playing at once without collapsing the music into a
wall of sound - each instrument should still sound as pure and accurate as
if it was playing by itself. |
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| Pre-amplification |
Not much is required of the pre-amplifier (in fact, with a good
variable output stage on the source, a preamp is not required at all). It does need
to 'stay out of the way' of the musical information generated by the
source. |
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| Cables |
Similar to the pre-amplifier - cables need to 'stay out of the way' of
the music. |
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| Power cables |
Good power cables help assist the amplifier in responding to the current
demands placed on it by large dynamic swings. The also help, to a lesser
extent, the pre-amplifier and source do their jobs. |
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| Source |
The incredible complexities of classical music is handled best by an
analog source (i.e. record player). LPs seem to handle the information
density better than CDs. That said, there are high-quality CD players that
can do a very good job. Any defects in the source, however, will destroy
the illusion of the symphony and may be quite painful to listen to. |
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| Tweaks |
Vibration control, especially for any tube gear, is essential to
helping prevent large orchestral works from collapsing into an unpleasant,
confused and congested
'wall of sound'. |
