Peter Comeau's views on speakers

[ssf]

An interesting video on Peter Comeau's views on speakers.

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Did he just ‘balanced tonality’ and ‘distortion-free’ with musicality and emotion?

Frankly, between Wharfedale’s two offerings: Linton Heritage and Elysian, the latter is far better than the former on tonality and distortion-free sound. But I’d argue that the Lintons are more musical and emotional.

 

[Passive_audio_enthusiast]

Did he just ‘balanced tonality’ and ‘distortion-free’ with musicality and emotion?

Frankly, between Wharfedale’s two offerings: Linton Heritage and Elysian, the latter is far better than the former on tonality and distortion-free sound. But I daresay there’d be many who’d argue that the Lintons are more musical and emotional.

Where did you demo the elysssian ?

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Where did you demo the elysssian ?

I believe that musicality and emotionality can be judged by listening to well-recorded audio samples through transparent earphones. I know that some would differ with me on this. They can refute my comparison. However, the question on causality remains.

“Do you agree that ‘balanced tonality’ and ‘distortion free’ sound are enough to ensure musicality and emotion”?

 

[ssf]

“Do you agree that ‘balanced tonality’ and ‘distortion free’ sound are enough to ensure musicality and emotion”?

With my limited exposure to different kinds of speakers and none of the High End speakers, I would still have to agree with Peter. What distracts me most from the music is any frequency standing out. Any additions to the music that the speakers or room adds. To give an example, I connected my amp to my quad 12L2 speakers that were placed in a less than ideal surround sound position which was a bit boomy. This was distracting me from the music. Speakers emphasizing on any particular frequency would also make me notice this and distract me from the music. For example, on some songs, my sub-woofer will play just a bit louder which will attract my attention to it and thus taking me away from the music.

I think Peter has designed the Quad S and Z series speakers on these lines too. Especially the Z series which when you first listen to, you are not going to go 'Oh what a smooth treble from the ribbons or Oh what great bass !!!' Listen to it for a while and you will be listening to the music rather than the speakers.

I guess this is very close to laid back British Speaker sound. Something that you can listen to for hours without fatigue.

I have to agree with Peters views as I have bought speakers designed by him and liked them.

 

[nn_in]

another Peter interview with info on Leak Amps

 

[Deleted member 15865]

With my limited exposure to different kinds of speakers and none of the High End speakers, I would still have to agree with Peter. What distracts me most from the music is any frequency standing out. Any additions to the music that the speakers or room adds. To give an example, I connected my amp to my quad 12L2 speakers that were placed in a less than ideal surround sound position which was a bit boomy. This was distracting me from the music. Speakers emphasizing on any particular frequency would also make me notice this and distract me from the music. For example, on some songs, my sub-woofer will play just a bit louder which will attract my attention to it and thus taking me away from the music.

I think Peter has designed the Quad S and Z series speakers on these lines too. Especially the Z series which when you first listen to, you are not going to go 'Oh what a smooth treble from the ribbons or Oh what great bass !!!' Listen to it for a while and you will be listening to the music rather than the speakers.

I guess this is very close to laid back British Speaker sound. Something that you can listen to for hours without fatigue.

I have to agree with Peters views as I have bought speakers designed by him and liked them.

Surely any distortion would distract from the music. But does that mean that absence of distortion would ensure musicality & emotion? Like for example, presence of salt in tea would make it taste awful, but does absence of salt ensure a tasty tea?

Despite high regard for the designer I can’t agree with the causality he has stated in the interview. A good craftsman isn’t necessarily best-equipped at explaining the principles behind it. And that doesn’t take anything away from his craft.

 

[spaace]

Surely any distortion would distract from the music. But does that mean that absence of distortion would ensure musicality & emotion? Like for example, presence of salt in tea would make it taste awful, but does absence of salt ensure a tasty tea?

Going by your tea salt example, do you happen know of any speakers which is measured to be absolutely distortion free but is horrid to listen to ?

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Going by your tea salt example, do you happen know of any speakers which is measured to be absolutely distortion free but is horrid to listen to ?

I have a very limited listening of speakers, and never gone in search of distortion-free speakers. I don‘t however believe cleanliness is the same as beauty. There can be clean, aseptic spaces that can be devoid of any character/beauty, extremely well-behaved persons that are boring, tonally perfect singers who cant evoke emotion.. and so on.

And I am not at all commenting on Comeau as a designer here. Quite the contrary - I quote his own creation, the Linton as an example of speakers that are average on clarity/refinement, but very high on musicality and emotion - to the extent that they end up surprising most who hear them.

 

[spaace]

I have a very limited listening of speakers, and never gone in search of distortion-free speakers. I don‘t however believe cleanliness is the same as beauty.

Thank you for explaining your position

 

[square_wave]

Peter's thoughts concur with that of many other competent designers. Measurements are the bedrock upon you build. Once you achieve the target measurements, the "Art " of speaker building starts. This is where you realize that the devil is in the details. For the designer, good taste, knowledge, intentions and experience matters a lot here. Marketing and resulting product management decisions also drives a lot of intentions during this phase. So it is quite tricky for the consumer. A good practice for consumers is to figure out the intentions of the brand and designer well if you want a satisfying speaker for yourself.

 

[Kannan]

There is a phrase called ' Voicing the speakers', also called sound signature.
Most professional companies do it.

For eg. Earlier Yamahas, JBLs had their own unique voicing. Same goes with Europe with variations in UK, German, Italian danish companies etc. Same was true with Japanese speakers.

Many DIYyers go with house curves