I can see clearly now!

Do we want detail or cohesion in our hi-fi sound?

By John Groom

February 2003

Psychobabble is a column to explore the twilight zone of hi-fi. That strange place where the improbable meets the impossible, the fussy meets the obsessional, and the physical meets the psychological.

When I moved home recently, there were things I wanted to get away from. Most of the things were to do with the impact of infill-housing: noise, lights, smells,and the ever present consciousness of others. To create some feeling of privacy in my old home there were high hedges, the creation of quiet corners and a well damped house acoustic.

The view from the kitchen was problematic. An old hedge shielding me from the neighbours had died. After much altercation a fence was erected and they installed a carport alongside it.

Unfortunately the neighbours also had the care of an incontinent disabled adult. The carport became the place to hang a dozen adult sized nappies. They wouldn’t move the clothes line and I was stuck with the view. The window was too close to the stove for net curtains, so blinds were installed.

To add further distraction, Juliet hung a large stained glass artwork in the centre and I put a bright picture to one side. Hopefully the new owners were too impressed by all of this colour to ignore the nappies.

You are probably wondering by now what this has got to do with hi-fi? Well, for many years the visual metaphors have dominated our evaluation of hi-fi. A favourite was equipment that “lifted a veil on the sound”. We wanted to be able to “see into” the music that was “focussed” with a “holographic” sound stage.

The incident with the kitchen window has left me wondering when we do actually want our “sound window” to be brightly exposed. My own CD player, the Naim CDX, was reviewed a few years ago in America as being ”too revealing”. The reviewer was asking if he could bare to play more than three CDs from his collection as otherwise too many imperfections were exposed!

I recently got to hear the new CDX2. It is clear that Naim has taken such criticisms to heart and the new series has a sound that is warm and enveloping while making a fair fist of a wide range of recordings.

Hi-fi is ultimately about compromise. The major compromise is between the amount of explicit detail and the pleasant, musical integration of the sound. Not enough detail and all that we have is a black and white sketch, not enough integration and we have a an abstract.

The same principles apply to CD recording and manufacture. Audiophile labels such as Chesky, combine high sampling rates [information] with simple recording technique [integration].that gives a smooth satisfying sound.

For a contrast, compare any recording that you have with an Australian pressing. The Australian one losses both integration and information and best used as as a spare shaving mirror at the bach.

Coming back to the house. The new home is out of the infill housing, has bush on three sides and no washing line. The view may be great but I am glad that the previous owners installed 5mm tinted glass and good blinds. Even with a pleasant outlook, too much exposure can be a bad thing.

Other Psychobabble columns

John Groom is a psychologist working in private practice on Auckland's North Shore. John has over three decades experience in both hi-fi and psychology.

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