Hi-fi stereo system: realistic reproduction of music


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Guide to building a good stereo audio system with speakers and hi-fi speakers for realistic reproduction of music.


Definition Hi-Fi stereo system

The term hi-fi (English abbreviation of High Fidelity), in Italian high fidelity of sound, defines audio video devices of superior characteristics.

From the beginning of the 1970s onwards, hi-fi sterephony began to spread through equipment capable of reproducing sound more and more faithfully thanks to an increasingly high construction quality.


And since then the hi-fi brand has become a standard, since the devices that are equipped with this wording must respect precise mechanical standards and technical parameters.

Subsequently, in the late 1980s, the audio equipment defined hi-end gave an even greater boost to performance with state-of-the-art high-engineering achievements with the aim of obtaining maximum sound quality regardless of the expense using only the best offered by technology.

Along with the diffusion of the concept of hi-fi stereophony, the figure of audiophile was born, that is to say of a person who has a strong love for music reproduced in the best way by a stereo system.


An audiophile wants to get the most out of a hi-fi system, to recreate a realistic image of the reproduced musical event that makes him perceive a presence effect that gives him the same emotion of a live concert.

Each instrument must be clearly distinguishable from the others, have "air around", the voices must be convincing, the orchestral floods must be powerful but everything must take place in the maximum tonal balance.

Only with a result that lives up to his expectations will an audiophile be satisfied, otherwise he will continue to seek until he finds the solution that best suits him.


In the design of an audio system from which you want to obtain optimal sound production, there are many components that come into play.

To create a good stereo system, you must first define the room where to place it.

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The room should be possibly rectangular and not too small in size with at least one of the sides measuring greater than the height of the ceiling.

It is necessary to be clear where to place the stereo speakers for which there are floor, pedestal and library models.

The models to be preferred are those from the floor with a height of about 100 cm from the ground to have the twiteer (loudspeaker for the reproduction of high frequencies) at the ear height of the speaker. listener placed on a normal seat (chair, sofa or armchair) at the listening point.

In fact, the high frequencies, having a minimum propagation angle with respect to the speaker emission center, must be directed towards the listener.

Even the mid-range (reproduces the medium frequencies), which is normally located just below the twiteer, starting from the top to the bottom of the speaker, must be in line with the ear of the potential listener.

As for the woofer (speaker that reproduces low frequencies), it is better that it is located near the floor, another reason why floor speakers are preferable.

The positioning of the speakers is directly influenced by the size of them: they will be larger the larger the diameter of the woofer.


In this regard, it must be said that a woofer to reproduce the bass must move large volumes of air and for this reason it must have a good diameter or a good excursion perpendicular to the membrane.

In any case, the size of the loudspeakers must be chosen in proportion to the room.

It is then necessary to define the amplification power which will be calculated based on the cubature of the room.

As a reference, it is advisable to calculate a watt rms of power for each cubic meter on each of the two stereo channels of the amplifier.

For example, if we have to sound a room of 90 cubic meters, an amplifier that has a continuous rms power of 8 ohms of 90 watts per channel will be recommended.

These values ​​are calculated on the basis of the real efficiency values ​​of a case which, on average, are around 90 db (decibels).


The efficiency of a speaker is a unit of measurement that expresses the sound volume generated by a speaker one meter away from the emission center of it with the application of 1 watts rms of power.

Preheating and running-in of hi-fi stereo system components

For the best performance of all the components that make up the chain of a stereo system, it must be said that it is important to preheat the various appliances.

In fact, there are numerous electronic components in them that need to reach a certain temperature and electric charge to give the maximum.

If the devices are new they will also need a good running in (a few hours of listening) before making their best sound come out.

From the source to the speakers

To choose the various components, it is necessary to use a qualitative hierarchy criterion which must start from the source so that what is upstream must be slightly better than that which is downstream.

On the contrary, if the speakers are qualitatively superior they will reveal the defects of a poor source or an amplification not up to par.

Main technical characteristics of the Stereo system

Signal to noise ratio

This numerical value, often abbreviated with the English abbreviation SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) or S / N even in Italian use, is one of the fundamental parameters in high fidelity as it expresses the cleanliness of the sound reproduced, relating the power of the useful signal with the generated noise.
The higher values ​​will be better.

Dynamic

This term defines the degree of accuracy with which a hi-fi device is able to manage the various sonic intensities of a musical program, from piano to forte with all intermediate shades.

Frequency response

Taking as reference the ability of a normal human ear to hear in a frequency range from 20 to 20000 Hz understood as an ideal value, the frequency response of an audio device can be defined as the way in which a sound intensity at various frequencies.


The optimal frequency response must tend to be as linear as possible over the frequency range considered to have the best sound balance between high, medium and low frequencies.

Power Rms

This value expresses the volume of sound intensity that an electronic sound reproduction device is capable of generating.

It is one of the main features to consider when choosing hi-fi amplifiers for the right combination with the speakers and the volume of the environment.

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