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Sounds Like? An Audio Glossary Reverse Glossary, part 1

The Reverse Glossary
The discussion which follows assumes that the listener is familiar with the sound of live music as performed in a real acoustical space. Without that familiarity, there can be no basis for judging the quality of the reproduction of that sound.

In order to describe reproduced sound informatively, it is necessary to listen individually to the sonic bits and pieces that comprise the entire fabric of the sound, and to make qualitative judgments about them. That fabric is made up of a number of sonic characteristics, each of which is judged according to its elements…

Sounds Like? An Audio Glossary Reverse Glossary, part 2

Acoustical absorption
Good: adequate, appropriate, "good acoustics," unobtrusive
Not Good:
Excess: dead, dry
Deficiency: billowy, echoic, fluttery, live, plastery, reverberant, slap

Audibility (of flaws)
From best to worst: Inaudible, subtle, slight, moderate, significant, conspicuous, severe, extreme, intolerable, or Aaagghh! (screaming-up-the-walls)

Detail
Good: accurate, crisp, delicate, focus, resolution, snap
Not Good:
Excess: accurate (misused), analytical, clinical…

Sounds Like? An Audio Glossary Reverse Glossary, part 3

LOW & MID TREBLE
Good: natural, neutral, smooth
Not Good:
Excess: bright, brittle, etched, glare, glassy, hard, metallic, screechy, shrill, steely, strident
Deficiency: dead, dull, muffled, muted

EXTREME TREBLE
Good: airy, extended, delicate, open
Not Good:
Excess: hot, sizzly, spitty, tipped-up, tizzy, toppish, wiry, zippy
Deficiency: closed-in, soft, sweet

Imaging
Good: bunching, correct width, phantom image, specificity, stability,…

Sounds Like? An Audio Glossary Sidebars: 1-4

Sidebar 1: About Frequency Response
Although frequency-response anomalies (from flat) are readily measurable when they exist, other things which are not directly related to frequency response can affect apparent frequency response.

Harmonic distortion can sound like elevated treble response when, in fact, no such rise is measurable, and phase shift can cause an apparent thinning or dulling of the sound. Some subjective terms which are used to describe frequency response describe the sound's apparent response rather than its measured response.

Sidebar 2: About Height…

Sounds Like? An Audio Glossary Sidebars: 5-6

Sidebar 5: About Soundstaging
The ideal stereo soundstage for a large performing group will center the performers across an area of about 2/3 to 3/4 of the distance between the loudspeakers, and will audibly separate the front rows from the receding rows (layering). There will be an awareness of the reflective boundary walls of the acoustic space behind and to the sides of the performers, and the spatiality of the hall itself will extend a considerable distance beyond the distance between the loudspeakers. The ideal is achieved only from suitably miked recordings.

Specific phantom…

Sounds Like? An Audio Glossary Sidebars: 7-8

Sidebar 7: Greenberg's Law
The best-looking components tend to sound the worst.

Field's Corollary to Greenberg's Law (as first outlined by Dan Field on Compuserve's CEForum, May 16, 1993).

...and ugly speakers sound better!

Sidebar 8: It's not what you say, it's how you say it
It will come as no surprise to Stereophile readers that reviewers have many styles of expression. We all choose our individual ways of telling the reader what we think about a product. Corey Greenberg may write that the Symphonic Bombast 101 Mk.II power amplifier "KICKS ASS!" I may prefer…

NHT Xd active loudspeaker system

NHT's Xd system is what audiophiles have been saying they want: a matched loudspeaker system that optimizes the performance of its components for a real-world domestic listening environment. But with their dollars they've voted against just such systems for years. If we put our money where our mouths are, active speaker systems such as Meridian's DSP or those used in recording studios would dominate the High End.

Unlike studio active monitors, the NHT Xd is insidiously easy to use and to like. In configuration it seems to have more in common with 2.1-channel computer speakers,…

NHT Xd active loudspeaker system Page 2

This was resolved in two ways. First, I measured an in-room response that dipped several dB in the upper-bass range centered on 130Hz. This detracted from the general impression of weight, warmth, and richness of sound. While the crossover slope between the XdS and XdW may be a very steep 48dB/octave at 110Hz, there is still significant signal overlap between the woofer and satellites; the positioning of the woofer is important. A lower frequency, of course, would compromise the power-handling limits of the XdS's 5.25" driver. I found that moving the XdW forward so that it was the same…

NHT Xd active loudspeaker system Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Active 2.1-channel speaker system with DSP crossover and equalization. Consists of:

XdS: Two-way acoustic-suspension, magnetically shielded, stand-mounted loudspeaker with molded composite enclosure and fitted stand. Drive-units: 1" aluminum-dome tweeter with neodymium magnet, 5.25" magnesium-cone midrange unit. Crossover frequency: 2.1kHz. Frequency response: 110Hz–30kHz, ±1dB. Peak acoustic output: 114dB.
Dimensions: 10.5" (270mm) H (not including stand) by 6.5" (165mm) W by 8.5" (220mm) D. Weight: 13 lbs (5.9kg).
Serial numbers of…

NHT Xd active loudspeaker system Associated Equipment

Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment

Digital Sources: Simaudio Moon Orbiter, Denon DV-5900 universal players.
Preamplifier: McCormack MAP-1.
Power Amplifier: Bryston 9B-SST.
Loudspeakers: Paradigm Reference Studio/60 v.3, Studio/20, Servo-15 subwoofer; Revel Ultima Studio; B&W 802D.
Cables: Interconnect: Harmonic Technology Harmony Rainbow, Crystal Cable Cinemax, Kubala-Sosna Fascination. Speaker: Kubala-Sosna Fascination. AC: Kubala-Sosna Emotion.
Accessories: Echo Buster and RealTraps room treatments.—Kalman Rubinson