Australian Hi-Fi 47
SOUND TRAVELS
PS: I believe that most of the develop-
ments that have led to our current status
in the hi-fi industry came from the 1950s
and 1970s. In the 50s the designs were
developed and in the 70s the science came
enabling the designs of the 50s to come
to fruition. There were some truly amazing
developments in both of those decades.
Speakers especially moved forward, in
particular the Quad ESL57, the Klipschorn,
the JBL Paragon, as well as many of the
models from KEF, Rogers, Celestion, Tannoy
and others.
ST: You used to build your own speak-
ers. What are some of the ideals, in terms
of design, that you instil in your creations?
PS: I like efficiency, speed, dynamics,
bass extension and extended frequency
range—at least from 20Hz to 40kHz—so
that the speaker is a true full-range design.
I start with the drive units and then develop
the box to maximise the performance of the
chosen drive units. Then the crossover does
its best to screw it all up, hence I have gone
to active crossovers with multiple amps.
ST: What is it about your main system’s
horn-loaded speakers that appeals to you
more than your own designs?
PS: I consider the sound quality to be
beautiful, maybe not ‘hi-fi accurate’, but
certainly a convincingly musical sound. My
advice is always that if you cannot sing
along to the music being played then you
should junk your system. In my opinion,
a bit of colouration is no bad thing, but
it must not destroy the musical perfor-
mance. We are—or at least I am—trying to
convince ourselves that the artist is in the
room performing just for us! Your system
should be able to cause joy... and perhaps
also bring a tear to your eye. If the hairs on
my arms do not rise when I am listening,
then I know that the system is not capable
of creating a truly musical event. There are a
lot of sterile hi-fi systems out there and not
too many music reproduction systems.
I like efficiency, speed,
dynamics, bass extension
and extended frequency
range—at least from
20Hz to 40kHz so that
the speaker is a true
full-range design