[Leica] Re: LUG Digest, Vol 34, Issue 370

[lrzeitlin at optonline.net (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

On Apr 3, 2007, at 3:49 AM, Bob wrote:

> Hate to say this, but I, too, have a Tivoli Model One welded to my
> local NPR station.
>
> Believe me, I'm no audio snob despite the fact that I go through
> phases of building custom audio gear for part of my income.  I gotta
> say that the Tivoli has a very good tuner section, but the cheap pots
> & switches are no joy and the spectral response is heavily weighted
> down by a low-mid resonance that seems contrived to provide a fake
> sense of warmth & heft.


A 3" loudspeaker in a small closed cabinet would normally have a  
resonance near 200 Hz, about half an octave lower than middle C on a  
piano. Curiously the ear can be fooled into thinking it hears real  
bass notes if the higher harmonics of the missing bass notes are  
boosted enough. This trick is analogous to the use of edge sharpening  
to provide the illusion of critical focus in a slightly blurred  
photo. Providing real bass in a loudspeaker, like providing high  
resolution in a camera lens, is an expensive proposition. You can't  
fool Mother Nature although you can fool most human beings. The  
makers of the Tivoli Radio and the makers of most cheap digital  
cameras have managed to do just that.

Larry Z