We have been aware for some time that dealers who don't sell REDGUM amplifiers have a tendency to dismiss them as being "no good - they have a bass boost". In comparison to the amplifiers that they sell, such a conclusion would seem reasonable and so appear to be correct - the perfect example of experience reinforcing expectations. And therein lies the 'rub'! Why should customers and dealers alike expect anything different (i.e. better bass response) when, until now with a REDGUM, ALL amplifiers have 'rolled off' the bass frequencies... officially from 20Hz down but often from much higher? (link to reason)
For quite practical reasons, we all function within our own particular sets of expectations. For example, when you listen to your existing hi-fi amplifier you make a decision as to whether "it sounds right". Where you land is a choice of somewhere between "Do I ditch the unit as soon as I get the money?" or "I have found my piece of heaven". More than likely, your final decision will also incorporate what you have heard coming from other amplifiers. (What else should it be based on?! ... we're talking Audio here!!) As you can see, this method of decision-making then takes us beyond expectations and on to a level of experience.
Now see how this idea sits with your experience:- regardless of what brand your current amplifier is, a REDGUM amplifier WILL seem to have lower bass, and more of it. And no wonder, when the "rest of the world" has 'rolled off' ... (to sleep?).
In other words, your Ears aren't failing you! It is more a case of what they have been consistently offered has simply lowered their expectations. So when they are awakened suddenly by a REDGUM, the difference would seem abrupt, perhaps quite 'over the top' (or 'bottom', if you prefer!) And as the "problem" (aka design decision) of lowered expectations is industry wide, how were you to know that it was happening to you? Perhaps the only clue is that comparisons are always done between brands of amplifiers (but not only!), with the purpose of deciding if one is 'better' that another. This comparison can all too easily be accompanied by an opinionated person (often the dealer - "Sorry!" to the good guys!!) who latches on to any difference (real or a touch imaginary) and proceeds to 'sell' this as being the desired 'improvement'!!!
What made REDGUM want to change this situation (via conscious design decisions) to allow your level of expectation to be raised ? Well, several good reasons, actually! For a start, consider the following:
Most hifi listeners are aware that the bass on their hifi system sounds better the louder it is played. Hence, they often run their amplifier up to just under the point where it begins to sound 'ugly', this point being the loudest that it will perform acceptably. Running this 'close to the edge' invariably ends in a situation where the amplifier is dramatically short of headroom, and so, all transients are 'clipped off'. You are rocking on with the loud music while the neighbours are plagued with bass frequencies of 80 to 120Hz, this range resulting from the combination of the resonance peaks of the speakers and the transmission/resonance peaks of the intervening walls. Next door, they call it "that awful noise!" whereas you'll have to admit it is just LOUD (recorded) music. Sadly, it still doesn't sound like the 'live' concert you went to. How can this be the case with such high tech methods available today?
Since the source of most music is no longer the 'plagued' old turntable, but rather clean resonance-free digital streams, it is time to consider just how low we need bass to be reproduced so as to make recorded music sound like "the real thing, live" (as opposed to just LOUD!).
We are told (often repeatedly) that homo sapiens cannot 'hear' frequencies below 20Hz. This is ALWAYS based on tests using headphones, and yes, the ears in isolation can only perceive frequencies to around 20Hz. But let us consider the body as a whole ...... If you are standing on a street curb, and a loaded truck hits a bump in the road near you, do you hear it or feel it? The correct answer is "BOTH "!
You hear the higher frequency rattle of the metalwork through your ears and sense the balance of the ultra-low frequencies through the thump feeling in your legs, and other surfaces on your body. It is the particular balance between these various 'sensations' that allow you to perceive whether the truck was heavily loaded or not. If you listened to a recording of this truck on your (non-REDGUM!) HiFi, you would not be able to accurately tell if the truck was loaded or not, because the respective frequencies below 20Hz are no longer in balance with the higher frequencies (or are missing altogether!). You might hit on the right answer but as all of the information hasn't been provided, you are basically guessing in proportion to how much (frequency) information you do have! (More like a sketch of a digital photo, hmmm?)
(Further reading on this can be found here: http://www.evelyn.co.uk/hearing_essay.aspx )
The same process (leading to results of "live" or just "loud" music) can take its toll at the other end of the frequency spectrum ..... If all frequencies are removed sharply from 20kHz upwards (the common cut-off point for other makes of amplifiers), you can loose the overtones of the very high instruments which add such realism to bells, triangles and the like. On a REDGUM system, you can readily tell which brand of cymbals are being used (if you know your Paste's from your Zildjian's!!!) Er, could this be because an extended frequency range (to 100KHz) has been a standard REDGUM design criteria from the very first amplifier design 10 years ago?!
Once you have all these high and low frequency clues back in your music, you will find that you don't have to play it loud 'just to hear it'. The magic seems to happen at realistic performance levels for the instruments! - "I have musicians at the end of my room" - a comment by reviewer in USA.
To answer this question about current needs, we need to ask it within the perspective of where Hifi has come from. The question that can encapsulate this is "Why do we ask for 'flat frequency response' products?"
Well, it all 'grew' out of the 1930's! In the infancy of HiFi, ANY music was desirable, and products were scarce and expensive - a case of "anything would do!" In the 1940's, the number of products blossomed, and the industry became aware that 'mix and match' was the order of the day with products being almost randomly grouped into systems. Clearly by this stage, a standard was needed to measure one product against another. Frequency response was the measurement that 'grabbed the imagination' and a response as flat as possible became the Holy Grail. Through the 1950's, products improved and the response curves got flatter and more extended. With the introduction of solid-state in the 1960's, frequency response curves rapidly improved, particularly in amplifiers, but by then, the RIAA equalisation curve was causing all sorts of limits/problems with the vinyl record as our major source. The 1970's saw the introduction of the Compact Disc and with it finally an end to source frequency response limits - the CD was capable of a 'dead flat' response over the entire spectrum! But there remained one 'fly in the ointment'...... the loudspeaker!
To this day, the loudspeaker remains our Achilles heel, as even the most expensive speakers rarely respond effectively below about 50Hz. Although the response curves claimed by the manufacturers always sound/look good, speakers are notoriously difficult to measure, and so the manufacturers' claims are not often challenged. To see how some really expensive/good speakers REALLY respond, it is worth taking a look at a few. Don't take our word for it! ... there are plenty of Independently-tested response curves here: http://www.stereophile.com
As you have seen with those curves, the frequency response at 20Hz can be as low as -40dB, a level that is almost inaudible!!! If such a 20Hz is quoted in the specs, the only usable response is an audible "So what !!"
And as though that wasn't enough of a problem, there is another 2 - edged sword here for this frequency region! ..... as speaker makers 'push' their designs to get lower cut-off points, the bass response curves become more 'lumpy' and out of proportion. This is evidenced by large peaks, and when heard these give the initial impression of 'heaps of bass'. But instead of hearing an even balance of bass frequencies whether from a cello, double bass or organ, these peaks by their steepness are all at the 'wrong' frequencies. Thus, they throw certain registers of particular instruments into moments of unnatural prominence. Though quite disconcerting to the listener, this manipulation of speaker design parameters is a totally legitimate way to lower the quotable cut-off point. Its accepted legitimacy seems to override the fact that it is actually a method to "boost the bass" but not when rephrased as "extending the cut-off point". A simple mix of box and port dimensions could never be seen as a "bass boost", now, could it?! (Heaven forbid the thought!) Link soon
Through the 1980's it became apparent to REDGUM's designer that using "current principles", speaker makers were NEVER going to be able to achieve a flat response, so a hard look had to be taken at what the 'next step' in Hifi progress was to be to get around this.
Back to basics: - Consider the "immovables" - the Holy Grail of a 'flat response' curve remained unchallenged by the industry; a HiFi system was still comprised of 3 components; one of these component's curves could never be 'flat'. And yet, the industry requirement was for all component's curves to be 'flat' before they could be added to a system. Not much room to move there! In fact, no future for that line of thinking at all.Radical rethink (aka "Let's pay attention to history and quote it correctly.") (Here is the same link soon as the last one above, but now it is definitely worth your time to read it!) :- So maybe it was not necessary to have 3 separate curves that were individually flat. If the weakest link (the speakers) could not comply, well, maybe that was not really a problem, provided another product compensated for their loss. Perhaps what was really needed was an 'overall' flat response curve for the entire system. ("History repeats itself."?)
We started to develop an amplifier (which was to eventually become the REDGUM) keeping these principles in mind. The rising ultra-bass response curve of a REDGUM amplifier closely matches the falling response curve of the majority of speakers thus extending the bass response of the entire system into the ultra-bass frequencies mentioned above BUT without the 'thumping' bass peaks (from isolated speaker designs) usually found from 80-120Hz that can make the bass sound over-blown!
Enter the REDGUM loudspeaker! Once we realized that ultra-bass compensation was possible, it became obvious from the mathematics that we should design a loudspeaker that was as free from 'humps' as possible, even if it reduced the ("review friendly") quotability of the 'official' lowest frequency response (i.e. when tested in isolation, without a REDGUM amplifier.) Having designed his own range of speakers in the 1970's, this was not an out-of-character move by REDGUM's designer. Starting from the one that Gramophone magazine loved, our first 'in house design' loudspeaker was the RGSB Link Bookshelf speaker (renamed the 'Manna') and now the range also includes 2 floorstanding models ('Regnans' and 'Lucens'). These speakers have been specifically tailored for very flat response graphs over their usable range and so match the philosophy of the REDGUM ultra-bass approach.
N.B All this referencing to curves and frequencies may give the impression that REDGUM's design team have square eyes and no Ears!? Well, that is the impression when one has to talk 'industry talk'. But as you have read, REDGUM's design principles do not swim in the industry mainstream! So why would we leave ourselves open to dispute by diving into depths where aspersions of "bass boost" have been cast? Because such nonsense doesn't wash when the sonic result is true musicality!! Music that speaks to the heart through the emotions ... ever fresh, ever so true. (Hi Fi, you could say!) Need we add? ... that we reference our designs to the sound of real instruments, NOT the sound of recordings of instruments (i.e. not against other amplifiers!).
To be honest, not everyone likes the sound of a REDGUM the first time. And that's okay as it proves our point exactly! The restoration of the ultra-bass as per a REDGUM can be quite shocking to the listener ... depending on their previous HiFi experience, especially if compounded by having had little physical experience of what a live instrument sounds like. For example, that Brass instruments are, er, really 'brassy!', or a note from a bass string is not just a single 'bpluom' but rather a pluck as well as the vibration. Live instruments with all their unclipped transients on show can be extremely physical and in-your-face, as much as they can whisper into the corners of your soul. It is your choice entirely whether you want to roll with the music's punches!
Speaking of which, for your safety's sake, we have felt moved to put up a Health Warning about exposure to a REDGUM (amplifier, or system alike). This light-hearted facetiousness is all part of the 'Lo-Bull' approach preferred by REDGUM. We want to tell it like it is, and our customers join us with their Testimonials that capture their sense of it so vividly! One way or the other, you can't say we didn't warn you about the fun you could have! Hang the theory! Time for a little of REDGUM's "Insight for Sore Ears"?
(to be continued ... )