What happens when a speaker starts vibrating that makes the sound better?

[Diego]

I've noticed this on many amps, and SS amps too so it's not a matter of tubes getting hotter.

Something happens as you raise the volume, that when the speaker really starts to shake and vibrate, everything just sounds alive, more dynamic, it's like the whole EQ shifts a bit, it broadens.

I actually like my Cube a lot with dirt pedals in front, but it has to be stupidly loud to sound good. Loud enough that it instantly leaves my ears ringing.
Past a certain point, the clean channel stops sounding fake and plastic, it loses that sterile, stiff and toyish nature and it just sounds richer and warmer.
I also hate my Cube at bedroom volumes. Not much of a practice amp if you ask me.

What goes on at that point? I've read than that volume threshold, when the yuz gets going, is actually lower with lower wattage speakers.
Educate me on this, I'm interested.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: What happens when a speaker starts vibrating that makes the sound better?

I'm supposed to know, I'll get back to you tommorow after I take my sound ingineering class.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: What happens when a speaker starts vibrating that makes the sound better?

Stupid loud is a good thing.

 

[crguti]

Re: What happens when a speaker starts vibrating that makes the sound better?

Psychoacoustics. The sensitivity of the human ear behaves different at different sound levels.
Audio compression take advantage of that... among many other things, like 'Masking Effect'.

edit: I would also like to add, in a moving-coil loudspeaker, there is a maximum distance the voice coil can move before the number of turns in the magnetic field no longer remains contant. When this occur, the driver becomes nonlinear and produces a distorted output. Another nonlinear effect is caused by the inner and outer suspensions, and standing waves inside the cabinet.
So, in resume, at high levels there is a combination of psychoacoustics and nonlinear loudspeaker behaviour which produces distortion that can be perceived (according to guitar players) as a 'better sound'.

 

[Diego]

Re: What happens when a speaker starts vibrating that makes the sound better?

Thanks crguti!

I was truly impressed last night, I set my Cube's clean at half volume in my bedroom, and man was it loud but it sounded fantastic,
took the volume down to 3 and inmediately it lost something and not just volume, the flavor went away and it sounded much colder and uninteresting, to put it somehow.
Could be down to the speaker, or maybe that's just how the amp's transistorized, digital self is and behaves. I don't know.

I used to think the JC120 model sucked for dirt pedals.
It doesn't, it's amazing but it needs to be loud loud LOUD and I can't really live with that everyday or my neighbors will hate me and my eardrums will suffer.

In fact, pedals through Guitar Rig 4 and my PC speakers sound much better at normal bedroom volumes than the Cube. Those tiny speakers don't need to be that loud...

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: What happens when a speaker starts vibrating that makes the sound better?

When volume increases, your ear reports that you're hearing more bass and sounds naturally compress a bit. There's also a component of sound that's more felt in your chest than heard in your ears that is only present at higher volumes.

 

[Despair]

Re: What happens when a speaker starts vibrating that makes the sound better?

There's another factor with volume: cabinet resonance. It's not just the speaker that contributes acoustically to the sound produced.

And then there's acoustic feedback with the guitar...

 

[crguti]

Re: What happens when a speaker starts vibrating that makes the sound better?

When volume increases, your ear reports that you're hearing more bass and sounds naturally compress a bit. There's also a component of sound that's more felt in your chest than heard in your ears that is only present at higher volumes.

High levels can cause a vibration in the bones and transmitted through the bones, especially the skull. The sound is perceived with more low frequencies.
Moreover, at high levels, the ossicles (small bones in the middle ear) can increase its rigidity, which makes the sound more compressed.

 

[GoldenVulture]

Re: What happens when a speaker starts vibrating that makes the sound better?

High levels can cause a vibration in the bones and transmitted through the bones, especially the skull. The sound is perceived with more low frequencies.
Moreover, at high levels, the ossicles (small bones in the middle ear) can increase its rigidity, which makes the sound more compressed.

The " Threshold of Feeling " = 110 Decibells:friday:

Some speakers have a nominal operating power rating. Unless your feeding it at least that Rating, they really don't do their thing very well. It's usually the domain of higher wattage speakers, none the less most speakers have a point where they start working and sounding better than at low volumes. Speakers are badly inefficient devices in terms of power in / Power out which contributes to this phenomena.:cool2:

 

[CountFunkula]

Re: What happens when a speaker starts vibrating that makes the sound better?

High levels can cause a vibration in the bones and transmitted through the bones, especially the skull. The sound is perceived with more low frequencies.
Moreover, at high levels, the ossicles (small bones in the middle ear) can increase its rigidity, which makes the sound more compressed.

Did you take any classes for all this information? I would like to know more.

 

[crguti]

Re: What happens when a speaker starts vibrating that makes the sound better?

^ I got a MSc in Acoustic Engineering.

Read any book of Acoustic or Psychoacoustics. In general, all books of Acoustics has a chapter where it's explained the human ear physiology.