Why do my amps sound better at higher volumes?

[ModestCargo]

Re: Why do my amps sound better at higher volumes?

Remember when almost all home stereo systems had a "Loudness" button? In theory that was to simulated the boosted highs and lows of a cranked stereo...so my science teacher said back in High School.....and you thought it was for use with metal bands from Japan...MZA!

And that's exactly what the loudness button does. I love my old Marantz and Pioneer recievers with the loudness circuits, they're such warm amps, especially with some vinyl put through them. With the loudness on the kick drum has this hearty THUMP that puts a smile on my face every time. And the high end seems clearer. But get the stereo loud enough and I find myself turning the loudness off because the bass/treble start to overpower the other instruments/sounds.

Anyway I think this is why a lot of guitarists get used to playing with scooped mids - when you're playing with your tiny little amp at levels your parents would watch TV at, it's going to need the bass/treble enhanced a bit to compensate.

Put that in a band mix and much louder and suddenly you have thundering bottom end that's interfering with the bass, harsh treble and hollow mids that takes the player right out of the mix AND the bass player and some of the drum kit with him/her! Now everything's just mush.

 

[FAC]

Re: Why do my amps sound better at higher volumes?

The human ear system naturally resonates at ~1 kHz to 3 kHz. If the sound is not very loud, we can hear these mid-high frequencies better, which gives the impression that the low and really high frequencies are softer. The loudness circuit on a stereo adds some lows and highs to compensate. As the sounds get louder, the perceived difference across the frequency spectrum decreases, hence the need to turn off the loudness circuit at higher spl's.

So why does the human ear resonate at that frequency? One hypothesis is that it is an artifact of our physiology shaped over millennia: it's the main frequency of a baby's cry.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Why do my amps sound better at higher volumes?

10 watts of power will only reproduce say 40% of a particular bass frequency, maybe 80% of a given mid, and 90% of the highs. As the power goes up, (meaning volume), the accuracy of the reproduction goes up. you get 80% of the bass, 95% of the mids, and 97% of the treble.

That's why there is a "bass boost" switch. But the point is, louder = more accurate = usually better....

 

[Metalblaze]

Re: Why do my amps sound better at higher volumes?

To original question: It's all in the frequencies and the ear perception. At higher volumes, the bass frequencies come into play giving warmth and colour to the tone. I agree about the freq response being fuller and the dynamic range wider.

Not only that, but I also noticed that the crunch comes out stronger in loud volumes. It's that the speakers make wider movements, thus more detailed, and deliver the sound in higher precision, when driven by higher voltages.

 

[J Moose]

Re: Why do my amps sound better at higher volumes?

could be our ears...

That has a fair bit to do with it?

Why is louder almost always "better"? Guitar amps, stereos... PA rigs... muscle car engines?

As things get louder the frequency response of our hearing flattens out, gets smoother.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour

Also quite well known are the "Fletcher-Munson" curves which are most commonly referenced..

Yeah... cranked up melting tubes & paper cones DO generate harmonic distortion that we all love!

But don't under-estimate the human physche & it's participation here...

 

[FAC]

Re: Why do my amps sound better at higher volumes?

As things get louder the frequency response of our hearing flattens out, gets smoother

Elegantly put.

If one examines the equal loudness curves in that Wiki article http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Lindos1.svg, you'll note the dip between ~1 kHz and 4 kHz at lower volumes...this is what I was inelegantly trying to say in my previous post....our ear hears those really well, hence the dip in the equal loudness curves...to be perceived as "equal" at low volumes, the lower and much higher frequencies need to be boosted significantly.

All amps and speakers will have their own response curves, but I think it is the way we perceive sound is the dominant effect here.

 

[Metalblaze]

Re: Why do my amps sound better at higher volumes?

That has a fair bit to do with it?

Why is louder almost always "better"? Guitar amps, stereos... PA rigs... muscle car engines?

As things get louder the frequency response of our hearing flattens out, gets smoother.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour

Also quite well known are the "Fletcher-Munson" curves which are most commonly referenced..

Yeah... cranked up melting tubes & paper cones DO generate harmonic distortion that we all love!

But don't under-estimate the human physche & it's participation here...

Elegantly put.

If one examines the equal loudness curves in that Wiki article http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...47/Lindos1.svg, you'll note the dip between ~1 kHz and 4 kHz at lower volumes...this is what I was inelegantly trying to say in my previous post....our ear hears those really well, hence the dip in the equal loudness curves...to be perceived as "equal" at low volumes, the lower and much higher frequencies need to be boosted significantly.

All amps and speakers will have their own response curves, but I think it is the way we perceive sound is the dominant effect here.

The phon, eh?

 

[WhoFan]

Re: Why do my amps sound better at higher volumes?

oddly i find i almost like my stereos speakers to sound like they are about to fly apart... just on the edge of distaster.... maybe that is a carry over from my guitar amps....

 

[astrozombie]

Re: Why do my amps sound better at higher volumes?

I think it might be. lol.

thanks guys.

 

[75lespaul]

Re: Why do my amps sound better at higher volumes?

Darn right. Doesn't get much better than a world class 15 watt 12" combo completely cranked, 5 feet away from you.

Not much better than that!

But that "much better" is a 50 or 100 watt (amp of your choice, mine is Marshall) with two 4X12 cabs five feet in front of you....or twenty feet.