It’s also interesting to say that relatives and friends who come to my house to pay New Year’s greetings will always be attracted by the music played in the study room, and will ask what song it is. But I don’t ask what kind of speaker is used, which just fulfills the sentence: when the music is played, the quality of the equipment is often an unimportant factor for “good sound”.
However, some relatives and friends reported that when they played the same song at home, they didn’t feel it anymore. That is an inevitable thing. Don’t look at the low-key appearance of my desk speaker. In fact, the model and cable are specially selected for the favorite songs and the size of the study room at home. It is the careful collocation that makes the music more beautiful and easier to resonate.
Don’t look at the Paul Barton PSB Alpha AM3 speaker I use, the box is square and square, and there is no peculiar shape; there is no large-sized unit with a sense of technology on the front, only a dust cover; and there is no huge subwoofer to accompany it, just The 2.0 configuration looks very ordinary, but in fact it has a unique charm.
Remove the magnetic suction dust cover of the AM3 speaker, you can see a 4-inch polypropylene mid-bass unit above, and a 3/4-inch aluminum dome tweeter with neodymium magnets below. When choosing speakers, I knew that I mightn’t simply pursue large volume. Some people have a small room, but they just put on the 8-inch unit speaker, and the sound is particularly “boring”. My study room is a small space of less than 10 square meters, and the speaker needs to be used on the desktop. It is more suitable to choose a 4-inch one.
For traditional desk speakers, tweeters are installed on the top and mid-bass units are installed on the bottom. The inverted unit design is a feature of Paul Barton PSB Alpha, which can solve the phase problem of traditional speakers. In multi-driver loudspeaker design, the key point is to have multiple drivers work together perfectly. The fewer units, the less difficult it is to match. The 2.0 sound design is less difficult, and it is easier to create a natural sound. This is why people usually choose desk speakers, and they prefer to choose 2.0 speakers instead of 2.1 speakers with subwoofers.
The so-called perfect cooperation of multiple units means that the frequency divider can reasonably output the high, medium and bass signals to the corresponding units according to the arrangement of the units, so that the high, medium and bass can reach the “emperor position” at the same time, eliminating the phase difference and improving the performance. Make a natural sound.
The Paul Barton PSB Alpha series uses Linkwitz Riley crossovers with up to fourth-order attenuation slopes. Using the 24dB octave frequency division algorithm, every other octave frequency, the sound will attenuate 24dB of energy. There is no serious phase distortion in the entire audio frequency range of 20Hz-20kHz. Supplemented by NAD’s patented nad flexible peak clipping technology to reduce distortion, it means that the “emperor’s seat” is wider and will not be limited to a very small position. It is very suitable for me to enjoy music with friends in the study.
Also because of the uniqueness of the crossover design, the tweeter is not required to be at the same height as the ear, and the tweeter can be placed upside down. When used on the desktop every day, it is close to semi-eliminating the environmental effect, avoiding the comb filter effect, making the high frequency more natural, not sharp and cold. In terms of speaker placement, there is also a lot of freedom.
As a traditional 2.0 bookshelf speaker used in the near field, many enthusiasts will recommend using equal proportions, dividing it into thirds and roughly estimating the position of the speakers. In this way, the standing waves in the middle and low frequencies are smaller, which is especially suitable for listening to human voices.
If the study space is narrow and there are walls on both sides of the desk, many audiophiles will use wall-mounted placement, that is, the speakers should be placed as close to the two corners of the desk as possible. It should be noted that the Paul Barton PSB Alpha AM3 adopts the design of the rear bass backflow hole, the back should not be too close to the wall, and a little distance should be left to reduce the impact of the wall on the sound.
There are walls on both sides of the desk, and when placing it once morest the wall is not conducive to achieving a wide sound field, the compromise method is to use the internal projection method. The projection angle is large, and the listening position is a little behind the intersection of the axes.
The first few methods all require the distance from the speaker to the two walls to be equal. If the desk is located in a corner of the room, it is recommended to place it in an equilateral triangle, that is, the speaker and the person form an equilateral triangle. What I prefer is the regular triangle arrangement, which can effectively reduce wall interference. The actual listening sound field is wide and the positioning is clear. However, equilateral triangle placement requires a certain distance between the two speakers, and the greater the power, the farther the distance will be. So you can’t choose a product with too much power, the 35W Paul Barton PSB Alpha AM3 is just right.
In addition to judging from the room, it is also very important to listen to the music properly. No set of speakers is perfect. My selection principle is that when the speakers play favorite songs, it is enough to make most of the songs feel. As for how to feel, take the Paul Barton PSB Alpha AM3 of the desk as an example, I probably judge it this way.
The first thing to test must be classical string music. Many HiFi players like to use classical music as a test, because there are many musical instruments, which test the performance of speakers. However, most popular songs use MIDI arrangements, which cannot achieve the sense of space of classical music. For me, I prefer to use light and delicate string tests, and I feel that I can better feel the stereo performance of a speaker. In the words of HiFi enthusiasts, it is the image. String music is very close to the human voice, and it is also very warm and infectious. Haydn’s String Quartet in C major “Emperor” in “1111” and Mozart’s Serenade in G major in “86442” are often used for testing.
The so-called “1111” quartet is easy to understand. The first violin, the second violin, the viola, and the cello are played by one person each, and the arrangements are arranged from left to right in turn. Double the number of people and it becomes a double quartet.
And “86442” is 8 first violins, 6 second violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos and 2 double basses. The regular string arrangement is the first violin on the left, then the second violin and viola, the cello on the right, and the double bass at the rear right. Depending on the actual band, there will be some changes.
If you use AM3 to listen like me, you will notice that the sound is not emitted from the middle point, but each part can be clearly distinguished, and there is a sense of space. When playing the string serenade in G major, you can also clearly feel that sometimes the same accompaniment is used to increase the concentration of the melody, and sometimes the middle part is used as an accompaniment, with clear layers and a very good separation. Because this song also has a small allegro form, so you can also feel what is called agility contains regularity.
If I want to say what type of music I play more, it must be American country music with a steady rhythm and brisk rhythm, such as Taylor Swift’s early works. From the music analysis point of view, American country music is basically a simple combination of triads and seventh chords, which is easy to play. When playing AM3, you will experience the treble melody is lively and the speed is just right; the bass is very flexible and can be retracted freely.
I also listen to a lot of R&B at home. When it comes to R&B, many elders think it is the kind of rap, but they misunderstand it. The R&B style can be said to be the mainstream style today, and there are many singers, such as Jay Chou, MJ, Adele, Leehom, Xiong Guang, etc. are all representative singers of R&B. Therefore, there are many chords and rhythms in R&B songs. Also because of the emergence of MIDI arrangement, the musical form is extremely rich and varied.
Recently, because of TV dramas, the song Xiong Guang leads Japanese R&B is often played repeatedly.First Love. Speaking of which, Xiong Guang’s songs are not only complex in rhythm, but also very capable of testing speakers.For example EVA theme songBeautiful world, there will be a six-degree treble leap in the mid-bass, and the instantaneous high-bass transition at the end can only be perfectly interpreted by a few desk speakers. To understand this instantaneous change, it requires high-performance DSP and fast movement of the diaphragm to achieve it.
When it comes to the fast movement of the diaphragm, the ultimate performance depends on rock music. I’ve noticed that quite a few desk amps don’t produce that punchy sound when playing the power chords of a rock electric guitar. The performance of heavy metal rock guitars is even worse when playing power chords, with heavy distortion. Some friends don’t understand why those who go to listen to rock live are so excited. I guess there is a high probability that they have not been shocked by the powerful chords of rock.
Some enthusiasts say that desk speakers cannot express that kind of impact due to power and volume limitations. The power of the AM3 I use is not high, only 30W, but the performance of rock music is very good.Many friends have listened to the live version of Dream Theater at my homeMetropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory, said shocking. Playing AD/DC’s classic works is even more fascinating, and it is directly brought into the abyss of rock and roll.
My needs for desk speakers are not only for listening to music, but also for playing games, watching movies and chasing soap operas. It is also convenient to listen to music, so I don’t want to have to toss every time to listen to the song. Therefore, for the input method of the speaker, there are requirements for multiple lines.
For example, APTX Bluetooth wireless connection can be used to facilitate direct connection with mobile phones. It is equipped with a USB interface to connect to the PC, which is suitable for playing games, watching dramas and watching movies.
With analog input, it can be played with old-fashioned decoders, vinyl record players, amplifiers and other equipment; with digital input, it can meet the high bit rate transmission of new-style decoders. Many speakers require optical fiber input to achieve the highest specification transmission.
Paul Barton PSB Alpha AM3 interface is very rich, basically meet my needs. I am especially satisfied that it has a 5V 1A USB power supply interface, which can be used for some small modules, such as Raspberry Pi equipped with ROON bridge.
For daily use, it can be controlled by remote control. The remote control of the Robaton PSB still has a learning function, so that it can replace the remote control of the decoder or vinyl record player and simplify the control equipment.
According to the LED indicators on the front panel, the input mode used can be judged. Among them, AUX is cyan, RCA is green, optical fiber is white, USB is purple, and Bluetooth is blue.
As an active speaker, the Paul Barton PSB Alpha AM3 is equipped with a high-performance DSP and supports 4 modes of stereo, WideSound, dialogue and WideSound Plus to deal with different scenarios, which just meets my needs for speakers not just for listening to music. Usually use the MODE button on the remote control to switch, no color is stereo mode, green flashing is WideSound, amber flashing is dialogue mode, blue flashing is WideSound Plus.
The high-performance DSP also has built-in MaxxBass, Maxx3D and MaxxDialog plug-ins from Wave Company of Israel. For example, the Maxx3D plug-in will be activated in WideSound mode, and the sound field will be wider. When playing games or watching movies, I like to switch to this mode. In dialogue mode, MaxxDialog is activated, and the contrast of human voice will be enhanced, which is very suitable for scenes such as online classes and video conferences. WideSound Plus also has Maxx3D and MaxxDialog, which means it has a wide sound field and a clear human voice.
The DSP of the Paul Barton PSB Alpha AM3 automatically turns on the MaxxBass plug-in unless a subwoofer is connected. I have experienced this mode to make up for the lack of bass. When listening to electronic music, I will have a more shocking feeling. Because you can switch to other scene modes at this time, when you switch to WideSound Plus mode, it is equivalent to the three plug-ins MaxxBass, Maxx3D and MaxxDialog working together.
It is not easy to find the right speaker for you and find a satisfactory match. You need to listen and explore slowly by yourself. I remember that the first time I came into contact with the Paul Button PSB Alpha series was ten years ago. At that time, Paul Button PSB had to shop overseas or go to Haiyin Electric City to find Hong Kong products. The price of the product is affordable, the sound is warm and moist, and it is very cost-effective in the hearts of audiophiles. Domestic e-commerce has only been on the shelves in recent years, and I only received a set of Alpha series AM3 following many comparisons.
It is said that Paul Barton PSB Alpha series is a series with a lot of history. It has new features such as built-in high-performance DSP and support for Bluetooth aptx, but it still retains the interface preferred by traditional enthusiasts, such as between the main and sub speakers. Connect the banana head to the speaker wire.
The speaker cable that comes with the AM3 is also a bare cable that audiophiles like to use. Bare wire is recognized by Hi-Fi enthusiasts as an excellent speaker wire. It does not conduct indirect conduction through any interface, and is directly connected with less loss.
But bare wire also has obvious disadvantages, that is, its life is shorter. Bare wires are easy to oxidize in contact with air, which will affect the sound quality. However, in the Lingnan area where I live, the rainy season is long and the climate is humid, so the oxidation process is more rapid.
So I replaced the bare wires with the banana-plug speaker wires given by the store when I bought the speakers—Griffin GRIFUSN carbon fiber speaker wires. The advantage of the banana plug is that it is easy to use. In addition, the core of this speaker cable is oxygen-free copper, which has the advantages of low impedance, anti-oxidation, and low attenuation. In addition, the metal braided shielding layer and the specially designed ESD SAFEGUARD ring are anti-interference , the transmission effect is not inferior to the bare wire at all, or even better.
In the process of finding the best speaker cable, I have also gone through many detours, such as changing the wave plug, pin plug, fork plug, and I have tried both DIY and branded ones. After many attempts, the Griffin speaker cable with banana head was settled. I don’t know if anyone is interested in changing the cable. In the next article, I will try to share the sound quality changes brought regarding by different plugs and cores.
