I'd like to share with you my other passion: hi-fi and in particular a loudspeaker called STEREOLITH. This revolutionnary system works on a complete different principle than the traditional pair (or more) of loudspeakers. We are talking about a single one.
Rather than reproduce 2 stereophonic channels "as is", which does not exist in reality and is the case with two loudspeakers, a Stereolith recomposes them to recreate the wave which existed in front of microphones.This wave is therefore unique, and is oriented in the same way as it is in the reality. Our ears receive in this manner the same information as if it was in direct (considering the normal degradation of the electroacoustics chain process).
This allows the brain to work with all its potential of analysis and to recreate correctly the sonic environement.
To the ear, this loudspeaker produces an incredible sens of reality, as if you where listening to concert live. You get the feeling that you can touch physically the instruments or voices.
The stereophonia is no longer a flat image with sound coming from out of loudspeakers. It becomes an area with a relief in which the sources of sound materialise themselves like in reality. It is like a hologram.
When I say that the sound is realistic, this also means that the virtual environement which is recreated overtakes the emplacement of your current surrounding.
The room in which your listening to the music, disappears to the benefit of the environement of the music production.
For example, an organ played in a church will give a certain type of accoustics due to its architecture. But whilst listening to the recording of the organ in your home, you'll have the impression that the dimensions of your room have become vaster- as in the church.
One of the caracteristics of this loudspeaker is its extreme sensibility to the quality of sound.
As it reproduces stereophonia (it doesn't create it), the sound its provided with, has to be of the best of possible quality.
However, stereophonic informations are extremely subtle and most hi-fi equipement can't restore them.
Further more, certain recordings are not really stereophonic in the sens that the coding of the 2 channels don't correspond to any information required by our brain. For example, electronic music has never existed physically. Its only an electrical signal. If the latter has not been treated with algorythmes in order to give them a stereophonic effect, corresponding to our perception, there will be no stereophonia to reproduce.
Like some amongst you know already, I'm an engineer in electronics ( Swoard remains for the time being a hobby.)
In collaboration with the inventor Walter Schüpbach, we ( my boss and I ) are in the process of developing and producing an amplifier capable to give added value to the Stereolith system.
For the last 12 years I known about this loudspeaker, I have made all sorts of apparatus of very high quality: many amplifiers ( two with tubes (one monotriode), one with transistors and one with integrated circuits), a digital to analog converter without any analog integrated chip, a passive preamplifier, a phono preamplifier with tubes and an active bass system with tube crossever network.
All are excellent, from my point of view of course, but they all show technical difficulties which make them too expensive on a mass production level, unless one was to make certain technical compromises which would be to the detriment of their respective quality.
Very recently, a new technology appeared in the amplification in high quality audio: switching or Class D or Class T (wrongly qualified as "digital").
Its fonctionning allows to spare us of all the distorsions and noises of the electronical components.
Also, its efficiency is so high (approx.90% ) that the output power stages produces very few heat.
Through this novelty and thanks to our experience, we have decided to launch the development of this new appliance.
I have to say that the hearing results, are unique and to my knowledge unheard of.
I can't tell you the number of different systems I've listened to over the years. All of top quality equipement (up to 200'000 Euro for a hi-fi system) in all existing technologies.
This device is the most clear, and by far, of all I've heard to this day. For example if you replace only one resistance with an other with the same value but from another supplier, the sound is not the same.
This is also applicable for all the types of electronical components. I've spend hundreds of hours listening and selecting the best components and perfecting the circuits.
Today (30.09.2004) we are working on the production of the first amplifiers.
I strongly encourage you to follow this fantastic adventure on the website of Stereolith and also the company's site for whom I work for.
http://www.stereolith.com
http://www.gxe.ch (the company which employs me)
http://www.gxe.ch/ampli (pages concerning the amplifier)
Cheers everyone
Jacques
