Gryphon Mojo - Manual (Page 6)

In general, a loudspeaker
can be no better than the
listening room allows it to
be.
Therefore, the listening room
is the most important element
in a high performance sound
system and for this reason is
often referred to as the final
frontier. Few people have the
luxury of a dedicated, pur-
pose-built listening room.
Most of us listen to music in a
room that also serves as the
living room. There are several
ways to address this challenge.
Here are the most common
“solutions”…
A.
The room can be treated in
several ways by using passive
and/or active absorbents,
bass traps, diffusers and other
devices. Unfortunately, these
methods are usually expen-
sive, an eyesore in the living
room and of limited success.
In most cases, they simply
change the flavor of the prob-
lem.
B.
In recent years, sophisticated
“room correction systems”
have been introduced. The
term Room Correction is quite
misleading insofar as none of
these systems actually correct
the room in any real sense.
They electronically manipulate
the sound of the audio system
in order to obtain a better
measured match to the room,
much like previous genera-
tions of equalizers that merely
changed the tonal balance of
the sound. Unfortunately, they
typically introduced a whole
new set of problems and are
not usually used in high end
sound systems. Lastly, a num-
ber of correction systems are
basically computers that digi-
tally manipulate the sound for
the same reasons. These sys-
tems are more sophisticated
and can address the task with
great precision. However,
many critical listeners agree
that the digital conversions
and extensive signal manipu-
lation involved have a high
price, and not just the one on
the price tag.
C.
The most popular solution is
to experiment and mix pro-
ducts with different flavors
and especially to seek out a
speaker that has a comple-
mentary sonic signature to
that of the listening room. At
best, “neutral” performance is
obtained by forces reacting in
different directions, hoping for
tonal equilibrium. This is an
art approaching alchemy and
the proud owner’s fragile
house of cards collapses if any
of the components, especially
the listening room, is changed.
For many audiophiles, this
ongoing quest to find the
sonic Holy Grail through con-
stant experimentation is what
it is all about.
Most music lovers simply want
to listen to great music with
great sound without needless
hassle.
Bass performance
The most severe problems
usually occur in the bass
region, typically due to
designers’ over-imaginative
attempts to circumvent the
laws of physics. Most people