Mark Levinson Interview- PWK, Burwen, Mono, High Efficiency

[mikebse2a3]

Many Topics I found very interesting to hear his thoughts about.

 

PWK and Bell Labs mentioned in the last few minutes of the interview.

 

Speaks of the need to reproduce the emotion of the music not just the sound.

 

Speaks of Richard S. Burwen as his mentor.

  http://www.burwenaudio.com/Biography.html

 

Speaks of the need for efficiency to maintain resolution.

 

Speaks of Mono reproduction benefits versus 2 channel.  ( I found this very interesting because I have observed that some music played in mono and reproduced in a listening room can display a clarity that is lost when reproduced over 2 channels.)

 

miketn

 

 

Home Theater Geeks 105: Legendary Mark Levinson

https://youtu.be/sKtPmthrdYw

Edited August 18, 2015 by mikebse2a3

[tube fanatic]

Thanks for posting those links Mike.  Very enjoyable.  Do you prefer single speaker mono to 2 speaker/phantom center image mono?  I'm not sure which I like better myself as I think both have advantages.

 

Maynard

[Chris A]

[Mark Levinson played (jazz) trumpet, flugelhorn, and double bass with such legends as Sonny Rollins, Sonny Stit, John Coltrane, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, etc., and is a trained musician -- but only picked up audio electronics through his mentor - Dick Burwen.]

 

[Mark Levinson's comment on the 'non sequitur' of the audio industry...]

 

"It's become...'How do we make money? How do we make money?  It's not about 'How do we bring music to life? How do we touch the heart?  How do we make the best possible equipment that really means something?  Somehow this part of the business got off track.'"

 

[Mark Levinson's response to a question about "which record label that he thinks most highly of".]

 

"I've seen very, very little out there that really moves me...today, recordings are just so 'produced'...it's not about making music, it's just really changed a lot."

 

"There's something in audio that just hasn't been done...that basically is creating a high efficiency system which is transparent and has no coloration.  High efficiency is important because the lower the efficiency of the speakers, the more of the music gets turned into heat, it just is gone...with the [low] efficiency of the most of the systems out there, including many 'high end' systems...It starts with the speaker and then we go backwards...first if the speaker efficiency is less than 100 dB for one watt [sensitivity], you're starting to lose information, and with the kind of sensitivity that is around now like 89 or 86 or 84 or whatever they're doing, is stripping away huge amounts of the music. And I thought it would be worthwhile to see if there was a way to combine the dynamics...the vitality of high efficiency with transparency and true high fidelity."

 

"...this accomplishes certain things which are very important to me.  One of them is the inflection that musicians give, the beginnings of notes, what's soft, what's loud, the whole dynamic presentation comes to life. That's the big part of what musicians do--especially good ones."

 

"And the other thing is that harmonics and the subtleties in the sound just tend to get lost, and maybe the overall sound is pleasing, but normally, what brings the music to life...gets lost."

 

"High efficiency speakers is only part of it, then you have to design a new kind of amplifier to drive them, cause most amplifiers, at least solid state ones, are not that good in the milliwatt range*.  But when you are generating one hundred decibels with one watt, it means, most of the time, you're listening in the milliwatt range, right?  So the amplifier has to be really good down there." 

 

"...Or people go back to vacuum tubes, but then they give up the damping factor, and output current, and the head room, and the rest of that stuff.  So putting it all together is what we try to do...In the preamp, [we are] trying to create a control unit that's transparent enough not to screw it [all] up."

 

"I don't want to play the high-end audio game, but I did want to make this available. I think the audio world needs something that is reference--something that goes beyond the limits of what's been available."

 

"...To do high efficiency very well is expensive because you need a big speaker--you need a big box. You can't do it with a small speaker. It's not going to happen.  It's laws of physics.  And when you make a very big, very well made, very good speaker, it gets expensive--there's no way around it."

 

* Chad: this is why we need a Solid State Amplifier subforum.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Chris A

[richieb]

That is an interesting give and take. As ML continued toward the inherent advantage for high efficient speakers designs and an amps advantage at milliwatt outputs I thought hum, may be he designing something cost effective for the near-true audiophile. BUT then I looked ta his Daniel Hertz website - didn't take long to blow that hope clean out of the water! Speaker cabinets made by one the preeminent piano builders in the world, one of which required four amps for power. I think I'll save my email asking for pricing. I imagine pricing will be well over what the "normal" ML equipment had been priced at. High efficiency/low power for the - don't think so. ML is still catering the the ultra high end with a new mantra.

[mikebse2a3]

Thanks for posting those links Mike.  Very enjoyable.  Do you prefer single speaker mono to 2 speaker/phantom center image mono?  I'm not sure which I like better myself as I think both have advantages.

 

Maynard

 

 

Hey Maynard good question

 

Single speaker mono has the best clarity in my opinion due in part because it doesn't suffer from the constructive/destructive interference of 2 channels spread apart reproducing the same material and the fact that the loudspeaker/room's reflection patterns can be less complicated which also helps to maintain clarity of reproduction.

 

From a visual aspect single speaker mono can draw one's attention to the speaker (There are ways to minimize this possible distraction) where as 2 channels has the capability to create a mono image in open space if setup correctly adding to the illusion.

 

As a side note, my first experience with the Jubilee and Roy was an audition of the Jubilee done in Mono and after the music had stopped I looked at Roy and told him that was the best mono reproduction I had ever experienced and that quality was an important part of why I have them now. I'm not sure many people understand that 2ch stereo's ultimate quality of reproduction is directly related to the quality of mono reproduction by the loudspeaker, system and room.

 

miketn

[moray james]

back in the 1990's I got into the habbit of finding a well balanced single channel from a stereo recording and I would use that to evaluate my cable designs using just one loudspeaker. When I had optimized the sound using a single channel it always resulted in a cable with the best stereo performance. Got to be a fuss and I learned to compensate well enough so it is not something that I do much these days. Your comment brought back old memories on a number of occasions I had friends who told me that I had just played them the best stereo they and ever heard and who where astonished to learn that they were in fact only listening to one channel of a stereo recording.