Several of you asked me why I was so interested in a 20+ year old pair of loudspeakers that I would sell everything in the listening room to get it and what makes this speaker so special?
This giant loudspeaker has a number of charms but perhaps the biggest for me is that it's the ultimate point source. The most amazing thing I've ever heard on a speaker came from this speaker's offspring, the Genesis 1. I shall never forget the sound of a single guitar playing in a room - no, not the sound of a giant orchestra in its full dynamic glory, but the sound of a single instrument floating in acoustic space - and that image has stuck with me for as long as I can remember.
Aside from the fact it's eery sitting in front of a 7 foot tall behemoth listening to something as small as a single guitar, that guitar sound was as close to right in the room as I've ever heard - and I want that back.
The reason small things (as well as big things) sound so right is that a true line source is as close as you'll ever get to a perfect point source. I know, it's counter intuitive, but that's what makes it interesting.
A point source is a description of a mythical product that is infinitely small - a single point - that can produce unrestrained dynamics at all frequencies. If someone was able to create such a device it would sound amazing - and oh so real - at least as real as the recording.
But that product doesn't exist and the second best approach to achieving it is the exact opposite - a loudspeaker that is infinitely big - one that goes from floor to ceiling in the room. While not as good as a point source, a properly executed line source is as close as one can get and, because there are so many drivers involved, you get the added benefit of huge dynamic range possibilities.
Most of us would be sleeping on a couch in the garage for the rest of our lives should we try and convince the Mrs. to add a floor to ceiling 1 ton set of loudspeakers in the living room - such is life at home.
Those few of us having the luxury of a dedicated room, like the one at PS Audio, can only hope to someday have such a "point source" to listen to.
