Chris Brunhaver on loudspeakers

PS Audio's James Herod inteviews our resident loudspeaker Guru, Chris Brunhaver. In this ten minute expose, learn all about the loudspeaker from Chris.

[@JJ-no2ob]

Bravo Chris & James ! Good stuff. Kudos to Paul for finally getting his superstar designer on a video again. Keep it rolling

[@user-ny1op1pb5q]

Thank you Paul for putting Chris on the screen. Very interesting.

[@tomday7309]

Boy, I just learned a bunch from Chris' explanation. I never thought of speakers being so inefficient let alone generating heat. I guess that's a definition of inefficient. Heat has to go somewhere and amps do get hot. Great post!

[@brrryan2908]

Excellent coverage of what specs really mean in a room. SPL etc.

[@TWALBEVA]

What a amazing explaination that tells customers that using bigger amp can protect the tweeters. I was never aware of that!!

[@NickP333]

Awesome to see Chris on a video! 🙏🎶😊

[@jimdavis5230]

I have found that sticking to Paul McGowan's 10% rule works superbly to avoid clipping on transients. Therefore you need an amplifier that is ten times more powerful than the average power level you need for comfortable listening without thermally distressing the speakers.

[@AnalogueGround]

Chris never loses his enthusiasm and it’s uplifting. Maybe start another KZbin channel and then get super technical for those of us that appreciate Chris’s insights.

[@stimpy1226]

Thank you Chris for all of that wonderful information. Terrific to have a passion like component and/or speaker design.

[@pcm9969]

Very informative. Keep more of them coming!

[@janwillemkuilenburg7561]

Great content! We want more!

[@Elkemper]

Very cool video! Thanks! Only it is painfull to understand that those shure mics just chillin and didn't end up in final mix =)

[@jameswalker6442]

Well done you two

[@jondu-sud274]

Well done Chris, it is a real challenge to do the "Paul thing" on youtube. I am an expert in another area (non audio) entirely and am often surprised that people might be interested in what I have to say. So what you share on this subject is all news to me and very interesting to a non expert - cheers

[@GertSterner]

Just a technical comment. You are using a microphone each, but they both are picking up the entire room, and the reverb makes it hard to hear what you are saying. But I like what I hear 😀

[@adrianalexander2651]

Chris & James - well done! I’m a fan

[@soulshinobi]

I'm going to guess there was a recording issue and we're hearing the camera's microphone.

[@soberspine]

Thank you for making this video. Looking forward for more videos with Chris.

[@TannhaeuserGate]

I just realized Chris designed planar tweeters at BG Radia corp (ex Bohlender Graebener). The PS Audio loudspeakers use the same kind of planar tweeters BG were producing. Now, BG went under when the owner died but their supplying factory in the Philippines didn't. Problem is: that factory QC seems to be very poor. So my guess is that PS bought a bunch of those drivers and is doing proper QC in the US and discarding tons of them.

[@UptownReef]

Are the mics actually on? It sounds like a single mic source capturing the room.

[@thegrimyeaper]

Yeah, sounds like a mic by the camera is the only thing on lol. The irony.

[@djl8710]

^ this

[@Error2username]

Sounds like vinyl record from the 60s😂

[@chuckmaddison2924]

Sounds terrible. But think about this we have a great audio company delivering this, it's not a good advert.

[@303nitzubishi4]

I'd guess the mics are capturing for a podcast or something. The audio we're hearing is from the camera mic. Yeah BAD look from a high end audio company 😬

[@juanlopez1364]

James and Chris!

[@joefeyereisen6765]

The issue is current, not watts. Compare the sound of s 1970's HK over a 100w Pioneer. The current allows for dynamic range, versus watts.

[@magnusdanielsson2749]

Its easy to calculate. The best CD recordings have 24-25 dB headroom. If you want 80 dB at your ears sitting 3-4m from the speakers thats around 86 dB at 1m. Wich just happens to be a normal sensitivity of speakers. 24 dB are 8 doublings of power so youd need 124 W to play the headroom on the recording. But you probably dont want to use the amp very close to clipping so youd want maybe a 200 W amp for that. Thats watts at the general impedance of the speaker (200@8ohm etc). When talking about normal sounds around you one realize it quickly gets crazy. The slamming of a door would require some 300-400 W to reproduce trye to nature. Many ordinary life sounds have immense dynamic range! Very very few doeskers (even expensive high end stuff) really struggle to produce soundlevels of 100dB with sufficiently low distortion. So expecting ”true to life” sound impose a challenge indeed.

[@joeythedime1838]

$30k FR30's paired with a $800 Sprout. Paul should set that up it would be fun to hear it.

[@jeffharmon1406]

a) what SpeakerLab speakers did Chris build as a lad? b) what SpeakerLab speaker was his all time favorite? Curious minds want to know.

[@peterw2714]

I built what’s called the super seven (S7). The corner horns they used to make were my favorite next to the regular seven (7) speaker. Their corner horns were a total knock off of Klipsch’s corner horns.

[@FOH3663]

Bummer, the sound is really compromised. Sounds like it's captured at a distance, direct to reverberant isn't as good as it could be. If its sourced from those mics, something's really off. I always appreciate Chris' thoughts on loudspeaker design/audio.

[@richardwhite2344]

Very good video. I like to think of it this way. A average church is about 120 feet long by 40 feet wide. A church organ that has usually a 120 watt amplifier has no problem filling a church with sound, and I think that 50 watts perchannel is more then enough. I mean you will never put the volume up half way. I had a 60 watt per channel Receiver and if you put the volume on 4 my stereo would blow you out of the room, So 50 watt per channel is more then enough

[@davidstevens7809]

Speakers dynamic ability and efficiency is sortta conflicting product target..yup..widebandwidth/efficiency are opposing.. hes correct.

[@michaelturner4457]

Are those mics on, or just for show?

[@rb89509]

I've only ever owned Cerwin Vega's or Klipsch speakers with Crown class D amplification. On top of that I have a major case of tinnitus. What am I supposed to do?

[@mariuszsobolewski6713]

Great content but it would've benefited greatly from audio being actually recorded through those microphones ;-)

[@West3rror]

Many home theatre recivers messure at 1ch, 1kHz @ 8ohm with 1-10% THD🙈🙈😅😅 I just look at the power supply and what class amp it has an use a calculator. Then you get a more realistic number. I just calculate 50% heat loss for class AB to be sure.

[@marcbegine]

Finally, the FR30 “MAN” LIVE💝

[@CarlVanDoren61]

High End Stereo Amplifier 😊 Coda Ts v3 800w@4ohms

[@larrygaines7462]

16x35 treated room needs 2 tpa3255 monoblocks 48vdc 12 amps 92 db/ watt is fine above 70hz and 500watt duodayton18s, adequate for me. 8 ohm ,8 in mid woofer, 3 way

[@larrygaines7462]

Loud enough to not hear the voices in my head

[@davidstevens7809]

Reason they changed to 2.83 instead of 1 watt..is that low imp speakers got an advantage..thats why they changed..

[@cbrunhaver]

Amplifiers make volts, not watts. They chose 2.83V to most closely match the previous specification standard.

[@davidstevens7809]

@@cbrunhaver sir.. im an amp builder .. and repair tech.. and look into my statements..its fact.

[@davidstevens7809]

amps deliver voltage and depending on imp and its ability to follow ohms law..they changed from 1 watt per meter.to 2.83 v.. it levels the results .. and lower imp load speakers dont get the 3db nod.. whee this isfun. Im calling winslow burhoe..and getting truth

[@davidstevens7809]

@@cbrunhaver some amps cant follow ohms law. Thats what I studied for 30 years..The next step in audio. Ill help achieve.. please give me an interview sir

[@cbrunhaver]

@@davidstevens7809 I’m paraphrasing the explanation of the reasoning for the 2.83V standard in the IEC268-5 document based on a presentation that Andrew Jones made at AXPONA last year (discussing his work with Laurie Fincham on this stuff)

[@Rowuk2024]

If 99% is heat, how does the designer insure that the heat is only causing problems in a linear way?

[@peterw2714]

Heat is only a problem if you start to really push the speaker

[@Rowuk2024]

@@peterw2714 No “customer” can make a statement like that. The effects of heat are not linear and certainly audible long before the speaker is “pushed”. Wishful thinking and being used to distortion make most “listeners” at best challenged to perform listening tests. We are creatures of habit and are what we repeatedly do.

[@vincentwerner4856]

Why the desks? This sounds awfull!

[@spacemissing]

Next time, use lapel mics.

[@EricBrettJones]

terrible