Even though hi-fi is a rather global phenomena do folks
around the world set-up their hi-fi rigs for best sound quality quite distinctively
different from one another?
By: Ringo Bones
Speak of hi-fi enthusiasts as a global community and the
term British Sound seems to loom large, but what is it? Does it have something
to do with hi-fi guru Malcolm Steward and is obsession with the synergistic
relationship between Linn and Naim hi-fi gear back in the 1980s with Thomas
Dolby’s Flat Earth philosophy? Even though other nationalities do tend to
optimize the sound quality of their hi-fi rigs endemic to their various regions
and nation-states and yet all of this seems to revolve around the term “British
Sound” – is this just mere “media hype” cobbled up by Madison Avenue ad men?
Peculiar as it may seem to the uninitiated, there does
appear to be a “British Sound”. The term might have come about because the
British had been making hi-fi kit for longer and in greater variety than other
“competing” nations. And musical imports – in the form of musicians – also play
a part on the evolution of what is now known as the British Sound. Or a more
likely reason is that the British have a certain size and construction of what
constitutes as the average listening room – medium sized in world terms, wooden
floored with plaster on brick wall construction. Either way, British hi-fi
enthusiasts seems to prefer a more upbeat sound – i.e. pace, rhythm and timing
- to nations outside of Europe.
Basing on my fortunate experience visiting various hi-fi
shows all over the world, American hi-fi enthusiasts seem to go for firepower
above all thus explaining their love of muscle amps with telephone number price
tags. While the Japanese prefer a silky relaxed balanced – just like the sound
of entry level Audio Note kit. The French prefer a bright, detailed sound that
can be quite captivating to first-time prospective audiophiles while Germans
prefer a relatively mid-forward sound that could sound very realistic when
playing a recording of a horn ensemble.
