Regarding the Steinway Lyngdorf S-Series audio system’s volume capability:
A considerable number of you, of which the majority I am led to believe have not in fact actually ever auditioned a Steinway Lyndgorf audio system, have stated, repeated and insisted that the respective Steinway Lyngdorf S-Series Audio System is not capable of outputting audio volume at Cinema Reference Levels within the respective room sizes mentioned.
I have repeatedly insisted that it IS indeed capable of not only producing audio at Reference Levels (at the listening position), but also audio exceeding Reference Levels, and without any noticeable reduction in audio performance.
To which many of you, including the same individuals as before, have reiterated, (in a manner which I consider to be demeaning and insulting) that the Steinway Lyngdorf S-Series Audio System most certainly cannot hit Reference Levels at the listening position.
I have questioned how you can make such a bold statement without auditioning and testing the respective Steinway Lyngdorf S-Series audio system yourself; to which the reply has been that you don’t need to audition or test it to know that it can’t hit Reference Levels.
Firstly, I disagree that you do not need to audition or test an audio system in order to know without a doubt whether or not that audio system is capable of outputting audio volume at Cinema Reference Levels. And personally I find it baffling and amazing that anyone would think otherwise.
Secondly, I have to question the fact that many of the individuals participating in so frantically seeking to undermine my opinion are in fact wholly biased, having their own agenda, wherein they are highly motivated to argue against my opinion, and be persistently argumentative as such, irrespective of its validity; whether their particular bias is affiliation or personal relationship with a manufacturer, or owner of one of the audio systems that received a low score, or otherwise.
Thirdly, I visited GECKO, the UK Distributor for Steinway Lyngdorf yesterday, for the purposes of conducting fully comprehensive audio testing to confirm once and for all whether or not the respective Steinway Lyngdorf S-Series Audio system is or is not capable of outputting audio volume at Cinema Reference Levels.
In short, I am pleased to report, that (as per my prior findings) the respective Steinway Lyngdorf S-Series Audio system most certainly IS capable of outputting audio volume at Cinema Reference Levels (and without distortion).
So, without wishing to gloat, I find myself in the position of telling all of you who have stated otherwise (and belittled me in the process) that ALL of you are in fact WRONG!
What I have stated in my review about the Steinway Lyngdorf’s S-Series audio system’s volume capability, specifically with regards to achieving (and in fact exceeding) Reference Levels without distortion is in fact quite CORRECT.
Details as follows:
- Room size = 12 x 5 x 3.5m = 7,416 cubic feet.
- TWO different SPL meters were used (mine and Rob Sinden’s) to eliminate the possibility of the results being affected by a malfunctioning or inaccurate SPL meter.
- The SPL of each audio channel at the listening position was measured individually one at a time via use of a professional audio test disc.
Here’s a copy of an email I received yesterday evening from Rob Sinden at GECKO:
“Hi Nigel
Please find enclosed the photos I took during our testing of the system today.
THX Reference Level requires that each audio channel is measured at 85db on a SPL meter, “C” weighting “slow: from 4m away (or the listening position) with a full bandwidth signal. It also requires 20db headroom so in effect the ability to peak at 105db without distortion. The exception to this is that the LFE (subwoofer channel) must be measured at 95db with 115db peak at the same position.
As you know we measured this, and the system wasn’t anywhere near its maximum capability.
You will remember I turned the volume level up on the system until it was playing each audio channel at 110db continuously, not just peak (and the boundary woofers even more) with a full range signal and it did very comfortably – with at least 20db more headroom left on the volume dial and with virtually no cone movement seen from the S15 speaker drivers.
As you can see from what we measured today Steinway Lyngdorfs Model S system comfortably exceeds the THX Reference Level spec.
Regarding the question of distortion, as you know I consider it is obvious when you listen to this system and view just how little is the cone movement when played high volumes that distortion is not an issue. As you saw there was less than 2mm peak to peak excursion from the midrange driver on the S15 and this driver is designed to work within 7mm peak to peak excursion so it is both sonically and visibly not distorting.
With regard to your upset Triad owner, I can sympathise with him. I owned the same Triad Platinum LCR system in the past and on paper you simply wouldn’t believe that a speaker as tiny as the S15 would play anything like as loud as the huge 94db efficient Triads - but they most certainly do.
More importantly, when I sold Triad speakers, I would never have dreamt of demonstrating them with good classical or jazz music. Admittedly they aren’t designed for this – but nonetheless you would think a speaker of this size and cost should be able to handle it.
On an anecdotal level, I can tell you that presently we have a customer in Bristol who is just upgrading to Steinway Lyngdorf Model S from a Triad Gold LCR system that he uses in a large room at high SPL levels.
By the way – did you believe both how much louder and better the Steinway Model S system would be than anything else until you had heard it for yourself?
Best regards,
Rob Sinden”To reiterate, ALL of you who have stated that the respective Steinway Lyngdorf S-Series audio system “cannot hit Reference Levels at the listening position” are in fact WRONG; it can, and easily so.
So, I find myself in the ridiculous position of saying “I told you so” to several individuals, the majority of whom are clearly AUDIO PROFESSIONALS.
Not bad for someone like me, who so many of you have insulted as being ‘unskilled’ with regards to A/V, and nothing more than an ‘enthusiast’, eh?
Here’s the photos:
