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Thread: What does "dynamic" mean?

  1. #1
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    Default What does "dynamic" mean?

    Hey everyone! It's been a while since I've posted last. Still enjoying me towers.

    Just curious. . . I see the term "dynamic" thrown about all the time in speaker forums, and it seems to me that the term isn't always used to mean the same thing. Would someone mind explaining to me what all "dynamic" can mean when it comes to a speaker's sound?

    For example, I read somewhere that the CMT-340 SE is more "dynamic" than the CBM-170 SE. Would someone help me understand exactly why it is more dynamic? If they are both crossed at 80hz, then... I see that there is a single decibel difference in sensitivity. Power handling is 40 watts better. What measurements are relevant when talking about dynamics?

    Sorry for the rambling. Just kinda scratching my head. You think you understand something, then you think again. lol Thanks!

    PS - I'm considering CBM-170 SE for future home theater with 3 identical speakers across the front. I'm trying to balance the possible advantages/disadvantages of having 3 identically oriented CBMs vs 3 non-identically oriented CMT-340s. Both would be crossed at 80hz.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: What does "dynamic" mean?

    I've read talk about "macro dynamics" vs "micro dynamics", but I'm not sure this is a standard way of looking at things. There's lots of "this is what it means to me" disclaimers involved. Are people talking about the waterfall plots? The ability for a speaker to only play the signal with no additional movement? I've always just called this clarity. I've done some reading, but... ugh... lol

  3. #3
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    Default Re: What does "dynamic" mean?

    Quote Originally Posted by j0nnyfive View Post
    Hey everyone! It's been a while since I've posted last. Still enjoying me towers.

    Just curious. . . I see the term "dynamic" thrown about all the time in speaker forums, and it seems to me that the term isn't always used to mean the same thing. Would someone mind explaining to me what all "dynamic" can mean when it comes to a speaker's sound?

    For example, I read somewhere that the CMT-340 SE is more "dynamic" than the CBM-170 SE. Would someone help me understand exactly why it is more dynamic? If they are both crossed at 80hz, then... I see that there is a single decibel difference in sensitivity. Power handling is 40 watts better. What measurements are relevant when talking about dynamics?

    Sorry for the rambling. Just kinda scratching my head. You think you understand something, then you think again. lol Thanks!

    PS - I'm considering CBM-170 SE for future home theater with 3 identical speakers across the front. I'm trying to balance the possible advantages/disadvantages of having 3 identically oriented CBMs vs 3 non-identically oriented CMT-340s. Both would be crossed at 80hz.
    I think part of it is the ability to play a very loud portion compared to the softer parts. The 340's have the ability to play louder than the 170's.
    Nate

  4. #4
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    Default Re: What does "dynamic" mean?

    Hey Nate!

    Yeah, that's what I typically use "dynamic" to refer to as well. What's making me scratch my head is: I see people saying the CMT-340 SE is more dynamic (as a selling point). But, when I look at the measurements, there is only 1 decibel and 40 watts difference between the 2 speakers. People in other forums have called this kind of difference negligible. So, that leaves me a little confused as to what I should conclude.

    a. When comparing the two speakers, did they mean something else by "dynamic?"

    b. Are the measurements not representative of the true "dynamics" of each speaker?

    c. Is a 1 db and 40 watts difference actually something significant?


    I feel a gap in my understanding concerning this. This whole subject can seem impenetrable at times.

    The only significant difference, AFAIK, as far as "volume dynamics" go would be concerning the lower frequencies. I wonder if this is what they meant? The thing is, I will be crossing at 80hz most likely to multiple sealed subs. I'm just wondering if, in this situation, there would be a big enough difference to justify CMT-340 SE in a non-ideal center channel position.

  5. #5
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    Default Re: What does "dynamic" mean?

    You can't really discern anything from the measurements in terms of dynamics.

    The 1db difference you see is just the difference in sensitivity, it just says how loud the speaker plays with 1 watt of power.
    -curtis

  6. #6
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    Default Re: What does "dynamic" mean?

    Hey Curtis!

    Thanks for chiming in! "Terms of dynamics" is the subject of my bewilderment. lol What exactly are the terms of dynamics? It seems that many people have different ideas. Is there some standard, measurable understanding of dynamics? This term is used a lot, but I haven't found anything other than fairly loose opinions, so far. (Granted, I don't have much time to look, but I am looking when I can!)

    My understanding, so far, is this:

    Macro dynamics - The ability to play loud passages effortlessly without compressing.
    Micro dynamics - The abi...li...ty.... to..... not play any extra sounds other than the signal! I think...

    But this was someone else's guess of a guess got from who know's where. I wish I could find a detailed answer that I trust. Any ideas?

  7. #7
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    Default Re: What does "dynamic" mean?

    Dynamics in general is the difference between soft and loud passages...transitioning between the two.

    Micro dynamics is low level detail.
    -curtis

  8. #8
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    Default Re: What does "dynamic" mean?

    Transition as in how fast a driver can accelerate from 0, reach it's goal SPL accurately, and then stop? Is that somewhat close to the main idea? Sorry for buggin ya, I'm trying to understand by what mechanism, physically, the CMT is more dynamic than the CBM. Thanks man.

  9. #9
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    Default Re: What does "dynamic" mean?

    Quote Originally Posted by j0nnyfive View Post
    Transition as in how fast a driver can accelerate from 0, reach it's goal SPL accurately, and then stop? Is that somewhat close to the main idea? Sorry for buggin ya, I'm trying to understand by what mechanism, physically, the CMT is more dynamic than the CBM. Thanks man.
    There are measurements that can best describe how dynamic a loudspeaker is. Basically, it would be a combination of the impulse response combined with dynamic compression testing. Dynamic compression is different than actual power handling, whereas power handling is simply how much power a loudspeaker can handle until it reaches enough mechanical distress that might cause damage. Dynamic compression (including thermal compression) would be at the point where the loudspeaker starts to compress and can no longer accurately reproduce volume increases.

    For example, keep feeding a 170'se and 340'se the same source (a 5 second cut of a dynamic music signal on A-B repeat is ideal) Measure the output of the speakers and record it (both speakers must first be level matched). Then increase the volume level by 1dB and re-measure. Both speakers will track the amplitude of the source and you would now measure 1dB higher with both speakers. Repeat this test until at some point, one of the speakers will no longer track the 1dB amplitude change, instead -- it will start to dynamically compress and its output level will remain the same regardless of how much more power you feed it (until it breaks down)

    In this case -- when comparing the 340SE and 170SE, the 170SE will reach the point at which is starts to dynamically compress at about 1/2 the power of the 340SE, due to the dual woofers and higher performance tweeter used in the 340's. In addition, although it might be difficult to ascertain from posted measurements, the 340SE also has a more accurate impulse response.

    Combining these 2 factors, one can easily conclude that the 340SE is considerably more dynamic than the 170SE.

    This comes into play when the speaker must accurately reproduce the dynamics in movies and music, with peaks often ranging from silence to +20-30dB. Although there is quite a bit of confusion regarding this and few actually understand it, loudspeaker efficiency is not related to dynamic capabilities. One of the most dynamic loudspeakers I have ever listened to was only about 89dB efficient.

    Hope this makes sense!
    .
    .
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    Good Sound To You!

    David Fabrikant
    www.ascendacoustics.com

  10. #10
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    Default Re: What does "dynamic" mean?

    Dave and Curtis! (in da house!)

    Thank you guys so much for educating me! It DOES make sense! It's really nice of you guys to take the time to answer questions in this much detail. I hope other newbs learn something from my crazy questions too.

    Keep the good sounds coming!
    Last edited by j0nnyfive; 06-24-2014 at 08:37 PM. Reason: unnecessary length

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