音响

• Pinyin: yīn xiǎng
• Hanzi breakdown: 音 = 言 + 一 (speech + breath — articulated sound); 响 = 口 + 向 (mouth + direction — sound projecting outward)

Meaning

Audio equipment; sound system; stereo. Also used as a compound to mean acoustics (the physics of sound in spaces).

In everyday modern Chinese, 音响 most commonly refers to audio playback equipment — speakers, stereo systems, home theatre setups, PA systems. The technical sense of 'acoustics' (sound behaviour in a space) is also correct, especially in architecture and engineering contexts (音响效果 — acoustic effect/sound quality). Collocations: 音响系统 (sound system), 音响效果 (sound effect/acoustics), 高保真音响 (hi-fi audio equipment).

Examples

1. 演唱会主办方为这场户外音乐节专门租用了一套价值逾百万元的专业音响设备，以确保每一位观众都能获得清晰而震撼的听觉体验。 For this outdoor music festival, the concert organizer specifically rented a professional sound system worth over a million yuan to ensure every audience member gets clear, powerful audio.
2. 建筑师在设计这座新音乐厅时特别聘请了国际知名的声学顾问，对空间的音响效果进行了长达两年的模拟测试与反复优化。 When designing the new concert hall, the architect hired a world-renowned acoustics consultant and spent two years running simulations and refining the hall’s sound.
3. 随着高端音响市场的持续扩张，越来越多的消费者愿意为一套能够真实还原演奏现场临场感的高保真音响系统投入数万元乃至更高的预算。 As the high-end audio market continues to expand, more consumers are willing to spend tens of thousands of dollars—or more—on a hi-fi system that can faithfully recreate the sense of being at a live performance.

Usage Guide

Context: technology, entertainment, architecture, events

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 这套家庭影院音响采用新一代空间音频技术，能精准还原多声道声音的位置感，效果接近影院。(This home theater sound system uses a new generation of spatial audio technology and can accurately reproduce the positional sense of multichannel sound, with results close to a cinema.)
• 音乐厅的音响设计是整座建筑最难的环节之一，墙面角度或材料稍有偏差，都可能破坏声学效果。(The sound design of a concert hall is one of the most difficult parts of the whole building, and even slight errors in wall angles or materials can damage the acoustics.)

Don't Say

• 打开音响 meaning 'turn on the music' loosely — while colloquially understood, be precise: say 打开音响设备 (turn on the audio equipment) or 播放音乐 (play music); 音响 refers to the equipment, not the music itself

Origin & History

音 (sound — 言 speech + 一 breath; sound articulated through breath) + 响 (echo/sound/resonate — 口 mouth + 向 direction; sound directed outward)

Cultural Context

Era: Modern

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal