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  1. G

    Do we really want What'sBestForum to ever become AVShowroomsForum?...

    Possibly... if everyone is driving three-wheelers, they might be able to make a persuasive argument that four wheels are better - even if they don't have a driving licence.
  2. G

    Do we really want What'sBestForum to ever become AVShowroomsForum?...

    So, hypothetically, if someone argues that "DSD is better than PCM", is it important that they have (a) done extensive listening of both? (b) own both? (c) read something about the theory of how both systems work? Personally, I would go with (c) as long as I thought they were understanding and...
  3. G

    Do we really want What'sBestForum to ever become AVShowroomsForum?...

    I am thinking of the person who might argue that "bits are bits" and provide evidence of this purely from maths, physics, data sheets, schematics and so on. For me (but not everyone) this would trump all anecdotes about listening to things, so I would be perfectly happy to read their post. As...
  4. G

    Do we really want What'sBestForum to ever become AVShowroomsForum?...

    Yes, it was sloppy wording, but you are also making my point for me: If it is not possible to "have direct experience of an idea" then we cannot discuss pure ideas if a condition of making a post is that you have to have "direct experience" of what you are talking about.
  5. G

    Do we really want What'sBestForum to ever become AVShowroomsForum?...

    I think I respectfully disagree with that. If an idea depends on maths and physics, for example, then it matters not one jot whether the person talking about it has direct experience of it: it is correct or it isn't, and I am happy to read their views. How do we define "experience" anyway...
  6. G

    Do we really want What'sBestForum to ever become AVShowroomsForum?...

    Wouldn't that be more like a religious meeting? Surely there's got to be some differences in opinion..?
  7. G

    Why are there so few DACs with Ethernet inputs?

    Ultimately, is there an unfilled gap in the list of digital interfaces for audio? I don't see it myself - I think we're pretty well catered for. By connecting the right combination of cheap-as-chips products it's possible to stream audio across the world to a remote DAC, or simply from your...
  8. G

    Great article on "Analogue Warmth"

    Has anyone here seen the Stereophile review of a product called the Harmonic Technology Cyberlight? http://www.stereophile.com/cables/805harm/index.html#YZ0wzoHYrHBbFpXL.97 I think it's pretty relevant to what we're talking about. It's a real life example of a device that adds copious amounts...
  9. G

    Great article on "Analogue Warmth"

    I am one of those people. I have also never heard any of the no-doubt amazing home theatre 'ambience' algorithms that are out there, yet I make the sweeping generalization that I don't want to hear them. If I did, I might find that I actually preferred them - for some recordings and for a...
  10. G

    Great article on "Analogue Warmth"

    Excellent post!
  11. G

    Great article on "Analogue Warmth"

    When we are talking about SOTA analog, are we talking about vinyl, or reel-to-reel? We know what the problems are with reel-to-reel (or what the record companies designated as problems, anyway), which provided the motivation to develop the original digital recorders in the first place back in...
  12. G

    Am I the only one who thinks Red Book is better than HiRez?

    I somehow doubt that it is all that exciting! If someone said to me "Right, I'm assigning you to a project to develop an exciting new product that ultimately will measure exactly the same as all the others and sound exactly the same as all the others- but we think it has potential to be marketed...
  13. G

    Great article on "Analogue Warmth"

    This is just one of those ideas that we have to "let pass". It is now so embedded in audiophile mythology that anyone who argues against it will be shouted down. By extrapolation, even if we had genuine, measurable, verifiable 256 bit audio with a 10MHz sample rate and 0.000000001fs jitter...
  14. G

    Has anybody direclty compared Class D and Class A A/B amps?

    What a delightfully down-to-earth data sheet for the Hypex NC1200. It goes against everything that high end audio enthusiasts like to imagine goes on in their favourite b?o?u?g?h?t?-?i?n?-?d?e?v?i?c?e?-?w?i?r?i?n?g?-?a?n?d?-?p?u?t?t?i?n?g?-?i?n?-?a?-?f?a?n?c?y?-?b?o?x? ?c?o?m?p?a?n?i?e?s? ...
  15. G

    Great article on "Analogue Warmth"

    I was at a classical concert a couple of weeks back, only a few rows away from the stage, and I listened carefully for 'imaging'. As has been mentioned before, there was not much to speak of. Closing my eyes, I wouldn't have been able to tell you precisely where each instrument was left to right...
  16. G

    Great article on "Analogue Warmth"

    Good post. What it says to me is that we need to have some stakes in the ground. An amplifier that is neutral because it has been designed to be that way, and measured to confirm it; as Peter walker would say, we don't need to listen to it to know it's working. A DAC likewise. Speakers that have...
  17. G

    Great article on "Analogue Warmth"

    I am one of those who prefers digital, but who thinks that the rest of the system has to be capable of making use of it - and then we don't need euphonic "warmth" unless it has been added as an artistic effect within the recording. My signature below says what I think is the minimum system...
  18. G

    Great article on "Analogue Warmth"

    I think it can... sort of. I can feed test signals of some sort into an amp when driving a test load, and I can record what happens to the signal. But here are the caveats: 1. The amp's 'signature' that the fans love so much is inextricably linked with its dynamic interaction with the speaker...
  19. G

    Great article on "Analogue Warmth"

    Ugh!
  20. G

    Great article on "Analogue Warmth"

    I am thinking of it this way: If I were to feed a signal into an amp with a gradual clipping characteristic and then into a passive speaker I would get a certain result. If I were, instead, to filter the signal into three bands and then feed those into three amps with the same transfer...
  21. G

    Great article on "Analogue Warmth"

    OK, so the result is a 'look-up table'..? Input sample is an index into a table that gives you the value for the output? And then this relies on an ultra-neutral (class D) amp to drive the actual speaker..?
  22. G

    Great article on "Analogue Warmth"

    How will you establish the existing amp's characteristics? (apologies if you described that earlier and I missed it). Does it involve a test signal, test load and measurements? If so, what will your test signal and load be?
  23. G

    Great article on "Analogue Warmth"

    Have you auditioned many sealed subs (as opposed to ported)? It's my guess, for what it's worth, that with a larger sealed sub-woofer you may get closer to what you want. Ported speakers are, by definition, smearing the bass and giving the misleading impression, perhaps, that larger subs are...
  24. G

    Great article on "Analogue Warmth"

    I own one of the Quad current dumping amps, too, but I don't use it since I went 'active'. Active speakers present such an easy, efficient load that my presumption is that any characteristic sound that may, or may not, have been heard will not apply anyway. If amplifiers have any sound at all...
  25. G

    Great article on "Analogue Warmth"

    Actually my speakers are two-way boxes on top of large woofer enclosures. Not sure whether you'd call them subs however, because I am crossing them over at a slightly higher frequency than people generally define a "sub-woofer".
  26. G

    Why the Harman mono speaker test was wrong for dipole planers

    Because of the genius designer who designed it that way.
  27. G

    Great article on "Analogue Warmth"

    As I say, I just want 'neutral' so there's not much to say. I am sure they measure excellently (I wouldn't expect anything else), but if I were in his position I, too, would seek to cast unprovable aspersions on my competitors whose products measured just as well but were cheaper.
  28. G

    Great article on "Analogue Warmth"

    I have rarely read anything as transparently and calculatedly flattering to the man with the cheque book as this! And if I had designed an amplifier and I knew its measurements weren't all that great, I would have said exactly the same thing, simply to head off any problems with the inevitable...
  29. G

    Great article on "Analogue Warmth"

    A minor distinction, but I would have said that they were "inventing" or at least "innovating" rather than "re-inventing" (which is what I think the audiophile people do). Indeed, this is how I think it should be. Yes, and it assumes there is a neutral amplifier at the end of it. But if we...
  30. G

    Great article on "Analogue Warmth"

    This argument starts from the assumption that the natural state of affairs is for there to be designers of amplifiers and that they will always have an important job, therefore it follows that the perfect, or adequate, or adaptable, or cheap amplifier cannot exist - because this would render...

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