Recent content by DACMan
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Do you need technical knowledge to consider Tube gear?
I would go you one better. Find a dealer who has equipment you can LISTEN to. Rather than try to understand the technical details, and figure out which are hype and which are real, the easiest non-technical solution is to go listen to it and see if you agree that it sounds good and, if so...- DACMan
- Post #71
- Forum: Vacuum Tube Audio Forum
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Frugal Power
There is no fallacy FUNCTIONALLY. The person's immune system acts differently because they are convinced that it will - so their mind is influencing their immune system. However, depending on the situation, their mind may or may not be sufficiently able to cause enough influence to effect a...- DACMan
- Post #65
- Forum: Frugal Audiophile Forum
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Frugal Power
Placebo - how good is it If you believe the test results - then you are wrong. In some people, a sugar pill (or equivalent) CAN imitate the effects of an IV heroine injection. It works to varying degrees on different people.- DACMan
- Post #64
- Forum: Frugal Audiophile Forum
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Do you need technical knowledge to consider Tube gear?
OK, I'll be entirely (brutally) honest. I happen to know a LOT about how tube amps SHOULD be designed, and what design parameters really matter. I can honestly say that I haven't looked in detail at all that many modern designs, but the majority of the ones I have examined were pathetic. With...- DACMan
- Post #70
- Forum: Vacuum Tube Audio Forum
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Do you need technical knowledge to consider Tube gear?
A wire with gain I would disagree with your overall premise..... The goal of your entire stereo system (if you want to call it "hi-fi") IS to provide gain. The definition of "high-fidelity" is to attempt to accurately reproduce some "original"..... The goal of your entire chain of...- DACMan
- Post #69
- Forum: Vacuum Tube Audio Forum
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Do you need technical knowledge to consider Tube gear?
A guitar amplifier is all about sound PRODUCTION. HiFi gear is all about RE-production. If a guitar amp distorts, then that distortion is "part of the instrument" as intended by the artist. If the stereo you play it through distorts, that is your equipment NOT playing the song as the artist...- DACMan
- Post #68
- Forum: Vacuum Tube Audio Forum
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Question about cable strategy!
I agree with what you're saying, but I think it could be stated more concisely..... A cable can do nothing but degrade the performance of a system. The neutral cable does NOT "open up the sound stage" or any such thing - what it does is to FAIL to degrade them from what they were to begin with...- DACMan
- Post #108
- Forum: Frugal Audiophile Forum
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Question about cable strategy!
Actually, I disagree entirely. From the description, it sounds like this thread is about "strategies for making good sounding cables". Assuming that this is indeed the case, then we must ALL accept the fact that not everybody DOES agree that there are major audible differences. To be...- DACMan
- Post #107
- Forum: Frugal Audiophile Forum
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The biggest difference I hear between digital and analog
I agree with you in basic principle - but I think you are overstating the claim. First off, we DO have a defined maximum bandwidth - and that is the limit of human hearing. We don't have to consider 1.2 mHz noise because we can't hear it - so we can call our "bandwidth of interest" the limits...- DACMan
- Post #260
- Forum: General Audio Forum
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The biggest difference I hear between digital and analog
I would disagree that analog really has more bandwidth than digital...... Sure, a really well recorded LP can theoretically have SOME information up to 40 kHz or so, but there's more to it than that. First, let's remember that RIAA curve - where the high frequencies are boosted... Don't try...- DACMan
- Post #258
- Forum: General Audio Forum
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Do you need technical knowledge to consider Tube gear?
I have several "problems" with subjectivism.... some philosophical and some brutally practical. 1) Objectivism is quantifiable. If you and I agree that we want "a straight wire with gain", then we can compare notes and measurements. If instead, we both subjectively "want what sounds good to...- DACMan
- Post #56
- Forum: Vacuum Tube Audio Forum
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Do you need technical knowledge to consider Tube gear?
Thanks very much. It's a pleasure to find a place where people pay attention :) As for the link - that seems to have something to do with the way the forum software interacts with the browser. It is "passing" the color and font information along with the link, which confuses the browser...- DACMan
- Post #55
- Forum: Vacuum Tube Audio Forum
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Do you need technical knowledge to consider Tube gear?
A poll would be interesting.... and amazingly relevant to this thread. The simple fact is that, IF THAT IS YOUR GOAL, then tube amps are pretty much out of the running. And, conversely, if you start from the assumption that you do want your equipment to alter the sound, then we're pretty close...- DACMan
- Post #54
- Forum: Vacuum Tube Audio Forum
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The biggest difference I hear between digital and analog
I'd have to give him the point there. At SOME level, everything is digital. With tape, each grain is a discrete entity although, as I recall, the alignment is not an either/or proposition. Each atom (or is it molecules?) has a discrete "field strength", but can still be aligned in a pretty much...- DACMan
- Post #132
- Forum: General Audio Forum
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Do you need technical knowledge to consider Tube gear?
If biasing worries you, then opt for either a fancy design with computerized bias (like the Doge), or a nice simple design with cathode bias (like the majority of older amps used). With cathode bias, the bias is "self determined" by the current flowing through the tubes, so you NEVER have to set...- DACMan
- Post #45
- Forum: Vacuum Tube Audio Forum
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