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3D lifelike sound and impeccable measurements - mutually exclusive???

The more I investigate gear the more it seems that it’s easy to get organic involving sound with flesh and body and a 3D immersive soundstage with the right matching of components but it also seems like it necessitates choosing some components that don’t measure well/add colorations/even order harmonics etc My question is are there components (specifically amps/preamps and integrateds) are out there that combine great measurements and in your mind also have that organic immersive sound that really helps many of us get more emotionally involved in the music or are these qualities mutually exclusive? 
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jjss49
6,612 posts
 
op

Really only one or two people have answered my question and made suggestions of brands that they believe both measure very well AND offer an immersive musical experience in their opinion. That’s really all I’m looking for. How hard is that?

there is a website that is right up your alley, run by a ex microsoft guy who uses measurement as the key yardstick to audio equipment greatness, then he listens to the gear, sometimes, as an afterthought... you can get his greatest hits list and cross tab against opinions here or the recommended lists of stereophile or the absolute sound

good luck

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?forums/stereo-and-multichannel-amplifier-reviews....


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clarinetmonster2 OP
201 posts
 
Charles1dad
yes, i appreciate the sentiment and it’s pretty much what I’ve always followed is just my ears not worrying at all about measurements hence why i run Harbeths with a hybrid notorious for measuring poorly and sounding great. But you know how it is, we get bored and want to see what is possible in this hobby. 
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clarinetmonster2 OP
201 posts
 
Jjss49 yup I have checked his reviews out. Interesting but he’s so skewed to the measurements side you never know how it will actually sound. Ah yes Rereading your post I think you’re right that is not a bad way to go to use it as a cross list along with stereophile measurements etc.
wolfie62
352 posts
 

I don't understand the question. Do you want what sounds good? Or what measures good? Don't say both. Life is full of choices. Nobody gets everything they want. Nothing is ever perfect. So your choice. Which one do you want?  

This is where the great Pyle amps come in. Measurements be damned, sound be damned! 

Just GREAT sound that can’t be quantified by name or price!

If you want good, not great, sound, ya gotta spend $20,000 at least.
clarinetmonster2's avatar
clarinetmonster2 OP
201 posts
 
Well I’ll give an example of gear that measures very well and sounds organic, musical and 3D to my ears on the DAC side. The chord DACs I’ve heard have a very analog lifelike quality to them (have heard the qutest and Dave) and measure extremely well. The Dave is expensive the qutest is cheap - there have to be some under 10k components on the amp/integrated side that combine these virtues....I would think.
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