Hi Kirkus, that one is easy! Its the same issue of when you hear a really good digital recording, one that is really convincing. What would it sound like it had been done analog?
The whole experience here comes down to one of expectation and intent. If you *know* that the system is underpar (maybe its only a table radio) *then* you don't have much expectation of it. But if its a real high end system- it had better bring home the bacon, because it has some high expectation attached.
I heard a system across the hall from me at THE Show about 10 years ago, maybe a little more. It was Joni Mitchell, singing with a full orchestra. It had been recorded by Sony, digitally, in 6 channels. The system was entirely solid state. The format was a digital reel to reel, 1/2" wide. I really did not hear the system, it was only the experience of the music.
So what would it have been like if it was 2" analog with my amps on each speaker? Hey, maybe it would have been better. We'll never know. I can say this though- if that system/recording does the job for you, if somehow it manages to sound *real* than that is worth paying attention to.
I have never said that feedback should be eschewed- all I have done is point out what it does. Now if you are reading between the lines, you will also see that I have also been pointing to how things can be dealt with. I'll give you a couple of examples. FWIW, these are all on the cutting edge of the art.
1) since feedback is bad, build tube or transistor amps without,
2) since the evil of feedback has a particular cause (propagation delay), build circuits that gets around this problem. Then you can have all the feedback you want.
There are people who are doing both, or at least are approaching both. Nelson Pass is one, Spectron is another. I think there are some class D amps out there that do some timing things to get around this issue too. And of course there are all the zero feedback tube amps out there...
The whole experience here comes down to one of expectation and intent. If you *know* that the system is underpar (maybe its only a table radio) *then* you don't have much expectation of it. But if its a real high end system- it had better bring home the bacon, because it has some high expectation attached.
I heard a system across the hall from me at THE Show about 10 years ago, maybe a little more. It was Joni Mitchell, singing with a full orchestra. It had been recorded by Sony, digitally, in 6 channels. The system was entirely solid state. The format was a digital reel to reel, 1/2" wide. I really did not hear the system, it was only the experience of the music.
So what would it have been like if it was 2" analog with my amps on each speaker? Hey, maybe it would have been better. We'll never know. I can say this though- if that system/recording does the job for you, if somehow it manages to sound *real* than that is worth paying attention to.
I have never said that feedback should be eschewed- all I have done is point out what it does. Now if you are reading between the lines, you will also see that I have also been pointing to how things can be dealt with. I'll give you a couple of examples. FWIW, these are all on the cutting edge of the art.
1) since feedback is bad, build tube or transistor amps without,
2) since the evil of feedback has a particular cause (propagation delay), build circuits that gets around this problem. Then you can have all the feedback you want.
There are people who are doing both, or at least are approaching both. Nelson Pass is one, Spectron is another. I think there are some class D amps out there that do some timing things to get around this issue too. And of course there are all the zero feedback tube amps out there...