High End Myth Glossary.
Numbers don't lie but you have to know how to interpret them. That specific analogy simply means that the Yamaha produces lower THD, it doesn't tell us anything about how the unit will sound or how those figures were derived. You have to look at the BIG picture and have a LOT of spec's / background on the unit and methods used for testing for the "numbers" to mean anything. Sean > PS... Lots of global or local negative feedback will produce very low THD figures, but it also produces a very "sterile" sounding component. One is better off with a product that uses a very solid circuit design to start off with with just enough feedback used to keep the device "clean" and "stable". There are many mass produced products that utilize "thrown together" circuit designs and then utilize GOBS of feedback to correct the poor design. Unfortunately, it is much cheaper to build a junky circuit and make it "measure good" / correct it with a lot of feedback, so that's what a lot of manufacturers do. That's why so many pieces of gear sound like crap i.e. there are more "band-aids" than healthy designs out there. |
Sean sez: Numbers don't lie but you have to know how to interpret themI agree. It further seems that some "standard" measurements (or the way they are made) hardly correlate with the sonic result. Especially when it comes to amp-speaker interface. OTOH, engineers DO know circuit analysis -- so, it stand to reason that there SHOULD be SOME measurements made that actually reflect what everyone HEARS. I don't know where the catch is -- maybe the industry doesn't want to change the "standard" specs? For an interesting discussion on this subject take a look here and here Cheers |
Sean, Most of the such recievers are built on OP-Amps that by definition have humangous gain and thus need huge neg. feedback to correct distortions. Most of these chips(used in consumer audio products) are produced in China and do have terrible characteristics far different from catalogue specified. A feedback at the same time can't be infinite and should be carefully selected so such unit will not go to oscillations... By definition it's far more easier to produce a transistor with clean and linear characteristics(or tube) than OP-amp. A good OP-amp has much larger tolerance in its IO characteristics than a good transistor(or tube) by all logical terms but designing and building an audio component is much simplier and faster and so cheaper using OP-Amps, however there are many successfull audio-components in today's high resolution audio equipment built on OP-Amps: compact phonostages such as NAD PP1, Michell ISO by Tom Evans; preamps such as McCormack RLD, McCormack Micro Line Drive; poweramps such as Audio Research D series have input and driving circuitries using OP-Amps. Gregm, To understand measurements that everyone HEARS you should know ALL electronic parameters of at least audio amplification equipment. Challenge yourself and many secrets will be uncovered for you... |
