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What componant degrades the signal least/most?

There have been many threads on this website over the last several years which addressed the effects of different cables on the sound of a system.

In my mind virtually every other componant was a greater effect on, or adds it's own signature to the signal more than cable does. Every componant has connections (every connection is a loss of signal) resistors, capacitors, power supplies, boards. These things will effect an input signal more than a pair of terminations and a length of wire.

We all know that CDs and LPs are capable of sounding amazing. In the best systems they can be truly breath-taking. Most of us do not experience this at home though.

Where was that beautiful music lost? What componant contributed most to the loss of that signal?
128x128nrchy
sidssp
1,077 posts
 
I would say speaker and listening room contributed the most of the signal loss.
rives
953 posts
 
The room (did you really expect something else from me?): it necessarily changes the amplitude and phase of a variety of frequencies. The degree to which it changes things and how degrading that change is depends on the room and speaker interaction. A cube shaped room would be one of the worst for amplitude change, as the deviations from a flat response would be huge. A "golden ratio" room (although I don't entirely subscribe to this theory), would give reasonable mode spacing and while it still changes amplitudes of certain frequencies it does so in a more uniform fashion (Bonello criteria). The other part is the phase--reflected sound is always out of phase (well almost always). Only an anechoic chamber can offer no phase shifts--but I don't think you would enjoy music in that environment. Phase shifts are what give us spatial cues.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Mechanical/Electrical transducers are the problem.

1. The microphones used to make the recording.
2. If you play an LP, the pickup.
3. The speakers.

IMHO These account for about 95% of the sound quality, assuming that the electronics are at least midfi stuff (Denon, Rotel, Adcom, NAD..etc.) Getting that last 5% costs all the money, and is a complete waste of time if the original recording wasn't top drawer.

PS: Really good or really bad room accoustics can play a big part even if the overall quality isn't great. I have mentioned before how good dixieland jazz sounds when played through honky horn speakers in an unfinished cellar.
Some professional performance halls have accoustic panels that can be raised and lowered so as to alter the hall accoustics to suit the particular performance format.
ohlala
1,238 posts
 
I'm just bringing up a point, really. Circadian rhythms and noise external to the stereo, make a night and day difference with my signal loss. More so than with any component change, but obviously these factors are my "wall", and not necessarily anyone else's.

Transducers is probably as good as answer there is.
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