This has become something of a cult posting. Kind of amusing actually, thanks for the intense interest. I would agree with most of the comments above in the past. I think you can convince yourself of a "better" sound. Heck, witness Stereophile doing it: Conrad Johnson 11a going from a Class C to Class A (that was probably due to president of Conrad Johnson writing in), MSB Link DAC going from Class C to Class B, B&W Nautilus 805 going from Class A to Class B and so forth. The point being that there are no clear cut winners in many cases. Often I prefer one speaker over another depending on my mood for certain music and the qualities of a speaker. That synergy thing. Yet in the end I realise that there is that realization that it is better to not trick one's self into an never ending pursuit of components and focus on improving one's software collection. No where have I heard bigger differences, assuming a certain mimimum level of audio component quality (see an early response of mine), than in poor and well engineered recordings. Regarding, the emotional defensive reactions I will not indulge those folks. There has been some careful thought given by many here. But here are some responses to some of the more thoughtful. Double blind testing can tell what will work over the long term if you set the correct criteria and keep it standard. When tuning a piano or a violin there are standard procedures that enable someone to get the job done that day not in weeks of trial and error. In fact, the longer the trial period on subjective calibrations will actually result in increased errors from a reproducible perspective. Hence you are actually testing small incremental changes in your perception, each one convincing you that the previous perception was invalid and the new one is correct. But the pathway is not linear since what you listen for one day is not the same the next and so forth. It is more like a road network with a series of dead ends, you are constantly traveling but never really getting any where. At one of those deadends, perceived sonic bliss, you take out your perceptual map only to find that you not where you want to be so get on the road again and travel to a place you will not likely reach by using these nonstandard, purely subjective measures over protracted periods of time. Pull in the dead end, stay a while, back out, go a different direction so on and so forth.
Amp stands- Do they work?
I recently purchased a Pass Aleph 3 and loved it so much that I "had to buy" a pair of the Aleph 2 monoblocks. I have been A/B-ing them at my home for the last 3 weeks for most of my free time. The 2s have a lot more presence, but lack the for lack of better words "musical reality" the 3 has. Forgive me for the term, but if you've heard the 3, then you probably understand. Anyway, I have asked most of the guys at Pass Labs and they essentially tell me I am hearing things- that the 2s "have all the sonic characteristics of the 3, just more of it" I have eliminated all other variables except that the 3 is on the bottom of my rack (Salamander Archetype), and the 2's are on the carpet in front of my system. I am interested in anyone's input as to the impact a reasonable stand might have on the sonics of my amps. I currently am acting on this hypothesis and have put the 3 on the floor next to the 2's. If it is of any help the components are in order- my source is a Muse Model 5 transport, Illuminati D-60 digital, EAD 7000 MkIII D/A, Kimber KCAG, Muse Model 3 preamp, WBT 5151 -great cable!!!!!, Pass Amps, Nordost Red Dawn speaker cable, B&W 804s. Counterpoint PAC-5 conditioner, API Power Wedge 4A conditioner. Marigo RMX ref power cables. Amps are using stock power cables- Nelson Pass's recommendation. Thanks for listening and I look forward to any input.
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- 98 posts total
- 98 posts total