Class "A" sound, as related to Stereophile.



It's all about the sound.

It's all about sound, not how much it cost; when I got into "high end", I knew right off the bat I couldn't afford it, but I had to find one thing for sure; how do the various components sound in regard to Stereophile's classes, or ratings? In order to know this; I had to acquire the ability to identify "Stereophile's" class "A" class "B" and class "C" sounds, and the only way to do that was: first, subscribe to Stereophile, and next was to go to every high end audio salon within driving distance; there were 5 well stocked "high end" salons within driving distance. (Since I didn't take my wife, that created some problems)

After a few years of subscribing to Stereophile, plus auditioning equipment that Stereophile recommended, I knew the sound of those recommendations, and I absolutely concurred with them; "If you want to hear the music, you got to pay the piper". While that's true, it's possible to get class "A" sound with class "B" bucks or less.

At this moment, I am looking at 8 capacitors that cost $25 dollars each, plus 2 mono blocks with an instant resale value of 6K. Once I take the covers off and go in with my soldering iron, these mono blocks are worth a resell of O; my mission must be a success. After a successful mission, the resell is still 0; but those mono blocks will deliver class "A" or "A"+ sound, and that's some sweet music.

I have to visualize and hear music in my head before I can modify a component to deliver class "A" sound; but that's the only way for me to get what has become a necessity.

The pressure someone is under when they modify, is great, but the rewards are glorious. On these mono blocks, they are too small for the huge capacitors, therefore I have to figure a way to make the case larger. My reward is "sound" with absolutely no relation to money. I often wander if someone with a fat bankroll can identify the sound, or only how much they paid for each piece.


Happy listening.

orpheus10
it looks like the fluting is regular, but for a good diffusor it needs to be random or some 'unusual' pattern

maybe it works at a specific freq.?

I like the easy & cheap direction tho...

Dave and Randy, all is not logical; I've had tube base traps in the front corners since day 1 to stop bass "rattle" or resonance, and it worked. I just placed both tubes in the right hand corner, and the center image moved to the left, which is what I want.

That tells me this is going to require a lot of experimentation, which will require a number of pieces. I've only got 2 ft of wall to work with on the left side of the room, the rest is glass door and drapes.

Maybe a diffuser next to the tube trap on the left side will work; it's for sure we're making progress, but I can see it will seem quite "illogical" at times.

Ain't this a lot of fun.
Hi o,

If moving your tubes moved the image, then they are effecting much more than low bass frequencies since these are non-directional and the bass nodes are larger than the width of your room.

Diffusion is primarily to improve imaging by scattering and diffusing wall reflections such as to dissipate them. Absorption is actually removing sound pressure and signal level at certain frequencies. So, if your room is tonally correct as set up, then adding diffusion on the wall will reduce early reflections and improve image specificity (remove the boundaries). If not, then absorption (applied correctly) will improve the spectral balance of your room.

Every audio system inside a normal size room has numerous reflection points along the walls and the ones that occur at the first reflection point, midway along the wall between your speakers’ baffles and your listening position, are the most detrimental to imaging specificity, so something should be done to reduce/eliminate them. Ignoring bass for a moment, if the sound is too bright, then absorption at the first reflection point (midpoint along the wall between the speaker baffle and your listening position) will help to correct that. If you feel that it is just right, then avoid absorption and go with diffusion at the first reflection point, lest you suck the life out of your sound.

My thinking, right or otherwise, is to address spectral balance first (absorption). I suggest you begin determining what your room is doing acoustically regarding the spectral (frequency) range. Do you have a test CD with different test tone frequencies and a RatShack analog sound pressure meter?

Best to you o,
Dave


Mesch, you're going in the right direction; if you say you hear Class "B", I don't doubt it. That's a class that is attainable with dedication and hard work, plus numerous tweaks.

Room treatment is an area I haven't investigated, consequently, I'm still learning about it; that means we'll all progress together.


Enjoy the music.