speakers for 24/96 audio

Shadorne, agree about compression but it is simply who is driving the market. Release uncompressed piano recording (about 96dB dynamics) and a lot of people will complain that on their boom boxes or shelf speakers woofers are constantly buzzing. Hi-res has different clientele so they reduced compression a bit but it is still bad. Also, as you mentioned, they try to make average loudness as high as possible because to inexperienced customer it appears as higher quality recording especially with poorly resolving systems.

I think redbook CD format specifies the dynamic range for the 16 bit format and is fairl y standardized as a result.

Not sure this is the case with other newer hi rez digital formats?

More bits enables more dynamic range and more detail together. How this happens might be highly variable in lieu of a standard.

In any case, for hi rez digital sources, I suspect a difference associated mainly with the high frequencies can be heard if done right, but that may be a big if at this juncture still.

To hear the most possible, you definitely want very good, younger ears, speakers that can handle dynamics and transients well and also have very good detail assuming the production is done well and the DAC not only reads the format but is able to output analog of similar resolution and quality.

At this still emerging stage of hi rez digital audio, I doubt it is a safe bet that hi rez source material and playback gear meets these requirements well in general, although I am sure there is some reference type recordings and better gear that do.

The first place I would listen for the difference is in well recorded massed bowed strings in orchestral music. Use a good modern RTR reference recording as a reference standard. Even older trained ears should hear a noticeable difference if the digital is not extremely well done.

I have had the opportunity to listen to RTR, vinyl, and good redbook CD recordings on a very well done dealer system using mbl 111e speakers. The difference from RTR to redbook CD was pronounced but you might not notice the limitations of the redbook CD unless compared to the RTR or even good vinyl on a similarly good system.

The SOTA wide and deep soundstage in this optimized and very resolving mbl setup provided exactly the venue size and 3 dimensonal sound quality needed to be able to hear these kinds of differences clearly. Quite an eye (ear?) opener!

First of all, I totally agree about compression running rampant these days, especially for drum kits. My wife is a drummer, so I know what drums really sound like, and only a few recordings give you a hint of their dynamic range. In fact, she and I both lament that a lot of modern recordings don't even use real drums any more, only those electronic travesties, for ease of recording.

To expand about about differences I've heard with hi-res on the DAC1, sometimes I think I hear a difference, in that some hi-res recordings seem to reveal something I've never heard before, but then I go back to a CD and hear similar things. Or I find an awesome recording on CD that sounds better than anything I've heard on hi-res. For example, oddly, I still haven't heard a piano recording superior to the ancient Telarc CD of Malcom Frager playing Chopin. That old Soundstream recording even forces an odd conversion to 16/44, and it still sounds great.

As for Kijanki's comment that the s/n ratio of most amps is specified at 1W, I say check again. All of the obvious ones I've checked reference full power, and most can't break -85db at 1W into 8ohms. JA's measurements in Stereophile are very interesting in this regard. (His measurements are the only reason I read the magazine.)

Irvrobinson 6-30-11:
I still haven't heard a piano recording superior to the ancient Telarc CD of Malcom Frager playing Chopin.

If you can find it, try Wilson Audio WCD-9129, Chopin's Piano Sonata No. 3 in B Minor, Op. 58 (and other shorter works), performed by Hyperion Knight. The best reproduction of solo piano in my experience, and it's on a 1991 redbook cd!

Best regards,
-- Al