Here’s how I think of it. In a lab, sound waves hit a microphone, are converted to electrical signals, travel to a preamp/amp, where they are amplified, and measured. In human experience, sound waves hit an ear drum, continue to the inner ear, where they are converted to electrical signals, and travel to the brain, where they are …. What? Heard? Imagined? Interpreted? Measurements are helpful, but the final measure is what each person hears. It’s all in your head, after all.
Let me end the Premp/Amplifier sound debate ...
I'm old enough to remember Julian Hersch from Audio magazine and his very unscientific view that all amplifiers sounded the same once they met a certain threshold. Now the site Audio Science Review pushes the same.
I call these views unscientific as some one with a little bit of an engineering background as well as data science and epidemiology. I find both of these approaches limited, both in technology used and applied and by stretching the claims for measurements beyond their intention, design and proof of meaning.
Without getting too much into that, I have a very pragmatic point of view. Listen to the following three amplifier brands:
- Pass Labs
- Luxman
- Ayre
If you can't hear a difference, buy the cheapest amplifier you can. You'll be just as happy. However, if you can, you need to evaluate the value of the pleasure of the gear next to your pocket book and buy accordingly. I don't think the claim that some gear is pure audio jewelry, like a fancy watch which doesn't tell better time but looks pretty. I get that, and I've heard that. However, rather than try to use a method from Socrates to debate an issue to the exact wrong conclusion, listen for yourself.
If you wonder if capacitors sound different, build a two way and experiment for yourself. Doing this leaves you with a very very different perspective than those who haven't. You'll also, in both cases, learn about yourself. Are you someone who can't hear a difference? Are you some one who can? What if you are some one who can hear a difference and doesn't care? That's fine. Be true to yourself, but I find very little on earth less worthwhile than having arguments about measurements vs. sound quality and value.
To your own self and your own ears be true. And if that leads you to a crystal radio and piezo ear piece so be it. In my own system, and with my own speakers I've reached these conclusions for myself and I have very little concern for those who want to argue against my experiences and choices.
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Folks, it doesn't matter what sounds like what! I know people who's stereos would send most people running out of the listening room holding their ears because the listener has hearing damage in the high frequency area. IF YOU ENJOY X, THEN LISTEN AWAY, but bashing others is just a demonstration of your frailties. You are so insecure that you try to beat up others who do not share your experience. There are many reasons why others may not agree with you. Their hearing may be better or worse than yours, their system may have better or worse resolution than yours, etc. Ultimately bashing others for enjoying things differently than you is just silly. I used to bash people who enjoyed lower resolving systems, who mocked those who with better resolving systems talking about the impact of this or that on their systems, but I finally figured out that we should celebrate that others enjoy audio rather than trying to belittle them for choices beyond that baseline. Frankly most things that others claim have improved their sound I once denounced myself. I too read Stereo Review and unfortunately paid attention to Julian Hersh's bunk. His "preferring" a Mark Levinson amp tells me that he was hearing differences, but understood that if he didn't validate his readers choices, they would not continue to read Stereo Review. Back when The Absolute Sound and Stereophile magazines were not taking advertisements, they didn't even agree about what equipment sounded best. Preference, politics, which manufactures would allow them to extort them into giving the reviewer gear, or insanely low prices on gear, who knows? They failed though because if they bashed an expensive piece of audio gear that someone already bought, they would stop reading the magazine. Politics aside, some love beef, others love beans, some love both, still others don't care for either. None are wrong folks! |
I have proposed this for a very very long time. While pundits (like me) can talk about differences, the only opinion that matters is that of the person purchasing the gear. If you listen to my opinion, at all, you should do so only in how it may help you hear differences, not necessarily, or at all, about which is better. Same for reviewers. Having said this, my opinion is still a hundred times better than the price tag for deciding what sounds better. 😂 There is NO worse judge of audio sound quality or fit for an end user than the price tags. |
First off, +1 on what @atmasphere said. Secondly, the folks at ASR display myopic hubris. Many folks there literally would take a $400 Topping amplifier over an Atmasphere, Pass Labs, D’Agostino, etc. amp based on measurements alone--without even test driving them. Go try posting on ASR and asking them how things sound. They can be so evangelical with this framework. Many, not all, of them do not talk about how things sound. The ASR purists believe if it tests better it must be better. End of story. While testing has its place and can be of meaningful value, it’s not everything. Also, I’m not entirely sure ASR is truly an objective service to the audiophile community. ASR may be monetizing a testing operation, and some folks say that ASR is tied to certain brands. I believe there’s a thread at Super Best Audio Friends or something where they have intel that Amir has a relationship with Topping or SMSL or one of those brands. See Audio Science Review, Review
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@ieales This statement is incorrect. This amp uses about 15 dB of feedback, allowing it to behave as a voltage source with most speakers. The variance at the output transformer is thus minimized. If it was zero feedback then it would behave as you describe.
While this is correct, it is incorrect to say that in all cases the 'sound' of the various parts actually influences the output. If the amplifier has enough Gain Bandwidth Product to support a large amount of feedback (+35dB) over the entire audio band then the various parts 'sound' will go away. Most amplifier designs cannot meet this criteria and so the parts influence the sound as you describe.
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