2. misc-audio
  3. 176850-3764

I don't want to beat a dead horse but I'm bugged.

I just can't clear my head of this. I don't want to start a measurements vs listening war and I'd appreciate it if you guys don't, but I bought a Rogue Sphinx V3 as some of you may remember and have been enjoying it quite a bit. So, I head over to AVS and read Amir's review and he just rips it apart. But that's OK, measurements are measurements, that is not what bugs me. I learned in the early 70s that distortion numbers, etc, may not be that important to me. Then I read that he didn't even bother listening to the darn thing. That is what really bugs me. If something measures so poorly, wouldn't you want to correlate the measurements with what you hear? Do people still buy gear on measurements alone? I learned that can be a big mistake. I just don't get it, never have. Can anybody provide some insight to why some people are stuck on audio measurements? Help me package that so I can at least understand what they are thinking without dismissing them completely as a bunch of mislead sheep. 

128x128russ69
russ69's avatar
russ69 OP
3,543 posts
 

 I believe audiophiles should not have to accept poorly measuring equipment.  

Thanks for posting. This thread was designed to help me understand people that rely on measurements above what they hear. You make a good point but if an amp or whatever sounds good even though it has measurements different than some other amps is that amp no good? Should it be dismissed without listening? Are we measuring the right things?  Is looking at .01% difference important? Is distortion that is not audible important? We don't prefer distortion, we just don't think inaudible distortion is important.  Are we wrong? 

deludedaudiophile
493 posts
 

We appear to be measuring the right things, some people like less perfect reproduction. They like the imperfect artifacts. That is not bad.

whitefishpoint1175's avatar
whitefishpoint1175
169 posts
 

Horse doodie’s.

invalid
1,249 posts
 

Really perfect reproduction? You would think that with all these great measurements and great measuring equipment that at least some recordings would sound closer to a live unamplified performance but they don't, that's why tubes still exist, to make it sound more like real music.

onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
5,258 posts
 

Atmasphere has numerous posts about amplifier harmonic distortion and listener perception.  Simply stated, vanishingly low harmonic distortion is not necessary.  The harmonic spectrum and linearity of the distortion are more important.  So whether THD is .001% or a hundred times greater is pretty irrelevant.  Clearly measurements matter, it's just that the most commonly cited amplifier measurements aren't the most important regarding sound quality.

IMO a well designed amplifier should both measure well and sound good.

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