Class D Amplification Announcement

Understood and I appreciate your attitude in the face of disagreement.

**** the live music thing alway struck me as kinda silly. ****

I could not disagree more. To use your example and turn it around, are we to use studio recordings as a benchmark for whether a system is performing well with recordings of acoustic music performed in a hall?

**** a good system strives to reproduce what the artist/recording engineer intended****

How do we know what they intended? We don’t. Re gear comparisons:

**** Example — Review speaker X sound brighter and more detailed than speaker Y. While a reader may not have heard speaker Y they may know the house sound of the brand or other speakers that sound similar to speaker Y, ****

How does a listener know what speakers sound similar to speaker Y if they have never heard speaker Y? This tells the listener nothing useful, imo.

Contrary to popular belief, there are enough “constants” in the various aspects of the sound of live music which allow a listener who is very familiar with the sound of live music to better judge how faithfully a piece of gear reproduces that sound. Of course, for this approach to be useful there has to be an interest in attending live performances in order to form a useful reference point.

**** To me there’s always room for more than one opinion because people see/hear things differently so there can’t be one right answer ****

I agree that there is always room for more than one opinion. As to the second part of your comment:

Yes, we all hear things differently. However, whatever physiological differences may exist among listeners which then cause us to hear differently will exist whether we are listening to a live performance, or to an electronically reproduced one. For instance, if my hearing apparatus hears with a dip at, say, 2K that dip will be there when I attend a concert as well as when I sit in front of my stereo at home. That is why comparison to live is useful and, imo, the most informative. Of course, there are many more aspects of sound than frequency balance to consider when judging gear.  

My 2 cents on live performances:

- Most rock performances sound like garbage. The drums and electric guitars are often too loud. The bass guitar and vocals are often too quiet. The sound is way too loud and confused near the stage. The sound improves significantly when standing far away (but then the band looks like ants on a stage and you're wondering why you bothered to go to a live performance).

- Electronic music is similar to rock in terms of volume. You have to stand really far from the stage to get a good sound. 

- Acoustic folk/Jazz music in a small venue is bliss. But you realize that instrument separation and stereo effect only happen with Hi-Fi equipment. In the real world everything kinda blends together. The band is performing on a small stage after all.

- Orchestral music. Wow! You get a wall of sound effect where you can feel the air moving and the walls vibrating. Again, stereo effect, soundstage and instrument separation lose all meaning in the real world. You get a wall of sound. You feel the music in your bones. 

My 3 cents:

I believe that audiophiles are chasing a sharper definition than the real world. In the real world everything just blends together into a wall of sound and through the reverberations of the room. There's no stereo effect and crystal clear "instrument separation". In the real world most live performances are way too loud and confused. Soft jazz, acoustic music and orchestral music avoid that problem. 

At what point do you guys say that your gear is "close enough" and start listening to music intentionally? 

@kokakolia +1! Shadows on a cave wall! Listening to music at home is far removed from real life experience! 

I believe that audiophiles are chasing a sharper definition than the real world. In the real world everything just blends together into a wall of sound and through the reverberations of the room. There’s no stereo effect and crystal clear "instrument separation". In the real world most live performances are way too loud and confused. Soft jazz, acoustic music and orchestral music avoid that problem.

@kokakolia I agree. I think the recording engineers enhance the 3D imaging/soundstage to compensate for us not being able to see where the musicians are placed in the performance. I confess that while it might not be true to how a lot of live music actually sounds, I like it and it enhances my listening experience. One good example is “Like JT” from Patricia Barber’s Companion CD where it’s clear the engineers worked to add a sense of depth, but damn it sounds so good I could care less.

A little over a week ago I took delivery of the Atma-sphere class D monos and they were great out of the box but after 3 days they really opened up and are the best amps I've ever heard or owned and wonderful with my Tannoys.  I'm hearing more detail from top to bottom, very smooth, natural and open sounding.  Vocals and instruments sound more real.  Looks like my tube amp is going to market.  Kudos to Ralph and company!