Ralph,
It is the truth that anything conductive on top of the transformer or in the middle will mess up the sound.....so, you don’t want non magnetic stainless steel, brass or anything like that. You want plastic or wood.....wood being preferable. You can tie your transformer down using glue and wire ties.....works great. A steel plate on top of the transformer will mess up the sound. This is truth.
Hot rodding does not always look good.....what do you care what the amp looks like from behind?
You can make an even better AC filter and put it on a board....much better sonically than the ones that are encased in steel.....way better. Audiophile fuses most always make a sonic improvement.....it has nothing to do with voltage drop. They all have a sound (every brand of fuse sounds different)......just like the AC inlet has a sound. The one you are using is not as good of SOUNDING inlet as a Furutech.....and even the various versions of Furutech inlets sound different from each other.
You are wrong about op amps......every opamp made TODAY sounds different from every other op amp made today. None of them have "no sound". The best discrete op amps are simply more real sounding than any "chip" op amp. I have listened to even the latest op amps and still none of them are as good as a great discrete circuit.......they are getting close.....but to get the last bit of depth, palpability and realism......no....not there yet. And any circuit is only as good as the regulators, AC power, fuses. capacitors, bypass caps, wire, resistors (yes, every brand of surface mount resistor has a SOUND).
The reason I KNOW all this is because I do serious listening tests. This is the only way to KNOW something is real. This is not philosophy or something YOU THINK is real. When you hear it....you KNOW. You have to have a willingness to really KNOW and an openess to find out.....it is not about pre conceived notions. You do listening tests to blow your mind.....not to confirm your bias. The ego wants to define and defend. The soul wants to expand and love. The ears just listen and know. The heart feels and knows.
Kuribo,
Being right and making people wrong is just an ego game. If you have not listened with an open mind to what I am taling about then you have NO KNOWLEDGE....just words. Knowledge is direct experience....not "thinking you know". If you want to KNOW something about audio....then you have to listen.....without prejudice. Are all the thousands of people worldwide who have listened to audiophile fuses and love them and describe the sound of different brands all hypnotized by the "snake oil salesmen"?.......are we all that stupid? CAN WE TRUST OUR EARS?........I believe so. What I share with others is what I have learned from listening. When I get a benefit sonically, I want to share it with the world because most people who LISTEN and TRY what I suggest find the same truth....they hear pretty much the same thing and their sound is benefited. I want people to have better sound....that is why I share......what is your purpose here?
