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Challenge From Harbeth - Free M40.1 For Those Who Can Identify Amplifier Differences

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The point was that one amplifier satisfied you more than the other. That's accepted. What I don't accept is that this had necessarily anything to do with audio quality [...] all we can agree on is that you prefer to own one amplifier over the other, not that there's necessarily any sonic difference between them.

S.

I think you can reasonably infer that I prefer to listen to one amplifier over the other. Ownership isn't really a consideration. Which does tend to imply that the audio quality was the overriding criterion.

FWIW, the one I kept is not as nice to look at as the one I got rid of, in my personal and subjective opinion, so if pride of ownership were the factor at play here, I think that would work against your point.
 
I think you can reasonably infer that I prefer to listen to one amplifier over the other. Ownership isn't really a consideration. Which does tend to imply that the audio quality was the overriding criterion.

FWIW, the one I kept is not as nice to look at as the one I got rid of, in my personal and subjective opinion, so if pride of ownership were the factor at play here, I think that would work against your point.

what is your system and what are the amps in question?

did you match the volumes accurately to?
 
do avondale and naim amps sound different when volume matched....i'd suggest they may sound a bit different but it would probably be due to a factor that could be explained by measuring them.
Which is the point I was trying to make earlier before you saw fit to try to belittle me

sadly abusive nonsense spouted aggressively will put pay to a proper discussion as people are entrenched.
What puts pay to proper discussion is people diving in with sarcastic comments. You are prone to throwing your weight around, you do this all the time with poor Steven Toy (not that I agree with him at all). All I did was tell you what I thought. Speak to me politely and I'll do the same, if you don't like the response then ask yourself why?
 
I think you can reasonably infer that I prefer to listen to one amplifier over the other. Ownership isn't really a consideration. Which does tend to imply that the audio quality was the overriding criterion.

FWIW, the one I kept is not as nice to look at as the one I got rid of, in my personal and subjective opinion, so if pride of ownership were the factor at play here, I think that would work against your point.

No argument there, but as you didn't do a blind test between them, how can you be sure that you're actually hearing any difference. The preference for which one you listen to could have nothing to do with any sonic differences, or it could be the whole reason for it. What I'm trying (and failing, obviously) to convey, is that there's no way of knowing why you prefer one amplifier to the other, It could be sonic, or it could be the feel of the remote control or volume knob, who knows and how can we know?

To some, of course, it doesn't matter, just the fact that you clearly prefer one to the other. To the Alan Shaw test (remember that? There's a whole thread about that) it matters because that's what he's trying to ascertain. Do people's amplifier preferences have anything to do with what they sound like?

S.
 
what is your system and what are the amps in question?

did you match the volumes accurately to?

I don't think you're getting Suepertweeter's point (I won't be calling him Sue ;-)

His point is that even Serge now admits that 'transparent' amps can sound different, and his position is now riddled with self-contradiction. It's been a long time since I've taken anything he says seriously, to be honest. I don't give a crap about ownership or looks or all that crap. I listen in the most patient and objective way I can, and just like Suepertweeter, if a bit of kit has me listen less over a period of months, because of some kind of reduced enjoyment, then it goes. Often I can't hear a difference between components - I'm not scared to admit that either. In many cases, expectation bias is being overstated because not everyone is equally susceptible to it. Serge seems to suffer from the variety of expectation bias that stops him hearing anything he doesn't think he'll be able to measure.

In brief, I'm more inclinded to believe that Suepertweeter heard a subtle difference between two amps than that he was swayed by the feel of the remote. He seems pretty articulate, skeptical and sensible judging by his comments, whereas Serge seems like some kind of Dr Frankenstein trying to shoe-horn everybody else's experience into his own slightly patronising theory.

Flame away ;-)

By the way, I infer Suepertweeter's gender from the hunch that a woman would be unlikely to concoct a bizarre Cornish/Welsh surname in order to encrypt the name of a slightly esoteric hifi component into his username. Apologies Suepertweeter if I'm incorrect ;-)
 
I don't think you're getting Suepertweeter's point (I won't be calling him Sue ;-)

His point is that even Serge now admits that 'transparent' amps can sound different, and his position is now riddled with self-contradiction. It's been a long time since I've taken anything he says seriously, to be honest. I don't give a crap about ownership or looks or all that crap. I listen in the most patient and objective way I can, and just like Suepertweeter, if a bit of kit has me listen less over a period of months, because of some kind of reduced enjoyment, then it goes. Often I can't hear a difference between components - I'm not scared to admit that either. In many cases, expectation bias is being overstated because not everyone is equally susceptible to it. Serge seems to suffer from the variety of expectation bias that stops him hearing anything he doesn't think he'll be able to measure.

In brief, I'm more inclinded to believe that Suepertweeter heard a subtle difference between two amps than that he was swayed by the feel of the remote. He seems pretty articulate, skeptical and sensible judging by his comments, whereas Serge seems like some kind of Dr Frankenstein trying to shoe-horn everybody else's experience into his own slightly patronising theory.

Flame away ;-)
And another nail gets hammered on the head. Excellent post there, 'tis what I've been saying for ages.
 
Which is the point I was trying to make earlier before you saw fit to try to belittle me


What puts pay to proper discussion is people diving in with sarcastic comments. You are prone to throwing your weight around, you do this all the time with poor Steven Toy (not that I agree with him at all). All I did was tell you what I thought. Speak to me politely and I'll do the same, if you don't like the response then ask yourself why?

i put 'no offence' when i critiqued your 'outburst'

you then said 'bollocks'.....

and your asking for respect?
 
I don't think you're getting Suepertweeter's point (I won't be calling him Sue ;-)

His point is that even Serge now admits that 'transparent' amps can sound different, and his position is now riddled with self-contradiction. It's been a long time since I've taken anything he says seriously, to be honest. I don't give a crap about ownership or looks or all that crap. I listen in the most patient and objective way I can, and just like Suepertweeter, if a bit of kit has me listen less over a period of months, because of some kind of reduced enjoyment, then it goes. Often I can't hear a difference between components - I'm not scared to admit that either. In many cases, expectation bias is being overstated because not everyone is equally susceptible to it. Serge seems to suffer from the variety of expectation bias that stops him hearing anything he doesn't think he'll be able to measure.

In brief, I'm more inclinded to believe that Suepertweeter heard a subtle difference between two amps than that he was swayed by the feel of the remote. He seems pretty articulate, skeptical and sensible judging by his comments, whereas Serge seems like some kind of Dr Frankenstein trying to shoe-horn everybody else's experience into his own slightly patronising theory.

Flame away ;-)

By the way, I infer Suepertweeter's gender from the hunch that a woman would be unlikely to concoct a bizarre Cornish/Welsh surname in order to encrypt the name of a slightly esoteric hifi component into his username. Apologies Suepertweeter if I'm incorrect ;-)

what point have i missed in asking what the gear is?
 
what point have i missed in asking what the gear is?

That Suepertweeter is the kind of listener who doesn't care what the gear is, and therefore isn't interested in identifying the components he's talking about so that we can waste another five pages on a brand-loyalist pissing contest?
 
i put 'no offence' when i critiqued your 'outburst'

you then said 'bollocks'.....

and your asking for respect?

No I asked if that was aimed at me!

so now people can tell they will hear an improvement between 2 amps blind even without hearing them or measuring them.....it's getting better....

anyway how can an amplifier add or subtract 'the soul'?
Was the post in question which had no bearing on my previous post in the context it was meant
 
I don't think you're getting Suepertweeter's point (I won't be calling him Sue ;-)

His point is that even Serge now admits that 'transparent' amps can sound different, and his position is now riddled with self-contradiction. It's been a long time since I've taken anything he says seriously, to be honest. I don't give a crap about ownership or looks or all that crap. I listen in the most patient and objective way I can, and just like Suepertweeter, if a bit of kit has me listen less over a period of months, because of some kind of reduced enjoyment, then it goes. Often I can't hear a difference between components - I'm not scared to admit that either. In many cases, expectation bias is being overstated because not everyone is equally susceptible to it. Serge seems to suffer from the variety of expectation bias that stops him hearing anything he doesn't think he'll be able to measure.

In brief, I'm more inclinded to believe that Suepertweeter heard a subtle difference between two amps than that he was swayed by the feel of the remote. He seems pretty articulate, skeptical and sensible judging by his comments, whereas Serge seems like some kind of Dr Frankenstein trying to shoe-horn everybody else's experience into his own slightly patronising theory.

Flame away ;-)

By the way, I infer Suepertweeter's gender from the hunch that a woman would be unlikely to concoct a bizarre Cornish/Welsh surname in order to encrypt the name of a slightly esoteric hifi component into his username. Apologies Suepertweeter if I'm incorrect ;-)

Nonsense. I've not said anything of the sort. When evaluated blind and level matched, transparent amplifiers cannot sound anything but identical.

However, if either not level matched or evaluated sighted, then anything can happen.

No inconsistency there.

S.
 
... whereas Serge seems like some kind of Dr Frankenstein trying to shoe-horn everybody else's experience into his own slightly patronising theory.
Isn't Serge's "patronising theory" the scientifical explanation, i.e. psychoacoustics? I suspect he doesn't have a great deal of time for creationism or reiki either. That isn't an assumption I would make of anyone who denies scientific theory in favour of their own infallible judgement, though.
 
Nonsense. I've not said anything of the sort. When evaluated blind and level matched, transparent amplifiers cannot sound anything but identical.

However, if either not level matched or evaluated sighted, then anything can happen.

No inconsistency there.

S.

This is true, Serge said that if they measured differently they could sound different. Well the bit I read did ;)
 
Was the post in question which had no bearing on my previous post in the context it was meant

i first posed the question to people in this thread as #595....still no takers....as far as i can tell the reaction to music is in the listener not in the amplifier unless designers now can design in an empathy circuit which adds a little bit of 'soul' if required.....

so your view that an amplifier can make some kind of decision over the music being played through it and add the appropriate je ne sais quoi is scientifically unproven to say the least.....
 
I find listening to my music in the dark more enjoyable than under bright light.
Thought I'd mention this because it's important to understand some people are more interested in the music than technical specifications that mean nowt to 99.9% of the population anarl.
 
I find listening to my music in the dark more enjoyable than under bright light.
Thought I'd mention this because it's important to understand some people are more interested in the music than technical specifications that mean nowt to 99.9% of the population anarl.

If I am in bright light I wear sunglasses and a wide brimmed hat! :p
 
I think the plan is to so comprehensively bore the potential constituency that might be interested in the outcome of this challenge so that no-one cares when no-one can hear any difference. Normal service can then resume and we can all start talking about the difference between a Hi-cap and a cloned hi-cap.


TL: Thread continued here.
 
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