advertisement


Flatpopely NAIM based ABX test - 24th August

Paul R said:
Power amps, especially Quads and Krells, are such interesting artifacts with history, topology and myth in abundance.
Click to expand...

I chose those two as the Quad is a current dumper so operates in class A at low level. - it would be interesting to see how close it gets to a 'proper' class A amp sonically. It would be most interesting with reasonably efficient and electrically benign speakers so one was listening more to the topologies rather than the Krell's no doubt far greater power reserves into reactive loads.
 
maxflinn said:
Brian, you're questioning the validity of ABX testing as a means of proof while at the same time claiming that it has in this case proven something.

Anyway, never mind.
Click to expand...
No, I'm not. I don't plan to explain why that's obvious.
 
I'd like to see the Behringer A500 up against something like a NAP 500 using Obelisks.
 
Brian said:
To complete the summary... :)
...the people who set up the test said comparing amps with perfectly identical measuments was not the object of the test because they've been told all competently designed amplifiers operating within their design parameters and without clipping will sound the same.
Click to expand...
Naim make popular audiophile amplifiers but are they competently designed audio amplifiers? For example, the Nait has a far from flat frequency response in the 20-20kHz audio range. An effectively flat frequency response in this range is both easy to achieve and a requirement for competence.
 
Isn't the point of the Krell that it's able to drive a nail into concrete? Buying one to use with high sensitivity speakers would be a waste of its ability, just as buying a low power, load intolerant design to use with an insensitive and reactive pair of speakers would be.
 
sq225917 said:
Isn't the point of the Krell that it's able to drive a nail into concrete?
Click to expand...

Given you are using a huge KSA200B into a pair of NS1000s, a pair of speakers a 15 watt Quad II will IIRC drive perfectly happily, apparently not!
 
I think if you think of the variables between all amplifiers, including the same models the results of the tests are commonsense to most..
My last 18 years of diy valve amps have only taught me how much there is still to learn
 
Tony L said:
Given you are using a huge KSA200B into a pair of NS1000s, a pair of speakers a 15 watt Quad II will IIRC drive perfectly happily, apparently not!
Click to expand...

Except I don't use the Krell in my hifi it's merely a fixer/upper project to keep me busy. But nonetheless the Quad would be clipping long before we reached the levels I listen at.
 
sq225917 said:
Except I don't use the Krell in my hifi it's merely a fixer/upper project to keep me busy. But nonetheless the Quad would be clipping long before we reached the levels I listen at.
Click to expand...

:cool:

Too many people in this hobby listen at whisper levels and it makes me wonder why they bother with hi-fi.

Why would you buy a Porsche 911 to do 25 mph max round the town and go nowhere else?

Effortless unfatiguing yet dynamic sound of Donna Summer Dim all the lights from the Bad Girls CD

 
Steven Toy said:
Too many people in this hobby listen at whisper levels and it makes me wonder why they bother with hi-fi.
Click to expand...

On the main rig I listen at around 75db or so average C weighted at the listening seat, on the sort of nicely uncompressed jazz stuff I mainly listen to that puts peaks at around 93-95db or so max (the back room system about 65db average as it's got much smaller speakers and I've never liked the sound of small drivers loud at all). I care far too much about my hearing to ever want to listen any louder than this. I'm always amazed by the volumes some hi-fi owners play their kit, often into very obvious loudspeaker distortion and at levels that are likely to cause hearing damage.
 
I agree with Tony L... I find I hear more and better without blasting the sound out. If you have to crank up the volume to feel the music then you system is letting you down IMO.
 
Tony L said:
On the main rig I listen at around 75db or so average C weighted at the listening seat, on the sort of nicely uncompressed jazz stuff I mainly listen to that puts peaks at around 93-95db or so max (the back room system about 65db average as it's got much smaller speakers and I've never liked the sound of small drivers loud at all). I care far too much about my hearing to ever want to listen any louder than this. I'm always amazed by the volumes some hi-fi owners play their kit, often into very obvious loudspeaker distortion and at levels that are likely to cause hearing damage.
Click to expand...

I find my levels jump all over the place depending on whats being played.
I'm very much in the camp which says every piece of music has a narrow window for playback SPL to sound right. So some stuff gets played very quietly and some much closer to the limits of the system.

The distortion performance of small main drivers falls off very quickly when pushed, though subjectively it often adds edge and punch to the sound. That's ok if you like it, as is the compressive effect which goes alongside it. The more time I spend listening to people's systems and chatting about hi-fi the more I discover that everyone likes a distinct and unique bag of coloration/distortion, to the point where some will adopt this as the 'neutral' or transparent position.

This has been demonstrated in my own case recently during loudspeaker prototyping and tuning, with the resulting tweaked to taste result being anything but a flat line!
 
Tony L said:
On the main rig I listen at around 75db or so average C weighted at the listening seat, on the sort of nicely uncompressed jazz stuff I mainly listen to that puts peaks at around 93-95db or so max (the back room system about 65db average as it's got much smaller speakers and I've never liked the sound of small drivers loud at all). I care far too much about my hearing to ever want to listen any louder than this. I'm always amazed by the volumes some hi-fi owners play their kit, often into very obvious loudspeaker distortion and at levels that are likely to cause hearing damage.
Click to expand...
Volume level is pretty subjective, I think. Compared to shows and visits to homes of other members I reckon I listen at a relatively low level. In fact, high levels cause me to more or less shutdown, I don't like it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top