Martyn Miles
pfm Member
I’ve had both and they gave much musical satisfaction.
I don’t spend hours trying to find differences.
I don’t spend hours trying to find differences.
If the Quad philosophy is that an amplifier should be a straight wire with gain....
- Thread starter Ianp
- Start date
Ianp
pfm Member
Tony L
Administrator
Says the guy who’s owned pretty much every LS3/5A variant ever made! ;-)
Jim Audiomisc
pfm Member
It joined many AES run tests that also showed routinely that people couldn't demonstrate they could hear 'differences' they'd claimed they could. Or at least, once for the 'reason' they assumed. Thing is, hearing varies with time, exposure to sound, the precise way you position your head, and if you have already heard something else or not.
Martyn Miles
pfm Member
There are subtle differences in LS3/5As, much less so with amplifiers.
When my Quad 34/303 was being serviced, I ran my ‘3/5As with a early Arcam Alpha amp.
It gave me much listening pleasure.
Ianp
pfm Member
Damn fine point !
sktn77a
pfm Member
It's generally attributed to Peter Walker of Quad, never heard the Stewart Hegeman attribution (?)
Quad Electroacoustics - Wikipedia
awkwardbydesign
Officially Awesome
Didn't Gilbert Briggs run demonstrations with live musicians or singer and a pair of Wharfedale speakers behind a curtain, and listeners couldn't tell the difference? Also early films (in black and white) convinced audiences that the effect of a train approaching was real?
If you have no reference/experience of the two, you can't tell them apart, is how I have heard it explained. One of my grandsons is a musician and can hear autotune a mile off, and another is studying film and modern CGI is blindingly obvious to him. I can recognise neither.
les24preludes
pfm Member
Enter "straight wire with gain" into internet search and you'll see it.
Stewart Hegeman, who designed the original Harman Kardon Citation line of electronics and one of the first omnidirectional speakers (for Eico) is credited with coming up with the saying, “A straight wire with gain.”
Jim Audiomisc
pfm Member
Alsp deliberate I think. PJW was clever.
13th Duke of Wymbourne
pfm Member
Of course it should have been 'a straight wire with gain and an impedance transformation to buffer the source from the load' but that wasn't as catchy.
Kraus
pfm Member
Which distortions hasn't it got?
Ianp
pfm Member
That really doesn't flow and I get your point ! I sort of meant this post to be flippant/fun but as always some really interesting thoughts.
tuga
Legal Alien
I think that the Wharfedale and Acoustic Research demos worked mostly because the listeners were sitting (too) far-field, and AR recorded the musicians outdoors to remove all ambience cues and each speaker would reproduce a single instrument, no different than an electric guitar or electric bass amplfier.
Autoformers optimize the impedance relationship with the amp as you turn the volume down. If the amp has enough gain and seems with most systems, amps typically do, my humble opinion is that this is the best passive preamp.
Ironically, most if not all Quad amps have a large amount of gain and are great with passive preamps.
misterdog
Not the canine kind
The distortions which come from electronic components, and their design.
Distortion is a sound.
awkwardbydesign
Officially Awesome
Not the demo I was referring to, no curtain and in a large hall. Besides, you have managed to miss the whole point of my post; that without a reference we are easily fooled. A case of not seeing the wood for the trees!
Kraus
pfm Member
Not in the absence of a signal.
Is the relationship between traditional (THD, etc) measurements and sound quality fully understood?
darrenyeats
pfm Member
From this we can conclude that you're very happy with your AHB2 and that is has low distortion into the tested loads. Both good things for sure!The distortions which come from electronic components, and their design.
Distortion is a sound.
As someone who had a similar measurements outlook when I bought a Benchmark DAC1 HDR, and who has recently discovered my new DAC sounds obviously, and very annoyingly (because I could have bought it a long time ago) better, I'm now a bit more cautious when being told about purported "transparent levels of distortion". (FYI the new DAC has lower THD+N than the DAC1 so it's not me preferring euphonic distortions, what it is I'm not sure.)