The California Audio Show is open. I visited it yesterday, due to the kindness of Damian Martin (Audio1) who called me to tell me that he would pick me up and take me there, so that I could avoid public transportation. Thanks Damian.
It's a small show, but an earnest one. It has its mixture of single ended triode tubes, super expensive amps and speakers, and a mixture of everything else.
I have not been to one of these for a few years, and it was a joy to get back with audiophiles, grateful to hear an exceptional effort to make the best hi fi reproduction possible.
I met a number of people, some of whom I have never met, and others I have known for decades, but had lost track of.
For example, Bruce Brisson, of MIT cable. I was sitting out in the hall, after making a tour of the individual rooms, when Bruce came by and sat down to talk to me. I haven't talked to him at any length for about 20 years, but he is still in the business of making cables. I learned a little about HIS philosophy of wire design that I did not know before. That is progress, but then I believe that cables make a difference, so anything that I can learn about cable differences is interesting and useful. It was both a useful and pleasant exchange.
In one of the rooms, they had a demo of 1/2" 15ips analog master tapes, where I had a pleasant experience of listening to quality tape copies, obviously lovingly put together from the best master tapes available. I keep being told that all the analog masters have physically fallen apart, but I guess it is not so. It was refreshing to hear a quality tape copy played, without digital, virtually noiseless, at least at this time in my life. It makes me want to get an analog tape recorder stored at my office to fix up to run again in my system.
Several expensive and beautifully built all tube reproduction systems gave me a pleasant listening experience. One of whom, I personally complemented, when I left the demo. It always gives me hope, when I hear something that almost is like live.
The MBL exhibit was especially good sounding, yet I have no understanding HOW they get that sound quality, so consistently. What a 'strange' loudspeaker construction, but it works!
Nothing of mine was at the show, and just as well. Only a CTC Blowtorch would serve well, here. This is an extreme 'hi end' show with the prices going through the roof, for the most part. Yet, I was constantly stopped by audiophiles I had met previously or recognized me in some way (maybe my badge) who thanked me for the Parasound designs that I have made that they own and use today. This is the WHOLE point of the exercise, to make people happy with their audio playback, due to extra careful design, at any price point, of each contributing component.
I am very glad that I attended.
It's a small show, but an earnest one. It has its mixture of single ended triode tubes, super expensive amps and speakers, and a mixture of everything else.
I have not been to one of these for a few years, and it was a joy to get back with audiophiles, grateful to hear an exceptional effort to make the best hi fi reproduction possible.
I met a number of people, some of whom I have never met, and others I have known for decades, but had lost track of.
For example, Bruce Brisson, of MIT cable. I was sitting out in the hall, after making a tour of the individual rooms, when Bruce came by and sat down to talk to me. I haven't talked to him at any length for about 20 years, but he is still in the business of making cables. I learned a little about HIS philosophy of wire design that I did not know before. That is progress, but then I believe that cables make a difference, so anything that I can learn about cable differences is interesting and useful. It was both a useful and pleasant exchange.
In one of the rooms, they had a demo of 1/2" 15ips analog master tapes, where I had a pleasant experience of listening to quality tape copies, obviously lovingly put together from the best master tapes available. I keep being told that all the analog masters have physically fallen apart, but I guess it is not so. It was refreshing to hear a quality tape copy played, without digital, virtually noiseless, at least at this time in my life. It makes me want to get an analog tape recorder stored at my office to fix up to run again in my system.
Several expensive and beautifully built all tube reproduction systems gave me a pleasant listening experience. One of whom, I personally complemented, when I left the demo. It always gives me hope, when I hear something that almost is like live.
The MBL exhibit was especially good sounding, yet I have no understanding HOW they get that sound quality, so consistently. What a 'strange' loudspeaker construction, but it works!
Nothing of mine was at the show, and just as well. Only a CTC Blowtorch would serve well, here. This is an extreme 'hi end' show with the prices going through the roof, for the most part. Yet, I was constantly stopped by audiophiles I had met previously or recognized me in some way (maybe my badge) who thanked me for the Parasound designs that I have made that they own and use today. This is the WHOLE point of the exercise, to make people happy with their audio playback, due to extra careful design, at any price point, of each contributing component.
I am very glad that I attended.
When business men took me to dinner in China - I ordered something made with pork. They all strongly suggested I dont eat anything with pork in it. Was a danger to my health... I could get deathly ill from some desease it seemed. So, maybe dog is better than pig? They didnt say anything bad about dogs.
But I did eat from a huge plate of french fried mealy worms and didnt get deathly ill.
I ate things in China I shouldn't have, one was the land snails and leaving the region I noticed all the farmers squating in the paddys and wondered. Also it seemed every visitor had to try Mao's favorite braised pork belly, at several places it was so good but so bad for you.
Even as a non-native speaker I have a feeling that "distorted harmonics" (by means of EQ) would be a more proper term for what you seem to describe, wouldn't it?
Easily achieved, not rocket science. Read my articles, I advocate the use of JFET's and huge bias resistors so sub Hz time constants are obtained with cheap capacitors. You can have it all, now we can move on.
Funny you should say that Ed; engineers have considered this 'change in frequency response' since, ohhh, 1908 or thereabouts?
jan
Do you mean this muscles?
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
List of cognitive biases - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I went through the first category (“Decision-making, belief and behavioral biases”)
Out of the 93 entries there were only 10 of which, I guess I am not a victim
Highly enlightening and highly discouraging. I gave up
George
I went through the first category (“Decision-making, belief and behavioral biases”)
Out of the 93 entries there were only 10 of which, I guess I am not a victim
Highly enlightening and highly discouraging. I gave up
George
Leave it to MBL to come up with what I'd suppose is the lowest spousal-acceptance-factor speaker to date. Even the goofy big horns have to be more likely to be countenanced by the non-audiophiles in the house.
But despite low efficiency, evidently the dispersion is wonderful, as one might suppose.
What really matters is what it sounds like. It sounds VERY GOOD, no matter how strange it looks, and how unlikely it appears to be successful.
SEE, sighted listening is doing just the opposite as would be predicted by the audio 'sighted' critics, who insist that we are subject to our 'sighted' or intellectual prejudices, even 'slaves' to it.
It is the same with other audio products.
In reality, the 'glitter' of hi end hi fi is secondary to its sound. It is added, because the customers who can AFFORD what is the fundamental internal mechanism that makes the audio product work, will NOT buy something that looks 'cobbled' together. It is a shame, because a good proportion of what it costs us to make a design IS in the outside case, and we would prefer to avoid the investment. So we get involved in 'metal sculpture' because we have to 'compete' with other companies.
SEE, sighted listening is doing just the opposite as would be predicted by the audio 'sighted' critics, who insist that we are subject to our 'sighted' or intellectual prejudices, even 'slaves' to it.
It is the same with other audio products.
In reality, the 'glitter' of hi end hi fi is secondary to its sound. It is added, because the customers who can AFFORD what is the fundamental internal mechanism that makes the audio product work, will NOT buy something that looks 'cobbled' together. It is a shame, because a good proportion of what it costs us to make a design IS in the outside case, and we would prefer to avoid the investment. So we get involved in 'metal sculpture' because we have to 'compete' with other companies.
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