John Curl's Blowtorch preamplifier part II

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diyAudio Member RIP
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Clipping and other overload behavior whether in op amps or power amps is a major contributor to audible differences among them IMO. And it's fairly subtle sometimes.

The presence of large loop gain should be benign unless it's coupled with instabilities, which as well often manifest in clipping.
 
Of course you discount the issues of gain structure and overload margin at each stage out of hand.

Scott,

Other than a few crazies, I suspect we all understand the greater open loop gain allows for greater distortion reduction when used with appropriate feedback. I think we also understand that when THD is below a certain threshold it also should not be an issue.

So if the claim is made by increasing the gain the performance is enhanced this leaves some possibilities.

One the person prefers some forms of distortion. (I refer to that as the Picasso effect.)

The second may be that the increased distortion is still below critical threshold but there is some other issue that we perceive but are incorrectly measuring. (The slight of hand effect!)

Third of course is the Habit/Perception effect. If it sounds different and I did it, then it must be better. (Piaget sort of effect.)

Fourth of course is the it can't be because I know better. (SY effect.)

I am sure you can add more such as the "Simon effect." :)
 
diyAudio Member RIP
Joined 2005
Scott,

Other than a few crazies, I suspect we all understand the greater open loop gain allows for greater distortion reduction when used with appropriate feedback. I think we also understand that when THD is below a certain threshold it also should not be an issue.

So if the claim is made by increasing the gain the performance is enhanced this leaves some possibilities.

One the person prefers some forms of distortion. (I refer to that as the Picasso effect.)

The second may be that the increased distortion is still below critical threshold but there is some other issue that we perceive but are incorrectly measuring. (The slight of hand effect!)

Third of course is the Habit/Perception effect. If it sounds different and I did it, then it must be better. (Piaget sort of effect.)

Fourth of course is the it can't be because I know better. (SY effect.)

I am sure you can add more such as the "Simon effect." :)
And the Wood (no relation) Effect has already been used for the absolute polarity effect (if any).
 
> BTW I don't care who says it it's nonsense.

BTW , I don't care who says it's nonsense .
I've experienced the aural advantage of low or no
feedback too many times .
Have you ever experimented in that area ?

Of course. I've tried zero feedback phono sounds fine to me, personally I can't tell the difference.

If you care to factor out the "incidental" effects of distortion and noise we can talk. You can't change multiple properties of the signal path at once and call it an experiment.
 
> If you care to factor out the "incidental"
> effects of distortion and noise we can talk.

If we talk in the context of sound , rather than
mathematical criteria , then " distortion and noise "
take care of themselves . ( assuming we're pursuing
playback , not building a fuzztone )
Any change in our perception of the signal will be
positive or negative without quantification .
 
The topology, gain structure and resultant overload capabilities are everything.

Right, I used a two stage open-loop phono pre-amp for years designed specifically for low noise and linear dynamic range (not too dissimilar from Bob Cordell's but second stage was also open-loop). I don't think, with care, you need to worry about adding either noise or distortion to the LP's inherent amounts.
 
You left out another one: "performance" has to be defined. If you mean "audible transparency under XYZ conditions," that's a very different thing than "highest possible linearity."

No I didn't. It should be clear there can be many meanings. But you like to take things out of context.

I remember the post where you admitted you spent years apprenticing to Bozo the clown and then became a hit man for the CIA before being abducted by aliens and thourghly probed.... Or something like that.
 
Say 5 mV out of cartridge
60 db =~ 5 V out of 5534
What's the problem ?
 

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