That flies in the face od examples of tube amp (with "high" measured distortion driving a loudspeaker, having total system distortion significantly less than the (low distortion) SS amp driving the same loudspeaker.
Amplifiers can not be considered independent of the speakers they are paired with.
dave
dave, is there an example to show where higher distortion from an amp is erased by a speaker?
Zaph says a bit about subjectivity here and how it cannot be justified in debate.Zaph|Audio
Frank
Hi,
Every 'better' in my post is my own subjective feeling. I should've added "for me" after very "better". I think I missed some of them, oh well...
My capability and instrument for precise and detailed measurement is non-existing. The very limited measurements I've done are only for the 'structural' sanity check, big picture, not for these detailed, hair-splitting stuff we're talking here.
So, yes I admit what I said is all subjective and probably very wrong. I don't know. Interestingly, I'm OK with that. Just like I don't know much about everything else, either.
However, when I came back home from a live concert, I got (almost) fully satisfied listening to my own patch-up (and probably wrong) system for comparisons, I know (or guess) maybe I'm not so wrong as a whole. Oh, sorry I'm talking to myself again. That's not an effective evidence for anything, and not scientific at all.
Let me take another angle. My patch-up (and probably wrong) system was not like what it is now. I lost count how many times I felt very uncomfortable (and upset, angry, confused.... ) to my system after I came back from concerts. Not anymore, I'm happy about that.
Also, as my experiences of listening to other systems, very few of them can deliver the 'comfortable' feelings, VERY few. By 'comfortable', I'm not talking about polished, rounded sounds that make me feel cozy and layback... etc. It's about life-like, natural sounds that are not artificial. Real things can sound very badly - harsh, noisy, splitting, or even distorted, overly expanded, fuzzy, messily mixed... you name it. But most of the natural faulty sounds are different from those produced by electronic devices. I can stand loosing some of the beautiful details of the real things and also accept the imperfections if only they're in a natural way, but can not stand extra electronic by-products at the same degree.
I'm not suggesting all SS amps have the "extra electronic by-products" in their sounds. It's just not easy for me to get right on them. That's all. The limitation is on me. In tube amps (which are mostly simpler than SS), I can get involved deeper and take control on more aspects. So I think they tend to be better for me.
Anyone can debate that a sound makes one feel 'comfortable' may not make others feel the same. I agree. Our senses are very different, and are probably very limited by the 'selective' priority by each person. One may focus on some particular portion and completely ignore others. Except for hearing, we also do that all the time in vision, taste and smell...
Tonal balance (by proper FR), natural tones (by dense and continuous harmonics), dynamics (by coherent timing and proper contrast) are my major concerns. Others can have different priorities.
Every 'better' in my post is my own subjective feeling. I should've added "for me" after very "better". I think I missed some of them, oh well...
My capability and instrument for precise and detailed measurement is non-existing. The very limited measurements I've done are only for the 'structural' sanity check, big picture, not for these detailed, hair-splitting stuff we're talking here.
So, yes I admit what I said is all subjective and probably very wrong. I don't know. Interestingly, I'm OK with that. Just like I don't know much about everything else, either.
However, when I came back home from a live concert, I got (almost) fully satisfied listening to my own patch-up (and probably wrong) system for comparisons, I know (or guess) maybe I'm not so wrong as a whole. Oh, sorry I'm talking to myself again. That's not an effective evidence for anything, and not scientific at all.
Let me take another angle. My patch-up (and probably wrong) system was not like what it is now. I lost count how many times I felt very uncomfortable (and upset, angry, confused.... ) to my system after I came back from concerts. Not anymore, I'm happy about that.
Also, as my experiences of listening to other systems, very few of them can deliver the 'comfortable' feelings, VERY few. By 'comfortable', I'm not talking about polished, rounded sounds that make me feel cozy and layback... etc. It's about life-like, natural sounds that are not artificial. Real things can sound very badly - harsh, noisy, splitting, or even distorted, overly expanded, fuzzy, messily mixed... you name it. But most of the natural faulty sounds are different from those produced by electronic devices. I can stand loosing some of the beautiful details of the real things and also accept the imperfections if only they're in a natural way, but can not stand extra electronic by-products at the same degree.
I'm not suggesting all SS amps have the "extra electronic by-products" in their sounds. It's just not easy for me to get right on them. That's all. The limitation is on me. In tube amps (which are mostly simpler than SS), I can get involved deeper and take control on more aspects. So I think they tend to be better for me.
Anyone can debate that a sound makes one feel 'comfortable' may not make others feel the same. I agree. Our senses are very different, and are probably very limited by the 'selective' priority by each person. One may focus on some particular portion and completely ignore others. Except for hearing, we also do that all the time in vision, taste and smell...
Tonal balance (by proper FR), natural tones (by dense and continuous harmonics), dynamics (by coherent timing and proper contrast) are my major concerns. Others can have different priorities.
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