John Curl's Blowtorch preamplifier part II

kgrlee · 2012-12-02 4:36 pm

john curl said:
... to find a test that could approximate what the human ear hears. ... Ron has met with an extraordinarily high amount for resistance to his testing and findings, so I tend to go out and support him. That is all there is.
I do wish that it was easier to measure these things.

If Ron's test shows that Blowtorch is much better than cheapo 4558, won't this give his test more validity? Why not support him by getting him to test Blowtorch?

Of course if Blowtorch bombs out on Quan c/f 4558, it may be that Ron's test is still good. After all, it seems to give the right ranking to 741 vs AD797. Then is logical conclusion Blowtorch is s**t?

Christophe, please add to your list for 'high end' system according to JC

Tests that JC says are very important do not have to be done on his designs
Especially those that show his designs are worse than cheapo stuff.
If these tests are done, there is no need to release such embarrassing and trivial details.

I think we're going to continue to have the superiority asserted without evidence.

Some people want faith and mystery, others want data and transparency, and we are all free to choose which we are and whom we listen to.

Thanks for this, SY.

I hope you don't mind if we point out clearly where 'faith & mystery' is masquerading as 'data and transparency'

JC, how are you connected to the maker of the $500 mains cords you recommend?

john curl · 2012-12-02 4:41 pm

Kglee, are you also a person with English as a second language? You don't seem to get my statements correct, or at least you interpret them incorrectly. It would be better that you don't try so hard.

john curl · 2012-12-02 4:42 pm

Well back to harmonic distortion measurement. '-)

PMA · 2012-12-02 4:46 pm

Richard, one may suggest 1000 tests how to "bomb out" the 4558. Frankly, I did not get your point

john curl · 2012-12-02 4:50 pm

PMA, what do you think about the 4562?

jcx · 2012-12-02 5:08 pm

John I have the Hirata papers form Jan's site open on my computer - what exactly should I be looking for where are the things that Cabot misses, Scott doesn't understand?

kgrlee · 2012-12-02 5:51 pm

john curl said:
Kglee, are you also a person with English as a second language? You don't seem to get my statements correct, or at least you interpret them incorrectly. It would be better that you don't try so hard.

JC, as I said earlier, anyone can look up you original posts on the timeline and decide/interpret for themselves what your original intentions and motives were/are.

IMHO, there has never been so much POSITIVE interest and knowledge of Hirata & Quan. All due to your championship and education, JC, for which we are eternally grateful.

.. one may suggest 1000 tests how to "bomb out" the 4558. Frankly, I did not get your point

PMA, my point is that these tests would probably "bomb out" Blowtorch to an even greater degree.

I can't claim intimate knowledge of your 1000 unspecified tests by unspecified gurus. But I have learnt much about the important Hirata & Quan tests from JC so pontificate with some confidence on these two and Blowtorch.

I may be pontificating from the wrong orifice of course but JC can easily settle this and confound the disbelievers by testing & posting his results.

The really important issue is, of course, whether the $500 mains cable is responsible for Blowtorch's good/'below 4558'/bad performance.

john curl · 2012-12-02 5:55 pm

Do you mean the $500 mains cable that I heard at CES about 25 years ago? I don't know where it went, or if it was successful.

gk7 · 2012-12-02 6:28 pm

kgrlee said:
... what your original intentions and motives were/are...

I begin to wonder what _your_ original intentions and motives were/are.
This cynical post are tiresome to say the least.

Esperado · 2012-12-02 6:35 pm

john curl said:
Do you mean the $500 mains cable that I heard at CES about 25 years ago? I don't know where it went, or if it was successful.

No, this one:

john curl said:
Today, for the STAX, I use a very exotic hand made power cord called a SLVR by TG that my former business partner used in his own system until his unfortunate demise. Works great!

john curl · 2012-12-02 7:02 pm

It is on my STAX headphone amp. Works fine. I don't know its original price. I own it, why should I not use it?

31697B · 2012-12-02 7:27 pm

It's always possible for a third party to do any test... including the H and Q tests on a design/product by JC.

kgrlee · 2012-12-02 7:51 pm

gk7 said:
I begin to wonder what _your_ original intentions and motives were/are.

As I said earlier, it behoves all of us to "point out clearly where 'faith & mystery' is masquerading as 'data and transparency'"

I'm sorry if my lack of facillity with English as she is spoken isn't as obfuscating as JC's. eee..erh! Did I get that right?

This cynical post are tiresome to say the least.

With respect GK7, no more cynical and tiresome than reminding everyone of their 50 yrs as a pseudo guru ad nuaseum and recommending $500 mains cables when the $$zillion main product doesn't pass important tests.

While I value & respect the discussions on transmission line characteristics of cables, I suspect the results of Hirata & Quan on Blowtorch would be both more instructive & useful to most of us.

Esperado · 2012-12-02 7:53 pm

john curl said:
It is on my STAX headphone amp. Works fine. I don't know its original price. I own it, why should I not use it?

It seems the original price was.... 500$
But i have found even better/ more expensive: system

On my side, i'm just a little embarrassed you can recommend any DIYer to buy a power cord at such a price, instead of using one of the free PC's power cords that near everybody has by tens in their garage, or Buy a decent 10$ one. And indicate the good practices to build their electronic power supplies clean from the annoying parasitics carried by the AC or generated by the switching of the rectifiers. And the proper ground arrangements of their systems.

Reassure me, Blowtorch's power supply and regulation stages are well designed, and no change can be noticed with any power cord as long as it has a diameter sufficient for the security ?

gk7 · 2012-12-02 8:07 pm

Can´t find any post where John would _recommend_ a 500$ power cord, he just said he has one and uses it. So what ?
Personally I don´t find power cords to be overly important, but I can accept that for other people they are.

Esperado · 2012-12-02 8:10 pm

RNMarsh said:
It's always possible for a third party to do any test... including the H and Q tests on a design/product by JC.

Richard, i cannot follow-you on this. . Most of us are not rich enough to buy an Hirrata box, neither the Blowtorch. Imagine for a single test ? And the Blowtorch is not available anymore, anyway.
About cap performances, if you are THE mr. Marsh from this paper: Picking Capacitors - Walter G. Jung and Richard Marsh, may-be you could-you say one word or two about this subject ?

john curl · 2012-12-02 8:13 pm

Hi Richard, I don't know if you want to get into this, but I have a spare Blowtorch for sale for only $10,000. '-)

PMA · 2012-12-02 8:14 pm

john curl said:
PMA, what do you think about the 4562?

It is not bad. Good choice for a commercial product. If I may suggest, please avoid fast transients at the input, i.e. restrict input signal slew rate well below opamp slew rate capabilities. Properly chosen RC should help.

john curl · 2012-12-02 8:17 pm

Thanks. I asked, PMA, because that is the only 'IC op amp' that is in my listening system at the moment. (OPPO 105) I agree with your assessment. Beats a 4558 for sure!

jcx · 2012-12-02 8:25 pm

um, forum search tools, by user name, keyword, posts, threads...

...
About cap performances, if you are THE mr. Marsh from this paper: Picking Capacitors - Walter G. Jung and Richard Marsh, may-be you could-you say one word or two about this subject ?

diyAudio - Search Results

diyAudio - Search Results

A community dedicated to helping everyone learn the art of audio. Projects by fanatics, for fanatics! - Search Results for "picking capacitors"

but you should also want to see Pease' "Soakage" article, Bateman's "Capacitor Sound" measurements

John Curl's Blowtorch preamplifier part II

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