Sound Quality Vs. Measurements

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Hi indra1,
I had no expectation that you would change your system. I was only answering questions and gave you what constituted my system so you knew where I was coming from.

I also believe an active system is the way to gain a wonderful system, but money and space will not permit me to do that. What I have is acceptable and I also accept its limitations.

I am working on systems using modified Marantz 300DC amplifiers in a three way active arrangement. Another uses a pair of Marantz 170DC amplifiers (modified) in an active system. This one is nearly complete. Should be pretty interesting when it is done.

Most of the really expensive systems and components I work on belongs to other people. I listen to their reactions and feedback to my work, and this has guided my actions for 40 years. Customers I had 40 years ago still bring equipment to me for checkups every 10 years. Generally most equipment needs slight adjustments, and the older ones needed power supply work or additional upgrades I discovered over time. Overall, the equipment has been reliable and customers very happy. Each one has been able to exit the never ending upgrade cycle and enjoy what they have. Once you have a really good sounding system, you're done. Most good quality equipment can be upgraded for higher and satisfying performance to the extent that they stop buying new things searching for better performance. This works for me pretty well since I don't have to advertise. These days my customers are all referral.

So, once you find your system, I don't think you will be constantly replacing equipment searching for something you are satisfied with.

-Chris
 
Hi Andrea,

I can only post the after responses for THD and IMD for you. They are good, but not spectacular. The right channel is pretty much the same so I won't waste the space by posting those.

-Chris

Hi Chris,

it would have been interesting to also have the measurements before the changes but thanks anyway.

Just another curiosity since you said "good, but not spectacular".
Would you exchange your amp with the Neurochrome Modulus-286 based on measurements?

Andrea
 

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For the record, that was closer to a -120dB nonlinearity measured as HD, but listened to as IMD of music that has a lot of different frequencies at once. A lot tougher for a reproduction system than a 20-tone IMD test.

Regarding a number of -130dB or lower, that was speculative number for a possible limit.

Dream on. THD... At what spl level? 120? So anomaly at just near total silence / threshold of hearing - for a young person. 140? Hallo - do you hear me???? 95 dB (which is loud) -25 dB under the threshold of hearing.

Why do you say these things. No one believes you and you just make a fool out of your self. Are you goop man #2? :eek:
//
 
SPL was low. The ear is very sensitive to IMD on vocal harmonies. Doesn't sound like clipping distortion or anything like that. Its a subtle change the texture of harmonies. It is audible, more so as distortion is increased (which is easy to do if using ESS dac harmonic compensation registers). Distortion was measured by FFT @ 1kHz using an active Hall notch filter and some make-up gain (OPA1612 was used for the active notch and 10x gain). As I said, the effect is very subtle yet audible and repeatable. It takes some practice to learn what to listen for. Most people haven't learned or tried to learn so for them it can't exist.
 

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One love 5% dist, other puke at 0,0003%... Crazy game. Still, I purchase amps on THD (and some) specs as I believe it shows that the one who design it had as a goal to make a transparent amp and not a wha-wha pedal.

My system that contains a pair of nC400 makes me smile every day.

//
 
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Beg to differ. Two speakers with phase shift is a coarse phased array. So you can steer the signal roughly in the lateral plane, which was my point. The fact that the human ear accepts level differences without phase shift does show the level the brain is trying to create a soundfield from scraps of data, but fundamentally there is some steering capability with two speakers.

See the point, but think it misses the relation between a fixed receiver position and a fixed sound producer position. Without some kind of special arrangement or processing at the receiver position, it would fail. For example, a single microphone would not detect a difference between mid-center-right and mid-center-left.

Of course, it makes sense if we take the internal processing by humans into considerations, but then we get the "depth of image" (at least) in addition.

But humans oddly seem happy to stick with the illusion rather than improve the soundfield beind presented. Funny old world.

If the illusion works already, maybe it is easier to think about improvement than to try a complete new adventure. Especially if a good music library exists.
 
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Hi Andrea,
Would you exchange your amp with the Neurochrome Modulus-286 based on measurements?
Nope. There are many things that go into what I would consider acceptable. I want to see the inner workings, I have to have some minimum of power and the amplifier will therefore weigh some amount of weight. My current amplifier weighs in at 60 pounds. That's with reasonably sized transformer and heat sinks. It has to look acceptable to my tastes. There is some pride of ownership after all. That and I already know that amplifier will not do the job for me.

Complete specifications can go a long way to making a choice, but there is more involved. I would never ask anyone to choose on limited specifications.

Having said all that, I did get a system based on its schematic (preliminary) and knowledge of the manufacturer. Its a very nice system, but I am going to open it up and play with the insides a little. It should sound better once I'm done. Didn't even see any specs before I decided.

What is it? A Cyrus Mono X and Pre X system. The engineering at Cyrus is excellent, but I already knew what it would sound like before hearing it. I was right.

-Chris
 
most of us had our share, too :)
"us" being those with business agenda? I'm asking because of your subsequent post (quoted below).
I was just quoting Earl's statement from another thread.
Don't take "we" or "you" literally it usually means "some" or "at least one" .

Hi Jakob2,
How would a variable, incredibly subjective EEG relate to a piece of equipment or system? Its more a reflection of that individual and really hasn't much to do with the equipment involved.

It might be very interesting, but for audio it is a distraction.
But for business, it's a marketing tool. ;)

Why do you say these things. No one believes you and you just make a fool out of your self. Are you goop man #2? :eek:
//
In case you missed it, he is affiliated with Jam's audio business.
 
I was just quoting Earl's statement from another thread.
Don't take "we" or "you" literally it usually means "some" or "at least one" .

And the relevance of "some" or "at least one" is...? Other than the fact that they/it exists, and perhaps a line in their/his resume? How is this important to anybody else, other than at trivia level? To make up an example:

1. There is one human that can discriminate 0.0001% distortions with an average of 18/20 success (so the guessing probability is only about 0.02%)

2. With a 97% confidence level, humans can discriminate 0.1% distortions.

3. With a 97% confidence level, humans cannot discriminate 0.01% distortions.

Which result is more relevant?
 
SPL was low. The ear is very sensitive to IMD on vocal harmonies. Doesn't sound like clipping distortion or anything like that.

Aha, so you think clipping doesn't create IMD?

You persist in this stupid idea that IMD and HD are separate entities, although I gave you the explanation and the mathematical foundation of the proof that IMD and HD are two different ways of looking at, and characterizing, the same root cause: nonlinear behavior of the DUT.
 
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