Just to throw my 2 cents in, I've built some single ended transistor designs and think they sound freaking amazing. Better in many ways(although not all ways) than my McIntosh transistor amp. I'll put up with the limited power for the extra coherence and liveliness of the sound.
Just to make sure we are on the same page as far as minimal distortion and schoolbook linearity goes, what % is minimal distortion and what parameter is considered schoolbook linearity for amps?
I suppose it's the border of audible/inaudible level of distortion and +-0.5 db frequency response in audio band. Am I right? 
Everything in audio, or should be IMO, is about reducing audible distortion - hearing only what is on the recording. IME "freaking amazing" is the sound of the recording, untainted by disturbing additional artifacts from the playback chain misbehaving - but others may disagree. So how can one know one is closer to the "real" sound of the recording? Well, one technique is to set up two totally different replay chains, each optimised to the best levels one can achieve - different as in the source material is read by different mechanisms, say one is music server using sigma delta DAC, other is CD with ladder DAC; amplifiers are totally different, SS and tubes, SE vs push pull, etc; and finally the speakers are radically different from each other, something very easy to organise!!
If the two systems subjectively come across as matching in the key areas, then you should be pretty close to hearing the "original" ...
If the two systems subjectively come across as matching in the key areas, then you should be pretty close to hearing the "original" ...
Just to make sure we are on the same page as far as minimal distortion and schoolbook linearity goes, what % is minimal distortion and what parameter is considered schoolbook linearity for amps?
i thought /expected/ that anybody will throw at me dozens datasheets of amplifying components to prove what was said before
For him or anyone to answer your question, they need to understand your question clearly. How can someone answer a vague question like that? 🙁 Can you please specify the parameters you were referring to?
That's a reasonable assumption, that if two systems agree it is because both are giving you the right answer. It works with wrist watches too. If several agree they are likely all spot-on. Or at least as spot-on as your eyeballs can detect.
If we do this with audio gear we find that high-end amplifiers starting from maybe 50 years ago start to sound alike.
But this has not happened with speakers. This is either the last part of the playback system that needs to be perfected or such perfection is theoretically impossible. I don't know which.
And it follows, if two amplifiers sound different, then at least one is flawed and maybe both are flawed.
The purpose of a power amplifier is .......
The purpose of a power amplifier is .......
Not sure what you mean by this. The original sound would be in the studio where the musicians are, which I don't have access to. If you're asking if it sounds more natural, I would say "in most ways". Guitar amps(that "growl" that's in many guitar tones is smoothed over by so many amps I've heard) and piano's give more of an impression that they're right in the room with me. Vocals are this way too. Synths sound like I've got my headphones plugged right into the keyboard. But then sometimes the highs come off too harsh, unnatural, compared with the McIntosh.
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One more thing to add, I haven't measured this amp in real life, but simulation showed the spectrum was much cleaner than other designs I tried. Not just in harmonic distortion, but spurious junk in general. Which leads me to believe some of the outstanding specs you see in a lot of amps is the result of some clever spec-manship. Granted I tried many standard designs, but I didn't put an exact schematic of some famous amp into it. But very few manufacturers, if any give you a full spectrum, at full power, into a complex load, with a signal that's any more complicated than a sine wave, which may lead many to conclude good sound can't be measured. I'm not here to conclude it can, that human hearing and what affects good sound is fully understood. But it may be far more measureable, and by standard methods, than many think. But there's so much smoke and mirrors in the audiophile world, at least when one reads enough brochures. Every amp is basically designed by God and brings every subtle nuance through to your speakers, at least until they come out with the improved version 5 years from now.
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Yes ... all good - "the highs come off too harsh, unnatural" is part of the optimising journey, an almost guaranteed stage that occurs prior to the last round of polishing - the "teenage" period, perhaps you can call it, when the system sound is full of vitality, life, but regularly goes OTT, 😀. This just means that the last bout of fine finishing is needed, for the full balance of maturity to emerge, when the sound always remains "in control", 🙂.
Remember this old joke: "A man with a watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure of the time."
Statistically yes it is MUCH more likely that two flawed devices would give different answers than both would be flawed in the same way to give the same wrong answer. If you have five or ten devices it is nearly impossible for them to be identically wrong
I think what has caused the convergence is amplifier performance is the invention of negative feedback and importantly modern understanding of its appellation. We can now build amplifiers that are MUCH better then any of the component parts. Foe example my old distortion meter when couple to my HP audio generator can measure distortion in all of the parts I might use, transformers and tube based stages. But the finished amp reads "'zero" on the old analog distortion meter.
We don't know how to do this with speaker systems. We can't build a speaker that is much better then it's parts. NFB can't work because of the long path length (aka phase) from amplifier input to your ears.
It MIGHT be possible to measure and then forward correct the speakers.
close, but no cigar.🙂
i´ve been asking about amplificating devices (transistor for example)
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About amplifiers, it is same like paintings. They also are inferior to photography, but have often bigger value😀
it is unfortunate when discussion is going nowhere.
throwing a link to common search word, producing gazilion website results is maybe funny, but hard to be useful at all
so far, my reply is still unanswered
throwing a link to common search word, producing gazilion website results is maybe funny, but hard to be useful at all
so far, my reply is still unanswered
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