John Curl's Blowtorch preamplifier part II

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#49,085
In any case, I don't see much interest in the textbook part of physics that I put up here a few days ago. Some called it elementary, but I suspect that most of you found it intimidating. I certainly found it so.
Now why do I personally care about such things? I care because I endeavor to continually keep up with my colleagues, like Charles Hansen, and I have found from practical experience and feedback from people who listen for a living that better materials and connections make for better audio products, all else being equal. As I read about contacts, wire, and insulators, I learn what to use and what to avoid. It is my business to know such things, and that is why I am a successful audio design consultant.
 
#49,087
John,
I don't think that anyone will argue the fact that there are always improvements to be made and that material science is a place to keep our eyes. But you also have to know that until there is a true breakthrough in newer materials that change the rules of conductivity there is nothing wrong with copper wires and interconnects.

I know that I have been involved in materials application and development for most of my life and so have people like Sy, JN, and SW. That is the world that we live in for a living, how to make something new or apply something nobody else has thought of before or attempted to actually put into practice. I'm no electronics wiz, that is not my world, that is yours and others, I just like to make things work that others say isn't possible or practical because they are stuck with what others do.

Currently my quest is in speakers and materials applications. That is fun to me, I can add to what is already known with new materials or even just applying known applications in a new way.

You can keep on coming up with novel circuits, that is where you have years of experience. I will look forward to seeing what you are doing with current opamps and whatever else you can think up.
 
#49,088
Kindhornman, conductivity may not be just what you think it is. I too, have learned about and listened to different materials for caps, boards, resistors, pots and wire, for example. I have decades of experience in each change. I don't do HK anymore, even though I worked there once, I do much better! And this takes care in choosing contacts, connectors, board material, board coating or plating, cap types and brands, resistor brands, solder, and many other design decisions. This did not come from my first 10 years of design, but the next 35 years, where I learned from Richard Marsh, Walt Jung, Matti Otala, Malcolm Hawksford and EVEN VDH, as a representative sample. In any case I have 100's if not 1000's of passive parts that I cannot use for audio. Any offers? '-)
It is unfortunate that I cannot give away what I have found here without a lot of 'back talk' from the 'experts'.
 
#49,090
john curl said:
Kindhornman, conductivity may not be just what you think it is. I too, have learned about and listened to different materials for caps, boards, resistors, pots and wire, for example. I have decades of experience in each change. I don't do HK anymore, even though I worked there once, I do much better! And this takes care in choosing contacts, connectors, board material, board coating or plating, cap types and brands, resistor brands, solder, and many other design decisions. This did not come from my first 10 years of design, but the next 35 years, where I learned from Richard Marsh, Walt Jung, Matti Otala, Malcolm Hawksford and EVEN VDH, as a representative sample. In any case I have 100's if not 1000's of passive parts that I cannot use for audio. Any offers? '-)
It is unfortunate that I cannot give away what I have found here without a lot of 'back talk' from the 'experts'.
Click to expand...
Ebay . Well the asian use your name all the time to sell there product. John just say you are selling off some of your private reserve of parts should get a premium for them. Call them your B stock.
 
#49,091
I'm sure with some of the NOS devices you have that there are many on this site that would love to see a list of those components you have John. I assume you don't want to sell very small batches but perhaps some group buys would lighten your load of parts.

As to your statements about all the small things like resistors and caps and boards and things I have no problem believing that time has taught you much. That is where wisdom and real life experience comes in and you just can't give that information away, it is hard to let that information go.
 
#49,092
Kindhornman said:
John,
I don't think that anyone will argue the fact that there are always improvements to be made and that material science is a place to keep our eyes. But you also have to know that until there is a true breakthrough in newer materials that change the rules of conductivity there is nothing wrong with copper wires and interconnects.
Click to expand...

Seeing as there's nothing wrong with copper wires and interconnects, what would be the point of any breakthroughs other than for marketing buzzwords?

se
 
#49,094
It's a "Many roads lead to ..." thing - 'revolutionary' things may help in various ways, but straightforward attention to detail is very powerful. I haven't purchased a single 'special thing' in 30 years, apart from higher quality, normal components which are used in precisely the area where the better spec's make sense. Otherwise, bog standard, sensible quality parts are the go ...

Why? Because I got my major breakthrough in dramatically improving subjective SQ using just decent quality commercial audio components, by accident - the key ingredient was that I had spent a great deal of time and effort in fine tuning the "devil's in the details" areas - this is what made the difference ...

So, I have zero interest in playing with 'you beaut' electronic parts - I know they are not a necessary ingredient ...
 
#49,096
Circuit theory says that any good conductor is good enough for audio. People seem to not understand this. The issue is not rewriting the theory of metallic conductors (which could in principle happen, although exceedingly unlikely) but rewriting electromagnetism (which is astonishingly unlikely to ever happen - any new physics will include EM as a limiting case, just as special relativity includes classical mechanics as a limiting case). Those who can't/don't/won't grasp this may jeer at 'closed mind' people like me but they really must understand the enormity of what they are innocently/ignorantly/arrogantly expecting us to believe.
 
#49,099
You keep searching. I will keep enjoying music.

All cables are not the same. Most are good; equally good, indistinguishably good. Some, usually the very cheap ones and the very expensive ones, are bad. As I keep saying on here, cable sensitivity is a classic symptom of poorly-designed equipment although really bad cables may upset even good equipment by adding far too much capacitance or injecting lots of RF interference.
 
#49,100
A Low definition system is insensitive to changes, obvious masking properties is the problem ( poorly designed cables aside) not the cables .. I have heard quite a few expensive cables , very rarely did they not make a positive difference...

very rarely...:snail:


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