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RE: Once again the lower end offering sounds better than their premium piece

Posted by rick_m (A) on August 17, 2015 at 09:21:08

In Reply to: Once again the lower end offering sounds better than their premium piece posted by airtime on August 16, 2015 at 08:41:09:

"I think I figured out why. It's like it was over engineered to death!"

Maybe. I used to design products with similar sensitivities as stereos and we had similar issues. You try to write performance specifications that insure satisfactory operation but they are just the minimum and in reality you do everything you can at design time to optimise the performance of each product given the constraints of time, budget, knowledge and luck. And sometimes you simply get a better turn on 'em thsn others. But they all meet Spec....

Here's some suggestions that might help if you can do them:

1. Avoid the early instances of new product releases. You don't really want to be an early adopter because there will usually be issues that show up in the first few production runs that simply didn't materialize at the prototype or pilot stages.

2. If you do a home audition and love the performance, buy that very unit! That's what I do. Sure, products with significant analog chunks ususally change a little with use ("burn-in") often for the better. But it's also true that while all of the parts (should) be in tolerance there are always measurable differences between them because their specifications have to be broad enough to allow adequate yield and most of their performance is predicated on build (SPC) rather than individual verification. Why take a chance?

3. Try some of the audiophilish tweaks during evaluation. Dig out some different signal cables and try snapping a Z-bead on the power cord (if your religion allows it). Sometimes devices just need a little help to play nicely with other boxes in your system.

Good luck... (isn't that always part of it?)

Rick

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