In Reply to: RE: And... posted by MarkJohns on November 15, 2015 at 12:38:26:
>that still doesn't clarify my inability to reconcile what you said about
>loudspeaker measurements indicating that poor measurements invariably (or
>almost invariably) leads to poor sound but poor measurements for
>amplifiers doesn't.
With loudspeakers, the criteria for listeners finding the sound to be "good"
are well-established. While it is still possible for a listener to prefer
a loudspeaker that is demonstrably poor, I have found this to be rare.
With amplifiers, the criteria are uncertain. However, where a listener
prefers the sound of an amplifier that in my opinion is poorly engineered,
this is because either:
a) there is a relatively high level of second-harmonic distortion, which,
as long as it is not accompanied by excessive intermodulation distortion,
many listeners will prefer; or
b) the amplifier's output impedance is sufficiently high that the tonal
changes this introduces with a specific loudspeaker compensate for that
speaker's own departures from neutrality.
And as I have repeatedly written in Stereophile, the question is left
begging as to whether the listener likes the sound of a poorly engineered
amplifier because of what it does wrong or despite it. To resolve that
question requires resources beyond the reach of a monthly magazine.
John Atkinson
Technical Editor, Stereophile
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Follow Ups
- RE: And... - John Atkinson 12:54:33 11/15/15 (21)
- RE: And... - Dave_K 08:58:21 11/16/15 (0)
- No doubt with more than one "listener", you will have opinions on both sides... - kuribo 05:59:11 11/16/15 (0)
- And this brings up the question, JA - morricab 01:43:46 11/16/15 (0)
- RE: And... - MarkJohns 13:17:28 11/15/15 (17)
- RE: And... - E-Stat 12:13:18 11/16/15 (0)
- RE: And... - morricab 01:51:22 11/16/15 (10)
- RE: And... - MarkJohns 08:28:25 11/16/15 (9)
- There are a number of misconceptions here - Ralph 10:52:53 11/16/15 (8)
- RE: There are a number of misconceptions here - MarkJohns 18:53:02 11/16/15 (7)
- FWIW JA and I often do not agree. - Ralph 20:07:43 11/16/15 (6)
- RE: FWIW JA and I often do not agree. - MarkJohns 04:58:56 11/17/15 (1)
- I'll post for you my position on feedback as I did for A Wayne. - Ralph 09:00:49 11/17/15 (0)
- RE: FWIW JA and I often do not agree. - A.Wayne 20:42:11 11/16/15 (3)
- tricky. - Ralph 08:35:46 11/17/15 (2)
- RE: tricky. - A.Wayne 05:48:31 11/18/15 (1)
- ? - Ralph 09:06:23 11/18/15 (0)
- RE: And... - mkuller 20:19:48 11/15/15 (4)
- RE: And... - A.Wayne 20:46:45 11/15/15 (3)
- You guys? - mkuller 21:40:01 11/15/15 (2)
- RE: You guys? - A.Wayne 09:21:22 11/16/15 (1)
- Poison... - mkuller 10:27:33 11/16/15 (0)