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In Reply to: RE: Some instruments are incredibly difficult to sound natural in playback... posted by Tre' on October 24, 2009 at 21:10:04
I will agree that reproduction systems that are often referred to as creating "listener fatigue" have a different sort of signature from a real instrument. However, the same mechanism is at work. Folks (general term as I can't remember where I've read it, and I'm lazy) have measured the spectral content of some instruments, and found that some trumpets/players, for example, project more 4th and 5th harmonic than fundamental! Those nasty sounding upper harmonics can certainly create fatigue, which I'll define as something that is unpleasant to listen to for more than a couple of seconds.
I have no quarrel with the argument that some amplifiers create a fatiguing sound when compared to others, and fatiguing in a less accurate way. But I do want to be sure we stay focused on sounds that are real, not just easier on the ears. I don't suspect we disagree on that, as it was more a question of semantics.
It is certainly a worth topic of conversation though. I recently tried a pair of NOS RCA 12AT7WA's in place of my RFT's. The RCA's were certainly smoother and warmer, but I don't think it was for the better. As a complicating factor, their section balance was pretty bad compared to the RFTs (RCA's from ebay, RFT's from Jim Mcshane!) Given that each triode drives half of a quasi differential amp (I know, blasphemy here), it could be that some even order distortion was warming the sound up. Easier to listen too isn't always better. Thats all I'm saying.
Paul
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