|
Critic's Corner Discuss a review. Provide constructive feedback. Talk to the industry. |
|
|
|
Critic's Corner Discuss a review. Provide constructive feedback. Talk to the industry. |
|
In Reply to: RE: Sample to Sample posted by Jim Austin on May 2, 2012 at 04:44:07:
Subjective listening tests are quite time-consuming to perform properly. Some manufacturers claim to listen to every unit before it is shipped. I personally believe that this would be close to a waste of time. The logistics involved in ensuring (for example) that each unit had an identical amount of break-in time would be daunting, to say the least. It wouldn't work to keep a "reference" unit on hand for comparison, as it would always have more run-in time than the test unit.
I could go on and on, but it doesn't take much imagination to see the limitations of using listening tests on the production line. I once asked a manufacturer that used these methods if they had ever rejected a unit because it didn't sound right. He said that there was *one* piece that had some ground-loop noise that didn't show up on their test bench.
At Ayre we go to extremes to ensure the consistency of sound. We never allow for substitute parts to be used. 99.9% of all solder joints are on PCBs that are soldered by robotic machines to ensure consistency. Every unit undergoes a battery of bench tests two separate time, once when first assembled and again after a burn-in period.
Occasionally a part is discontinued by the manufacturer (or the manufacturing process is changed). This probably happens to us more than most companies because our products stay in production for a much longer time than average. If a part is changed (as has happened twice in the last 20 years with Roederstein resistors), we perform critical listening tests to assess the impact of the change. Luckily for us, both changes had very small sonic impacts. In other cases (such as with the now discontinued Toshiba JFETs) we purchased a minimum 50 year supply as a lifetime buy.
The last thing we want is for the unit a customer purchases to sound different from a review unit, or for people to say things like "the latest version of such-and-such product doesn't sound as good as the earlier ones".
Of course we do offer sonic upgrades (at a reasonable cost) if and when we determine how to improve the performance of a given design. But that is a different story altogether.
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- Just for you, JA - Charles Hansen 05:07:11 05/02/12 (2)
- Thanks Charles - Jim Austin 05:39:08 05/02/12 (1)
- Value Engineering - Tony Lauck 12:08:46 05/02/12 (0)
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
