Well anal probing by space aliens is a new factor in the equation, louder verbiage and rather urgent wiggling I'd guess.I guess nothing changes all the verbiage and wiggling to not actually do a blind no peeking test.
Well anal probing by space aliens is a new factor in the equation, louder verbiage and rather urgent wiggling I'd guess.I guess nothing changes all the verbiage and wiggling to not actually do a blind no peeking test.
This is the nub of the debate.I find it fascinating that people are seemingly terrified of blind listening. It's like they know they will fail.........
...I actually have no idea why, could be a particularly good sounding recording I am listening to (IME the recording quality is massively more important for SQ than the hardware we use to play it on which makes a mockery of Hi-Fi in a way anyway), it could be my mood, some furniture I have moved or something, but the one thing it can not be is a change in my Hi-Fi, since there hasn’t been one.
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If orangejello, in the same audio system, with only the amplifier -with very good measurements- as a differential element, with equal levels and well recorded acoustic music with great dynamics, he is able to appreciate different depth so we will have a verification.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ements-of-benchmark-ahb2-amp.7628/post-188535
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...ements-of-benchmark-ahb2-amp.7628/post-190052
@restorer-john is unhappy because these are toneburst tests.
I am unhappy because I don't have that Power Cube.
I think that's a decent summation.
Do you have first hand experience? Have you somehow documented the alien invasion?Well anal probing by space aliens is a new factor in the equation, louder verbiage and rather urgent wiggling I'd guess.
There were three primary reasons for choosing a switch-mode power supply when designing the AHB2:I'd guess that the main reason for this somewhat complex power section of this amp is to make it as lightweight as possible - since manufacturer's strategy is direct sales, it's pretty important to keep the weight as low as possible - amps need to live through shipping process. In the end, it's the cost - packing cost and shipping cost. But manufacturing cost as well, since quality transformers are expensive. But I'm not convinced if classic transformer of a decent capacity would not be a yet better choice when it comes to sound quality.
The complexity of the power supply is to support class-G operation. That is, it is fundamentally a class-AB amplifier with power supply rails that track the incoming signal level.
@John_Siau John, how about having a lotto for 1 free AHB2 for us poor folk?The more I read about this marvel, the more I want one. I hate you people!
Not possible. The amplifier stays clean and mutes silently when an unsafe condition is detected. The amplifier includes a tweeter protection function that will shut the amplifier down if high-frequency signals are present at full output for an extended period of time. This cannot be triggered by music and the circuit is not in the audio path.@orangejello :
2. Since you listened at high volume it's possible you provoked some nasty distortion on peak power transients...the one which protection circuits which shut the amp down didn't allow to show at measurements (protection from bad measurement, huh? ).
The AHB2 does not limit transients. The protection circuit is not in the audio path. We monitor output current, output voltage, THD, and a number of other parameters with an FPGA. If the FPGA detects a fault condition that could damage tweeters, it mutes the amplifier. Sweep tests generated by an AP test station can generate relay switching transients that can trigger the tweeter protection. When the auto-ranging circuits in the Audio Precision switch, high-level transients can be produced. These can be enough to trigger the protection if the amplifier is already delivering a continuous high-amplitude sinusoidal output. You would not wan't to have a speaker connected to an amplifier when it is driven by an AP test station. The auto-ranging relay switching transients would take out your tweeters. The protection network in the AHB2 does its job, but it make life more difficult for the guy doing bench testing.Well IMO you can wait to get pass the 150 hours mark, then make a final judgement.
As for loudness, it's said transients go 10-20x higher than the average power. So while it's still significant power, 5-10W output gets you in territory where transients go pretty high. However, if it's true that AHB2 limits transients to avoid distortion, in which case you should hear a compression when you crank it up a little, rather than a distortion.
The tweeter protection, as implemented, would not be appropriate in a sound reinforcement environment, but the AHB2 is not intended to be used in that application. It is intended to be used in studio control rooms and in high-end hi-fi systems. In both of these intended applications, the amplifier will often be driving very expensive speakers that could easily be destroyed by the available power.If every professional sound reinforcement amplifier shut-down every time someone bumped a mic or unplugged a guitar, they'd be a lot of unhappy concert goers around the world. A transient input overload is hardly an uncommon situation and most amplifiers can handle that without feeling the need to shut-down.
Above is why if you "hate" a device, you can still fall in love with it in testing. You listen more attentively, you hear more detail, and you think it is a better piece of audio.
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Driving 4-ohm loads was an entirely different story. The SC-07 simply fell apart when running full bandwidth (20Hz to 20kHz) continuous power measurements. As I tested at frequencies above 5kHz with only 1 channel driven, the internal cooling fan would instantly come on right before the receiver would go into gross distortion and shut down at levels above 100 watts.
Simply choosing an item for review is an indication of bias.Some reviewers listen first and measure after because bias goes both ways.
Some like the look of the hardware, some like the look of the measurements.
Both lead to bias.
Simply choosing an item for review is an indication of bias.